I have noticed since trail cameras came out that I see less people out scouting both right after season and before season on the public areas I hunt. Don't get me wrong, I like it. Solitude is important to me. I use trail cameras mostly for the enjoyment, but in my opinion they in no way replace boot leather on the ground. We have had some cooler weather here lately and I have been having a ball scouting new public areas without the interference of other people. It's getting close guys!
I don't scout as diligently as I used to. I have my own piece of property that I am very familiar with, so I know pretty much where the deer are as I am out there a lot all year long (except in this last heat wave). I do go out ahead of the season to see if any stands need to be re-positioned and if they are all in good condition.
I do try to notice if the surrounding land owners do anything that might alter the way the deer would move through my place.
Yes. Constantly.
I think you would need a couple dz. cameras before you could slack off on scouting.
Hap
yes absolutely, as often as possible.
I walk the trails just to see why they are there, h2o or food or cover. check the water holes for tracks and, well, I need the exercise. Elk live in very high and steep country.....
Also I get to shoot stumps...
yup. I can barley afford to scout let alone buy cameras. I find a lot of neat stuff out here so it makes it fun.
Sam, yea I know what you are saying. On my small places I can hunt, I have scouted them to the point I just about know every tree on the property. In that case it gets to the point where alot of scouting just is not necessary. I get bored when I do not have enough places to scout. I love a new area whether it be private or public...although I would prefer private ground with limited access!
Spending tomorrow morning hunting squirrels and looking for deer.
Strangely I'm too lazy to run cameras but not too lazy to hike and find deer on foot. Maybe I'm just cheap and don't want to risk money on having somebody steal my stuff.
Constantly scouting as I hog hunt...which is several times per week. My brother uses trail cams on a couple of pieces of property we hunt but not really as a scouting tool.
Yes. I just wished I had more days to go.
By the way...not trying to knock trail cams. I use them and get a great deal of enjoyment from them. Just noticed that it seems alot of people have used them to replace actually on the ground scouting. Which is good for me!
Year round for us, Cams, Shed hunting, scouting, field watching and boot leather. :D
Tracy
Tracy, me too. I know the question is kind of a trick question on this site, since there are so many passionate hunters here. Im just noticing all of this in general with the bulk of the hunters out there! By the way, you always have excellent pics that I always can't wait to see!
I scout as much as I can; cameras are a good tool and work well in conjunction with scouting.
I'd bet the folks that use trail cams in lieu of scouting never did much scouting in the first place. Scouting is one of my favorite things to do.
I love to get out and scout. Not happening very much this season with a 4 month old at home, so unfortunately my camera does most of my scouting. BUT like said before, a camera doesn't come close to getting out there and doing it right.
Never had or used a trail cam. I think it makes a person lazy, gets them thinking hunting is always easy, and way too selective. Kinda like a plug and play for hunting. Most of the places I hunt for any season I've already been on and know where to go without scouting. New place always starts with a topo map and if possible google earth.
Im with you guys. Scouting is the hunting in my opinion. Its so much fun! I hope the younger generation of hunters coming up these days are not missing out on this!
I look at it differently I guess. Yes you can bye a Trailcam find a trail or pond or what ever and put the thing up and get a few picks. Nothing hard about that and yes it makes some people lazy or cocky.
Thats not how we use them, We want to know were every bedding area, water hole, bench or saddle, fruit tree's, nut tree's, Main scrapes and rub lines are as best we can. Some of that we learn from scouting, Some from Google Earth but most of it is from getting out there and doing some good old scouting and breaking in new boots.
I've seen many a person on here down grade the cams at one time or another. Then a buddy loans them one or they bye one at a garage sale and try it. Some of them have not a clue how to set them up just like picking the right stand location and never get many picks.
Then some get lucky and pick the right spots and low and behold they find a bunch of deer or just one that they had no idea were even on there property. Then they start getting turkey picks, coyotes, bobcats and they say hey these things are pretty cool. All the sudden there the best things out there when really there are just another tool for the bowhunter to use.
It just depends on how you use them and how hard you want to work at it. Nothing will replace getting your boots on and getting your butt back in the timber and seeing everything with your own eyes.
