Buck_Slayer

All the talk of Post-Season scouting has got me thinking. I haven't been able to do much scouting in the past seasons. Which is probably why I haven't really had a whole lot of success.
I have seen plenty deer, but haven't killed anything yet. I have had oppourtunities, just not at "shooters".

I had been planning on scouting all year up until a month or two before season, but with what I have read lately. Maybe all the scouting I should do is when I go out this spring to shed hunt?

I already have a couple stand sights that I have selected for next year that I picked out during shotgun season. I had planned on putting out trail cams to make sure that deer I wanted a shot at were using these trails. So I was just wondering if I should just ditch the game cam idea, and just sit on the road with a spotting scope during the summer months to see where they are coming out to feed.

I am just trying to step my game up for next year and would like to have the deer in the freezer before gun season comes around. I have noticed that there are almost no deer active until the shooting light is gone after the season is closed. The deer get hammered here during gun season. We don't have a high number of trophy bucks out there, but there are alwasy nice ones spotted during the gun season.

Also, the guy that I get permission from likes to spend time in the woods. I don't know exactly where he goes, or if he even goes in the area of his woods that I hunt. But I was just wondering that if the deer are used to a little bit of human presence. Would it be that big of a problem if I had trail cams out up until about July then just take them out.

I have selected two spots that I would like to set up for next year for sure. I was just wondering if some of you guys with more experience under your belts would be willing to dish out some advice on what I have come up with for a plan.

The first stand would be set up on an old 4-wheeler trail that the deer use as a travel corridor. The stand would be about 50 yards from the bedding area, and runs parallel to the field for about 50-60 yards until it opens up to the field. I can post up an arial map if anybody wants. The reason that I was thinking about using this area is that there is a rub line going along the whole trail. And it is obvious that deer use it often. I just don't know exactly because I know that the deer go out to the east, and south to feed also. But this would mean the deer are travelling to the east to feed. Would it be wise to set up three stands in that area and just hunt them according to the wind?

The second spot would be at an area that the deer come out to feed. It is a funnel area that the deer would be coming from two areas ( I am thinking). There are trees about 15-20 yards wide along the river with a trail coming from the northeast, and another trail coming from the east.
It just has me wondering exactly what the deer do here, and that is why I wanted to get a trail cam for this specific area. I have seen them feeding in the evening in this area, but it seems as if the trail that I explained is one solid trail that they just stop off to browse on the food and continue on their way to the main feeding area. I know that there is a bedding area to the east. So that is why I was wondering if maybe it is just a spot where they come out as they are on their way to the prime source.

Sorry for the long post, and hopefully I was clear in my post. I will get arial photos and try to draw out the two areas that I am talking about.

Buck_Slayer

The picture got a little dark when I saved in, but the green area is the bedding area. The blue areas are deer trails, The one that makes a hook with is actually the 4 wheeler trail too. The tiny red dots are stand location s I was thinking, and the two big pink dots is another stand sight that I am unsure of which spot I should actually put the stand at. The purple circle is just where a farmstead used to be.

Buck_Slayer

Purple Trail=4 wheeler trail, I know the guy spends some time in this section of the woods.
Yellow Dash= Other hunters, I could hunt the area, but I would rather stay out of there.
Green Trail= Deer Trail
Dots= Potential Stand Sights
Red X= Area nice bucks have been every year, plus tons of deer sign. I think they may bed further to the east
Green Dash=Rub lines-consecutive years
Lightly Spatterd Green= Area I think deer use as kind of a sanctuary. A lot of nice bucks have come out of there year after year.
Heavy green circle= Bedding area
Green Squares= deer crossings on the river

wi_buckstomper

As for the scouting thing i would do all of them, cams,shed scouting, and glassing. All those spots look very promising. There look to be several good funnel areas that could be good stand sites. Also how big is that river? You could use a boat or canoe to sneek in to spots that otherwise would be hard to get. Also you could set up next to that other hunter area and let them pressure them out.

Buck_Slayer

The river in the top picture varies. You could walk across in some spots, others you could wade across. The second picture you could definatley float a canoe. Some spots are jammed up with logs but would be easy to get around.