mauser06

ok i live in PA if you dont know..the first season i might hunt the area is the 3rd week of october for a doe muzzleloader hunt...then maybe rifle season in the begging 2 wks of december then flintlock after christmas...october is doe only...the rest either buck or do will be fair game(if i have my buck tag still) my plan is to try to take a do with the ml in october back there then hold out for a buck for hte rest of the year...if i dont get a doe in october then i will take one after christmas...i want a nice rack for the wall this year...meat doesnt matter...dad will probally take a few does for the freezer and be happy...the area i will be hunting is behind my house...i know there are a few decint bucks and some small ones and a good bit of good does....the area isnt HUGE but huntable....i killed a turkey back there...my question is how early is too early to start scouting for the seasons i want to hunt? now their in thier summer patterns i think right? when will they start to fall into the fall/winter pattern? or are they always teh same being the area isnt too big...? i want to get one a few of the nice bucks incase my first few days of rifle season doesnt produce a buck...and the does should be in the same spot as them...i know of atleast 1 buck that has to be going on 3.5 maybe even 4.5 years old...i seen him last fall at about 80yds with a bunch of other deer..he snuck out first with his head down...i could see nice long tines and hes spread was about as wide as the outer part of his ears....a pretty nice PA buck...i know hes alive...his tracks were in the snow every day i shed hunted him....never did find his sheds but i know hes back there...any advice on when i should start looking for him and his buddies? this will be my first year hunting alone...i really want to prove to dad i can do it....i mean...scouting the longbeard and calling him in myself and bringing him home suprised the heck out of my dad and he was proud that all them years i really was listening and paying attention.....but bagging a nice buck myself will top it off and prove it...also the area is sorta urban...i mean the woods do go for a long ways but there is houses on 2 sides adn a shopping center on 1..then it opens up and theres alot of woods...i seen a few guys back there mostly bow season...barely any in rifle season..the ones i have seen back there hunt all wrong...sitting ON deer trails..one guy walked past the bed of a nice racker buck and hunted right on the trail that he walks out on....i want to get the edge...i know i can beat those guys.. i had one tell me about how all the guys hunt back there are friends and they all hunt 1 buck...the one i seen....they all hunt him wrong and thats why hes as big as he is....thanx alot guys....

timbercruiser

Just curious, what is wrong with hunting trails? As to the when, I feel that if you know the woods, including feeding areas that are used in the fall, then don' t go out there stomping around before the season in the name of scouting. One visit just to check on producing acorn trees should suffice.

mauser06

nothing is wrong with hunting trails at all....but this guy plopped down ON the trail...walked in on it and sat on it..not near it...if a deer walked down it it would walked over his legs....and the thing is..i seen alot of the deer in winter and really didnt get to in depth about scoutin them precisly.....i kick myself now for not..i mean a few hunting trips i should be on deer...but i got a while so i was thinking of a scouting trip....i mean the area is right behind my house..thats the beauty of it...i can go ther ein any of my free time....and its perfect because i highly doubt i will have a truck before the season starts so i will either hunt with dad or walk..and late muzzleloader we dont have school for most of it so i will hunt every morning until i have to work if i have tags left....i noticed today from the highway that the trees are turning color back there already!! anyone have an idea when i should scout it and when the deer will be on their fall/winter patterns? i know the food and thick areas..i know the water....i know major trails that i never seem to see a deer on lol...i guess i do have it down pretty good...id just like to scout it one more time.....anyone know?? thanx

Tree climber

just a few weeks before the season opens,(don' t go in there and stink up the place),if you know the trails,food,and water,and beding area.just wait till opening day and get between the beding area and the food and wait.you shouldn' t need to scout if you know all this.they will go the same places as the did last year if the food is there,of course in the rut,go where the does are.food means nothing to a rutting buck.as I tell my wife ;" if the girls are there ,the boys will be there" [:-].

Tazman

Find the mast and you will find the deer when season rolls around. From what you say you know where they bed, so now it is a matter of setting up between the mast trees and the bedding area. Not knowing the lay of the land and if there are crops in the area makes it a bit difficult to help. If the concentration of mast is in an area away from their summer forage then the trails they use will probably not be well defined right now, but if you know where the trails were last fall between thier bedding areas and the mast crop then you should be setting up in that area, make sure you keep in mind that the prevailing wind sometime changes so you will need to set at least 2 stands to start with and be willing to fine tune the locations due to minor changes in their travels and wind. Oh yea and once the rut is in as others have said find the does and the bucks will come.

wimp

Are you hunting the big buck, or are you hunting the does back there or both. If hunting the does during early ML, hunt the food sources or main trails. If hunting the big buck during rifle season, find the thickest stuff you can. If hunting the big buck after Xmas, try finding any remaining late scrapes that may still be active. You might even try a bit a grunting here or there. Otherwise concentrate on the edges of where you think he might be bedded and maybe you can catch him at fisrt or last light. Good luck.

mauser06

thanx guys.....i never really could find a true food source......theres a few stands of oaks...but ive never sat there and waited for a deer to come by....i was always shed hunting or looking for turkeys.....id kick the deer up alot of times.....its going to be very tricky to get in there without spooking them...they are set up so perfectly that they know im coming well before im near.....i got a plan and travel route for that though.....and wimp your right...early muzzleloader is doe only....then rifle i will hunt there only if i have my bucktag left.....then muzzleloader its whatever tags i have left....buck season i wont be there for the first few days of the season but if i have a buck tag left i will hunt there later......im sure they feed on the oaks but that is one spot that lacks sign.....theres some.....but not like the other areas.....i guess i will have to sneak in and find out one day ones the leaves start to fall or so...its pretty thick all through there.....thanx guys.....