Good luck this year everybody! :thumbsup:
Tracy
Not trying to make this a thread against trail cams guys. I LOVE trail cams. Just something I noticed. Maybe I'm all wet. Just seems like tons of hunters in the woods during season, and less guys out trying to do the detective work. But then again...since I mostly hunt public land, I like it that way!
I scout first, find a spot I wanna hunt, THEN I put the camera out. I just like looking at whats around when I'm not.
QuoteOriginally posted by Bjorn:
I scout as much as I can; cameras are a good tool and work well in conjunction with scouting.
x2. Very well said.
In Nevada we draw for all tags. Areas are hundreds of miles from our homes, so do the best we can. Often our scouting is diligently asking questions of previous tag holders, and, of course, watching for weather to determine where the rai n id falling. Our animals roam, migrate or just move. A ravine good this year may have few deer in it next. Antelope are constant.
Physical scouting in July may not mean anything in Oct. We pack in or go fishingbin remote areas, but few are lucky enough to live where they hunt. The area around Reno has fewer than a hundred tags. I wish i were back in whitetail country
QuoteOriginally posted by joe ashton:
yes absolutely, as often as possible.
I walk the trails just to see why they are there, h2o or food or cover. check the water holes for tracks and, well, I need the exercise. Elk live in very high and steep country.....
Also I get to shoot stumps...
A big ditto for me.
I spend 2-3 days scouting to every 1 day hunting. It's a year around thing for me.
I love trail cameras! Not so much to use, yes I put a few out in select areas to take inventory and see what's using a piece of property. But the best part is other people using them! I've watched first hand about every person I know that has and uses trail cams ruin there area through the use of trail cams. The story typically goes, I had this big buck on camera 3-4 times and when I hunted the spot a bunch I never saw him. My response is usually the same, well if you had the camera any where near your stand you messed up from the start. Second if you got these pics and didn't go in right that very same day you missed your chance because that deer new you where there by the next day and isn't coming back during daylight. Call me greedy but that sort of activity has pushed a lot of big bucks into more and more reclusive patterns where I can sneak in for the kill
I love to scout because I love to get close to good bucks. When I go on an out of state hunt or a hunt far from home, I might scout 75% of the time I have for the area. I have found that the more scouting and less hunting a person does, the richer that hunt will be.
A friend(a monster buck killing machine)told me one time that if I had 4 days to hunt, I had better scout 3 of them. I started seeing more and better deer when I took him up on his advice. He also told me that I could not kill big bucks if I kept shooting good bucks. That also has proven true.
God Bless,
Nathan
Not sure about anyone else but I have to scout to know where to put my cameras. I am constantly trying to find new locations. I see most my bucks in the fields with my bino's in this early season before I get a picture of them.
To find deer sign is one thing. The cameras tell you what's making it. If I were simply hunting a doe I wouldn't have a need for a camera.
I scout full time. The land I hunt is covered with all kinds of feed trees. Some feed some don`t. I seldom hunt the same tree two years in a row because it may not have feed. I have to walk to find a primary feed tree to sit on and that changes weekly sometimes.
I hunt certain funnels and creek crossings every year without much scouting because some of them have yeilded as high as ten deer kills from the same tree through the years.
Hunting primary feed trees though is the most enjoyable to me. If you have done your homework and see a deer in the swamp you know its coming to dine right under you. Great feeling of satisfaction when that happens.RC
QuoteOriginally posted by Bjorn:
I scout as much as I can; cameras are a good tool and work well in conjunction with scouting.
Right on, here too. The cameras actually get me out scouting more often swapping sd cards and moving the cameras. While out there I check if game trail use has changed, create little natural hides for still hunting, and my favorite stump shooting.
I prefer to scout. Trails cams work for some people, but for me I want to get out and see where and why the animals are moving, over the course of time.
The cameras are stolen on the public land i hunt so i scout. I do most of my scouting post season since the ticks are so bad on Long island where I hunt. I want the nymph phase to be over so i don't scout until september and then get set up for the Oct 1st opener and keep scouting right up to the pre-rut.
