Blog Entries from the WeHuntSC.com blogging crew
This past year we started hunting a new piece of land in our area and one of the things we looked forward to doing was some off-season scouting. During the season we got a good feel for where deer were traveling, what food sources they liked, and the locations we should probably put stands in. Though, we specifically wanted to wait until the leaves got off the trees to walk around and see where any deer sign is when the deer haven?t been pressured in a while. We thought that we may be able to find deer sign in places that we didn?t expect and give us better insight as to hunting strategies for next fall.
This past weekend provided a great chance to not only do all that, but to do it in the snow! Since Adam and I were both in the area we headed out to do some scouting. We walked over a large portion of the land looking for sign and checking game cameras. One thing we noted was that the location of one of our feeders wasn?t feeding anything but raccoons and black birds! Walking in the fresh snow also gave us insight as to the paths the deer were traveling. And not one track led to that feeder?so yes, we?re going to move it!
As we walked over the land we saw a couple of prominent places where the deer were frequently walking. You could easily tell that they were deer trails because of all the deer tracks that were printed in the snow. One trail showed us where the deer were crossing a creek on the land. It was also good to see that one of the trails led straight to our Tecomate Seed Food Plot! One of the heavily traveled trails led us to several rubs on trees. It?s a good sign to see buck sign in the area and I was glad that we did get out and do some scouting.
The snow definitely gave us a unique perspective of the land. We?ll probably move some stands and do some strategic thinking about our food plot placements in the upcoming Spring & Fall. If you haven?t ever taken the chance to get out and walk your land after a snow, then I encourage you to do so because it could give you some insight that may change the way you hunt your land!
Another interesting note was that Adam was scanning the woods as we drove down the road and he spotted 3 does. So, like any webneck would do?we stopped, backed up, shot some film, and then tried to make bleat and blow sounds at the does.
Regards,
Clint