It?s that time of year again. The sun is hot, the days are long, and the start of hunting season is still a couple of months away.  Now is the time that I like to start scouting and finding out where the deer are in my area.  In some instances this can be a difficult task, but I do a few things to try to make this task easier. 

One of the biggest problems I face is trying to find new stand locations for the fall.  I know that some of my favorite spots will produce deer just as they have in previous seasons, but it seems that every time I am in the woods I often wonder what is going on in the next section of woods over from my stand.  There are so many good places to hunt that I wish I could sit in all of them at the same time, but obviously that?s not possible!  I choose the stand that I think gives me the best chance for action and I hope I make the right decision.  

One of the best ways I have found to help with this problem is to scout in the off season and keep scouting into and through deer season.  In my opinion, trail cameras are a must for anyone who is serious about killing the big ones.  You can set them up in various areas and they help a lot with the questionable spots because you can quickly find out if deer are working that area.  This information helps me decide if I should hunt in that area.  Game cameras will also help me see exactly where the deer are moving when they change from their summer patterns to their fall patterns.

Another great way to scout deer is to put out some sort of bait in front of your trail cameras.  This will give the deer a reason to go in front of your camera.  Otherwise you would just have to be lucky to get a deer to walk in front of your camera.  One of the best baits to use is corn.  Mineral licks and other attractants are sure to work as well but I trust corn the most.  In the game zone I live and hunt in corn can be used all the way through hunting season.  
If you do not have or cannot afford to use trail cameras the next best option for scouting is to get out and see firsthand where the deer are going.  I still use this method even when I have the trail cameras up and running because it gets me out of the house and gets me fired up for the upcoming season.  I try to be careful not to spook the deer though because it may cause them to change up their patterns if they feel that their old pattern has been compromised.

These are just some of the scouting techniques that I like to use.  I hope that they will help you on your next scouting adventure and if you have any questions, want some advice, or have a different way of scouting feel free to comment on this blog. I appreciate any comments and will respond as soon as I can!

Evan

 

	One of the tracks in the snow

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
 

	Plot #1

Today I finally got the chance to ride up to our hunting club and check out my food plots.  I have not been able to check on them since we put the seed in the ground so I was eager to see if any growth had taken place.  When I arrived to the area of my food plots I was surprised to see how well the products had grown over the past 3 weeks! The rain sure has been a big help.  This particular area is about 2 acres in size and we had previously disked it up and planted some seed.  We also built corn feeders and placed them in our food plots.  Nothing wrong with giving them options!

 

Doe

In addition to planting, we placed 3 game cameras along the edges of the plots to see if anything was wondering around our stands.  I checked it today and I?ve got around 90 pictures already.  Most of the photos were of does feeding on the beans and clovers. Though, I did manage to get a few pictures of some bucks. From the photos I obtained about a month ago, I know that the bucks just started growing their horns within the last 3 to 4 weeks (at least in my area?low country SC that is). It?s good to see some of the deer in my area, but it?s not good to see that almost all of the pictures were taken at night. That?s a frustrating fact to deal with! Has this ever happened to you?if so, I?m sure you can feel my pain.

	Buck

Along with the deer photos, the trail camera took snap shots of other game such as a fox, some raccoons, possums, and turkeys.  The funny thing is that during turkey season I hunted this area hard for the first two weeks of the season, but quit hunting it because I never heard the first gobble or even caught sight of the first bird. That?s how it works though! You see turkeys during deer season and deer

during turkey season.

Gobbler

Seeing so many of the pics of the deer being taken at night reminded me of how difficult it can be sometimes to get a good deer to walk during daylight. I?ve sat many times waiting on a big buck to walk out, only to leave the woods empty handed.  I?ve come to learn that people who have never hunted, or have no knowledge of hunting, think that every time you venture in to the woods you will walk out with a trophy.  This is the furthest thing from the truth! Sometimes you can hunt hard for weeks and not even see the first deer, but that?s what makes hunting exciting for me! I know I won?t see monster bucks on every hunt (like they do on TV), but when I do see a good buck it makes for some of the best experiences of my life.

 

 

 

 

More to come.

 

Derek