I only use cams at artificial feed locations or scrapes and have never used one at my stand locations. I scout with boot leather and put out cameras as an added bonus. But, for the last several years my bow season has been my scouting time. Guess what, I kill deer with my guns but none with my bow (yes I am a gun hunter, too). This year my schedule has been more flexible and I have been able to get away and do some scouting and my confidence is high. Stay tuned for harvest pics...
i scout alot. i also use trail cameras all year as well. i dont consider putting a trail camera out as SCOUTING. more like spying!
I read an article written by a televised expert bowhunter the other day . He claims to have between 35 and 40 trail cams out at all times . Somehow that many cameras crosses the fair chase line in my mind. Not to mention the fact that the cameras he pushes are $500 or so each. You do the math .
Its sad what we have let happen to this sport . it seems to me its more important these days to have money to pay for hitech advantages than it is to have skills and woodsmanship.
sheesh ................. anyone remember thinking it was cutting edge technique to string black thread across a deer run ????
Heck yes I still get out there and now I have the best scoutin buddy in the woods!!
(http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j377/armucheelongbows/Snapbucket/375A55C2-0695-4577-875D-E9A02DF74205-1321-0000020D2CCAB43A.jpg)
(http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j377/armucheelongbows/Snapbucket/C60755EE-19A9-4496-9646-8F8D8F738007-1321-0000020D24CCD877.jpg)
I got a few cameras but to be honest I enjoy takin my boy out there w me to check things out
In AZ I do glassing , to fine the deer then set up where I see them the most . It like 3 day of glassing for good stop to set up my hind .
I don't think use of trail cams, or not, has had much of an effect on time spent scouting. But I'd wager that fewer people scout, or scout as much as they used to, if they use bait and/or food plots. There's no need then.
We camp about every week, and somehow seem to often end up in my elk area. Last week I spent 3 days scouting some good elk country. I live 5 minutes from my whitetail spot, and my truck seems to know its way over there, and I spend some time wandering around there. A trail where I often hike and mountain bike is another place where I sometimes hunt whitetails and turkeys, and I am on that trail 5 to 6 days a week, minimum. So yeah, I guess I do some scouting. It is all part of the enjoyment of the outdoors to me.
I begin scouting within a few weeks of the end of season. Continue all the way up to the week of opening day. Whenever I have some free time I am in the woods somewhere.
I used too. all the time... there are to many ticks now! wait.. is that a new mole? TICK!!! :eek:
yea.
I enjoy scouting as much as I enjoy hunting, maybe more.
QuoteOriginally posted by awbowman:
I enjoy scouting as much as I enjoy hunting, maybe more.
X2! What ever keeps me in the woods :thumbsup:
Badwithabow, Thats what it's all about right there. Thanks for sharing the picks.
Tracy
I scout occassionaly but the land I hunt is owned by my family and I and we have just about got it figured out.
yup. Just set up a scouting trip for the Ohio Trad Deer Hunt.
Very Good Question!!!
I remember a time when my cousin would tie a length of thread across a deer trail to figure out what time the game walked through... Had to check on it a few times a day... Imagine That! :rolleyes:
As to me scouting, not at all... I've been hunting the same general area of, say 500-600 acres for the past 40 years... My hunting style of cat and mouse seems to combine scouting and hunting together... Head to head or eye level sneak and peek gets my blood flowing... But that's just me...
... mike ...
I've been on property with cameras, but I've never used them. I just try to be really observant. It always boils down to cover terrain and food anyway. Then there's November...
I scout all year with my digital camera and spray down with scent killer. :thumbsup:
Just got home from my first scouting trip in my hunting area. Will be out there off and on till Oct 1st, then its game on!!!!
I think the average hunter, no matter how passionate they are about hunting, cannot find the time to both scout and hunt.
This is partially the reason I dont hunt anymore. I no longer have access to the hunting grounds that were cheap, easy to access, and known to me so I just stopped hunting altogether because I did not want to have to drive 40 minutes out to public land and just set up somewhere to hope and pray. That drive is too long to hunt from and definitely too long to scout from.
Not worth it to me.
I love scouting!! I bought two trail cameras the other day. It's the first I have ever owned, but I don't plan on not scouting, to much fun!!
