BarnesX.308

You got that right. And trail cams only prove what we suspected all along.

The only thing about where I hunt where scouting is great, is that it is so vast that you are always discovering new spots. And those new spots get us away from the spots that we probably burn out over time. Seems that mine, my buddies' and my neighbors all have stands in a 200 acre area that is within walking distance to the cabin. These have been perennial producers and we always see game. Most are 1.5 year old bucks and doe....but these stands are our security blankets. Hard to deviate. Every now and then, we'll scout out a new spot that's a good mile away from the cluster of stands and it's red hot while it's new. Deer pattern us, eh?

The stand we over-hunt the most got a nice bear a few years ago.....so you never know. And you also never know what kind of buck will walk by the stand in the rut. I've seen big, mature bucks in our backyard during the rut. They go where the does go.

rockport

That is not to far off from how I do it. Don't get me wrong I have scouted out every bit of hunting ground I have. I just don't do it over and over or even every year, I leave locations completely alone on purpose. Its often a bust when I get there to hunt BUT I kill my best bucks in these spots almost exclusively.

I also have "sacrificial stands" that I over hunt to fill my need to be hunting. I hang my cameras and hunt these stands a lot. When the time is right I start hitting the stands I have not seen or touched in a year. These stands are where I do 10% of my hunting and have killed 85% of my mature bucks. They are all based on terrain.....no scouting, no cameras just knowing how,when, and where mature bucks are likely to be on their feet in the daylight.

BarnesX.308

I agree and feel the same way. I think these spots just warrant a trip to confirm what you remember or are seeing on the topo map. I was recently looking at Google Earth for the property we hunt. I saw something I never noticed before...even though I have seen this area on topo maps and hiked it several times. A bridge of trees that goes right through a swamp. This HAS to be a funnel. I just want to go there once to see if there is a tree I can put a climber in, see if there is any visibility, etc.... See pic below:

rockport

Yeah I would definitely have a stand there. Although My favorites are pinches or "go arounds" in the timber

Believe it or not I don't worry about the food source to much. I hunt terrain coming in and out of bedding.

Game Stalker

I have some public land I haven't scouted lately that contains some honey holes that I know will produce. I have another public property that I need to scout but don't know how that will pan out. For this second area, getting there with primitive weapons before general firearm can pay dividend without scouting, even though that is my preference there. In general firearms season, dogs will be at both places. I prefer to not be around that.

There are 2 other areas I have access to that are private. One is in a high density area w/good buck size. The other simply needs scouting as it appear to be a low density area.
Scouting is important based on the situation but the bottom lines is: If one don't get out there hunting, they'll never know. They certainly won't come to someone otherwise.

BarnesX.308

I have a problem with bedding areas. Since there are literally thousands of acres of overgrown clear cut, swamps, laurel thickets, blueberry thickets and mountain steeps, 90% of the mountain is good bedding. There isn't that one area that's thick and I know the deer bed there. There are 500 acre patches of great bedding cover. And the clear cuts are great browsing too. So, their bedding and feeding areas are the same.

Bocajnala

Sounds like I should just go with whats worked in the past and use my climber to slip into any new areas. I feel bad leaving several hang on stands in the shed this year. But just no time to put them up. I primarily have used my climber the last few seasons anyway. I think I'll be alright with the one ladder stand for quick and short hunts and the climber for everything else.
-Jake

Oldtimr

If you know the area and where the deer are using there is no reason you should not be good to go.

Topgun 3006

If you're after mature bucks, listen to Rockport and stay out of the area you're sure they'll be in until it's time so you don't stink it up any more than absolutely necessary getting in and out. Good example: A buddy of mine knew a real good buck was in a fairly small area and got in there well before daylight and into his tree stand that he hung well before the season. Right about daylight Tom sees the buck coming from right to left and got to the one small trail Tom had used to get to the stand. There was one overhanging limb and that buck stopped, took a quick sniff on that limb that Tom thought he must have brushed up against when he went under it and backed right out of there never to be seen again until the rut really got going. Even though Tom played his cards right, that one little booboo leaving his scent on that branch and that buck won the game!

rockport

I've seen the happen way to many times. Sometimes that happens and I never figure out how he knew something wasn't right.