#1839030 - 03/14/10 07:14 PM
Early Season Scouting
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TN RDG RNR
12 Point
Registered: 06/28/07
Posts: 6104
Loc: Rhea County
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I hear a lot of the older experienced hunters saying how important it is to hit the woods this time of year and do some scouting. Why? Other than the leaves off the trees and being able to see forever, why bother the deer will be in a totally different pattern come the opener.
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WARNING: The above post may contain sarcasm and/or sophisticated satire. I will not be held liable for any psychological damage sustained.
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#1839053 - 03/14/10 07:32 PM
Re: Early Season Scouting
[Re: TN RDG RNR]
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Pursuit Hunter
8 Point
Registered: 10/01/08
Posts: 2084
Loc: Way out there
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I don't know if I'm older or more experienced. For me it is partially an excuse to get out in the woods, but more about just learning the area better. I will look for good mature oak trees or persimmon trees and note them on my topo map so that in the fall, I can concentrate my scouting on those areas rather than searching the entire woods. I also like to walk the deer trails to learn their travel routes and mark potential stand locations near funnels or trail junctions that I might use in the late season when their patterns are similar to what they are doing this time of year. I'm trying to post a video about just that topic, but I'm having technical problems...
Edited by Pursuit Hunter (03/14/10 07:34 PM)
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#1839089 - 03/14/10 07:49 PM
Re: Early Season Scouting
[Re: Pursuit Hunter]
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TN RDG RNR
12 Point
Registered: 06/28/07
Posts: 6104
Loc: Rhea County
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Kinda what I was thinking about being able to see with the leaves off. If you get that video posted shoot me a PM let me know where its at, Id be interested in checking it out.
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WARNING: The above post may contain sarcasm and/or sophisticated satire. I will not be held liable for any psychological damage sustained.
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#1839132 - 03/14/10 08:01 PM
Re: Early Season Scouting
[Re: TN RDG RNR]
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Mag
8 Point
Registered: 11/12/07
Posts: 1413
Loc: Hendersonville
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And I use this time to work out access routes to good spots as well as preparing cover for ground hunting spots
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#1839160 - 03/14/10 08:12 PM
Re: Early Season Scouting
[Re: Mag]
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Wildcat
Non-Typical
Registered: 06/10/00
Posts: 39171
Loc: Western Ky.
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Not now, this is March, but as soon as the season closed, in fact the day after my season closes I'l out there all day scouting for next year, NOT next Sept.
You can find things you never saw before, ever on the farm you've hunted for years. One example is you can find small little used trails off from the much more used trails. More times than not the mature bucks are the ones that use those trails while the other deer use the other trails. That's hard to find in Aug-Oct.
Also you can go into areas you know that hold deer but were afraid to go into because you might run them out then the week right after season is the time to do it. They will have 9 months to forget all about you being in there. this is the way my cousins grandson was able to get thet wide racked buck last year. When the season closed in Jan 2009 he went though the large CRP field and found which trails the buck used, all the trails in there come out somewhere on the farm. He was able to set up on one outside the CPR field and scored opening morning of rifle season.
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A Government that does not trust its law abiding citizens to keep and bear arms, is itself unworthy of trust..... - James Madison
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#1839194 - 03/14/10 08:24 PM
Re: Early Season Scouting
[Re: Wildcat]
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TN RDG RNR
12 Point
Registered: 06/28/07
Posts: 6104
Loc: Rhea County
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Done used up all my kitchen passes and then some by the end of season Wildcat. I might have to save one next year and give it a look see.
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WARNING: The above post may contain sarcasm and/or sophisticated satire. I will not be held liable for any psychological damage sustained.
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#1839262 - 03/14/10 08:43 PM
Re: Early Season Scouting
[Re: TN RDG RNR]
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Wildcat
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Registered: 06/10/00
Posts: 39171
Loc: Western Ky.
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Done used up all my kitchen passes and then some by the end of season Wildcat. I might have to save one next year and give it a look see.
DO!!! You will be supprised what you will find. You put what you find with what you know already and what you find next the next season and it just might be the missing key to the puzzle that always seems to not be there.
_________________________
A Government that does not trust its law abiding citizens to keep and bear arms, is itself unworthy of trust..... - James Madison
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#1839489 - 03/14/10 09:48 PM
Re: Early Season Scouting
[Re: Wildcat]
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BoneHead1
4 Point
Registered: 09/15/09
Posts: 199
Loc: East tn
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yeh it's nice once season is over to just get out and snoop.No telling what you might find out.