QuoteOriginally posted by WidowEater:
I think the average hunter, no matter how passionate they are about hunting, cannot find the time to both scout and hunt.
This is partially the reason I dont hunt anymore. I no longer have access to the hunting grounds that were cheap, easy to access, and known to me so I just stopped hunting altogether because I did not want to have to drive 40 minutes out to public land and just set up somewhere to hope and pray. That drive is too long to hunt from and definitely too long to scout from.
Not worth it to me.
I was in a similar situation when I first started. The closest state land was 40 minutes from my house and that was all I had access to. Along with that, I had to learn on my own since no one in my family hunted.
Just 1-2hrs a week can be enough to find yourself a good spot. Take a climber stand or climb up in a tree and glass from a distance. ;) It doesn't take a whole lot of time to get familiar with an area and 1-2 hours a week can be wasted on the couch, LOL!
I hunt public land 99.9% of my season and have bagged some very nice critters, mostly due to out of season scouting. I've taken around 30 deer in the last 12 years off public land, including one 100 inch 8pt and one 96 inch 8pt(exceptional animals for my area).
Pick up Bowhunting Pressured Whitetails by John Eberhardt. Some of the best reading you can get!!
Here are some pics from this summers ventures on public land. I took these while on the ground and a couple hiding behind my climber(got in too late, LOL. :knothead: The buck in the middle in last pic has a very wide spread if you look close.
(http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g128/ad2877/scouting/0096.jpg)
(http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g128/ad2877/scouting/0024.jpg)
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(http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g128/ad2877/scouting/0064.jpg)
(http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g128/ad2877/scouting/0076.jpg)
(http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g128/ad2877/scouting/0127.jpg)
I`ve killed many deer by walking in a "new" swamp with my stand on my back till I found a hot feed tree. Climb and sit no matter what time it is and killed deer. If I had to drive 40 miles I would. I would scout all morning and midday and hunt the best place I found. The next time I could hunt I would start there at daylite and then walk midday till I found something better.RC
I hunt a small plot of land, about 100 acres, some woods but mostly fields. I scout a lot but probably 80% of my scouting is done right after deer season where even the smallest trails look like major highways!
The size of the farm allows me to scout it thoroughly but it's enough to not pressure the deer too much. I do a lot of my scouting midday when I'm sneaking around the woods and only maybe 1 month before season comes in, I like to keep the deer as relaxed as I can before season. Trail cams are a major help but being a high school student I don't have money to get a whole arsenal to put out in the woods. Squirrel season is a great way to go scouting and get a little practice shooting in before season rolls around. I'm getting anxious for deer season!
Caleb
Yup, Jon, I spend LOTS of time in the woods but.....and I'll be the dissenter here.....NOT in the summer! 80% of my scouting is from the end of season 'till greenup in the spring. Maybe 5% in the summertime - mainly now I'm spending time hanging stands - July/August. Then the other 15% during the season. I STAY OUT OF THE WOODS I want to hunt after Labor Day until season starts. You can REALLY screw up your hunting area by being too enthusiastic with your scouting in the late summer/early fall. Also, I couldn't care less what the deer are doing in the summertime. It has zero effect on how I hunt, or where....I hunt deer in October, November, December, and the first bit of January...THAT is the time of year I want to know about what the deer are doing, not August. I have a couple of cameras, but they have had no effect on where/how I hunt either. I put them on mineral licks in the early spring, and feed situations in the winter after season to see what made it thru gun season, but a camera where I hunt is just another enticement to go in and stink up an area best left alone.
Ryan
I'm about 25 long steps from the land I hunt so I do a lot of piddling around in the woods year round.
Many years ago I would start my scouting about a wk before the season came in and set up stands over fresh buck sign about a day or two before the season after stomping all over everywhere. Never could figure out why I very seldom had any luck on opening day.
I do 99% of my hunting about 1/2mile to a mile back in and try to stay out of there till I'm going to hunt it. I may put a camera up a couple months before the season to see if I can get a pic of a big buck, but I'll pull it from my prime spots a month before the season and stay out.
