what does your summer scouting consist of? I know the Trail cams, glassing the fields, looking at maps are great, but are there other things? Foot work in the woods or property? What are you looking for and how will it change? My summer scouting doesn't really happen on foot because the deer are doing something different by Oct...
Landon, I actually like getting out in the heat and scouting. It is a good workout, plus it gives me some freedom to move around and really look around. I hunt a mega piece of property and am constantly trying to learn more about it. My summer scouting really entails just walking a ton and looking around to familiarize myself with the terrain.
I like cutting paths for deer. For example we have an oak bottom that had a ton of downed trees, the deer were already using the area in general but by cutting out some of the deadfalls and opening up travel paths that headed in the general direction of the fields and likely bedding we created deer highways. Extremly thick woods that deer use a lot we will find a good spot and cut paths in the shape of a plus sign +. 50-60 yards in 4 directions from a center point. The center point is where the stand goes. The deer use the paths, simple as that. The paths don't have to be big 4 wheeler paths either we just lightly clear them and knock back briars and heavy brush enough to make it a path of least resistance. They still have the security of being in a thick block of woods but they love the easy walking. We mark entry/exit route trails to our hang on stands, but since we always have a bunch of other spots we want to hunt and never enough stands we go in pick a "stand tree", trim a little if we need to, then mark an entry/exit route out with reflecting tacks to the tree and use those spots for climber hunts. It seems to save some time and make it a little easier when the time comes to actually slip in there and hunt. By October the deer(bucks mainly) are acting differenty as the bachelor groups break up but the food sources don't change much and while they might not be in them as visibly during the day the deer are definitely still hitting them hard. When the acorns start falling it seems to help my morning hunts because the deer will feed in the open fields under the cover of night and then vacate the fields before light. But instead of making a B-line for the bedding areas they tend to slowly feed their way through the acorns which makes them vulnerable a little longer in the morning imo(sorry little off topic there). After our beans/corn are harvested and the acorns are about wiped out the deer will still be feeding in the fields on the winter wheat/grasses growing and the corn left on the ground by the equipment or in unharvested edges or wetspots so having a good amount of stand options near these areas and the thickets is never a bad idea.
Mine mainly consists of glassing ag fields, running trail cams, hanging sets, and viewing maps/topos. I HATE the hot muggy summer of KY and the seed ticks that accompany it. IF I need to familiarize myself with a piece of ground, I do so in the winter. My parcels are so small though that I haven't really had to "learn" a piece of land all that well yet. Only so much to learn on a 30 acre square of woods here and there, you know?
My summer scouting usually just consists of the whys and whens that I see deer and their activities. When I see more than normal deer activity I note whether there is a high/low pressure system coming in and from where, what time it is and how the time relates (hours after/before) to sunrise or sunset, whether the deer are browsing or moving. Stuff like that.
