Scouting

[TRIGGER]

Can anyone point me in the correct direction on a good quality book or video on learning how to scout? I have read a lot of things on here about what to look for but when I get to the woods I just can't put it together enough to say HERE is the spot.

 

[Setterman]

Best advice I can give you is use aerial photos and quad maps, you may do more harm by scouting if you're not careful. After the season is fine, and look for food sources (oaks, browse, etc), bedding areas, transitional habitat zones, terrain features which funnel deer, and old scrapes/rubs.

I never, and I mean never scout. Even if I'm on new ground until the season is over.

IMO people ruin great chances at mature bucks by blundering around in the woods attempting to scout.

 

[landman]

Come over tomorrow and pour concrete and I'll
tell you all about

 

[TboneD]

Yes, scouting can tip deer off and make them harder to hunt. Maps only go so far though, depending on whether agricultural or forested, flat or hilly. Sometimes you HAVE to get in the woods to find high percentage spots like heavily traveled trails going around big deadfalls you couldn't see from a map or that one white oak that has dropping all around it. Also, hunting buck sign from last year is better than nothing, but nobody wants to be hunting a ghost, either. So try to learn what/where they're eating and where they're likely resting....and avoid disturbing obvious Autumn bedding areas. There might not be much sign there anyhow, until the leaves start falling and they start feeling hunted. Realize that they'll likely be moving up hills or ridges in the mornings, and vice versa in the evenings, especially around agricultural areas or in ridge country or mountainous terrain. Like people, they typically take the safest or easiest route. Find enough sign to give you enough confidence to hunt, and then hunt it. Post season is when you try to find out ALL you can about a piece of ground. Other than that, try to use the weather to your advantage when scouting. Obviously, it makes fresh tracks stand out and possibly when they they were made, but rain and wind can really help in keeping you from tipping off the deer. Hope that helps.

 

[Mike Belt]

Scouting is an art. You don't start off as a master but you work towards it. It takes time. Agreed that post season scouting is the least offensive to your immediate hunting areas but I don't see how you can do anything but cross your fingers by hunting without knowing anything about where you're hunting. Just as important is "when" you're hunting. A scouting foray in late summer probably won't do for hunting in late November. Also consider what you are scouting to hunt. Any deer? An older buck? For instance all deer leave sign. The more deer using an area or particular trail the more sign they leave. If you're after a doe this may be where to hunt. An older buck doesn't usually travel with does and possibly being solitary, leaves far less sign. This sign may be found adjacent to doe travel areas or it may be far removed. The closer to the rut the closer their sign may be found. Food sources draw deer. Terrain features dictate how they get there. During the rut those same terrain features often dictate how your bucks travel through or around those food sources seeking does. Look for those intersections. Also, provided that there are no major differences in land use from year to year, deer (particularly bucks), may use basically the same routes through certain types of terrain.

As strange as this may sound the hardest part for me setting up on deer sign is when I find an over abundance of sign. In a thicker area where shot and sight distance is very limited just which sign do you set up on? It's much easier for me when I find only minimal sign in those situations.

Some people seem to have the natural ability to find and unravel sign. Others have a harder time. Just remember that it's always a work in progress either way.

 

[Winchester]

Scouting is an art. You don't start off as a master but you work towards it. It takes time. Agreed that post season scouting is the least offensive to your immediate hunting areas but I don't see how you can do anything but cross your fingers by hunting without knowing anything about where you're hunting. Just as important is "when" you're hunting. A scouting foray in late summer probably won't do for hunting in late November. Also consider what you are scouting to hunt. Any deer? An older buck? For instance all deer leave sign. The more deer using an area or particular trail the more sign they leave. If you're after a doe this may be where to hunt. An older buck doesn't usually travel with does and possibly being solitary, leaves far less sign. This sign may be found adjacent to doe travel areas or it may be far removed. The closer to the rut the closer their sign may be found. Food sources draw deer. Terrain features dictate how they get there. During the rut those same terrain features often dictate how your bucks travel through or around those food sources seeking does. Look for those intersections. Also, provided that there are no major differences in land use from year to year, deer (particularly bucks), may use basically the same routes through certain types of terrain.

As strange as this may sound the hardest part for me setting up on deer sign is when I find an over abundance of sign. In a thicker area where shot and sight distance is very limited just which sign do you set up on? It's much easier for me when I find only minimal sign in those situations.

Some people seem to have the natural ability to find and unravel sign. Others have a harder time. Just remember that it's always a work in progress either way.

Good post and I agree, some careful scouting will allow you to pinpoint where you need to be!

 

[muddyboots]

I basically try not to this time of year. I will go once at midday and try to find the freshest acorn I can. Then I basically hunt and look for fresh sign as I exit the woods from a hunting trip. Later on I do what I call an observation hunt where if I find good sign I set up on the edge to observe and if I see what I want I move in next day for kill. This works for me a good percentage of time. Also I do a lot in January. My stand for first of m/l has been in the tree a year. I wont walk in there until the morning I hunt.

 

[landman]

If your talking a out the tract you hunt near the river, stay on the ridge tops and out off those hollows

Bring a topo map of the place with you next week

 

[Boll Weevil]

Here's another tool that might help you.

I've been using Google Earth for a very long time to view aerial images but only recently did I discover the ground-level topographic capability. If you zoom ALL THE WAY in it will go into ground-level mode where it's almost like you're going for a walk...up and down hills, around ridges, into creeks and ditches. It's been extremely helpful for me.

One way I use the functionality is in helping why deer may be traveling a certain route. For example, you routinely cut tracks at a spot along a logging road that cuts through 100 acres of 4 year old planted pines. At first glance there's nothing notable about the spot and it looks no different than the last 300 yards of road (nor the next 300 yards).

Jump into Google Earth, zoom in, and a subtle terrain feature (like a saddle) is revealed. Other than walking it, one might have never known a saddle existed in an otherwise monotonous sea of loblolly.

 

[bowriter]

Now is late to be scouting other than what you see going in and out. The single best way to learn how to scout is to go with someone who knows what they are doing. In most cases, the first step is to identify the food source. Then, decide how they are getting to it. Hang a stand.

 

[lungpuncher1]

Buy Dan infalts DVDs Marsh bucks and hill country whitetail, also get the book mapping trophy bucks. Both are great.

 

[jlmustain]

Come over tomorrow and pour concrete and I'll
tell you all about

If he's serious (and I doubt he'd turn you down), I'd be doing this. You'll learn more from another hunter's conversation and demonstration than you will from almost anything else, in my opinion.