Pre season scouting

[sagehunter]

How do people pre season scout? I have done really well hunting mule deer but I am always wanting to do better and have more purposeful experiences/hunts. I like to hunt every year and have not done much point building. Usually I apply for units with lots of public land that I can backpack into and get away from the road and hopefully most people. This year my plan is to scout way more than I normally do, hopefully like 20 plus days of just scouting. I prefer to hunt 2nd and 3rd rifle season at this point. Seems like it can be tough to scout for fall hunts in the summer. I also spend a lot of hours staring at all the statistic like draw odds, # of hunters and % success. Seems like everyone else has the same ideas and the places I find are popular. Thinking my best chance is to find a place I can for sure draw and has okay success that is close enough to home I can scout hard. What seems to work for you successful deer hunters?

 

[dusky]

I hunt easy draw tags very close to home and the majority of my hunting season is pre-scouting. I love it. I've been all over the land. Makes me feel more connected to my home. But, the hunting ain't great in the rifle seasons, which are all I hunt, bc the lower elevations where they go in November are riddled with private land and the animals know where to hide. I think it's making me a better hunter though bc I am having to scrutinize the area and have plans b, c, d, e, and f in my front pocket. I am certain I've had more success hunting close to home purely bc I've had more opportunity to prescout, boots on ground. The pre-scouting is really one of the most enjoyable parts of my hunting year. Plus I get opportunity to practice shooting in rough terrain, which is not to be understated.

 

[NickyD]

I hope I’m not hijacking your thread in the wrong direction but my question is WHAT are you scouting for in the summer for a 2nd/3rd rifle?

 

[dusky]

I'm scouting habitat, primarily, not animals or animal sign. But there are resident deer and elk herds in some of the places where I scout in the summer that are still there in second and third season.

 

[Hnthrdr]

I mean summer scouting for 2/3rd isn’t the best use of time in my opinion . You can learn roads, and find glassing spots, and locate some habitat and veg but realistically in most units (in Co) which is what you are talking about deer I’d guess, deer will be no where near the same area. I would rather have the 3 days before the hunt to scout a rifle hunt than a month in the summer.

 

[sagehunter]

I hope I’m not hijacking your thread in the wrong direction but my question is WHAT are you scouting for in the summer for a 2nd/3rd rifle?

I’m mostly scouting just the area and terrain. I’ll try to find good spots or potential good spots. Most of where I deer hunt is year round deer country but fall is when I’m really looking for mature bucks.

 

[Boone-In-Wall]

I wished I lived closer to scout more effectively.

 

[Rich M]

I'd prefer to scout for 3 days before the season, see if can find a buck before anyone else shows up. Tag units are often not that big.