I'm a relatively new bowhunter and have been reading up on this forum and other materials on becoming a proficient hunter over the last year. The two main takeaways I've found for offseason/year round work is 1. practice shooting religiously 2. get in the woods and find where they are. I have started going on some public land trails near where I hunt and am trying to locate buck droppings and bedding. Do you more experienced guys scout year round? If you do what do you mainly look for? I have two trail cameras ready to place as soon as I find spots that hold promise. Any input is appreciated. I learn a lot from reading you guys' posts.
I don’t scout this time of year. Where they are now doesn’t necessarily lead to where they are in the fall. It’s also hot and the deer flys will eat you alive.
End of season scouting is whare it's at for me no tricks no skeets and no ivy. I would say a good place to start is intersecting trails then see whare they go and come from that's a good starting point
tough to scout now, but any time in the woods is better than not. Now, I would only be looking for well used trails and possibly acorn flats or apple trees that may be blossoming, as well as natural funnel areas with sign and mark the location. Then go back in September and look further.
For me, the mid summer (after Turkey to start of August) is fishing and mountain biking time, maybe some trail running. As proline said, the horse/deer flies and skeeters are brutal so I use other options for woods time. That said, I often MTB in areas I also hunt, and find it to be a great tool to see how things generally look. For example: Gypsy moths bad?; any acorns starting to fall?; new beaver swamps?; new logging operations?; general deer sign - tracks crossing trails etc?
That general intel is really helpful to keep a general eye on whats going on in the woods... But I dont put any real focus on where deer specifically are, as the mostly big woods areas I hunt wont allow that - where they are now, is not where they will be then, so to speak.
In late July or early August, I start putting out cams to see what's in the general area...
All that said, I have cataloged a lot of areas over the years, so I probably have 30-40 spots I know well, and more that I can mentally refresh with a scan of google earth. A few Ill hunt annually, but most... It totally depends on the year, how I feel and what the sign is telling me. Those high speed scouting strategies - like mountain biking or trail running - give me enough general info to make a call and start zooming in a bit with boots on ground scouting to verify spots to start once the season kicks off.
From there, it's in season refinement - hunt, adjust, hunt, adjust. No info is better than the most recent info (in season)!
If their is something I have learned by putting out summer cams and getting bucks on them is that come November those bucks will be on another property a mile away. The best advice I can give is two things. 1. Be in the woods as much as possible and 2. Go by fresh sign and NOT what you found in the summer on cams.
All great advice thanks guys. I actually like the sound of that scouting from trails idea in the heat of the summertime. The ivy is killing me this year. Would rather just hike trails and fish than waste time in the thickets. Moons - I'm out of Oxford in central mass. Last year I bowhunted the upton state forest from a climber. I only saw does but also hunted the same exact stand for 30-40 hours regardless of wind direction lol. You don't know these things as a new hunter, its just trial and error. This year my goal is to hunt smarter and at least see / get to know where bucks are. Also locate a couple spots based on wind direction. Any experienced guys in the area want to scout / fish anytime let me know, beers on me.
I mostly agree with spike but timing is everything when seeing summer bucks because if you pick the right time to be in the woods come November you can bet he will be trolling through looking for a hot doe!
For sure Fishguy - no need to put yourself through that. Look at aerial photo's and topo maps, then hike trails in the area to get a feel. As we get to sept, edge off trail more... and October a bit more. Be cautious at that point to minimize disruption of the deer activity.
If you keep hunting public, move all the time. Take that climber, and hunt a tree you know in the AM, scout your way out, and that evening (or the next time in) hunt the HOTTEST sign, not what your earlier in the year scouting told you. Always hunt the hottest sign. Woods deer (v farm land) are way less patternable. If they are there today, hunt them there... because 4 days from now, there is no telling where they are!
Poke around a bit. You have Douglas SF not to far away, and most towns have bits of town or state land which is huntable. Explore em!
Yeah fishguy most of the land out by you, if not posted, is huntable. If that’s a word. Get the hell outta upton state forest lol!!! Tree stand party in there. Good luck. If you’re having trouble let me know I’ll take a drive out and help you out
Hahahaha funny Will. This guy I know just bought a house in Bolton on 29 acres that backs up to about 100 more. Walked back there the other day and bumped 3. Summer scouting, over.
Moons, need a new bow? Truck? Lawn mowed? :) ha ha ha! Dude dropped some $$$ to buy that, but man, that's a deer "bingo" for dang sure. That's like Troy Brown at the retirement home...
