Scouting tips for CO 3rd and 4th season

[Donjuan]

I'm applying in a moderate point unit in Colorado. I'm more versed in early season hunts with a bow. What tips do you have for escouting 3rd and 4th season? Summer scouting seems pointless. But weather and rut activity make it seem like a gamble on where they might be. Thanks for helping a newb

 

[huntnful]

I'm applying in a moderate point unit in Colorado. I'm more versed in early season hunts with a bow. What tips do you have for escouting 3rd and 4th season? Summer scouting seems pointless. But weather and rut activity make it seem like a gamble on where they might be. Thanks for helping a newb

No boots on the ground scouting is pointless IMO. You can figure out the terrain/roads and find population clusters of does as well as what bucks are in close proximity.

But for just e scouting. Find several good glassing vantages that over-look different terrain and vegetation types. It may take a while to figure out the select few areas of the unit that the deer actually live in.

 

[justinspicher]

I’ll add that there are going to be considerably lower in elevation during that part of the year. They will also be fairly active so trying to pattern them will be challenging.

 

[LongWayAround]

Access and observation points.

If you can, make a trip out just to drive the roads and see what it looks like in person. Otherwise, just arrive a couple of days early and do the same.

You might find that roads you thought you could use are impassable or not actually roads. Some might be goat paths, others may be gated, some might be better than expected. A gentle roll on the topo might open up a lot of area to the eye. Something you glance past on the aerial might really catch your eye on the ground.

 

[Nickofthewoods]

E-scouting for late Muley hunts should probably include researching deer migration routes for the area, which you should be able to find in the Colorado Hunting Atlas.

 

[dirtytough]

E scouting wise I would zoom in on the sat layer and look for unmarked two tracks.

If boots on the ground during the summer I would try to drive every road, find glassing points, access points, etc.

Personally I think a couple days early before the season would be best though. Because while finding access and glassing points, you will also be finding where the deer are hanging out.

 

[cnelk]

Does. Its all about the does

 

[Hnthrdr]

I would say boots on the ground in summer isn’t pointless, ID’ing good glassing spots is pretty key, 8k and lower seems to hold the most deer, and as mentioned above it’s all the about the does, find does and there will be bucks around

 

[RockAndSage]

The single biggest waste of time during the actual season comes from figuring out access that should have been nailed down pre-season. It's also the easiest part of physical scouting.

You can burn entire days of physical scouting just in driving around scouting for access you thought was easy or do-able from e-scouting. And as someone mentioned above, you can also uncover useful routes and 2-tracks that are just not marked on OnX. You also see landscape and vegetation layout that's impossible to perceive digitally.

On opening morning, there's no mystery at all where I'm going to be - I know exactly what my game plan is for where I'm driving, where I'm stopping, how I'm hiking, and how long each of those legs takes, to be at exactly the glassing points, food plots, and choke-points I'm going to be hitting. Including roughly at what times and roughly for how long, because I've done it before and logged that data. That is just not possible if someone hasn't nailed down access well before the season opener.

Time, energy, and mental focus are the most precious resources available during the actual season, and I don't want to burn any of that figuring out access or what I should do next. You only get a thorough and efficient game plan with pre-season scouting.

As to the challenges of a high-migration area, just scout for that. Deer spend the summers up high where it's cool, and move lower for food and warmth as the weather presses them down, obviously. You don't know exactly where the deer will be on any given week, because of weather conditions going all the way back to spring precipitation and what that means for food, so simply incorporate that ambiguity into your plan. Have high spots you'll hit first, and food/glassing/choke points down through lower altitudes you map out and know where you'll want to be if you don't see anything high.

Deer migration mapping data is also available - do a search here and you'll find at least one thread where there's a ton of resources others provided. That may help narrow down the specific glassing spots and geography you'd want to check out.

 

[jwatts]

I agree with what has already been said. I had a 4th season hunt last year. We scouted in July. I was able to drive a few roads and get a lay of the land. I was able to cross off several spots that I didn't want to go back to. I was able to get an idea of what habitat was where, so I could know where to go elsewhere in the unit once I started seeing deer. It definitely wasn't a waste of time.