Scouting, Do It Right!

Here is a question about deer scouting a young novice hunter asked recently on one of the hunting forums. This question is followed by three typical standard answers.

Question:
"When do you usually start to scout out places for the upcoming deer season?" (This was asked in June.)

Answer #1.
"Now.........no really, I'm not joking...if you can find spots with lots of good feed and access to water right now, there will likely be deer around when the season starts."

Answer #2.
"I start when season opens, then if you see a good one (buck) you can blast em! I’d rather spend more time in the bush when the season is open, rather than when the season is not open."

Answer #3.
"If you want to be successful in the hunting season you should scout all year long and be out in the woods every opportunity you get."

I am not surprised to read such answers. It’s more or less the same I hear whenever and wherever I talk to hunters. There are those who believe you should spend every waking minute in the deer woods. On the extreme opposite of the scale are those who think that stomping trough the woods a few days before the season opens and hanging a stand is all that’s needed.

I can tell you that much in advance. All three answers are wrong and will actually thward your sucess to kill a buck, or any deer for that matter.

Scouting is perhaps the most important part of hunting. In fact I believe that scouting is the actual hunt. If you do it right then all you have to do is to be at the right time and the right place and shoot a buck. Well, not quit, there are many variables that will cause deer to change their travel patterns an behavior, and they do so sometimes over night.

Because scouting is so important and because there are many myth about this subject but also because I get asked more questions about scouting then about anything else hunting related, I have decided to start a series here on the Whitetail Deer Passion Blog about scouting.

By the time all the future scouting articles are added here you will know everything there is to know about scouting. But make no mistake about it. You can read all there is to read about this subject but it still will be no substitute to actually be out in the nature studying the game animal – in this case deer – you intend to hunt. All successful hunters have one thing in common. They all know the animal they hunt and the habitat that animal calls home. Successful hunters learn, study and want to know what triggers certain behaviors and why. In short they know their quarry as well as they know themselves.

So if you want to become a master scout which will lead you to becoming a successful hunter then stay tuned here and keep checking this space for added links to: Scouting, Do It Right!

Read more articles about scouting.
A Year in a Whitetail Deer's Life
Field Aging Bucks
Signpost Communication