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#1839518 - 03/14/10 09:54 PM
Re: Early Season Scouting
[Re: BoneHead1]
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Setterman
8 Point
Registered: 12/31/09
Posts: 1783
Loc: Knoxville, TN
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Mature bucks consistently use the same travel corridors, terrain features, and bedding areas. If they used them this fall they will use them in every fall to come, unless dramatic changes are made to the property.
Food sources can be uncovered, which were not previously known about as well.
The secret to killing mature bucks every year is knowing how deer use the property you hunt, and the best time to learn this is from the end of the season until leaf out.
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#1839630 - 03/14/10 10:32 PM
Re: Early Season Scouting
[Re: TN RDG RNR]
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Pursuit Hunter
8 Point
Registered: 10/01/08
Posts: 2084
Loc: Way out there
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Kinda what I was thinking about being able to see with the leaves off. If you get that video posted shoot me a PM let me know where its at, Id be interested in checking it out.
Still fighting with the digital demons. I'll let you know when I whup 'em.
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#1839756 - 03/15/10 07:00 AM
Re: Early Season Scouting
[Re: Pursuit Hunter]
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Bottom Hunter
16 Point
Registered: 12/29/06
Posts: 15550
Loc: Hatchie Bottoms
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Normally, I like to mess with stands this time of year, either take them down for storage or move them.....even if I leave them up, I loosen them...
Also, I worry little about busting deer out of an area this time of year....
This may sound abit funny, but I look for rub patterns, especially rubs that I can tell were hit LATE in the season....this tells me approximately where the bucks like to cruise while looking for love.
Rubs are more easily seen this time of year and as we all know many deer use the same trees every year. Since I have stands that I only hunt during the HOT time of year, this time allows me to find the places that the deer will be next season during the pre-rut, rut and even post rut.
Where I am allowed to, I like to trim trees back this time of year......I hate to trim trees close to bow season. By doing it this time of year, the deer don't find limbs laying around and "weird" holes in the canopy. Just be sure to cut them back enough so that they won't grow back completely before the season. I also like to mark distances this time of year..for bow season.
There are alot of good things to do in the deer woods this time of year, but I think the most important thing is to wean myself away from the hunting teet.
haha
BH
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There are some people who always seem angry and continuously look for conflict.
Walk away; the battle they are fighting is not with you, but with themselves.
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#1839866 - 03/16/10 05:38 PM
Re: Early Season Scouting
[Re: TN RDG RNR]
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Pursuit Hunter
8 Point
Registered: 10/01/08
Posts: 2084
Loc: Way out there
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Kinda what I was thinking about being able to see with the leaves off. If you get that video posted shoot me a PM let me know where its at, Id be interested in checking it out.
Tried to send you a PM but it said you were over your private topic limit, whatever that means. Anyway, the video is here http://www.pursuithunting.com/2010/03/chasin-trail.html
Edited by Pursuit Hunter (03/16/10 05:38 PM)
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#1839893 - 03/16/10 05:54 PM
Re: Early Season Scouting
[Re: Pursuit Hunter]
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Football Hunter
18 Point
Registered: 10/22/07
Posts: 24708
Loc: Wilson Co/Perry Co
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Its easier to see trails now,Ive got a tree marked,I plan on hunting opening day,if the wind is right,found it in the snow.
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The best day to plant a tree,IS TODAY!
You wont know,if you dont go!
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#1842047 - 03/17/10 02:04 PM
Re: Early Season Scouting
[Re: TN RDG RNR]
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Yodel Dog
8 Point
Registered: 10/14/08
Posts: 1087
Loc: Mid Tn
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I hear a lot of the older experienced hunters saying how important it is to hit the woods this time of year and do some scouting. Why? Other than the leaves off the trees and being able to see forever, why bother the deer will be in a totally different pattern come the opener.
I do because I focus most of my hunting during the rut. No better time to look for rut sign than right after the rut. It has nothing to do with the leaves being off. You're right, deer will be in a different pattern come the opener, but most big bucks will still be nocturnal in bow season. I play the odds and hunt buck sign during the rut when there is a chance to catch one in daylight. I scout after season to know where he's going, not where he's been.
