What are you looking for while scouting?

[Speedwell-Hunter]

Go look for them right now. They're easier to see this time of year and you don't hurt anything by spooking one up.

Imagine being a buck. You're wearing a giant crown of antler that every human in the county wants to kill you for, and every predator wants to eat your delicious flesh. All you've got to keep you alive is your eye, ears, and nose. Where would you sleep?

I would want to be where I could blend in but have a view so I could see you coming from a mile away. I'd want wind at my back so I could smell you coming from a mile away. I'd want to be able to hear everything near and far, then be able to look & see things that sound alarming from a mile away. I want to be isolated from other deer but not too disconnected because I am still a herd animal & rely on other deers' senses & alarms. Last but not least when the time comes that I need to escape/evade danger, I want to be able to get up & sneak out undetected. And when danger gets too close I don't want to get my head tangled up in a mess & not be able to get away. I need to run for cover, not escape from it. A bonus would be the ability to chew my cud while watching the doe trail down below for girls to pass by.

I disagree with a lot of hunters who think big bucks stay in the thick cover. It's just not what I experience. What I do see is does choosing to bed in very thick cover, and bucks busting brush to find them same way a beagle dog searches for bunnies. About the only time I see older bucks laying up in real thick cover is when they're injured or locked down with a doe. The rest of the time they're only in the thick stuff because they're browsing, looking for does, or sneaking away to hide from danger. That said I do find a lot of buck beds near the edge of clearcuts, but rarely ever inside them. That's just my experience so don't take it for gospel. My personal experiences don't apply to everybody else's hunts. It's very likely possible the folks who think big bucks bed in thick cover think so because they've seen it happen. I haven't.

This is a fascinating insight, thank you for the awesome response. Is there anything I'm looking for when I think I have found his bedding area? Droppings?

 

[Ski]

This is a fascinating insight, thank you for the awesome response. Is there anything I'm looking for when I think I have found his bedding area? Droppings?

I look for browsed vegetation and a well worn flat spot that's about the right size for a big single buck to lay on/in. The ones I really like actually dip in a little bit from repetitive use through the years. There may or may not be rubs nearby. So I typically look for browsed bud tips, briers, etc. with a big single bed very nearby.

The pic below is a small knoll on the very tip of a skinny finger ridge. Terrain drops off pretty steep just beyond that tree. Between the rub and that rock is a dip where I assume a tree had fallen sometime in the past and left a crater where the roots used to be. Ever since then bucks have been bedding in it. There's only a few feet to the right, left, for straight on before the hill drops down steep, and it's fairly steep coming down behind it. A buck laying in it can see hundreds of yards every direction but his entire body is hidden except his head. No matter where you come from he can see you, but you can't see him.

 

[BSK]

@Ski - Completely agree with BSK and will never discount his knowledge!

There are a few different approaches I see: one is to cut in patches over time- different levels of growth over a 20 or so year period to get different levels of growth (always having thick cover somewhere). That's a great strategy and will never go against that strategy. We did that per BSK's advice years ago

We did that exactly and I implemented something else. I got certified in burning. So, we had all these patches of thick cover and now have new areas recently logged areas to burn. We now have no desire to log, more to burn and maintain. Plenty of areas for hack n squirt / girdle and spray left to do, but logging is mostly done. Basically we have 30 acres of food plots and 200 acres of select cut spread out in patches. We will burn those every few years to keep natural browse and cover….strategically depending on growth. After the hack n squirt and girdle areas are defined, it's all up to a burning on a continuous basis. The main thing - it just has to be maintained!

Although this is off topic from the original post, I wanted to add to JCDEEMAN's post. Early on I designed timber harvest plans that cut a rotation of timber every 5 years. This system was designed so that it would take about 60-70 years to eventually cut all of the timber on the property. By the time the last cuts were made, the first cuts would have had 60-70 years to regrow and would be high-value timber again, ready to repeat the harvest cycle. This rotational cutting system provided timber sale money every five years that could be used to pay for all of the other management practices being implemented and maintained over time. The rotational cutting system also ensures approximately the same percentage of the property is in each stage of regrowth, from the earliest weeds, briers, and young saplings stage - which produces high-volume food sources - to the impenetrable jungle stage, which is excellent cover habitat.

