Off season scouting

[Ugahunter2013]

Just curious what everybody typically looks for when scouting in the offseason? I ask because i have never done it. Always been wrapped up in something or turkey hunting. The property i hunt is all pine timber at different ages with the majority 300 acres being 12-13 year old pines that are still pretty thick with underbrush. There are a few creek bottoms that come on the property. They are dry most of the year. I have some food plots that are 1/2 acre to 3/4 acre (marked with blue). I feel like i always fall into the trap of hunting the deer where i want them to be. I do scout but i always end up in the same ol spots. I have typically only scouted right at beginning of season or during season. What should i be looking for during the off season?

I see people talking about where certain bucks bed. I have no idea where sny one particular deer beds. How do you find this out? I assume by visually watching the buck come out? Deer are very heavily hunted where i am and i have found it tough to pattern them.

 

[Mr Bya Lungshot]

I scout in the off season with a small chainsaw. I’ll find the thickest nastiest impassable briar patch there is and cut double wide walking trails zigzagging as much as possible through it. No straight paths.
Come bow season I find many deer show up eating and using it as security and little do they know it was a trap set. Especially through the once impassable years prior.
It’s magnetic to deer. Sometimes it works just days before but that leaves zero time for regrowth. Just don’t cut all the berry producers and they’ll be in it still long after the berries are gone.

 

[Hillbilly stalker]

I squirrel hunt a lot and it doubles as next years scouting. I find where the deer have been hold up while under pressure during the season, I find sheds and escape routes. I often end up in thickets that people walk around or avoid. I find late season food sources such as locust bean trees. The more time you spend in the woods, the more you learn. And like mentioned above, you bust a path and keep it un disturbed , they will use it every time.

 

[livinoutdoors]

I also like to winter squirrel and or hog hunt as a dual purpose hunt/ scouting trip. You see all the things you miss during the season.

 

[8pointduck]

Just curious what everybody typically looks for when scouting in the offseason? I ask because i have never done it. Always been wrapped up in something or turkey hunting. The property i hunt is all pine timber at different ages with the majority 300 acres being 12-13 year old pines that are still pretty thick with underbrush. There are a few creek bottoms that come on the property. They are dry most of the year. I have some food plots that are 1/2 acre to 3/4 acre (marked with blue). I feel like i always fall into the trap of hunting the deer where i want them to be. I do scout but i always end up in the same ol spots. I have typically only scouted right at beginning of season or during season. What should i be looking for during the off season?

I see people talking about where certain bucks bed. I have no idea where sny one particular deer beds. How do you find this out? I assume by visually watching the buck come out? Deer are very heavily hunted where i am and i have found it tough to pattern them.View attachment 956899

That is some great looking land there.

 

[NCMTNHunter]

Not knowing anything else about this property other than that picture I would start by walking that creek bottom in the top left that runs north east. Look for crossings then look for buck sign around the crossings. If you can find a crossing with good buck sign try to find a place where you can see from one side of the creek bottom to the other near there. If you can find muscadines or white oaks or any other natural food source then even better.

 

[EAGLE EYE 444]

One of the very best things that I see on your property is the fact that you have what looks to be a nice pond fairly centrally located on it for a great water source year-round.

It looks like you may have some older growth timber located nearby completely around this pond location and another section located more to the left in your photo.

I have 4 ponds on my property with #1 pond located uphill and it drains into the #2 pond. The #2 pond does drain over the spillway and down a long valley area that goes downhill into a bottom area and there is a tremendous amount of activity throughout this low-lying area as I do have multiple cameras in place that capture a great mixture of nice bucks and does and most every critter in the woods. I reminds me of "Grand Central Station" of sorts because of so much activity.

However, the #3 pond and #4 pond are located only 150 yards apart along the edge of my pasture/woods but back closer to the rear of the property and the deer frequently walk right across the open pasture from one to the other, sometimes during the day but especially at night. Lots of deer also frequently walk a good trail right inside of the tree line from one to the other.

I see this as a good opportunity to check out this pond location as a first priority in my opinion.

I also see a good opportunity for you to install some cameras in various areas and really get a better idea just which trails or areas that the deer are moving on your property.

Currently, I have about 45 cameras located throughout my property and if anything moves about, I will have photos of it as my cameras have now taken over 1 million photos during the past 9 years or so. I do have one heck of a library of most every known critter except BigFoot, Bears, or Gators. During this time period, I have also purchased a total of 86 WildGame Cameras (so I do have some spares for future use) as that is the only brand that I use and they have worked excellent for me. I also know performance details and battery detail performance on every camera since day one. I make sure to evaluate every aspect of each camera (except the video mode because I really don't need that in my library as it takes up too much memory).

