I like your way of thinking Bruce. I too started marking my map last year. I will be adding lots more info after season closes this year. It really does open your eyes to the habitual nature of certain deer herds.

LT

I actually went "scouting" today. My wife, daughter, dogs and me went to one of the WMA's and hiked around for about 3.5 miles. I had the GPS to mark our track and I actually did mark one scrape, it was very active and right on the "trail", but I got to eyeball a whole bunch of really promising area. I may even "blind" hunt it this season but it will get pounded come February time.

I'll put that track and the waypoint on a map, do some topo scouting to figure out where I want to go then, put some waypoints on the map where I want to go and upload them to the GPS. Mark(waypoint) ALL of the sign I'll see on the scouting trip and start making a map of this area. It will tie into another area I have scouted a little and maybe into some more spots I have scouted in this WMA. It is 1700 acres and if I can get it mapped out I think it offers some prime hunting areas.

Thats pretty close to what I do bruce.I still have all my old topo's, I got this set for my 15th birthday, that was in "88". Talk about the happiest kid in the world.

My Dad showed me how to use them to deer hunt.[8D]I know nothing compared to him.

I scout very little. Most of that due to hunting the same areas for several years now. A new place(only 80 acres) I have hunted 4 times now and all I need is to know what crops will be planted next year.

I may start hunting the nearby public land(1100 acres) again next season. I may scout it 3-4 times this winter and then once in early summer to see what crops are planted there.

I understand the whole topo map thing and how some of you feel you don't need to physically scout that much...but I am a "show me state" kind of scouter, I need to see it with my own eyes to believe it. So I will continue to walk and learn the properties I hunt, also cross referencing my findings with topo/aerial maps. But my main scouting option will be good old walking.

Tough to beat that. I'm an advocate of studying aerial photos as well, but that only tells half the story. Plus, getting out there and finding sign gets you pumped up for a hunt!

I look at things a bit different then most. I spend a lot of time in the off season scouting, not sure of the hours because no matter how many I do i wish i could do more. But when i hunt I consider it scouting too. Some of the best information i have obtained about the deer i hunt is just sitting in the stand and watching. Because i primarily bowhunt I think that extra time watching is the most crucial part of scouting. Also, as the season progresses the deer change there patterns and some of the best ways to realize this is to be there and watch, and slowly put all the peices together. Id say my ratio is 2 to 1 scouting to hunting, since i can only hunt half the year.

I most definitely believe in-season scouting helps me for the following year. It has helped me score on deer the following year just by seeing their patterns the year before. Not talking about a specific deer, but more of a general pattern. But I literally need to learn the physial lay-out of the military base I hunt, because it is so big and one never knows what areas they will have open from year to year. It is an endless scouting adventure.

I do the majority of my scouting during the winter/spring while shed and turkey hunting. Everything is so much easier to see at the time. You get a good idea of what has happened but not necessarily what will happen. The spring scouting will normally give you a good idea of the year to come, but you still have to do some in season scouting to keep up with everything like rotating ag fields and mast production.

I don't scout very much. Mostly because I hunt the same places for years.
That said, I need to re-evaluate my main spot and pretend I've never seen it before. I think I am falling into too much of a rut.

Now this past season I did hunt a new place. Made a trip or 2 late winter, a few during spring gobbler and one more in september getting to learn the lay of the land and looking for good areas. I took a weekend in season to roam around and find better areas because I wasn't happy where I was. That eventually led to me finding the spot where I killed my buck. (and that took an extra mid day walk around to improve my location a little more)

So in short, I could care less what the deer are doing december thru september. I only care where they are when I am hunting them in october & november. Many times that means in season trips to find the activity. Off season scouting can only get you so far.