Justin got me thinking...
 

He responded to a thread and said that summer scouting is tough because, well it's the summer, it's hot, it's thick, it's miserable.... this is why I never scout in the summer, like he said, things change so much between now and fall. Why do so many of you guys hang stands and scout in the summer? I never understood it, I know that in my area I couldn't see much sign for the all the foilage. Plus, the deer are usually not very active and I don't see sign to start with. Heck, even in late sept, and earlier oct it's a chore sometimes to find defined trails and feeding areas. So, what am I missing out on?? Do I need to be looking in the woods in July??

RE: Justin got me thinking...
 

I like to do more scouting after the season, when the woods are bare and the sign is fresh. Yes, there is reward in getting out in the summer, but I use the summer to act on what I found in Jan/Feb/Mar. As for spring and summer, I have trail cameras up and also check for paths in the pain in the butt ferns that are on one bench in particular. But summer for me is mostly hanging stands on my intel from the after season scouting and planting hunting plots.

RE: Justin got me thinking...
 

I have done zero summer scouting the past two years and it has not affected my success, however I missed not doing it. This year I am looking to get back out there a few evenings for glassing - I really enjoy it and that makes it worthwhile to me even if I rarely see any of the bucks months later. It is part of the package to me.

RE: Justin got me thinking...
 

I've said it before......

Where the deer I'm hunting are at right now (summer)........interests me not. I only want to know where they are when I can actually kill them.

RE: Justin got me thinking...
 

I don't really scout in the summer, but I do hang stands late in the summer for several reasons. First, I want them to be there when I go to hunt them. Second, I like to trim shooting lanes when everything is thick and green. I have found that by doing this I can create adequate small holes to shoot through when the leaves are up, but there is still enough cover to break me up in a lot of stands when the leaves fall.

RE: Justin got me thinking...
 

I put my fixed stands up in late august. I have trail cams up year around. I know the feeding areas and bedding areas around the farms I hunt. Nothing should change pattern wise until the full swing of the rut. I also like getting the stands up in non pressured times so the deer can adjust to it. I will review the trail cams to see if putting up my stands have changed any patterns in the area. For example I hang a fixed stand with in throwing distance of an o'l stand I built out of wood 7yrs ago. The deer are used to it and they are weary of it. Usually when the deer come in, at least 1-2 will stair at it..usually giving me time to make a good shot.

RE: Justin got me thinking...
 

So for the guys that do hang stands in July/ Aug, are you finding that the deer are still using those same trails/areas come earlier fall??

RE: Justin got me thinking...
 

VA:

Nope. When I used to hang stands.....I did what "I think" any smart man would do. I hung stand where I thought the deer would be when I sat my butt in that stand.......which is nowhere near (in my woods) where they are in summer (when stands were set).

If I hung stands.....based on where I was seeing deer in the summer.....they'd be hungon someone else's property;)

RE: Justin got me thinking...
 

When I do hang stands during the summer it's generally over sign or areas that I scouted earlier in the year, or have scouted at some point in the past. I'm pretty much done with haning "new" stands in the summer. Every time I've ever done it I've ended up moving them anyways.

As for summer scouting, trail cameras and glassing feed fields give me not only a good idea of the bucks in the area, but something to do to pass the time until the fall. Other than being fun and a way to get into the woods, I'm not sure it's really an effective means of scouting or patterning bucks. Many big bucksmay be miles away from where they feed in the summer when fall hits.

RE: Justin got me thinking...
 

See, I usually don't walk the woods until about a week or two before the season and I look for trees that are dropping acorns and more importantly I look for deer droppings, fresh droppings. I try to locate trees that are dropping acorns and go from there. Usually I find a few trails to and from and/ or rubs and tracks.

RE: Justin got me thinking...
 

Use common sense people. Some of you take things way too literally and get all bent out of shape trying to understand things.

Summer scouting 95% of the time involves just seeing what type and numbers of deer are in and around your areas. It’s not critical to pinpoint exactly what they are doing now. For those whose seasons start early enough, with not as much pressure, yea you can “pattern” the deer and get a jump on them. Otherwise all the scouting and stand hanging is done based on where the deer are likely to be in the FALL when hunting season is actually in. Many people like to do this in the summer so the deer have time to come back to normal and they can leave their hunting places alone as the season nears. If you are seriously hanging stands based on the conditions in july, and still expect the deer to be using them in November, you could be in for a BIG surprise. Some places may stay relatively the same, others can change immensely.

RE: Justin got me thinking...
 

I usually get out in mid-late August here in Mid-Missouri and hang most of my stands. I do hate it because it is usually boiling hot, I'm sweating, seed ticks are out in full force, mosquitoes sound like kamikaze pilots coming in for the kill, and I tire more easily because it is so HOT!!

I do however, try and get out first thing in the morning when it is cooler, or try and find a day when the temperature is down 10 degrees or so below normal. But this isn't always possible. The land where we hunt, I've been hunting for over 18 years, so I pretty much know where I want to place my stands even before heading out to the farm! It's not so much about scouting...it's about getting in, hanging the stands, and getting out.