With all of the above stated, I have always searched for a better camera and more recently, I have been dismayed that I don't see any real eye-opening "newly enhanced technology" being developed by WGI. I haven't jumped on the bandwagon of some of the cheaper WGI models such as the Cloak and Terra models with packaged deals etc. I know that it has gotten much harder to purchase some models even on E-bay or Amazon that have previously worked excellent for me. I was fortunate that I have never paid more that $100 for any of my cameras.

Good luck to you and I look forward to hearing your replies as your new adventures are created.


Good luck to you.

 

[buckpasser]

For some very basic information on where to start, I’d think about possible cold weather bedding areas, warm weather bedding areas, possible food sources, and obstacles that many effect movement between all these points. Cold weather beds will usually be in short but thick cover with plenty of sunshine available and possibly on a south facing slope or void of trees to the south. Warm weather bedding will be in a shady closed canopy stand of hardwoods or pines and be either noisy, hard to sneak into visually, or both. They will both have at least two escape routes if not 360 escapes. I won’t list all the possible foods but don’t rule out outside the box things like privet hedge. If you can find some of these that’s great, but the best things to see until green up are deer trails. Where I hunt is so flat there are normally only trails around obstacles like ponds, dead falls, creeks, etc. if you have more topo there will be “path of least resistance” trails as to avoid climbing hills unnecessarily. I prefer morning hunts on beds and trails to beds while hunting food and trails to food for evening hunts. I looked at your photo, but really need a topo map and boots on the ground to get the feel for it. Good luck finding that new spot that will pay off.

 

[Ugahunter2013]

One of the very best things that I see on your property is the fact that you have what looks to be a nice pond fairly centrally located on it for a great water source year-round.

It looks like you may have some older growth timber located nearby completely around this pond location and another section located more to the left in your photo.

I have 4 ponds on my property with #1 pond located uphill and it drains into the #2 pond. The #2 pond does drain over the spillway and down a long valley area that goes downhill into a bottom area and there is a tremendous amount of activity throughout this low-lying area as I do have multiple cameras in place that capture a great mixture of nice bucks and does and most every critter in the woods. I reminds me of "Grand Central Station" of sorts because of so much activity.

However, the #3 pond and #4 pond are located only 150 yards apart along the edge of my pasture/woods but back closer to the rear of the property and the deer frequently walk right across the open pasture from one to the other, sometimes during the day but especially at night. Lots of deer also frequently walk a good trail right inside of the tree line from one to the other.

I see this as a good opportunity to check out this pond location as a first priority in my opinion.

I also see a good opportunity for you to install some cameras in various areas and really get a better idea just which trails or areas that the deer are moving on your property.

Currently, I have about 45 cameras located throughout my property and if anything moves about, I will have photos of it as my cameras have now taken over 1 million photos during the past 9 years or so. I do have one heck of a library of most every known critter except BigFoot, Bears, or Gators. During this time period, I have also purchased a total of 86 WildGame Cameras (so I do have some spares for future use) as that is the only brand that I use and they have worked excellent for me. I also know performance details and battery detail performance on every camera since day one. I make sure to evaluate every aspect of each camera (except the video mode because I really don't need that in my library as it takes up too much memory).

With all of the above stated, I have always searched for a better camera and more recently, I have been dismayed that I don't see any real eye-opening "newly enhanced technology" being developed by WGI. I haven't jumped on the bandwagon of some of the cheaper WGI models such as the Cloak and Terra models with packaged deals etc. I know that it has gotten much harder to purchase some models even on E-bay or Amazon that have previously worked excellent for me. I was fortunate that I have never paid more that $100 for any of my cameras.

Good luck to you and I look forward to hearing your replies as your new adventures are created.


Good luck to you.

You are correct. That is a pond in the middle. It is about 2.5 acres. I have never seen deer “regularly” on the property but i know the area has a healthy deer population. I have hunted all my life but i am a self taught deer hunter (20 yrs and its amazing how much there is still for me to learn) and in the last 3 years have really started to focus on hunting thr wind. I have killed 3 bucks total in the last 8 years. A 144” 12 pt, a 134” 10 pt, and a 131” 8 pt. Surprisingly (and luckily) those are the biggest deer ever seen on the property in person and on camera (had the 12 and 10 on cam day before they were killed). I have always hunted the top half of the property (from the pond and north). I want to make it a priority to hunt thr bottom half of the property next season. I have not hunted it in the last 6 years because there is not much to hunt from in terms of big enough trees. The “swirly” clear cut in the bottom left was fairly big timber when it was cleared 6 years ago. That was when i killed the 144” Twelve point. Beautiful old buck with 13 1/2” g2’s. I was hunting the northern most part of the “clearing” (timber then) and i feel like he came out of a thicket/bedding just south of me where that green area juts into the clearing. I saw deer regularly at this spot, unfortunately i only got to hunt it 1 year before it was cleared. That was the only spot i have ever really hunted on the property that i found the deer moved through On the reg. It now has broom sedge and chest high long leafs in it. I have always felt like there is a spot that i havent found yet that could be a hot spot as far as an area they really travel through. Problem is as i said earlier the majority of the property is in timber that is too young to hunt in (stands) and too thick to hunt with geound blind. I feel like there is so much area for them to bed in and they never really leave those smaller pines and thus i never really see them.

