#2056491 - 09/03/10 10:33 AM
Re: Pre-season scouting?
[Re: Winchester]
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JCDEERMAN
14 Point
Registered: 07/19/08
Posts: 7635
Loc: NASHVILLE, TN
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Typically, at this time of year, I just like to do a lot of glassing for acorns. I like to find as many trees as I can that have a potential to start dropping early. I take note of every single one of them. But towards the week of the opener, that's when I start looking at the ground underneath them. Scratching off this tree, and that tree off my list, but also keeping the others in mind to check periodically.
Though, it is very hard on our place, like BSK mentioned about his, because we have white oaks and red oaks literally EVERYWHERE.
Under these trees, I mainly try to find the poop and the dirt...the more dirt showing, the more activity its receiving. Things can change fast and you have to adjust
_________________________
Be nervous, but fear no one
In God we trust
God bless the USA!
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#2056510 - 09/03/10 10:45 AM
Re: Pre-season scouting?
[Re: Winchester]
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MUP
Non-Typical
Registered: 08/01/07
Posts: 36155
Loc: Just North of Chatt-town
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Its all in how you do your scouting! 
I fully agree with this statement. Careful, maticulous caution paid to what you touch, and how you enter and exit certain locations, can tremendously up the odds of deer not becoming alarmed or bumped imo.
_________________________
MUP
Amateurs: Built the Ark
Professionals: Built the Titanic
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#2056532 - 09/03/10 11:08 AM
Re: Pre-season scouting?
[Re: Pursuit Hunter]
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BSK
Jerkasourous of the non-typical kind
Non-Typical
Registered: 03/11/99
Posts: 59548
Loc: Nashville, TN
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Fastest way to drive deer off their normal routines is to scout just before you hunt.
Absolutely not true. Every deer I've killed in the last ten years has been in a spot I scouted just hours or maybe a day before.
And how many did you drive away from their travels or into nocturnal movement by that scouting? You can't assess what you can't see.
Kind of like those who say, "I smoke on stand and never care at all about scent, and I still kill deer." The problem with that perspective is how many MORE deer they would see and kill if they didn't smoke and were careful about scent. Just because you can be successful doing something a certain way doesn't mean that's the BEST way of doing it. Doing it differently might make you more successful.
_________________________
"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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#2056548 - 09/03/10 11:28 AM
Re: Pre-season scouting?
[Re: BSK]
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bowriter
Non-Typical
Registered: 08/31/02
Posts: 40303
Loc: Lebanon,TN USA
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I have killed many deer and some nice bucks within 90 minutes of finding a place and hanging a stand. That is totally different from walking around in the woods three weeks before hunting a place. If I find a place that I want to hunt when the season is open, I will often hang a stand and climb right in it. Other wise, I give it a few weeks and stay out of that area. When scouting, the last thing I want to see is deer. If I think it is a day deer will be moving, you can bet I'll be somewhere else.
_________________________
Constipation has ruined many a good day. Not as many as stupidity, though.
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#2056549 - 09/03/10 11:31 AM
Re: Pre-season scouting?
[Re: BSK]
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mrk80
6 Point
Registered: 05/30/10
Posts: 734
Loc: williamson county TN
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X3... Last thing I would do is get my scent in the woods or get busted by deer now...After they loose that velvet it don't take nothing for a mature buck to now whats up after a summer of seeing no one...I will check my cameras for the last time during the next rain and than I won't go back till season....
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#2056571 - 09/03/10 12:01 PM
Re: Pre-season scouting?
[Re: BSK]
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Winchester
Non-Typical
Registered: 12/05/03
Posts: 25245
Loc: TN
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Fastest way to drive deer off their normal routines is to scout just before you hunt.
Absolutely not true. Every deer I've killed in the last ten years has been in a spot I scouted just hours or maybe a day before. And how many did you drive away from their travels or into nocturnal movement by that scouting? You can't assess what you can't see. Kind of like those who say, "I smoke on stand and never care at all about scent, and I still kill deer." The problem with that perspective is how many MORE deer they would see and kill if they didn't smoke and were careful about scent. Just because you can be successful doing something a certain way doesn't mean that's the BEST way of doing it. Doing it differently might make you more successful.
Exactly right, no way of knowing what you dont see. What I do see is what i base my scouting on, and if im not seeing them in bow range where I need them to be, then I need to be scouting for the right place. Never be afraid to be versatile when your not succeeding! I could ask the same question as well, how many deer would you be seeing if you had done some scouting recently, and know exactly what the deer are doing today.
I will agree more with gun hunting/stands where all you have to be is close on your stand selection. The leaves are off, you can see a long way, and you can basically kill anything you see with a gun.
Bow hunting is where meticulous and current knowledge of exactly where and what the deer are doing is so critical. You have to know within 30 yards of exactly where a deer will be to be succesful.
Believe me when I tell you i dont alert any more deer than I have to, when deciding to hunt an area, but to be succesful with a bow, you better stay on top of whats going on or you will be 20 yards off the mark and just get to watch him walk out of your life! 
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#2056576 - 09/03/10 12:04 PM
Re: Pre-season scouting?
[Re: mrk80]
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Pursuit Hunter
8 Point
Registered: 10/01/08
Posts: 2084
Loc: Way out there
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To each his own, but I prefer the odds of being out there figuring out where they really are versus hunting a spot that looked good for some reason three months ago and hoping something shows up. It's worked out pretty well over the years. Besides, figuring out the puzzle of where they are is the fun part for me.
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#2056581 - 09/03/10 12:09 PM
Re: Pre-season scouting?
[Re: Winchester]
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Pursuit Hunter
8 Point
Registered: 10/01/08
Posts: 2084
Loc: Way out there
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Offline
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Fastest way to drive deer off their normal routines is to scout just before you hunt.
Absolutely not true. Every deer I've killed in the last ten years has been in a spot I scouted just hours or maybe a day before. And how many did you drive away from their travels or into nocturnal movement by that scouting? You can't assess what you can't see. Kind of like those who say, "I smoke on stand and never care at all about scent, and I still kill deer." The problem with that perspective is how many MORE deer they would see and kill if they didn't smoke and were careful about scent. Just because you can be successful doing something a certain way doesn't mean that's the BEST way of doing it. Doing it differently might make you more successful. Exactly right, no way of knowing what you dont see. What I do see is what i base my scouting on, and if im not seeing them in bow range where I need them to be, then I need to be scouting for the right place. Never be afraid to be versatile when your not succeeding! I could ask the same question as well, how many deer would you be seeing if you had done some scouting recently, and know exactly what the deer are doing today. I will agree more with gun hunting/stands where all you have to be is close on your stand selection. The leaves are off, you can see a long way, and you can basically kill anything you see with a gun. Bow hunting is where meticulous and current knowledge of exactly where and what the deer are doing is so critical. You have to know within 30 yards of exactly where a deer will be to be succesful. Believe me when I tell you i dont alert any more deer than I have to, when deciding to hunt an area, but to be succesful with a bow, you better stay on top of whats going on or you will be 20 yards off the mark and just get to watch him walk out of your life!
A man after my own heart. Well said.
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#2056613 - 09/03/10 12:46 PM
Re: Pre-season scouting?
[Re: MUP]
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Andy S.
TnDeer Old Timer
12 Point
Registered: 07/26/99
Posts: 7191
Loc: Atoka, TN
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If you have enough land mass you can actually do both. I have several good areas that I know produce year in and year out so no need to ground truth those just yet, however, I will be out exploring new unfamiliar ground this weekend in hopes of learning something new about the land and/or possibly finding a new area to hunt.
_________________________
Andy S.
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