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deer scouting tips

Old 07-11-2009, 09:44 AM
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anybody have any good tips on scouting for whitetails?
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Old 07-11-2009, 10:21 AM
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i start scouting this time of year with my zoom lens on my digital camera ,i took pics of 7 bucks a few days ago on a farm i hunt. i like to stay far enough away not to spook them, my camera has a 609mm lens. i use a window mount ans shoot from my truck. this was taken from 350yds,not a bad 8pt.

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Old 07-11-2009, 02:59 PM
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Which season are you scouting for? Bow? Rifle? Muzzle? For the rifle season here in Northern Minnesota, I have found that the best time to scout is the first two week's after the season. We usually get fresh snow, and it give's you a chance to see how they were acting during the season, when they were under pressure. I have also found that it pay's to stay out of any area that you intend to hunt for at least 2 weeks before the season.
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Old 07-11-2009, 03:39 PM
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Originally Posted by Lunkerdog
Which season are you scouting for? Bow? Rifle? Muzzle? For the rifle season here in Northern Minnesota, I have found that the best time to scout is the first two week's after the season. I have also found that it pay's to stay out of any area that you intend to hunt for at least 2 weeks before the season.

My question is why to both statements.



Personally, I start about now, when the head gear is about at it's peak, by getting up, around areas with several fields, hedgerows. I get there before daylight, with good optics and sit for a couple hours after. Then again, a couple of hours before dark. I do this for several days in a spot, then move to another, even if I see a mature buck. Spot lighting between 1:00am and 4:00 am also.

I particularly keep my ears open around the hunting community, listening/fishing as to mature buck where abouts. I have permission to hunt a ton of land in the Southern Tier of NY.
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Old 07-11-2009, 06:18 PM
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i have a trailcam and ill be bowhunting as well as using a slug gun
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Old 07-12-2009, 03:35 AM
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My son and I started scoutting yesterday, we put out all our trail cameras. I put cameras on differnt feeders and water holes for a week. After that I will move them to tails and crop fields. We watched a nice 8 pointer before last light last night.
I like the aid of the cameras on feeders to see what is in the area or which buck is using which trail. We then use spotting scopes to watch from afar. When we pattern a buck stands our put in around mid morning and such. I have a couple stands in already and will be putting the rest up later in the month. Good Hunting.
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Old 07-12-2009, 05:50 AM
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To start off cover as much ground as you can quickly just to see if it's even worth bothering with.Don't worry about spooking game at this point.Once you've narrowed down a few good looking areas if possible scout from a distance with binocs/spotting scope..If the covers to heavy for that use a tree stand or blind.
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Old 07-12-2009, 11:23 AM
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i don't feed deer ,its illegal after september 1 anyway in va. feeding them makes it way to easy. i watch til i find the best bucks on my property ,then i hunt.
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Old 07-12-2009, 02:31 PM
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Originally Posted by crokit
My question is why to both statements.



Personally, I start about now, when the head gear is about at it's peak, by getting up, around areas with several fields, hedgerows. I get there before daylight, with good optics and sit for a couple hours after. Then again, a couple of hours before dark. I do this for several days in a spot, then move to another, even if I see a mature buck. Spot lighting between 1:00am and 4:00 am also.

I particularly keep my ears open around the hunting community, listening/fishing as to mature buck where abouts. I have permission to hunt a ton of land in the Southern Tier of NY.
Many reason's. First let me say that starting now is a good Idea, especially for bow hunters. That's why I asked which season he was scouting for. Before I answer please bare in mind that the area's I hunt are nothing like the area's that you spoke of. It's thick hardwood's, and thicker spruce bog's. The only long distance scouting I can do is on big power line's. Ok now my first statement. Our rifle season end's in mid November, and we usually have snow by then, for the first two week's after the rifle season the mature deer are still pretty timid so all the fresh sign I see tells me were the deer are, and how their acting during the hunting season. We also usually get a couple fresh dustings during that time, giving me great opportunity's to track, and back track animal's. Usually when we get fresh snow during that time, the dominate buck's run the circut of there territory in search of doe's that were not bred during the primary breeding phase, that give's a great opportunity to pattern their range's, and I've found that these range's tend to remain traditional from one generation to the next. I'm not saying this is the only time to scout, but it is the time that I have learned the most. Now the second statement. Their was a proffesser at the U-of-M, Bemidji, who acually had a course on whitetail's, which included hunting them. He studied them for over 20 year's. He had a university budget, and score's of student's to do field work. His name was Dr. Ken Nordberg. He went on to write a series of book's titled The Whitetail Hunter's Almanac, I have found 8 in the series. I use my own variation's of his method's, but I have found his fact's to be spot on in my area. One of the thing's he discoverd was that if you chase a mature buck out of it's territory, they some time's remain off range for as long as 2 week's. I'm not saying this happen's all the time, but I figure why chance it. I hope this help's you understand reasoning for my statement's.

Last edited by Lunkerdog; 07-12-2009 at 02:34 PM.
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Old 07-13-2009, 09:15 AM
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Mossbergman, first of all you need to evaluate the type of hunting you will be doing, Bow or Gun? Secondly you have to get a good Topo map of the property that you will be hunting. Public or private land will also be a factor as well. Here are some of the things that i look for when starting my pre-season scouting for the upcoming Bow season here in Ohio. Early season I always search out the food sources and watering holes. Try to identify the bedding areas and routes that they may be taking to and from these bedding spots. Which routes are they taking to their favorite food sources, then try to set up inbetween the bedding areas and food sources with an easy route for yourself to get in and get out without pushing the deer out of thier spots and without being detected. It may not always be an easy task coming and going without being busted a time or two but anything that you can do will help. This is the time that you want to get your trail camera put up and do some glassing from a far. early season will be your only hope of patterning a big buck if you see one while glassing or via your trail cam. Cause once the rut kicks in... well all bets off, you have a better shot at winning the lottery than patterning a buck. All hell will break loose and just when you think you know most of the bucks in the area, BAM! 2 or 3 more bucks will come traveling thru that you may never have seen before. Hope this helps
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