Jan. through the end of spring gobbler season I do my main off season scouting for big rubs and trees I might want to trim to hunt a spot. Other than that most of my scouting is done coming and going in to hunt.
If I wasn't so sorry I'd crank the truck and look around at other spots during the summer. But when I found some and I would, I'd have to string and unstring my bow to drive to them during hunting season.
When I lived in Ga. I use to drive over a 100 miles a day..one way.. to hunt and had good hunting behind my house. Things change I guess.
I do both. I am in the woods a lot right now. Check stands and natural blinds. See what has fallen or washed away to change movement patterns. Then I drop off before season. Watch a lot from the field that last month. Just in and out to change cards in camera.
This year I will hunt over water. That is new to me, but the creeks are dry. So now I need to put in the work over at the pond site!
Blue Tounge is hitting us hard so the ponds are nasty right now. I am not sure how that will effect deer. I would not want to drink from a pond with other deer laying dead in it! The poor warden can not keep up with all the calls.
Don't own a camera and won't own one. There's something about scouting and seeing that buck for the first time that makes my blood sizzle. Knowing what's out there via cameras wouldn't change my hunting anyway. It's like people look at the film and say, "That deer isn't good enough for me". I believe every deer that I'm offered the opportunity to take is a gift from God and who am I to look down my nose at what He chooses to send me?
Those that I know who use the cameras haven't shot as many or as nice deer as I have but all they talk about are the big ones they are going after and the little ones they are going to let walk. What ever happened to any deer taken in fair chase with trad gear being trophy?
QuoteOriginally posted by WidowEater:
I think the average hunter, no matter how passionate they are about hunting, cannot find the time to both scout and hunt.
This is partially the reason I dont hunt anymore. I no longer have access to the hunting grounds that were cheap, easy to access, and known to me so I just stopped hunting altogether because I did not want to have to drive 40 minutes out to public land and just set up somewhere to hope and pray. That drive is too long to hunt from and definitely too long to scout from.
Not worth it to me.
If I lived in Savannah I'd be all over any close WMA. Hunt hogs and scout while hunting. No time in the woods would be akin to near death for me. I use squirrel hunting as scouting time. I drive 35 min to work. I'll drive a few hours for good hunting woods. A bad day hunting beats not hunting at all.
When I lived in Savannah, Ft. Stewart was my home field...seems like it was about 42 or 44 miles.
When I lived in Vidalia, still kept the home field..about 50 something miles.
Back then there wasn't anywhere else had a deer season in that part of the state anyway.
My hunting spot is 1 hour and 15 minutes without traffic so 40 minutes seems like paradise to me.
What can I say?
I grew up hunting behind my house in the back 40. If I cant do that, I dont do it.
Exceptions can be made of course (obviously Im gearing up for the Hill Hog Hunt, but that is more for meeting folks and commradrarie really) but my hobbies have to be convenient or I dont enjoy them. I switched from hunting to wood and leather work. Still shoot the bow in the back yard though.
I still choose to contribute here even though I am not a Trad Bowhunter necessarily. I have done it and I can still speak the language.
No need. Most all of my hunting occurs in small pockets of timber between houses/ housing plans. I already know where the deer are, the hard part is sneaking up on the deer or getting to your stand without being detected.
QuoteOriginally posted by WidowEater:
What can I say?
I still choose to contribute here even though I am not a Trad Bowhunter necessarily. I have done it and I can still speak the language.
If you've ever drawn back on a critter with a stickbow in real life or in your head, you'll always be a tradhunter at heart. :thumbsup: :campfire:
Heck, I shoot at bee's and mosquitoes in the backyard, LOL! I hope my suggestions did not offend, I have had limited opportunities myself and am anxious to offer any help I can. ;)
No offense taken ever my friend.
We all make different choices for different reasons and I even find myself taking pot shots at the occasional squirrel or raccoon in my back yard.