Scouting in the summer should consist more of glassing from a distance (if possible) and using trail camerasso as tominimize the contact with the deer herd, especially as opening day gets closer.

RE: Justin got me thinking...
 

I not only scout "the deer", but scout the general lay of the land. It is very important for me to really get to know the land I am hunting, even if I have to sacrifice not having the "perfect" scouting conditions, such as scouting in July. A thicket is still a thicket, old rubs are still old rubs, food sources such as Oaks are still Oaks come October.

RE: Justin got me thinking...
 

Ding...ding. That sounds like me. I hang a lot of stands in the early part of the year that are terrain stands or in areas I strongly anticipate movement in during the fall. In other areas when I can hunt as early as Sept. the deer are definitately still in summer feeding patterns and low impact stands within the edges of fields or cutovers or near water sources/creek crossingsare very productive, for me anyway.

I still run & gun when I have to during the rut as "hot spots" doturn up frequently and I am not going to pass up an oppurtunity to hunt one. That's when I use my climbers or ground blinds and sometimes after the season ends I slip in and hang a stand for next season in that areajust in case.

I don't necessarily do a ton of "scouting" per sayin the summer because it is miserable but I watch the fields, my cameras, and occasionally if we get a day that's overcast and a little drizzly I'll clear a trail and slip in another stand. For the most partI just keep a finger on the pulse of the deer activity in my area year round,probably more because I'm addicted than anything else:D.

RE: Justin got me thinking...
 

I will agree with you 100%. I would say that overall it doesnt help me get deer.

I will tell you what it does do for me.

It prepares me mentally. It kicks the fever into high gear and motivates me to do that evening practice shoot when it is 90 degrees plus with high humidity. And the multitude of other unmotivating things that are necessary to harvesting deer in the fall.

I love being outdoors and any chance i get to be outdoors i look forward to.

RE: Justin got me thinking...
 

I scout all year long. Often deer move early morning late evening and anytime they want during the Summer. Rainy days are also very good for watching. It just take one spotting of a special buck to set one on the right track to build on prior to the season and you never know just when that sighting will be....usually when one least expects it and when there is no camera a long.

Finding a good location to intercept a rack buck is like putting together a zig saw puzzle and the more piece one can fit together the better the big picture becomes.

Of course it is seldom productive to spot a buck any time of the year and trust he will return to that location while one sets in wait. I need all the information I can get.......to have a chance at being Lucky including Summer .....hot as it may be. Changes are I will be battling the cold when he does show....

RE: Justin got me thinking...
 

RE: Justin got me thinking...
 

I do my summer scouting for "inventory" purposes. I like to know whats survived...

however I think locationplays a huge role in how or if you scout in the summer...

I hunt 2 types a areas: BIG BIG woods, and farmland.

I dont want to go trompin through the woods only to alarm the deer for what? you cant pick up much sign in the woods during summer...

Now I love to glass fields in the farmland, our season starts early enough you can get them in a summer pattern...

RE: Justin got me thinking...
 

If I hang a stand in the summer it has nothing to do with what the deer are doing right now. I am hanging them in areas I expect the deer to be later in the year either due to past experience in observed deer movement or past experience guiding my intuition to say given factors x,y and z being present in a given area, I am going to want to be right here during the fall.

RE: Justin got me thinking...
 

Good post, as just yesterday I had lunch with one of my hunting buddies and discussed my findings of early season scouting, and he too asked "why so early"...

Being self-employed and father of a 2 year old son doesn't give me a whole lotta time for perfect conditions.
Also I try to stock pile my "away" time for hunting season, so the wifey doesn't keep telling me she is a "hunting widow".
So as everyone can imagine, I head out when I get the time.

This past Sunday was 52 degrees (not too warm) in the AM and NH had just got a lot of rain, so I believe it was a decent time for scouting, in my eyes.
After realizing I was going to be tick and mosquito bait, I checked out 3 "new" areas that connect to my other hunting areas for my early bow hunting
(Sept15th-1st week of Oct.).
Our discussion was based on trying to piece together the puzzle of "connecting" land parcels in bedroom community hunting. Basically my premise was due to last year's finding of a big buck in one of my areas and he was photographed almost 3 miles apart as the crow's fly. So my goal is to try and figure out how he is getting from parcel-to-parcel.

I had pulled my topo and aerial photo to get the lay of the land (as VirginaShadow mentioned). I had also previously set points on my GPS of roads etc., helping set-up my boundaries for these areas. I then walked into these areas and started looking for white oaks and other types of possible feed, making mental notes along the way and continuing to mark key features on my GPS. I also looked for swampy, streams or other muddy areas for tracks and also dropping etc.
So now, when I go back in a month or so, I can pin-point an area to scout more thoroughly and hang a stand or "cut-in" for my climber.
These new spots proved to be good, as I stalked towards a nice Doe from 125 yards to within 35-40 yards and also had heard a "blow" from a deer, in each of the other spots.

So VABOWMAN, anytime in the woods can be informative and one must go around his/her priorities in life.
If someone is fortunate enough to have a schedule that permits perfect scouting or hunting conditions, then I would view them as very lucky woman/men[&:]!
I hope it makes sense or maybe I'm just wasting my time, but I will find out in 76-days?