What should I be doing?
04-27-2007, 09:06 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: West Wareham, MA
Posts: 178
What should I be doing?
What are you guys doing right now to get ready for the season? I'm still trying to bag my first deer.....How much scouting should I be doing right now? I am very eager to get in the woods and look around, but we have had tons of rain and the area is pretty well flooded.....any suggetions?
04-27-2007, 09:10 AM
#2
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Missouri
Posts: 3,763
RE: What should I be doing?
Wait till it drys out then do a little scouting and shed hunting. You might still be able to come across a few sheds. Keep shooting your bow year-roud. A little later in the summer in late july and early August get out there and do some summer scouting get a look at the bucks while they are still in velvet. Try to pattern them and get on them quick in the early season
04-27-2007, 09:12 AM
#3
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: PA
Posts: 9,085
RE: What should I be doing?
always keep your shooting upto par
if you dont know your areas well now would be a great time to comb every inch of them. look for shed antlers, old rub lines, good trails, bedding areas etc...
if you know your areas well there really isnt much reason to scout now...its not going to tell you much about what to expect come fall...some guys hang stands this early...myself, i decided i wanna find the active food source come fall, and the areas that hold legal bucks. my legal bucks have to have 4pts on one side to be legal...so that means alot to me...cant hunt an area with a bunch of 1.5yo scrub bucks..gotta find the legal bucks and then figure them out and what they are eating...but i know my areas well..i know where to expect the rubs..know where the trails are..know where the scrapes will show up...just depends on the food source..my corn gets rotated...different mast trees will drop during different years..so my scouting really wont be done till about early september...
good luck
if you dont know your areas well now would be a great time to comb every inch of them. look for shed antlers, old rub lines, good trails, bedding areas etc...
if you know your areas well there really isnt much reason to scout now...its not going to tell you much about what to expect come fall...some guys hang stands this early...myself, i decided i wanna find the active food source come fall, and the areas that hold legal bucks. my legal bucks have to have 4pts on one side to be legal...so that means alot to me...cant hunt an area with a bunch of 1.5yo scrub bucks..gotta find the legal bucks and then figure them out and what they are eating...but i know my areas well..i know where to expect the rubs..know where the trails are..know where the scrapes will show up...just depends on the food source..my corn gets rotated...different mast trees will drop during different years..so my scouting really wont be done till about early september...
good luck
04-27-2007, 09:17 AM
#4
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location:
Posts: 21,043
RE: What should I be doing?
Wow......good question....and you're likely to get a MYRIAD of responses.
I've planted my first food plot.....but mostly for the deer's health and NOT for an extra place to hunt. Sure...I'll hunt it a few times...and likely take a deer or two, there......but that wasn't the reason it was planted. They need more to eat, here.
I've replenished my mineral site for the bucks AND the does. They need that, too.
I likely won't scout at all, this year. I hunt smallish parcels that hold big numbers......so I know where they're going to be. I'd like to go through this season sans a miss or a wounded animal (which should be a goal of ALL of us).....so I'll attempt to stay proficient with my shooting.
I also need to find a home for about (____) deer after they're processed.
I'm going to wait until the third week of the season to set my lock-ons, this year.....so as to keep as much of my scent and intrusion to a minimum.
When I first got into this.....I never dreamed it would entail a year-round process(es). I've come to realize, though, that I care less about the harvests.....and MORE about the overall herd health and dynamics. I'll keep in touch with my wildlife biologist RE: harvest numbers.....and react accordingly, each year. I'd like to get to a point where my son could take ALL the needed deer off the properties we hunt.....alone. We've got our work cut out for us before that will be feasible.
I've planted my first food plot.....but mostly for the deer's health and NOT for an extra place to hunt. Sure...I'll hunt it a few times...and likely take a deer or two, there......but that wasn't the reason it was planted. They need more to eat, here.
I've replenished my mineral site for the bucks AND the does. They need that, too.
I likely won't scout at all, this year. I hunt smallish parcels that hold big numbers......so I know where they're going to be. I'd like to go through this season sans a miss or a wounded animal (which should be a goal of ALL of us).....so I'll attempt to stay proficient with my shooting.
I also need to find a home for about (____) deer after they're processed.
I'm going to wait until the third week of the season to set my lock-ons, this year.....so as to keep as much of my scent and intrusion to a minimum.
When I first got into this.....I never dreamed it would entail a year-round process(es). I've come to realize, though, that I care less about the harvests.....and MORE about the overall herd health and dynamics. I'll keep in touch with my wildlife biologist RE: harvest numbers.....and react accordingly, each year. I'd like to get to a point where my son could take ALL the needed deer off the properties we hunt.....alone. We've got our work cut out for us before that will be feasible.
04-27-2007, 10:23 AM
#5
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Mont County, Pa
Posts: 7,368
RE: What should I be doing?
I'm already veryfamilure with the areas I hunt and where the deer are or will be,so basicly I just set a couple of trail cams come Sept. I spend my off season practicing my shooting,perfecting my equipment / soundproofing stands ect. andI maymake a few clips hereor there for shooting lanesbefore summer ends. Oh, I spend alot of time onHNI also.
04-27-2007, 10:45 AM
#6
Fork Horn
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 334
RE: What should I be doing?
Keep shooting. Make taking the actual shot be second nature.
Go scouting. Wether you have public land or private, look for areas with rub lines and scrapes. I can still see scrapes, but they will disappear with the new spring growth. Rubs and scrapes are the places those bucks will be this fall during the rut.
Or like someone already mentioned, if you have access to hay fields or food plots, you may get those early season, velvet covered bachelor groups of bucks patterned in late August early September coming and going to those food sources loading up for those rutting months.
Go scouting. Wether you have public land or private, look for areas with rub lines and scrapes. I can still see scrapes, but they will disappear with the new spring growth. Rubs and scrapes are the places those bucks will be this fall during the rut.
Or like someone already mentioned, if you have access to hay fields or food plots, you may get those early season, velvet covered bachelor groups of bucks patterned in late August early September coming and going to those food sources loading up for those rutting months.