I just gave a couple talks at the QDMA national convention in Nashville last week. I might have ruffled a few feathers in the fact I'm of the opinion there are more ways to hunt bucks than sitting over a food plot. Don't get me wrong, I'm in favor of food plots in order to nutritonally help the herd during rough times and/or to keep some local deer out of sight in order to discourage drive-by shootings, etc. But I fear many of todays young hunters are bypassing the fundamental woodsmanship skills learned only through time spent in the woods. We all need the practical experience. There's no substitute for it. It's fine to read all the books, watch the videos and listen to the seminars, but then get out in the woods for the practical application of what you've learned. You'll likely learn something new and develop your own opinions. Your greatest weapon is your mind. It will turn shooting into hunting. And in doing so you will develop a more personal relationship whether intended or not. You'll feel a special bond during the pursuit. This bonding with nature is a closeness I feel a lot of hunters are cheating themselves out of. And some modern technologies are eroding these basic woodsmanship skills along with the foundations we need to be nurturing. The future of our sport will depend on it. BW
Amen to that Barry. "Turning shooting into hunting"....you miss soooo much of what hunting is all about unless you learn the ways of your prey and just the experiences you encounter being in the woods. It is getting to be more about the kill than the experience. "Immediate gratification" comes to mind.
I am very familiar with the area that I hunt and the deer's behavior. It doesn't take me long to determine what foods are available and I can almost predict how the deer will move given that info. I am also becoming more convinced that the use of trail cameras, while they offer really useful information, can be detrimental to your hunt if you check them frequently. I used to believe that checking the cameras would get the deer "used to me". However, I am more convinced as time goes on that they pattern me better than I pattern them. It also doesn't take me very long to check on the major trails to determine how the deer are using them. Despite all that, as the season progresses and variables change so does the deer movement. So, how and where my stands are on day one may be very different by the last day of our 3 month long season. Things are very different on Dec. 15 than they were on Sept. 15.
Ryan. I am with you on that one too. I normally do very little scouting in the summer. But I do scout new public areas in the summer simply because I have never been there before and I figure some familiarity with the area will be beneficial. Mostly my scouting in August consists of glassing food sources to see what is in the area. Barry. Great post. That answer is perfect!
I find that in the swamp that I typically hunt, every year there are changes and you need to walk it to see them. Things grow out, things die, things fall over. The neighboring farm plants corn, or beans or alfalfa and that changes things. Oaks have acorns aplenty, or none, and that changes things.
ChuckC
Well, IMHO, all valid reasons Pro and Con. In my case I use one really good camera and set that camera after I scouted an area. The camera is my tool to record and capture the game species or activity I expect is in the area. Sometimes the camera confirms what I expected and sometimes I am pleasantly surprised of what the camera captured. Oh, and I do not go and check every day...I have left my camera out for weeks, months and even two seasons, before I get the SD to view the pics. And lastly, I use the pics to have a rough inventory of the wildlife for my own use and part of my management plan for my property.
JL :archer2:
I scout a lot whenever checking out a new area but normally hunting old haunts very minimal.
I try and do my scouting in the winter/ early spring. Love walking around then. Then I go in about 2 months before season opens, hang my stand, trim shooting lanes and get out till the season opens. I use scouting cameras as well and is a very useful tool. I agree, nothing like doing a little walking
I did a little looking around yesterday and this morning..in the 50's this morning. Found some white oaks dropping in S. Il.
I'm with Ryan R. on this one. My scouting schedule is just about the same as his. I hit it hard after deer seasons are over until greenup time. I hang my stands in July and stay out of the timber until I'm ready to hunt.
I'm blessed to have a farm to hunt here in Iowa where I'm the only bowhunter allowed to hunt it for the past twenty nine years. I'm also very fortunate to own my own piece of paradise in Wisconsin that gets zero pressure except by me and my son Jay. I'm very, very thankful for these hunting opportunities.
Bernie Bjorklund
NC Iowa/SW Wisconsin
Barry, not only did you hit the nail on the head you "hammered"
it with your comments!!!!
The Federal land I hunt does not allow camers to be left out. and they only let scouting from Sept 1 from noon until sunset till the end of bow season which is Jan 31.
I normally walk in to areas that have been good to me in the past and find acorn tree that are dropping.
I was in a bit of an arugument with a fella last year concerning baiting deer in Ga. Its legal and nothing wrong with it if thats what you want to do but i believe a lot of bow hunters here will now trade their scouting skills for a bucket of corn.RC