However, I've revamped my thinking (although if someone wants that type of a system, I will still use it). One of the major downsides to this system is the cyclical intrusion into the property of heavy machinery. This can add a real burden to landowners and hunters alike. Not only the intrusion, but the constant maintenance of roads damaged by heavy equipment. Instead of a perpetual rotation of cutting timber, I now prefer a system more like JCDEERMAN is describing. Get a few rotations of timber cutting in, and then switch to maintaining some of the cuts in the earliest "food stage" of regrowth, as well as some in the jungle cover habitat stage. This eliminates the need to constantly cut more timber.

As JCDEERMAN pointed out, burning is by far the best practice for maintaining these cut areas in early-stage regrowth. However, in some circumstances, fire can be exceedingly difficult, especially on very steep slopes and in areas inaccessible by fire management equipment. For these situations, I'm going to be experimenting with herbicide applications, to see if that can produce acceptable early-stage maintenance. In the past, the contract crews that maintained the TVA's powerline right-of-ways (ROWs) mowed them every 3-4 years. Then they switched to aerial spraying with herbicides. Now they maintain the ROWs with crews that walk the ROWs and apply herbicides using backpack sprayers. The difference in habitat produced by spraying instead of mowing is night and day. Since the switch to spraying the ROWs have become massive magnets for deer and turkey. The habitat has switched from areas that rapidly filled with saplings (with mowing) to tall perennial grasses, briers and vines (due to the use of broadleaf herbicides). We will see how well this works and if enough acreage can be maintained with just a backpack sprayer.

 

[DMD]

Interesting how different hunters use different approaches to hunting mature bucks. Whenever we have some success we think oh that's how it's done only to find the next buck is completely different! How do you pattern something that's mostly random? It's like playing chess with an opponent whose moves are hidden! If I'm lucky enough to find an area that a mature buck is using regularly, I try to be random too so he can't pattern me either. It's mostly luck. The worst thing you can do is only hunting the way or the area that worked once before. As BSK noted, we all need to be deadly once we get that buck inside our kill zone. It's a rare thing and if we squander that opportunity, it might be years before it happens again.

Great points. Unless I know exactly what a buck is doing (i.e. where he beds, where he feeds, when he is moving) which RARELY happens (I mean like only a few times in my life have had an educated guess at these things enough to have a hunt plan) I try to simply increase my odds. One reason it's so difficult to know these things is because of buck dispersion in the area I hunt. Most mature bucks disperse somewhere around the middle of September to the end of September. They are in certain habits throughout the summer, you can count on them like clock work - and then when their antlers harden, they move off and their habits change drastically. Some of them move off from where I hunt and I won't see a sign of them until season is over, when they come back - others show up randomly throughout the season. Some, of course, you never see again. I increase my odds by finding food sources that does are using, and then hunting places where multiple travel corridors intersect or unique terrain features funnel them. If it's public land, quota hunt type hunt - I include escape corridors or thick areas in my calculations. But, as noted - every mature buck has it's own unique personality, just like humans and like dogs and other animals.

 

[BSK]

Great points. Unless I know exactly what a buck is doing (i.e. where he beds, where he feeds, when he is moving) which RARELY happens (I mean like only a few times in my life have had an educated guess at these things enough to have a hunt plan) I try to simply increase my odds. One reason it's so difficult to know these things is because of buck dispersion in the area I hunt. Most mature bucks disperse somewhere around the middle of September to the end of September. They are in certain habits throughout the summer, you can count on them like clock work - and then when their antlers harden, they move off and their habits change drastically. Some of them move off from where I hunt and I won't see a sign of them until season is over, when they come back - others show up randomly throughout the season. Some, of course, you never see again. I increase my odds by finding food sources that does are using, and then hunting places where multiple travel corridors intersect or unique terrain features funnel them. If it's public land, quota hunt type hunt - I include escape corridors or thick areas in my calculations. But, as noted - every mature buck has it's own unique personality, just like humans and like dogs and other animals.

The two sections in bold above are my thoughts exactly. I find and hunt the terrain and habitat features that tend to funnel deer movement. Basically, just increasing my odds.

 

[AT Hiker]

What limited late season scouting I do turns up a lot of hunter pressure intel for me. Public and private ground I'm able to find where most people have been hunting. Trash, stands, cut shooting lanes, etc. The quiet and wide open woods usually gives my private land neighbors away when they start hanging stands close to the property line on travel corridors. This usually answers the question on why deer stopped using a certain area. Allows me to adjust for next year.

