when do you start getting ready to kill that big un or the freezer filler

Started re-scouting some overlooked/neglected spots the dat before our season ended. Got out maps of some possible new spots for next year that I will be scouting in the next few weeks. The work starts now!

the sooner you prepare for next season the less the deer will notice when huntin season swings around just got 126 acers probably start on it this weekend

The poll contains a serious error....no option for...IT IS A YEAR ROUND EVENT!

will edit

I voted in the middle of summer. But for me I hunt till deer until the end of jan. the bunny is still in until the end of feb but I only go if I know the person i go with likes to eat them. Then after that I will break for about a month before the walleye run starts in the maumee river and fish off and on until that is over. Do a little fishing durring the summer but I will start going out to the woods in may or june to start wathching the deer.

In a way it starts again now. I will review what went wrong and right. I will evaluate then equipment. And fix or change anything that was sub-par. I really don't need to scout, The deer come out onto the winter wheat to feed and what was summerplowed this year will be winter wheat next year. I know which draws come up onto which fields. If they plant it, they will come.

I prepare "just before deer season." By this I mean I go out shooting two or three times before the season, during the six weeks immediately preceeding the season. Typically I fire 20 rounds on each such outing. Sometimes I'm tuning up two rifles -- my primary and my back-up -- in which case I may be firing double this number of rounds per outing. I will verify my sight-in immediately before the hunt, for example two days before opening day. I have been deer hunting for a while, so I have my kit accumulated and merely need to organize and pack it up neatly. I try to keep in good physical condition all the time, but sometimes I fall off the wagon, and in this case I will employ the two months before deer season to do some physical training.

Because I have been hunting the same spot for the last four seasons, I'm pretty familiar with the hunting ground. I think it is a fair bet I could show up opening morning with no scouting that year and still bag my deer. In fact, I have done that two of the four years I have hunted this ground. This past season I did drop by for some scouting about a month before the season, but I didn't accomplish much other than to verify that there were lots of persimmons and to put up some florescent tape to lead me to a preferred opening morning ambush spot where I placed my son (no luck on this spot).

I may read some about deer hunting during the year, but largely my thoughts are on other things until perhaps mid-September -- my job, the kids's school, family vacations, etc.

I am not a trophy hunter. My hunting ground typically does not have immense bucks on it. I am looking for a mature doe for quality venison and will shoot a buck if I see one that is bigger than the one I got the last time, unless I know someone who needs the food. For my family one deer per year is enough venison, and I prefer the doe for eating anyway. I say this because it seems to me the trophy hunter is well advised to spend a lot of time scouting earlier in the year to locate and pattern the big buck they are seeking -- and maybe on multiple distinct hunting grounds.

I may try to get out more in the future for scouting-like activities, not to enhance my hunt but because my youngest daughter is expressing interest in hunting and this may be a way to feed and nurture this interest at a time when I feel she is still a bit young and small of stature for pulling the trigger on a deer shooting a deer rifle (such as my .243 Winchester featherweight).

Since hunting is a big part of my life, I always seem to be getting ready for the next season. I love everything about it and it always plays a role in my day to day life.

Fat-Arrow

It depends. Have I gained any new areas? Has anything drastic changed in my existing areas. In either of those cases, scouting ASAP, even if its right after the seasons end. All thru spring turkey as well. Once summer comes I back off, but will check fields to see what's in the areas. One quick zip or 2 thru any last minute areas right before the season, and I'm good to go. I always scout thru the season as well. Never stop looking to where the hot areas may be.