gutshot

I hunt pretty much exclusively on publis land that is about 1 hours drive from my house so I never go and scout it. Plus with keeping things up around my house and doing the family thing I really don't have the time. I was just wondering how many of you don't scout either and still consistently kill deer.

BowHuntingFool

I scout every chance I get, public land and my own Private land. I enjoy it!!!! Plus I incorporate a little predator hunting while scouting!

Jellio

Not really the same situation as you but I got access to 10 acres about a month ago and its' about 10 minutes from my house. I went in there the day I got access and walked for about 15 minutes and found some good sign. Found a spot to put my stand, cleared some shooting lanes and made sure everything was in order and put up my stand. Went back there last Wednesday and sat for an hour and killed my first buck with a bow and saw 2 other bucks. My feeling is unless your hunting some place where you can stand back and watch deer 400 yards away without being detected your best bet is to find a spot that looks good (trail crossings or ridges and the like)go there once and get everything in order and then back out until you hunt the place. I'm sure other's have different opinions but this is what I've done the last two years and I've shot deer at both place's I hunt.

GMMAT

I don't scout.....much. Not a reason to scout. My woods are small....and I know where I saw them, last year. IF they change their patterns.....I can observe that from stand, mostly.

Later in the year....they'll be crossing the property I have access to for mast crops in outlying areas. I might set up on a stretch of road to see where they're crossing......and set up in that area if I have access to it. But....I am way too intrusive if I go in there. So when I go.....I hunt.

rybohunter

I scout, but probably not as much as most do. I live a little far from my main hunting spot, but I have also been hunting it for 20+ years. There’s not much more I can gain scouting, that I can’t gain in a night or two of “observation” hunting. If the woods change (logging/storm damage) I will check it out and go from there. My other hunting spots I just check out and learn when I first got them. Then I kind of keep tabs on them and adjust as the season goes.

I do a lot of scouting in spring turkey and during boring weekends in the late winter.

Rick James

I don't get to scout much, my main property is 4 hours from home. I get there about once a month during off season and have stands up all year round though, so it's easy to shift hunting patterns depending on the movement I see. I do wish I lived closer to my hunting grounds though.

Finch

I was going to post a similar question.

I scout sign and not deer. I mainly hunt in the mountains so if I see promising sign; I hunt that. I don't necessarily know what size buck I'm hunting but I know theres at least one buck nearby.

However, I gained access to alot of land last year and will start hunting it this year. As I was driving by I saw a very nice buck on the field edge, wallhanger. Well, I've went back numerous times to "scout" him but haven't seen him since. Guess I'll go back to my old ways of finding a good spot and then hunt. I rely on scents and calls and have had much success with these.

cynikalHC

I am like most the other guys in here that are saying that they scout more for sign than deer. I am not much of a trophy hunter so just knowing that there are at least some deer there regardless of the size is all that I want to know.

FroMan

I hunt my place mostly so I don't really have to do scouting since I know where the water/food sources are, the bedding areas and the travel routes are.

However, I wanted to scout a mil-base that I'll be bowhunting this fall and they won't let you. I have a topo-map of the place so that's all I'm scouting.

I think it you can at least stomp out some of the terrain your chances increase, but not-scouting a lick has also killed many a big buck.

Either way...good luck.

mauser06

this season i have done more work than for any season EVER...i thought i scouted for spring turkey hard in the past...but this year i really did alot of scouting for deer season.

still only have 4 good spots. 3 at school and 1 at home...really need more at home...but i poured over ariels and topos for hours on end...alot of spots simply turned out useless. but found 3 GOOD lookin spots here at school im excited over.

really need atleast 1 or 2 more at home. i got a few but they arent hotspots...we will see....but i put alot of time into scouting this season...hopefully it pays. last year i got lazy and figured my old spots would be great....WRONG. forest has changed since then...so has the deer patterns. hopefully i got them figured out now