 

[fairchaser]

What limited late season scouting I do turns up a lot of hunter pressure intel for me. Public and private ground I'm able to find where most people have been hunting. Trash, stands, cut shooting lanes, etc. The quiet and wide open woods usually gives my private land neighbors away when they start hanging stands close to the property line on travel corridors. This usually answers the question on why deer stopped using a certain area. Allows me to adjust for next year.

Public land requires also scouting for hunters. They are much easier to pattern. They are usually within a few hundred yards of the parking area (walking hunters) or at the end of the road for those on ATV or bikes.

 

[beefydeer]

Yesterday I logged almost 4 miles and found a spot that is very thick and transitions into more open woods. You can kind of see in the picture the thick stuff is to the left and the transition line goes up through the photo to the right. The thick stuff to the left is about 50 acres. It is extremely thick. This is a prime spot to me for the pre rut into the rut. Bucks should be skirting that edge. Just something I look for when scouting new areas. This is in a flat bottomland setting.

 

[BSK]

Yesterday I logged almost 4 miles and found a spot that is very thick and transitions into more open woods. You can kind of see in the picture the thick stuff is to the left and the transition line goes up through the photo to the right. The thick stuff to the left is about 50 acres. It is extremely thick. This is a prime spot to me for the pre rut into the rut. Bucks should be skirting that edge. Just something I look for when scouting new areas. This is in a flat bottomland setting.

I've got several situations like that on my place, transitions from older timber cuts - which are 8 to 10-year-old regrowth - right up against open mature hardwoods. They are gold mines, especially if I can find a terrain feature along the edge that concentrates movement.

 

[tree_ghost]

I can't believe I got distracted on FB and almost missed some real hunting content?!?! Anyhow this thread is awesome and full of great info. I'd like to throw my .02 in the ring as well.

I am no expert but I do feel as if I'm getting a firmer grasp on what works for me. The first and most important aspect ive found to getting on big bucks is that there is no cookie cutter advice that will work every time. Each situation you encounter is different in the field and is unique and full of differing variables, but as your experience increases you will begin to be able to think outside of the "box" and tailor your target bucks situation to fit your style of hunting. I am an impatient bowhunter and here is my systematic approach to consistently kill big mature whitetails…

Pre season/Early season

Habitat is everything to me, and to the big boys! In the months of August/ early September I am covering as much ground around water as I can. Now water in and of itself has never proven to be something that I can key in on to pattern a big buck but it is a critical point of survival for ole tall tines when it's 90+ degrees outside. Water is usually in low lying areas which are cooler, the vegetation around water sources isn't as prone to drought, and typically water sources are great at creating natural transition lines in the habitat your hunting. To me this is a recipe for diversity, with the 3 things a summer buck wants, those being food, water, and cover in very close proximity to one another. When I find the right diversity of cover then I start looking hard for big tracks which can often be found easily in the soft wet ground. If I find a big track I'm hanging a camera and going from there. I have attempted every tactic known to man damn near to kill them early season and I find that in order for me to be successful I hunt over a hot food source with easy non-intrusive access. I find that bucks aren't moving much in the daylight hours and if they are moving it won't be far, usually less than 300 yards before dark. For most hunters this is just to risky to try and get tight to him in bedding. He's gonna hear you…when he does he's not moving till dark. Then he comes to check that "noise" out under the cover of darkness and gets a big old whiff of YOU and then your job just got way harder…



Pre rut

My favorite time of year to hunt and IMO the absolute best time to pattern and kill your target buck! October is a month where things evolve quickly for the whitetail buck. Big doses of testosterone are hitting his blood stream and his thinking slowly begins to shift from finding food for calories to finding does for breeding. The mature bucks are really starting to lay down sign at this point with rubs and scrapes and that's where I key in on where he's living for certain. I love when rub lines open up in October. Now while he more than likely is laying down that sign at night and that won't be helpful to get him killed it does offer and literal road map of his movements…I have walked so many rub lines back to a buck bed it's not even funny at this time of year. Typically on that rub line you'll find sign post type rubs strung out in a line of travel, then you may come upon an area where you see multiple small rubs in a concentrated area. This means the buck spendt some time there, perhaps on a preferred food source, use that info to your advantage. The problem I have caused myself however when hunting this time period is getting overly aggressive too quickly. You really have to make precision attacks at your target buck during this time frame of early October. I like to find a preferred food source within sight of bedding not to different than my early season approach but I'm a little more willing to press deeper into the woods to make that hunt happen. Late October is scrape hunting time for me! Ole tall tines will have at least one scrape that he checks regularly. Now I haven't come to a conclusion on why they make 50 scrapes and only 1 or 2 keep they're attention throughout fall but if you can find one of his precious pieces of broken ground he will be there during daylight hours!!!!!! The last week of October you can bet I'll be over my hottest scrapes every chance I get.

