ok i live in PA if you dont know..the first season i might hunt the area is the 3rd week of october for a doe muzzleloader hunt...then maybe rifle season in the begging 2 wks of december then flintlock after christmas...october is doe only...the rest either buck or do will be fair game(if i have my buck tag still) my plan is to try to take a do with the ml in october back there then hold out for a buck for hte rest of the year...if i dont get a doe in october then i will take one after christmas...i want a nice rack for the wall this year...meat doesnt matter...dad will probally take a few does for the freezer and be happy...the area i will be hunting is behind my house...i know there are a few decint bucks and some small ones and a good bit of good does....the area isnt HUGE but huntable....i killed a turkey back there...my question is how early is too early to start scouting for the seasons i want to hunt? now their in thier summer patterns i think right? when will they start to fall into the fall/winter pattern? or are they always teh same being the area isnt too big...? i want to get one a few of the nice bucks incase my first few days of rifle season doesnt produce a buck...and the does should be in the same spot as them...i know of atleast 1 buck that has to be going on 3.5 maybe even 4.5 years old...i seen him last fall at about 80yds with a bunch of other deer..he snuck out first with his head down...i could see nice long tines and hes spread was about as wide as the outer part of his ears....a pretty nice PA buck...i know hes alive...his tracks were in the snow every day i shed hunted him....never did find his sheds but i know hes back there...any advice on when i should start looking for him and his buddies? this will be my first year hunting alone...i really want to prove to dad i can do it....i mean...scouting the longbeard and calling him in myself and bringing him home suprised the heck out of my dad and he was proud that all them years i really was listening and paying attention.....but bagging a nice buck myself will top it off and prove it...also the area is sorta urban...i mean the woods do go for a long ways but there is houses on 2 sides adn a shopping center on 1..then it opens up and theres alot of woods...i seen a few guys back there mostly bow season...barely any in rifle season..the ones i have seen back there hunt all wrong...sitting ON deer trails..one guy walked past the bed of a nice racker buck and hunted right on the trail that he walks out on....i want to get the edge...i know i can beat those guys.. i had one tell me about how all the guys hunt back there are friends and they all hunt 1 buck...the one i seen....they all hunt him wrong and thats why hes as big as he is....thanx alot guys....