I’m new to topo scouting and could use a bit of help with some local land. I’m blind hunting with my boys this year (ages 10 & 12)and haven’t really had much time to scout. This is their first year hunting (ever) and obviously I’d love for them at the very least to see a dear. Keep in mind, this is public land too…so I have to pack in and out the blind.

At this piece of property, I really only scouted slightly and found a bit of deer sign in the field I’ve pinpointed. That particular field is full of leafy greens, although I have no clue as to what. This is obviously an inside corner, and so far the only location I have pinpointed for putting up a pop-up blind (I’ve walked it in person). The rest of the area (to me) is greatly un-explored.

This is the property boundary in blue…







And here is a hi-res topo…



This second piece of property is about half the distance from me (15 min’s), so it’s much more convenient. It’s only 60 acres though, and having walked much of it, I saw no deer or signs. I threw a marker at the lower right corner of the topo map to make it easier to see the boundry. Anyways, again…here are some images.







Any help would be greatly appreciated! I can pass out the coordinates with a PM.

Dan

On the first area you got the pin next to the road assuming that is your access point. The second pin is the field you are setting up on (Looks like a decent walk). Problem with early season is the deer most likely wont use the open field but will stay to the surrounding woods, they may use it in the evening though. From the right of that field looks like you have a creek bottom within 200 yards. Hard to estimate distance without a scale. If that is a creek bottom and you look like you also got oaks or hardwoods to the right of the field where to the north-west is primarily pines or evergreens. Would start there. Acorns should be ready to drop down along with decent amount of brush. Cant tell from the pics as underbrush can be thick by now but find alot more deer skirting the edges of fields in the morning and day times using those creek bottoms. Allows them to scope the area out first as well.

On the second area its hard for me to tell you anything. The left edge of the property and the southern edge looks like good areas the deer will travel through to get to the fields but what is in those fields may be more important. The satalite photos look to be in the fall so not much showing for crop fields at least on the right of the property where that house is. Also do they hunt that land from their property? Would hate to setup on that side and have a possible conflict of people using the area. Field to the left of the property looks like it has at least been tilled so may be planted with crops that means the deer may come from the woods on the left and go to that field if the field gets harvested then they may use the food plots.

That brings me to another thing. Are these fields food plots or open tilled fields.?

Yes, the Pin’s on the road are just the coordinates for the map location.

That was my concern about the field…we are going to be morning hunting. Quite frankly, the only sign I saw was in this field though…and unlike the rest of the area the ground is not rock hard. The particular one I marked is not tilled, but has some type of leafy greens in it ~ 2 ½-3 feet tall. These are dove fields. As for the other fields on this property, I’m not sure as I didn’t have time to scout them. They could be cut (like the fields on the second property), or they could resemble the field I scouted.

The fields on the second property are cut…so think heavy thick thatch…nothing more. If it was rifle season, you would have a clear standing shot from one side to the other. I’m not sure if the deer consider what’s left a food source or not, but on this piece of property the fields are unmanaged dove fields.

FYI, these lands are public….as it’s all I have to work with currently.

Thanks for the input!

Here is the access road in red. Everything else is gated and walking only.

First area i would really try to get in on the creek edge. At least that will give you a visual if anything is moving along that bottom or skirting the field. What type of sign are you seeing in the field though. I got a thousand plants going through my head when i hear leafy greens. If you can ID them then i would Google the plants and see if the deer prioritize them above other food sources in the area. In the food plots we have here there is alot of clover and the fields show alot of sign. Only problem is the deer are only there for the most part in the evening or strictly at night. But they will always be in the surrounding areas until then. Once the leaves start to drop and the greens start going away if there is still green in that field they will then start to show up in the daylight.

For the rest of the area i would wait and scout them at the end of the season being so close in all. If not you could take the kiddos out when they start to shed and go searching these areas for sheds which is also fun and gives you an idea whats in the area and made it through the season.

Second area I would start with the left side of the property at the thinnest section. Could be a good funnel between the fields or also at the southern most point in the woods all for early season as the days get shorter can probably start moving towards the field. If the deer are bypassing the dove fields though they may be hitting something planted in the neighboring fields so your only chance then would be to catch them on the move to these locations. On the second property looks like you also got a road that runs along that field to the properties left. If its a public road then you should have a good spot to drive to and glass that field either in a morning or in the evening to see if deer are coming out of the woods and from where. This glassing will really help you locate where within the woods you may start setting up on.

Will try to ID…here are a couple of background pics. The spider threw me off…I forgot to take pics of the plants themselves.




I didn’t even know that creek edge was there until after I got home and pulled a topo map up! This is my train of thought here…




It’s funny, my initial spot appears to be right in a “saddle” area. I’m not sure how much of one it is, but I’m wondering if that’s more of a reason I spotted sign. As for the sign itself, only deer hooves. This was only because that particular field was the only area that was moist…with fresh prints. This was the last place I scouted too, and the boys were hungry so I didn’t spend too much time here (even though it looked the most promising).

As for the rest…I agree. I’m trying to limit my stomping until a more appropriate time.

Excellent point on the second field! I’ll head out tonight and scope out that field adjacent. That very well could be a funnel on the left…I’ll give it a look. Again, with this one I didn’t know the creek existed in the back until I pulled up a topo.

In my opinion yor hunting it wrong... Hunting in the low areas will have wind swirlind and thermals pulling your scent to bucks bedded along the hill sides. I think the best spots to set up on are the ridges about in the top 3rd. The tops of draws is a great place cause it constricts or funnels movement and is usually right between bedding points. Best to sit on the Leeward side.

No, your absolutely right. Most of the low spots I highlighted were scouting only. I've picked out a spot towards the peak of one of the hills looking down into the creek bed. There is a particular crossing on the creek that had a track or two in it. Overall, I'm a bit disappointed with the lack of sign in the woods, but there are trails...so well see. I'll be hunting out of a lined pop-up blind, so I'm hoping that will keep my scent in check. I think I'll give the edge of the field a go during a night-time hunt opening week and I'll try creek overlook on a morning hunt on the weekend. There is just so much more sign in that field...along with trails entering the NW corner. I doesn't actually appear to be fed upon...and after closer inspection appears really to be just a weedy field. I can see tracks entering and exiting however...but it doesn't appear to have any bedding areas to it.

They tend to bed on the points along the down wind side of the ridge. Most of the daylight movement also seems to be along this area because its close to the bedding areas bucks prefer. However, you don't see nearly the sign you see in the bottoms where ground is softer and bucks use all night long. Its important to keep in perspective that they are night time creatures and 90% of the sign they lay down is done at night.

Update.

We have yet to see any deer, although the sign has picked up considerably. I'm starting to focus more of my attention to the parcel closer to me purely for convenience sake. With that said, it seems that the prevailing winds in the area are always going to go against me. In the picture shown below, there are many fresh tracks crossing the open field where a few well producing oak trees reside (~45 yards across). The big issue I have is…I have no idea the time frame they are crossing. I have setup there on one evening hunt in the location shown…hoping to catch one exiting the woods crossing the open field. Yesterday evening we setup in the woods on the south side of the field where a few trails (and a fresh rub) was at...and again, saw nothing. The problem with setup within the woods is…it’s quite thick in most areas, and because this is public land I am unable to trim back any lanes.

Should I continue to focus my attention on the field edge on evening hunts? Would this be more productive in the morning? If not…where would the best setup spot be for a morning affair? Without a trail cam…It’s really difficult to get an idea with limited field time.

Any thoughts/input would be awesome!

Thanks!