Rut

Sweet sweet November! Hunting the rut doesn't take near as much skill or require the precision style approach that early season does, which is why I've killed most of my P&Y bucks during this timeframe lol. I'm basically just hunting all the funnels I've found throughout early season scouting/hunting in my bucks home range. Sit as long and as often as you can. I also tend to not move my set as often as I do in early season. Early season I'm never hunting a tree more than 2 sits, evening than the following morning. During the rut I'll hunt a stand up to 3 full days 6 total sits. My theory on this is that a buck is roaming and covering ground. Sit still and he will eventually find you. Keep moving and you both may be missing each other all November….

Late season

By far the most difficult time of year to get on one. I'm looking for cover over anything. In all honesty though I'm not scouting much at this time of year. If you don't have the intel you need by now you'll likely not get it before seasons end. These deer are shell shocked after being hunted for 3 months. The big boys are almost never moving in daylight and they are usually very isolated from the rest of the herd in my experience. I'm always looking for hot food sources close to bedding when I am hunting late season. It's a very similar approach to early season tactics but with the understanding that there is ZERO room for error. You do have the added advantage of there being very few options to choose from for Deer forage compared to early season when the woods are full of vegetation which should help you narrow down what he's munching on everyday. Just understand if He hears, sees, or smells anything that makes him uncomfortable and you can guarantee he's not getting up before it's pitch black out!

I'm sure there's plenty I'll remember later but for now this will do.

 

[killingtime 41]

I can't believe I got distracted on FB and almost missed some real hunting content?!?! Anyhow this thread is awesome and full of great info. I'd like to throw my .02 in the ring as well.

I am no expert but I do feel as if I'm getting a firmer grasp on what works for me. The first and most important aspect ive found to getting on big bucks is that there is no cookie cutter advice that will work every time. Each situation you encounter is different in the field and is unique and full of differing variables, but as your experience increases you will begin to be able to think outside of the "box" and tailor your target bucks situation to fit your style of hunting. I am an impatient bowhunter and here is my systematic approach to consistently kill big mature whitetails…

Pre season/Early season

Habitat is everything to me, and to the big boys! In the months of August/ early September I am covering as much ground around water as I can. Now water in and of itself has never proven to be something that I can key in on to pattern a big buck but it is a critical point of survival for ole tall tines when it's 90+ degrees outside. Water is usually in low lying areas which are cooler, the vegetation around water sources isn't as prone to drought, and typically water sources are great at creating natural transition lines in the habitat your hunting. To me this is a recipe for diversity, with the 3 things a summer buck wants, those being food, water, and cover in very close proximity to one another. When I find the right diversity of cover then I start looking hard for big tracks which can often be found easily in the soft wet ground. If I find a big track I'm hanging a camera and going from there. I have attempted every tactic known to man damn near to kill them early season and I find that in order for me to be successful I hunt over a hot food source with easy non-intrusive access. I find that bucks aren't moving much in the daylight hours and if they are moving it won't be far, usually less than 300 yards before dark. For most hunters this is just to risky to try and get tight to him in bedding. He's gonna hear you…when he does he's not moving till dark. Then he comes to check that "noise" out under the cover of darkness and gets a big old whiff of YOU and then your job just got way harder…



