Here's one fault I find with all you folks that say I scout in the spring when the snow is gone. You say it gives you the layout of what happened last fall. Somewhere in a magazine about 5 years ago someone put this out as a NEW and smart thing to do. Everyone jumped on the band wagon. Here's my problem with it.

In Feb, March or April any sign such as old rubs, scrapes etc are just that. "OLD" When was it done? Oct, Nov, during the second rut maybe Dec. You don't really know by looking at it. Deer work on food and cover. The closer they are to each other the better. I know what the deer like, where it's likely to be and where it was last year. I hope I already found scrapes and rubs last year. Deer will be back.... IF THEY WEREN'T SHOT. Even if they were, some areas produce scrapes every year. I personnally don't sit on scrapes. In my younger years I did... but I waisted too much time when I could have been shooting deer. If I find the right travel corridors I see deer all the time out. If I find the right scrape I might see a deer every 3 or 4 days. Spring scouting for whitetails in my opinion is a lot of leg work that I can do better in a quiet trip through the woods nearer the season. Where the deer will be when my season opens the middle of Sept is not anywhere near the same places you'll find in the spring. If that deer is around I'll find exactly where he's traveling..... not where he WAS traveling. Everytime in or out of the woods I'm looking. Every hunting trip I'm looking for changing patterns and sightings. They're in the corn, the acorns start to fall they shift, late they're in the fields and honeysuckle etc etc etc. Right now I know exactly where about 20 deer are bedded in one herd in my woods. Yes they'll be there again... but in between now and then I expect to stick a half dozen of them. I sure would hate to have to wait until they returned to their winter hideouts. Spring scouting in my opinion is a falicy/farce perpetrated by a couple writers trying to come up with a new angle for an article. Sure there are success stories based on what someone saw in the spring. Guess what.... if you were observant last fall you already knew it. Anyone who thinks spring scouting is the answer to finding the big bucks or plain old bucks just choses to think that way. Proper scouting anytime will accomplish that. No information is better than up to date facts. The closer to the hunt the more useful.