Scouting advice for newbies
 

With archery season rapidly approaching.Who has got any advice for those who are new to the sport or just wanna learn more.




I like topo maps for funnel points,looking for food source,bedding areas.
What do you guys do?

Where to start.....

First of all, you are on the right general track for this season. By that I mean you are right to do as much preliminary work OUT of the woods as possible when this close to the season.

When you do go into the woods this close to season, which we must do of course, be as scent concious as if you were hunting. Shower, spray down and touch as little as possible while scouting. Your hands carry LOADS of scent.

What type of land are you hunting? Big woods? Farmland? Suburbia? Each will have a different approach.

First and foremost, try to identify the bedding areas. This is far more important than the food source which tends to attract more novices for obvious reasons. Your best strategy is to identify travel funnels and pinch points between the dining room and the bedroom. Unhurried whitetails are inherently lazy and will generally take the easiest route so long as they feel safe. A low spot on a ridge, a hole or low spot in a fence, the easy way across a ditch or creek deserve your attention.

Take note of the prevailing winds and try to visualize where the deer ought to be when you approach your stand. I always have a small breats feather of some species suspended from a piece of dental floss on me. In season, it's on the end of my bow stabilizer. Take note of how the wind plays according to the weatherman but also be sure to observe how that plays out at your stand and on your way in.

If you concentrate on bedding, food, structural funnels and wind you will be well on your way. Some stuff, you'll just learn by being out there but hopefully something here will help you get a start.

Most of all, never be afraid to ask for advice here. There are some really good, experienced hunters here that are willing to share:happy0001:

All you have to do is buy 100 acres, post every other tree , plant a few food plots in the middle and you won't have to do any scouting.
That is BTB's and BWJ's solution to the problem of low DD in PA.

come on blue he wanted scouting advice

Scouting for a 100 acres of good deer habitat for sale is the best advice anyone could provide. Just ask BTB and BWJ!!!

Some of it depends on what you are after.
Trophy buck lets say
You would be looking for a bed that is at least 40 inches long. With no other beds around. The big guys like to have a vantage point wind at there back. That way they can see you coming or smell. And have a escape route over a ridge threw some thick swampy stuff. IMHO. Sunny sides they seem to like.
For doe most or sometimes they chose easy routes . The easy spot to cross creek stream and such. You can see there smaller oval beds more than 1 together in most cases.
Of course later on when rut is in. that big boy will come to your doe at some point also.
That's enough for now i guess
Thats were i start looking anyway

Very nice. A new member asks for some scouting advice and the resident jackass has to turn the thread into another pissing match.

Paarrow, pay no attention to this idiot. The normal people here will gladly offer any and all help they can muster.

What type of ground are you trying to scout? Public or private? If it's private, how many others have access? Are you hunting bigwoods, farmland, reverted strips, suburbia?

Feel free to use the PM for your questions if the douche bag's interference bothers you!

Do you do the limbo? How low can you go?

That would be great advice if he can afford it. Or for others

I apologize to anyone except the offending douche bag who may have been offended when I sunk momentarily to his level. I will happily remove the offending phrase if anyone besides the bird and his few lackeys voices an objection. I will also happily consider any suggestions for a more appropriate characterization of his intentional hijacking of a perfectly benign thread intended to do nothing but help a fellow hunter. BTW, Last I knew, This forum does have a profanity filter so obviously this was not profanity.

If no one objects, we can all conclude that my characterization did indeed fit the situation.

Most mature adults who post here don't need a profanity filter to control what they post. But ,there are a few that can't defend their position with facts who have to resort name calling,because that's all they have.

every post you've made on this thread was indefensible thus you have earned the new "indefensible" handle:hit:

BTB i thought you gave good advice.Hopefully more members will do as you did.
Rather than bb answer. We should try and help anyone wanting hunting advice.

Thanks bowtruck.

There are plenty of good guys with plenty of skill and experience willing to help a new hunter here. Hopefully the noise will die down and we can do just that.

paarrow; BTB and bowtruck already have given great advice. I'll second BTB's advice on finding funnel area's and pinch points,whether they are natural or man made. These are my top priority locations. Being you specified archery season,I also like to know the "doe" bedding area's. Even though the chase and actual breeding of doe's occurs later in the season. Bucks tend to be interested in breeding much sooner and won't be to far away from the doe's.

Hope you have a great season.

Wow, this post has jealousy and bitterness all through it. Jealous of someone for putting the effort and expense to provide quality deer management for himself. Bitterness because a goverment agency can't provide the same quality at less expense and effort to himself.

That was just a bit of pay back for all the cheap shots BTB and BWJ have taken at me. I have no problem with others buying land and planting food plots as long as they don't insult their fellow hunters for not doing the same thing.

Scouting doesn't do much good in our area since we have so many archers,even if you find a good spot before the season, there will likely be a stand hanging there before the season opens.

Another tip:

This type of statement is a classic example of advice not to follow. It's the kind of thing often heard at the local bar in the early afternoon of the first day of deer season.