 

[Ugahunter2013]

Ok so i added a few notes on the picture. I have marked the “12 year old” pines.

The “mt” are mature pines that had their last thinning a few months ago and will be clear cut in 5 years.

The head of pines in the top left and right are 22 year old pines (roughly) that have never been thinned. When they were young my g-dad experimented with an aerial ferilizer application and chose the pines on the left and their growth is pretty noticeable compared to the ones on the right. The ones on the right are much thicker with brush compared to the ones on the left which are very very clean and are raked often.

The area with red arrow is an area i am working on right now. It is a 5 year old clear cut that has not been replanted. If there ever was an ideal bedding area this would be it (i think). It has small volunteer oaks, loads of wax myrtles, scuppernons, black berries, etc. it is about 7 acres in size. There is a head of very healthy and mature oak trees bordering the property line on the east and there are some on the southern bottom of the clearing as well. I am working on the bottom “tip” of this clearing on the southern end. It was mostly broomsedge , was myrtles, volunteer oaks, and sweet gums. I chose this because it was the “least nasty” and would be manageable without heavy equipment/tractors , which i dont have. We spend a few hours with machete and chainsaw last weekend and it is taking shape. I left all of the healthy volunteer oak trees and my plan is to have a 1-2 acrea food plot there with thicket bordering it.

 

[Mark K]

It’s 300ac...walk the entire thing one Saturday morning and mark sign you see on your phone/app/whatever. Next week go back and study what you’ve marked and figure out what is the best and why. Mark locations for stands based on predominant wind.

 

[Ugahunter2013]

It’s 300ac...walk the entire thing one Saturday morning and mark sign you see on your phone/app/whatever. Next week go back and study what you’ve marked and figure out what is the best and why. Mark locations for stands based on predominant wind.

I meant the younger pine stands total about 300 acres. The entire tract is 580 acres

 

[sleepr71]

You have a POND..which = yr round water source. That’s a huge bonus & can be an early season magnet,if it’s especially dry?. I’d find any & all trails leading to it + around it. Those short pines= bedding area. Another bonus! I’d try to find trails leading in/out of them & figure out (or make) a way to hunt the heaviest used ones. Pick alternate stand sites(to allow hunting under different wind direction). You have established food plots..find trails leading to those. ESP. Ones coming from the short pines. May have to clear a trail to be able to watch these travel routes. I LOVE short pines & the bedding areas they create. I STAY OUT of them..and only hunt the perimeter..based on wind direction. Other than that..try to find how & where deer are coming onto your property. You have a good property with FOOD,BEDDING AREA,and WATER...so there should be deer there year round. Keep ‘em happy,safe,and leave ‘em alone..until time to whack one?

 

[dixiecutter]

February scouting is because it doesn't interupt anything and you can see good. It's more about learning the property than about locating deer imo. You can make assumptions by seeing the geography, food (tree) identification, and thick spots you figure to be bedding, to help you know in advance what will be happening the next fall. Works good on big tracts or on public when you need to cover some ground and familiarize. In a small place- if I was already familiar with the property I wouldn't bother really.

 

[SCPO]

I like to look around while leafs are off trees and it's cold to keep the rattle mouths in ground.

 

[Wayne D Davis]

Personally I'd be scouting trails between your arrow (where the mature hardwoods are) and the pond. Topo maps of the area to zero in on any funnels if there is any. Walk and think like a deer, the easiest route between these two areas. It works for me locating travel routes.

 

[Buckstop]

Its only 300 acres. You dont have to find the deer. Theyre there on your property. Prolly most all of it. You just need to find where you can kill em at. Identify the travel corridors. Most deer have natural ranges that exceed 300 acres. Look for the areas where you watch the most trails at once. Long woods roads are your friend. Long fire breaks too. Easy to find where they prefer to cross. Just cruise them a day or two after a good rain and its usually obvious where they travel the most. Also if you have any cutover, find a tall pine on the edge n get up high in a climber. Play the numbers and get where you see the most trails as possible.

I enjoy walking down in the heart of the woods this time of year and in turkey season to understand where they are coming n going from. But setting up for deer hunting, I usually try to see as far as I can somewhere between point A and point B.