Pre rut

My favorite time of year to hunt and IMO the absolute best time to pattern and kill your target buck! October is a month where things evolve quickly for the whitetail buck. Big doses of testosterone are hitting his blood stream and his thinking slowly begins to shift from finding food for calories to finding does for breeding. The mature bucks are really starting to lay down sign at this point with rubs and scrapes and that's where I key in on where he's living for certain. I love when rub lines open up in October. Now while he more than likely is laying down that sign at night and that won't be helpful to get him killed it does offer and literal road map of his movements…I have walked so many rub lines back to a buck bed it's not even funny at this time of year. Typically on that rub line you'll find sign post type rubs strung out in a line of travel, then you may come upon an area where you see multiple small rubs in a concentrated area. This means the buck spendt some time there, perhaps on a preferred food source, use that info to your advantage. The problem I have caused myself however when hunting this time period is getting overly aggressive too quickly. You really have to make precision attacks at your target buck during this time frame of early October. I like to find a preferred food source within sight of bedding not to different than my early season approach but I'm a little more willing to press deeper into the woods to make that hunt happen. Late October is scrape hunting time for me! Ole tall tines will have at least one scrape that he checks regularly. Now I haven't come to a conclusion on why they make 50 scrapes and only 1 or 2 keep they're attention throughout fall but if you can find one of his precious pieces of broken ground he will be there during daylight hours!!!!!! The last week of October you can bet I'll be over my hottest scrapes every chance I get.

Rut

Sweet sweet November! Hunting the rut doesn't take near as much skill or require the precision style approach that early season does, which is why I've killed most of my P&Y bucks during this timeframe lol. I'm basically just hunting all the funnels I've found throughout early season scouting/hunting in my bucks home range. Sit as long and as often as you can. I also tend to not move my set as often as I do in early season. Early season I'm never hunting a tree more than 2 sits, evening than the following morning. During the rut I'll hunt a stand up to 3 full days 6 total sits. My theory on this is that a buck is roaming and covering ground. Sit still and he will eventually find you. Keep moving and you both may be missing each other all November….

Late season

By far the most difficult time of year to get on one. I'm looking for cover over anything. In all honesty though I'm not scouting much at this time of year. If you don't have the intel you need by now you'll likely not get it before seasons end. These deer are shell shocked after being hunted for 3 months. The big boys are almost never moving in daylight and they are usually very isolated from the rest of the herd in my experience. I'm always looking for hot food sources close to bedding when I am hunting late season. It's a very similar approach to early season tactics but with the understanding that there is ZERO room for error. You do have the added advantage of there being very few options to choose from for Deer forage compared to early season when the woods are full of vegetation which should help you narrow down what he's munching on everyday. Just understand if He hears, sees, or smells anything that makes him uncomfortable and you can guarantee he's not getting up before it's pitch black out!

I'm sure there's plenty I'll remember later but for now this will do.

Man those are very impressive bucks with some very impressive rub lines.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Rut

Sweet sweet November! Hunting the rut doesn't take near as much skill or require the precision style approach that early season does, which is why I've killed most of my P&Y bucks during this timeframe lol. I'm basically just hunting all the funnels I've found throughout early season scouting/hunting in my bucks home range. Sit as long and as often as you can. I also tend to not move my set as often as I do in early season. Early season I'm never hunting a tree more than 2 sits, evening than the following morning. During the rut I'll hunt a stand up to 3 full days 6 total sits. My theory on this is that a buck is roaming and covering ground. Sit still and he will eventually find you. Keep moving and you both may be missing each other all November….

Interesting tactic. I typically bounce around to different high traffic areas, but have done this on occasion. I should probably do it more often. If I get seen or winded, I typically move the following hunt to let things settle. Do you do the same if you bump deer? Or will you keep hunting it as long as your target deer isn't bumped? But you're right, if you're in a high traffic location and he doesn't know you're there or been there, the odds go up each time you sit there that he will show his face. Hunting theory doesn't suggest that, but if he doesn't know your in the world, you're most likely good.

 

[Ski]

if he doesn't know your in the world, you're most likely good.

Truth! That's the trick, IMO. If you have a spot where that's possible and can pull it off, your odds increase every sit.

 

[BSK]

Pre rut

My favorite time of year to hunt and IMO the absolute best time to pattern and kill your target buck!

Fantastic post tree_ghost. Lots of great information. And I completely agree on the comment above. If you are trying to pattern and kill a particular buck, Pre-rut is the time.

Rut

Sweet sweet November! Hunting the rut doesn't take near as much skill or require the precision style approach that early season does, which is why I've killed most of my P&Y bucks during this timeframe lol. I'm basically just hunting all the funnels I've found throughout early season scouting/hunting in my bucks home range.

Again, couldn't agree more. That's why I kill virtually all my older bucks during that time-frame. I hunt the movement funnels and, from time to time, get lucky.