If you glass in the summer, do you: A. Do it for inventory purposes. B. Serve as an early season scouting tool. For me here in PA (and especially on my primary property), summer glassing does little for more once the season rolls around. They have all but abandoned their summer patterns by the opener, so summer scouting really doesn't tell me a WHOLE lot. Plus, my fields don't offer a very good vantage point without compromising my position (sounds like I'm in the military, or something). I'm curious to see what your experiences have been. Also, indicate when your season opens.
Definetly for inventory for the most part.... but even though the patterns change it gives you a base to start plotting your game plan!
Where we hunt in the Appalachians there is very little farmland or large fields leading to great glassing opportunities. Then again, on the other hand, glassing for acorns in the late summer is a sure fire way to find out some early season hot spots
Well in the past years it has served just has inventory to see what is on the farm (buck wise) but, this year since West Virginia acquired two weeks in September to hunt now I have used it a little bit more to locate some deer patterns.
I use it for fun. I LOVE glassing velvet bucks, and do so at any chance I get even if I have no chance of hunting the land later. Our season opens early enough that it CAN be utilized to pattern a buck for opener, but it can often be difficult to pin down exactly where they enter the huge fields every time and setup where you aren't stuck in your tree all night. But with the right setup, it can be dynamite. I do inventory with game cams and glassing, but put little stock in it. I don't expect to see and know about EVERY deer on a property, I am not that naive.
I use it to see what is out there. I also do my late summer glassing to see where I'll be hunting the first week to 10 days of the season. The deer are still in a summer feeding pattern when our season opens up the 2nd Saturday in Sept. After the first week or so I change up my game plan and move into the staging areas ordifferent food sources and off the field edges.
i use it as a invetory tool, but mainly i do it because i cant really tink of a better way to spend the last couple hours of daylight than glassing fields. It really is a motivator too when you see those bucks running around, makes me really want to get out there!
I basically do it for inventory and fun. However, I know that last year some of the bucks I had seen in late July early August stayed in the relative area during the fall months. One buck on that I have on the wall I actually watched during the summer and was able to take him the first week of November that same year.
I'm like many of the others, I use it for inventory and fun. I know the deer are going to come to the beans, its just a matter of what trail they are going to use to get there.
Most of my summer glassing is for inventory purposes. But if I am still seeing bucks later in Aug and early Sept then I am trying to figure out where I can set up on them on the MN opener.
Inventory and fun. Once the guys start turning out the hounds in late Aug. to get ready for gun season, the buck sightings go WAAYY down. The deer get educated very fast!!! You just gotta hope you've seen a nice buck before then so you can at least know what has been there and may still be around but just staying down till dark. I don't live close enough to "spotlight" at night( legal until 11pm). Try to rely on a few "local eyes" as much as possible.
Serves no real purpose other than I like looking at deer. It may give a general idea of what's in the area, but it is very rare for me to see mature bucks on the property I hunt over the summer. They are all off in the neighboring lands.
Enjoyment purposes only for myself...and as a way to get the kids involved a little. The little glassing I get to do each summer is typically done from roads on properties I will never hunt - but they are in the vicinity of our property and I still enjoy knowing the Biggin's could be cruising over our way soon - Heaven knows we have the does to draw in the bucks
For inventory and fun. I like taking video and watching it later too. Something to do at night and like someone else said, a good way to get the kids motivated about it. I take my kids with me and go driving around the back roads glassing fields.
I use it mostly for inventory purposes only, towards late August/September i can start using the information to get on early season buck feeding patterns.
