How many total hours to you put in scouting before each season? And of those hours, how many are spent boots on the ground (putting out/checking gamecams, looking for trees to climb, looking for deer sign, etc.) and how many are spent "google scouting" (analyzing topo maps, Google Earth, looking at WMA maps, etc.)? I've noticed a lot of yall run summer cameras. I never put out cams until later summer, mostly because it's so dang hot out in the summer. Also, I do more Google scouting than I do walking properties. It's cheaper, I can do it in the AC, and it doesn't let deer know I'm trying to kill them. Lol. Up until this point I've hunted properties that I'm familiar with (family lands, WMAs I've been on numerous times, etc.), but since I moved and am now out of state and will be hunting public property, it looks like I'm going to have to up my scouting game.
I am spoiled I live and hunt the same place I know the land like the back of my hand, I watch the deer year round glassing from the distance and trail cams. I feed every day other than when I am trying to kill them, I leave scent in the area the deer know me too. I take care of the does year round and they do their part by drawing the bucks in
I've put in about 2 hours total with maps up to this point. I won't work maps much more depending on how our scouting trips go next month.
I will start running my cams around mid July. I don't do much out in woods till then. Mid july to mid august i will run cams and move treestands/cut shooting lanes. Come september i like to stay out of woods.. Usually check cams twice in september and then wait do lots of google maps scouting using the 2 pulls I do in september.. Checking deer travel direction to see if I can locate possible bedding from travel times and directions of deer
Not enough! I don't know how many hours I spent scouting since last fall but no matter what I wish I did more. I moved last winter, so a lot of ground I covered was new public property. Found some great spots but you can never find enough. I'm still scouting and will continue through the end of season. Look forward to seeing what spots pan out, need to be tweaked, and need to be abandoned. Look forward to fall!
I have done much more this year than in the past. I have checked cameras more than ever. What I have found is that it gives me a better understanding of the deer population we have in our area. It has also given me a chance to look for areas to plant some fall plots. All in all I believe that it will give me better grasp of how to approach certain stands this fall.
It kinda depends on what you consider scouting... Does Google Earth count? Do trail cams and mineral sites count? looking for sign while doing foodplots and spraying thistles? or just binocs on deer? Either way I have already done more this year for deer hunting than ever before and its only the beginning of July!
Too many to count so far with boots on ground. no maps for me in the area im in this year. 3rd year hunting it so I know it pretty well
No idea. From scouting to see where the deer winter for shed hunting, scouting land and old sign while shed hunting, checking to see what crops are planted where, looking at maps, evening drives, talking to landowners, trail cameras, long range summer scouting and scouting while hunting... it would be easier figuring out how many hours I am not spending time scouting in some shape or form. I work on a fairly good sized farm so even while working, I get to scout and snope. Scouting never really stops for me. Tim
I have not spent much time actually in the woods yet this year. We have cameras out in Ohio and my friend checked them over the weekend. But in Pa I am a ground pounder. I usually start in mid-July and try to hit my spots several times without messing them up too badly. Pa public land is tough because of how many other hunters use them.
This year i have been scouting the county assessors map. It shows who owns what so I know who to ask to get permission to hunt!
I normally set up stands in spots on leases that look promising and scatter cameras around the area, by the end of september I have a pretty good idea if i need to move my stand or not, its not so much scouting as to knowing what your deer like to do
On my farm (150 acre Christmas Tree) scouting is 24/7. I'm always making notes on where I see deer, paths, scrapes and rubs while I'm out mowing, trimming and other work. On the three other properties, I rely heavily on trail cams and about 10-12 hrs of scouting per property before the season. That's not including while I'm planting plots or setting stands either. As my wife would put it, way too much time and effort. Lol “In a civilized and cultivated country, wild animals only continue to exist at all when preserved by sportsmen.” -Theodore Roosevelt
I spend 15-20 hours a year driving the kids out to look at deer from the road but don't do anything else in the way of scouting. We hunt the same properties year after year and pretty much know what is there and where they will be .
