RE: Off Season Scouting
Atlas, Scott, and others, this is a great idea!
After reading through this thread and the other linked threads to this point, I’m in mobow’s boat, I have a million questions.
For nearly all of my life I’ve considered myself a hunter, I’ll be 33 soon. In Feb. 2003, I bought my bow and fell passionately in love with it. WAKE UP CALL!!!!!!!! I’ve never really hunted in my life until I bought this crazy thing! What happened to me?
Scouting is hunting. I did not realize this until I bought my bow. Until these “scouting threads” popped up, I thought I was a decent scout,………I SUCK at scouting. Oh sure, I can find sign, trails, and sheds, but I don’t know how to read the language I’m seeing. Thanks to you fellas, I’m learning little by little. Since Oct. 2005, I have not seen a deer while bow hunting. I think I setup in prime areas, but it just hasn’t happened for me. Obviously my thinking is wrong. Around April 06, I started a new lease, so everything was new. This past season I tried to take things I’ve read on this board and put them to use. I started scouting where I thought would be good areas, the hardwoods that bordered really thick stuff. I found all kinds of sign, trails, white oaks, water. I didn’t mess around much, I just picked out where I wanted to sit, hung my stands and left it alone. Come season, no deer! Trails dried up, no new sign, but I had found a killer squirrel spot. whoopee[&:] All season I’ve been wondering where I went wrong, I’m still wondering.
For those of us who are illiterate about scouting terminology, will you veterans give us a little glossary for clarification purposes? Please add to this list and define in detail:
1. inside corner--
2. saddles-- I kinda have an idea, but I’d like clarification.
3. funnels—Again, clarification.
4. bedding areas—I know what a BA is and what it is for, but how do you identify them? Is it only by seeing matted down grass/weeds?
5. What does a scrape mean to you? What does it tell you? Until this season, I always thought that A buck would make a scrape to mark HIS territory and the HE ALONE would reuse this scrape until the rut was over. I learned that I was completely wrong.
I’ve noticed on my hunting land that there are tons of deer on the property. There are tracks literally everywhere! I think that they stay in the thick stuff and don’t really move much until dark. It gives them cover and food (browse), so why should they come out? This thick stuff is nearly impenetrable by a human, but there are deer trails all through it. I’m trying to think of a way to hunt this stuff. It’s basically young pines from 8-20 feet tall with mostly super-thick briars and yaupons with a few other various shrubs in between. Any ideas??
I have many more questions, but I’ll stop here for now.
Thanks in advance,
TXMM