Pre-season scouting

[POINTY STICKS]

Just a thought, and here are the questions;


#1 When during the year do you start your scouting for good locations to hunt, or do us always hunt the same areas?

#2 What is your choice of critter, deer or bear.

#3 What is biggest influence on the location you finally choose, and do you stalk, use a blind, or a stand?

[BEA]

ok...I'll play..
1) idealy..all year but I really like right after the season closes. You will see rubs scrapes etc in areas that maybe you avoided on purpose during the season. Plus the woods will look similar to when they will during the rut next season.

2) whatever tag I got left in my pocket lol ! But I'd really like to score a good buck by bow.

3) buck sign .... mostly stand hunt but the buck I got last year was stalked.

[litekpr]

#1...All year, always 24/7, I'll hunt where I see good game or sign, within the law and having permission of course.
#2...Both, but I'm with BEA, I want a good buck for my first.
Now a moose??? 12 days til draw...
#3...Mostly treestand, these spots I'll choose taking into account stealth to and from,up and down, and of course my visibilty and concealment.
When stalking, scent and concealment has driven me far enough away from decent game they have been long gone before arriving...lol... just grazed away...love the walks though ;D
First year really for stalking lastyear (bow) very interesting and challenging, can't wait for this year.....

KPR ;D

[alpo]

1 - Most of my dedicated scouting takes place over the winter, starting right after the season & continuing on thru bunny season. ( alot of my bunny hunts seem to wander away from the bunny thickets following deer tracks , d**n A.D.D. ) BUT I always hunt the old haunts close to home the most, where very little scouting is req'd & i just have to go in sometime at the end of august or early september & make sure the pathways & potential shooting lanes have not grown in completely.
2 - Deer is the quarry of choice, but i will try for a bear for the 1st time this season.
3 - These last couple of seasons I have been trying to concentrate on concealment, which led me to abandon a few of my old stands, which required a major effort to brush in each year. I now look for or try & use the natural "pockets" of thick cover, often incorperating 'blowdowns' or ditches & ridges with thick young evergreen cover. I keep my feet on the ground more & more each season I spend with the bow, partially because i have lost my nerve for heights, and partially because I have felt so helpless up the tree , with a bow that cannot be drawn because the critter came in from the wrong side, or stayed behind me , or stayed out of range..... many of my chosen ground blind locations are just as dedicated to a small window of opportunity, but if i see the deer it will be in that window, & i will feel more comfortable about my footing.

[huntwisely]

Like Alpo, I scout at the end of deer season and into January. I do not want to know where the deer spend the summer, I want to know where they are in fall and winter. I will mosey through the area about the middle of September and find what and where they are feeding and then try to figure what they will be feeding on in November and where. I also try to get a handle on the number of deer and if I can find some sign that says buck. I know where they bed, I figure if I know where they feed, then the trails in between is where I'll hunt.

[POINTY STICKS]

Finally a topic which is getting some post. Thanks guys. Now I'm going to ask some more questions in the near future. Stay tuned and keep the answers coming.


KPR you hunt wuth a compound yes?

[litekpr]

Yes.
PSE 1000C
Secondhand, new to me round about this time lastyear.
Three shots fired one kill-two misses ;D
Hoping to change that this year.
Looked when I got home today, hay has tipped over, flies are still out, but plan to fire a few this week, had snow last time I fired.


KPR ;D