dukemichaels

All the above mentioned. Seriously it would take a bible sized book to tell all my strategies when looking in a new spot. I am a mover and I believe in moving my position and constantly adapting to the time of year. i.e. the pre-rut, rut, post rut, late season etc.

But first thing first, I study aerials. I analyze every detail in my skull and spend several hours checking every possibilty before I even walk the woods for the first time. Then I walk the woods. And walk the woods some more. I then go back and record the info. that I've found. i.e. scrapes, food, rubs, beds etc.

I like to hunt topography. I will locate myself along travel routes based on the lay of the land. I love saddles coming out of real thick bedding areas.. I LOVE THEM. When I see one of these (even in open terrain) I get excited! When one of these saddles funnels the deer and has just a little sign.. I GET EVEN MORE EXCITED!

But I always stay clear of any place I can't get into without spooking all the deer. I am always concerned with entrance into any stand. Always![&:]

shed33

Excellent post again Scott.

I am looking forward to reading/hearing more from our members. The breakdown of farm country buck habitats, swamp whitetails, suburban whitetails, big woods whitetails, mountain bucks, open prarie bucks, river bottom habitat whitetails,Canadian agriculture and bush habitats;you name it. This thread has the potential to become a solid reference guide for all whitetail bowhuntingacross Northern America. Personally in my lifetime I hope to havethe opportunity tohunt all of the above whitetail habitats.

When I get time I would like toadd my two cents on bowhunting new areas inmountain/forestsettings...ie. breaking it down,locatingthe best habitats within a habitat,observing and patterning tactics in my setting, getting to know the local doe familysand finally seeking out and finding theold buck hide outs and understanding how and why they live where they do. Discussing the why's and why nots of stand placements that work for the different months of the hunting season in regards to cyclic food sourcesandnext breaking down different phases of the rut in regards to stand placement,and last diving into the post rut bedding and feeding stands sites.

archer58

For anyone who wants great sattelite images free with zoom features, go to google's home page( www.google.com)and click on maps and enter your zip code..that will get u close.
They just don't print well.

MonsterBuckDreams

Good stuff guys, much needed info for us noobs...thanks.

jmbuckhunter

If I don't get the chance to scout the ground much before I hunt it, I will set up a stand with good visability and observe the deer movement. Then I will adjust my stand position as the deer dictate. I am not a big fan of field hunting but observing from a field edge and moving into the woods a little wayswhere the deer enter the field. I feel if you continue to pressure deer in the field they will abandon it. But if you get busted back in the woods a ways they will take a different route to the fieldand you can adjust.

You guys have covered the scouting and map work pretty well.

titleist_03

Changes in cover and terrain are huge when first setting up on a property. Also, if it is your first set on some land, I usually hunt an edge that gives me a large area to watch. You might not see anything close, but your chances of seeing something are good and this gives you an opporunity to see where they come out of and possibly zero in on that location.

rybohunter

This kind of fits the situation I am facing exactly. I gained permission to a new place but have yet to set foot on it. Within these next couple months I plan to makea few trips there. I will walk the entire place. I probably won't go into any of the real nasty spots, no need to bowl thru them. I'll look for oaks and other food sources. I already know they plant some sparse corn and the deer dome out to feed in this other feild as well despite no plantings. I'll look for rub lines and trails, edges and funnels. I will also look for stand sites from other hunters as there is another guy who hunts the place. I don't like to hunt where other guys are. I'll turkey hunt over there as well, but hope to have a lot of what I need to see, already seen by then. If the place has any good vantage points I'll note them and spend some evenings in late summer watching and seeing what I can. Otherwise it'll be next season when I set foot on the place again.

titleist_03

Definately if there are some good long range spots to glass from, use them. Summer scouting of bean fields is great. Deer you seen then aren't always there come the opener, but chances are they are in the general area and they will be around.

buckeye

Any time I hunt an observation stand I always have my decoy in tow as well. I have yet to take a good buck from an observation stand but we all know things can change in a second out there. I may hunt an observation stand 1-3 times per season.

Germ

I took the 16 from my observation stand this year. I have hunted there for 12 years now. I have taken a pile of doe's, but never a buck. Until this year!