There is no such place in the deer woods as one where scouting won't help you. If the woods you have to hunt are heavily hunted, things get a bit more challenging but the presistent hunter can still prevail. You simply have to factor in the human influence and outwit, out last or outwalk the competition.
I've found that the majority of nimrods who dont value scouting also dont bother to really learn the area. If the area is heavily hunted the rule of thumb is to think steep, deep, or ugly. The guys who dont bother scouting probably wont enter that tough stuff either!:wave:

Four of our stands are in a 4 year old cut and it is the thickest cover in the area.

Thankyou BTBowhunter,blkpowder,bowtruck

Bluebird, I never did a darn thing to you.

I just moved to this area. Did all my hunting in Ok before. I will be hunting public land mostly, maybe private my new boss owns some land,But i am new and havent asked him yet. The hunting will be in or around 3c, gamelands and parks. Not too sure just moved here in late July.

And I never did a darn thing to you,so I guess we are even.

Other than hijack thread with nonsense. Just to slap BTB in the chops.
You are right. I apologize

No individual poster can hijack a thread. If everyone would have ignored my post the thread would have continued on topic. Furthermore, despite a brief diversion the thread did in fact return to the topic of scouting.

Since this is your first season in PA ,my advice is to concentrate your efforts on finding places to hunt and try to find a place where you have exclusive hunting rights either to an entire property or a section of a given property. If that doesn't workout, then you should take a walk in the area you are hunting either during midday on a weekday or on a Sunday and locate the other stands in the area you are hunting.
If you only walk to a location you decided on prior to the season you may have no idea that other hunters may be cutting off the deer before they reach your stand.

holy commode i think you gave someone decent advice. Three cheers for bb

sorry to hijack arrow

We should all do our part to help a new hunter adapt to the hunting conditions in our state. If he was in my area i would direct him to to coop farms that would allow him to hunt and explain how the hunting pressure effects those areas.

Public land can be tough but opportunities abound for those who are willing to put forth some effort.

Here is the website of an outfitter who consistently puts his clients on good bucks in the Allegheny National Forest in 2F/2G
(A heavily hunted public area)
This guy qperates near my camp and we've caught on to a few of his secrets. I'm PM'ing one of their best strategies to you.
http://www.alleghenywildernessoutfitter.com/

Good luck but don't tell the secret!:happy0001:

Where are you located in 3c? If you are located in Susq. Co. you have a lot of good hunting on State Game Lands with low hunting pressure during archer

BTW, Salt Creek Sate Park has good grouse hunting ,if you are interested.

publicland is tough to hunt .archery it will take all your time and you still may not get chance a buck.today everyone is scouting more than ever before do to lack of a lot of deer in all areas.deer are usually in certain areas and archery hunters know this.
with this the bucks will stay hidden until after dark or until rut starts.best advice i can give you is too HUNT THE RUT,that last week of archery season.
stay out trees.this is time to be on ground,this way you can move next day after seeing buck.being in tree you are stuck.bucks act different then, i had them walk right in front of me 100s of times.

friends that hunt out of trees,they always lose that week.carry binos and do scouting that RUT WEEK but be ready, he may walk right by you.bucks are unpredicatable during rut,i usually try to find where doe are feeding that week and i watch them.if i see buck out of range ,i sneak back out and give it try next day but now i know about which direction he is coming from.its hard if you are older, i fall backwards a lot, i bet those doe think its a BIGFOOT in brush, no its me that get cramps up when i kneel .

man i am not that old also but i miss the 18 year old days when i could kneel for hour without moving.soooooooooooooooooo,hunt the RUT week,use other weeks to scout and see where other hunters are hunting.if you see hunters,there are deer and in archery most other than me dont hide their trucks, i still hide mine so i am not followed into woods but it still happens every year.i had 9 treestands around me in a 500 yd circle last year.

I dont know where you are at in 3c, But there are gamelands in warren center.dont know the number at this time. I take my dog there to train, and see plenty of deer sign. I havent hunted deer there thou. A plus for you there would be there are wild hogs . I know of a guy or two that has got them there. game farm nearby has had them escape over the years.

I am in the athens area. I cannot find Warren Center.
Is it legal to shoot the pigs?

Here is a link to the location of Warren center. It is located north of Leraysville.

http://maps.yahoo.com/;_ylc=X3oDMTEx...20center%20.pa

As I understand the regs, feral pigs are once again protected.

My opinion is your hunting has to be tailored to the property you have period.

If its a 20 or 30 acre spot with bad wind forget about the stuff you read about, the bedding areas, feeding areas and the blah blah blah. The deer in your area are not that paternable on such a small property and if your wind is wrong every day during late october and november what are you going to do not hunt?

The detailed scouting issues you can worry about later on with years of experience and as your goals of getting a buck increase in antler size. You can shoot plenty of deer on a bad wind (young deer, does and small bucks)

I would say try and find the most concentrated sign in your area, such as a well worn trail, an oak with lots of acorns, multiple piles of droppings near some food source.

Get where the deer are, spend as much time on stand as possible, try to keep as scent free as possible and get experience drawing and shooting on deer, does and small bucks work fine and believe me you will get a great thrill from that alone.

Good luck.

That sounds like a good plan to me. We hunt with six hunters on 27 acres and we still kill a few deer every now and then.

Yes, it is legal to shoot the pigs during hunting season.

The only protections for feral pigs have been in small isolated areas after the hunting seasons where trapping was being utilized. Those areas have been announced each winter.

good thankyou guys