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"...Shooting a deer is like shooting a cow..." Phil Robertson
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#1845384 - 03/19/10 12:05 PM
Re: Early Season Scouting
[Re: TN RDG RNR]
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BSK
Jerkasourous of the non-typical kind
Non-Typical
Registered: 03/11/99
Posts: 59668
Loc: Nashville, TN
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Other than the leaves off the trees and being able to see forever, why bother the deer will be in a totally different pattern come the opener.
Leaves off the trees is important for me because I want to see what shooting lanes will look like in November. Preseason scouting in August or September won't give you an accurate picture of shooting/visual distances once the leaves start falling in early November.
In addition, scouting when the woods are most open lets me see rubs from greater distances.
But to answer your original question of "why now", I'm not looking at patterns deer are using now, I'm looking at their rut patterns from last fall. I'm mentally or physically mapping out rub and scrape patterns from last fall's rut. I'm not expecting deer to follow the exact same patterns next year; I'm just adding to my knowledge of how deer use the terrain and habitat.
And as Wildcat pointed out, scouting now allows 1) deer 9 months to forget you invaded their space (if you do); and most importantly 2) deer may not be on the same "sanctuary" patterns now that they were during deer season hence you may not actually be invading their space. They may have shifted away from their hunting-pressure/rut movement and bedding patterns and are using a winter/late-winter pattern. They may not be using the sanctuaries now they were using during deer season or the rut, so investigating them now does no harm.
_________________________
"Know where you stand, and stand there" --Jesuit Father Daniel Berrigan
"There is no reasoning someone out of a position he has not reasoned himself into." --Clive James
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#1845486 - 03/19/10 01:34 PM
Re: Early Season Scouting
[Re: BSK]
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WRbowhunter
8 Point
Registered: 02/22/10
Posts: 1469
Loc: collierville,tn
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I like to explore new areas and bust thick cover that you can not get to other times of the year. Helps to find bedding areas and trails. I hunt public land and find new corners to hunt every year. And if I do hunt a new area and I have to blood trail one want to understand the land better so I know what's ahead of me. But mostly just love being in the woods.
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"Vegetarians are cool. All I eat are vegetarians"-Ted Nugent
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#1845565 - 03/19/10 03:02 PM
Re: Early Season Scouting
[Re: WRbowhunter]
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BigWes50
10 Point
Registered: 03/04/07
Posts: 3207
Loc: Chattanooga, TN
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I think for me I just enjoy being back out there!
_________________________
Just as the deer can suddenly materialize in the woods, "Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect" (Matthew 24:44)
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#1845569 - 03/19/10 03:07 PM
Re: Early Season Scouting
[Re: BigWes50]
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Winchester
Non-Typical
Registered: 12/05/03
Posts: 25335
Loc: TN
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Now is a great time to be come intimately familiar with any areas you will be able to hunt again next year!
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#1845960 - 03/19/10 09:29 PM
Re: Early Season Scouting
[Re: Winchester]
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Wildcat
Non-Typical
Registered: 06/10/00
Posts: 39171
Loc: Western Ky.
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Another thing people can do at the end of the season when all the leaves are off and the woods are more open is you can see into farms next door where you didn't have permission to walk though.
If I'm in a new farm I have permission to hunt but can't go "next door" I'll walk the fence line with my bics to see how the terrain goes in that farm as far in as I can. I'll also drive down the road and glass from there. Sometimes this allows me to move my stands to a different part of the farm I can hunt because I now know how the terrain is next door and how it effrects deer travel. It's not as good as being able to walk the farm but it's beter than nothing.
Now you can get some of this info from a topo map but when you can see it yourself from your side of the fence you can understand it much better.
_________________________
A Government that does not trust its law abiding citizens to keep and bear arms, is itself unworthy of trust..... - James Madison
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#1846283 - 03/20/10 06:11 AM
Re: Early Season Scouting
[Re: Wildcat]
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Double-D-Team
10 Point
Registered: 12/18/02
Posts: 3483
Loc: God's Country
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Great Point WildCat, Some of the best bucks come from next door....
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Don and Dee (DOUBLE-D-TEAM)
THE RICHEST VALUES OF WILDERNESS LIE NOT IN THE DAYS OF DANIEL BOONE NOR EVEN IN THE PRESENT. BUT IN THE FUTURE--LEOPOLD
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