off season scouting
#1
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 272

when does everybody start there off season scouting? do u scout now or do u wait til march? when do u think deer go back to normal activities? meaning hunting season ended here in mass december 31. so they are no longer pressured. obviously with snow on ground u cant find old scrapes. also deer are probably grouped up now.
#2

Day after the season ends is when I start. At that time you will discover many of the escape routes they use and in my case being farm fields all around I find the trails they take to the fields to feed in after dark. Back tracking will get you in bedding areas.
Al

#5
Typical Buck
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Northern WI
Posts: 853

End of season is best, provided you don't have knee deep snow and subzero temps as we did and still have this year. Right now, any messing around I might do in a yarding area will just stress out the deer even more than they already are being stressed. And much of the other sign besides rubs is buried. This year I will wait til spring.
#9

End of season is best, provided you don't have knee deep snow and subzero temps as we did and still have this year. Right now, any messing around I might do in a yarding area will just stress out the deer even more than they already are being stressed. And much of the other sign besides rubs is buried. This year I will wait til spring.
#10
Spike
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 98

Scouting at the end will let you see their pressured routes. Than just looking at what they are up to frequently to see were their trails are and their patterns but for true scouting, like all day looking and watching. Than about two weeks before the season.