2015 Boot Leather to the Back of the Truck Thread---Scout to KILL

Very productive morning. Walked one of the four pine bedding areas I wanted to hit. Found three well used doe bedding areas and one small point with a mess of tracks and some buck sign. Found what I would consider two solid stand sights, one of which is going to need a ton of prep work because of how thick it is.

 

Right there with you.

I am way behind on my scouting this year. I have gotten out a few times but haven't really scouted with a purpose. The plan is to mark some areas on a map and hit it hard this weekend.

 

I have not gotten out nearly as much as I would like... That changes this weekend!

 

Sounds like a great day but we needs some picture!

 

Only took a couple pics....should have taken more. I learned a ton of how the deer move in this area based on the tracks. Inside hard to soft corners were loaded with tracks.

 

Only took a couple pics....should have taken more. I learned a ton of how the deer move in this area based on the tracks. Inside hard to soft corners were loaded with tracks.

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View attachment 57116

 

Great morning for scouting. Snow just cleared and 50 degrees.

 

I was out yesterday public ground in Southern Wisconsin. I got some education yesterday, I found a 4.5 or older buck jumped him out of his bed in a spot I would have never thought to look for a buck of that caliber. All the sign around there says he has been using it for a couple of years. I think my new goal is to shoot him in 2015

 

130....awesome man. Any pics of the buck bed? I'm terrible at finding them.

 

No I was with someone and I didn't want to lead on what I found. I have to go back and find a tree to hunt from, I'll take some then. What I look for when I find a bed, is there crap in it, is there a rub within eye sight, a scrape close by(this time of year the scrape is just a licking branch and can be hard to spot), smell and finally seeing the deer. There was rubs from this past season and the previous season just on a smaller tree, that tells me it's his home. This spot I would have never thought to look and it's obvious nobody else looked either and that's why he's there.

 

Had a good day in the woods. Found a small shed, discovered some massive oaks that are 50 yds from a well used creek crossing, saw a high ground scrape with some large deer crap in it, and also found what I thought was a 5 foot community scrape on the corner of a thicket/hardwoods.

A couple of the oaks I found had 6 and 7 foot wide bases. Impressive.

 

Great thread. Being a big woods public land Hunter I put in a lot of time scouting and locating bucks. So far this year I've hit the woods quite a bit looking for sheds and scouting. Found some good new stand sites and discovered that a buck I've been hoping to see DID make it through the season. He should be 4 1/2 this year and hopefully puts on some inches. Found his shed and four others over the weekend. Here are some pics over the past 2 months.
Some smaller sheds



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Three quick questions,

#1 How frequently do you guys scout your land in the spring, summer and fall? I want to know how much scouting I can get away with before I start spooking deer enough to find new beds. And when is the latest I should be in the woods, a week or two before opening day?

#2 I know that the deer follow different paths now then they do in the fall, but how drastic is the change?

#3 How can you guys tell the difference between scrapes from last year, and the deer feeding on tree bark this year? Are there any defining characteristics about rubs? such as their height off the ground, damage to the tree etc, and will the buck rub in one spot or rub around the entire tree?

 

See Below

 

Ninja scouting???

Looks like a good place man!

 

Yes Matt ninja scouting, except I move like a ton of bricks these days.

Scouted again today. Took a new hunter and showed him the ropes on how to access the military base and some basics of scouting. Solidified one spot I found last year as still holding good deer. Found what looked like a 30-35 inch 4 pt she'd which would be typical for a 2.5 yr old buck around here. Glad he made it as they really got to make it to 4.5 years or older around here to get over the 120 inch mark.

 

Gonna try and get out there on Thursday and Friday. Temps are starting to rise and make it uncomfortable to scout. Oh well, I figure I need at least 30-40 more hours to finish scouting the two main areas I plan on hunting this fall.

 

Tag applications are open right now and my brother in law and I figured out what we're going to put in for, so on payday, I'll get my license and put in for deer tags. Should know when/where we are hunting around Memorial Day.

 

Umm...no, best I can give you is a close second. I have been out scouting 4 or 5 times in the past couple months and have found exactly 0 sheds which is right in line with my lifetime average. I have found tons of sign and some good spots just no sheds. Just saw this thread today so I'll make sure I post some pics of my next outing which will likely be next Tuesday and will hopefully involve a new spot with sweet canoe access! If any of you guys have never hunted marshes for whitetails I highly recommend it. Just a really different kind of hunt and the deer love the marshes! Couple shots from March 27th scout.

 

NEW....never hunted marshes. That looks like a blast.