Short scouting window this year..

[dan]

With all the snow we are getting this year, we are going to have a much shorter scouting window, especially when you factor in turkey hunting.

With the limited time I would suggest making good use of it. Does anyone have any specific questions related to best tactics to scout, or detective work at the bucks bed?

[Brad]

I wished I had gone today, would have been a premium day to be out.

When you go into a "new" area that you have not hunted or scouted before, do you start by walking transition lines and go from there or is there something specific you start with.

[dan]

I wished I had gone today, would have been a premium day to be out.

When you go into a "new" area that you have not hunted or scouted before, do you start by walking transition lines and go from there or is there something specific you start with.

For me the transition lines are the main key... In hill country its certain elevation lines, but they still work as transitions.

[Czabs]

I have been out the last two weekends in the snow and it sucks. I just can't seem to put anything together in the snow. I can't wait for it to melt!

[xpauliber]

I have been out the last two weekends in the snow and it sucks. I just can't seem to put anything together in the snow. I can't wait for it to melt!

Exactly! Plus, a lot of bucks bed in different spots in winter as opposed to fall when we will be hunting them. The snow is really screwing things up.

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[headgear]

Yep lots of snow up here (as usual) so the prime scouting window is a little shorter, it does stay cooling into the spring up north so when you guys in SE WI are all greened up I have 2-3 more weeks. Still its nice to time it right, love to get into those swamps when the snow is just about gone but there is still a nice layer of ice to walk on. Talk about easy scouting!

[xpauliber]

Dan,

I don't know if you read my "Heading out" thread in this section, but in it you can see the mountain laurel and the different terrain that I have been scouting and trying to figure out. Where those pictures were taken, there are literally THOUSANDS of acres like that in this area which makes it impossible to walk every 1/3 elevation to find beds in this area. How would you start to tackle an area like that?

I was thinking about identifying the prevailing leeward ridges & points and walking those 1/3 elevations and fine-tuning my scouting based on what I find there. Does that sound like a good place to start?

[admiral04]

If you find a potential bed during the snow should you expect to come back in the spring when snow melts and find hair from the previous fall if its a bed so you know that what you are looking at is a bed? Or does the weather wash/ blow most the hair away. I just always feel like im not certain if what im looking at is definately a bed or not

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[MOBIGBUCKS]

I hear you guys on the short scouting season this year; we have gotten 23 inches on snow in the last week! It has shut my scouting down for the time being.

I think I'll skip turkey hunting in another state this year. This will give me a little more time before the greenup.

Right now, I'm just catching up on truck repairs on my hunting truck. We can't forget that good dependable transportation is just as important as anything else for our success.

[Dewey]

Still been out scouting with the deep snow but getting around is pretty tough. Nothing wrong with getting some good exercise this time of the year and a good reason to break out the snowshoes.

I like this time of the year for exploring new areas and then log the best looking spots to come back to later after snowmelt to narrow things down and find specific beds. I don't like wasting too much time during prime scouting on just wandering around but instead like to have a set plan for specific spots to gather my final info from and plan my fall hunts.

Looks like much warmer temps later this coming week so things may get better in a hurry with some meltdown especially if we get some rain.

The good thing about all of this snow is the marshes will hopefully fill up some after the extremely dry conditions last season. This will make bedding much more predictable. Hoping for a cooler summer and lots of rain.
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[dan]

Dan,

I don't know if you read my "Heading out" thread in this section, but in it you can see the mountain laurel and the different terrain that I have been scouting and trying to figure out. Where those pictures were taken, there are literally THOUSANDS of acres like that in this area which makes it impossible to walk every 1/3 elevation to find beds in this area. How would you start to tackle an area like that?

I was thinking about identifying the prevailing leeward ridges & points and walking those 1/3 elevations and fine-tuning my scouting based on what I find there. Does that sound like a good place to start?

I would narrow my search in that situation to going straight to the best points on the elevation where its likely the bucks are getting a leeward wind meeting a rising thermal... Not to sure about mountains cause I never hunted whitetails in actual mountains, but in areas with very very steep hills sometimes the bucks bed a lower benches where they might not get that leeward wind from above, but its thick above and they have thermals from below along with a good view.

Anywho, i went and marked up a map of where I would look 1st, or consider the most important places to look in a hill country situation where the primary winds in the fall are out of the West, N.West. Here you go, I circled the spots to check 1st.

[dan]

If you find a potential bed during the snow should you expect to come back in the spring when snow melts and find hair from the previous fall if its a bed so you know that what you are looking at is a bed? Or does the weather wash/ blow most the hair away. I just always feel like im not certain if what im looking at is definately a bed or not

[ Post made via iPhone ]

Hair is very hard to find in some beds if they were just used in fall... We generally find hair in beds that are being used in spring as the deer shed there winter coat. But if you look very close, you may be able to find some... In some terrains, and some areas, beds can be very hard to see... The more you look at them, the more you recognize the ingredients needed to bed in an exact location.
For instance, bucks may have 10 or more beds in a small area, but each one of those beds is in an exact location. Learning over time what exactly these beds look like and exactly where they are placed will help you know what your looking at... When I enter a suspected bedding area, I can sometimes tell from a distance exactly where the beds will be if they are there.
I remember scouting Lungbusters place with him and we were scouting a ridge that was too mature to have good bedding, but it had a perfect leeward effect. I saw a tree that was naturally hinged at the right elevation and from 100 yards away said there will be a good buck bed right under that tree... Sure enough there was...

[Dewey]

So much for a meltdown! Looks like the snowstorm that was supposed to go south is going to hit southern WI now!

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[xpauliber]

Dan,

I don't know if you read my "Heading out" thread in this section, but in it you can see the mountain laurel and the different terrain that I have been scouting and trying to figure out. Where those pictures were taken, there are literally THOUSANDS of acres like that in this area which makes it impossible to walk every 1/3 elevation to find beds in this area. How would you start to tackle an area like that?

I was thinking about identifying the prevailing leeward ridges & points and walking those 1/3 elevations and fine-tuning my scouting based on what I find there. Does that sound like a good place to start?

I would narrow my search in that situation to going straight to the best points on the elevation where its likely the bucks are getting a leeward wind meeting a rising thermal... Not to sure about mountains cause I never hunted whitetails in actual mountains, but in areas with very very steep hills sometimes the bucks bed a lower benches where they might not get that leeward wind from above, but its thick above and they have thermals from below along with a good view.

Anywho, i went and marked up a map of where I would look 1st, or consider the most important places to look in a hill country situation where the primary winds in the fall are out of the West, N.West. Here you go, I circled the spots to check 1st.

Thanks Dan!

[mastermind]

Just a little curious Dan, how would you access those bed/stand locations. Would you access from up top working the cross wind or from below working the cross wind? The reason i ask is im headed over to PA this fall and one of spots i have picked out looks a little like the one you posted.