Scouting, Part of the Hunt

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ARCHER11
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Scouting, Part of the Hunt

Post by ARCHER11 » Fri Jul 13, 2012 6:01 pm

I've got a question or two for y'all... This time of year these forums get bombarded with people asking for places to go on their upcoming hunts. While I am always happy to help with areas I’m familiar with, I feel like many people miss out on the whole hunting experience by trying to bypass the time and effort it takes to find quality trophies. To me, scouting is just as much a part of the hunt and brings just as much excitement as the hunt itself. With that, I’m happy to help any new comers get out into the hills and experience what scouting consists of for ME. I realize that the way you scout depends a lot on the time of year you will be hunting, the game you're pursuing, the time you have, distance from the unit, and the list goes on... I would love to hear what everyone's scouting techniques are and how they prepare for the upcoming season. I'm sure there is knowledge out there that can really help a few people have some successful scouting trips as we get closer to the hunts. So, I’m curious to know what some of your scouting techniques are...

I've been archery hunting for 6 or 7 years now and while I still have a TON to learn I finally feel like I’m starting to figure things out. The past 3 years I’ve focused a lot on spot and stalk style hunting and have had some awesome success. I haven't killed any giant bucks or bulls but I've seen more game and had more opportunities than ever before. Scouting time has become one of my favorite times of year and I love checking out new areas and finding animals to chase come hunting season.

As I primarily archery hunt, my time is spent locating animals in their summer range and figuring out what they do in that transition from summer to fall. I understand the deer a lot better than I do the elk. Maybe some of you can shed some light on scouting elk for pre-rut hunting... Because elk are so mobile they're hard to pattern and you never know where they'll end up once the rut kicks in. Because of this I tend to focus my efforts on finding the cows before the hunt starts. Using this technique last year really paid off. Late July early August I was able to locate a group of 8 or so cows pretty consistently. As we moved into September I watched them, just waiting for a bull to show up. One evening I glassed a nice 5 point bull still in full velvet near the area I had been seeing the group of cows and Less than a week later he had stripped his velvet and was right in the middle of them. I wasn’t able to connect on the bull but learned a lot from my scouting. In my experience with deer they pretty well stay put once they settle in their summer range. They may hop over into neighboring basins now and again but as long as they aren't bothered they will stay in the same area until they strip their velvet. In my experience, once the velvet is gone they become ghosts. I'm sure part of it has to do with the increased hunting pressure as the year progresses. Maybe some can share some techniques on finding deer in the mid stage when their hard horned but the rut hasn't brought them out just yet.

With this year's changes and drawing a tag being half the battle, I decided to try something different and get to know a "lesser" unit (North Slope) that would hopefully provide some fairly consistent draw success. Having mainly hunted the Wasatch front for the past few years I have had to start from scratch. It has been a blast pouring over maps and google earth, talking to the forest service and fellow hunters, and taking a look at my backpacking equipment trying to get everything dialed in. My first trip to the area will be next week and I’ve got at least one, hopefully two more bonsai trips planned before the opener. Even though I don’t have a tag for the Front I have still spent a lot of time up the canyons and I have been able to explore other areas without the pressure to pattern any specific animal. Straying from a honey hole I have come to know so well is what brings me to this post. When scouting a new area for the first time I find the best vantage point that allows me to see the most country but as I have checked out new spots this year I have realized that there are so many little nooks and crannies that disappear when looking from different angles. This leads me to my question as to how you all go about scouting these little pockets. There is so little time in the early morning before the bucks head to bed that it’s near impossible to cover all the angles in a scouting trip or two and you run the risk of missing out on the buck of a lifetime. So, how do you cover all the pockets? Will you glass from a different angle each time out or do you change locations throughout the day and glass for the bedded bucks in the afternoon? I’m curious what tactics everyone uses to avoid missing animals in these pockets.
My scouting consists of a couple different components. First on the list is evaluating maps. I look for hard to reach places with little human traffic and identify boundary lines and access points. Once I have found an area that meets my criteria I will look it over in google earth to get a better feel for the vegetation and lay of the land. I will then make a trip to the area to check out points I have made note of such as water, vantage points, camping spots, and possible bedding, feeding and travel routes. This first trip I will generally only take my binos and focus more on the area itself than spotting animals. I’ll make note of things that stood out to me while in the field and look over maps and google earth again and again. After that I get serious about finding animals and making note of any thing else that stands out. Scouting can be a lot of fun, especially when you start to find game and really get to know an area. It is also the best way to get in shape for the hunting season IMO.

Anyway, sorry for the long winded post. I never really had a mentor to teach me how to scout or prepare for the season and I spent a lot of time just wandering through the woods, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing; but I have realized that preparation and scouting makes for a much more successful and enjoyable hunt. Hopefully we can get some good posts and hear some new techniques that can help in finding your next trophy.
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Re: Scouting, Part of the Hunt

Post by MuleyMadness » Sat Jul 14, 2012 9:26 am

I spent a lot of time just wandering through the woods, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing; but I have realized that preparation and scouting makes for a much more successful and enjoyable hunt.
That's the ticket right there and I agree, sorry I don't have much time now to give a detailed response...but the key is TIME...Scouting is all about TIME.

It's a blast but can also be a pain, frustrating, and very expensive. But the more TIME one has to put into anything in life usually leads to a better experience IMO. :thumb

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Re: Scouting, Part of the Hunt

Post by ridgetop » Sun Jul 15, 2012 9:56 pm

I use scouting to just get away from it all and release stress.
Holy cow, I must have a lot of stress in my life. :))
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Re: Scouting, Part of the Hunt

Post by TheGreatwhitehunter » Mon Jul 16, 2012 1:47 am

Scouting was so much more fun before Gas started costing so much$$$$$$$
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Re: Scouting, Part of the Hunt

Post by derekp1999 » Mon Jul 16, 2012 11:11 am

Some of my most "productive" scouting has actually occured during the hunt. After the first day or two I tend to become a bit adventurous and decide to walk into unknown areas. For example, last year I found two new areas that I hadn't been into for 15+ years or my first time into the area wasn't until day 2 of the hunt. From that I learned where not to enter an area (yup, becasue that's right where I hiked into it) and the primary escape routes (because all I saw were white rumps). I've been able to apply that to scouting this summer & made it a point to get a couple cameras into those locations (with decent success). Scouting for me is placing trail cameras and checking them once a month or so, while on a family outing (my wife allows me to sneak away for an hour or two mid-day during the kids nap time). Perhaps when the kids are older I'll be able to spend a little more time out during prime viewing times... but until then I'll rely heavily on cameras to make sure critters are there.

Pre-season scouting is great and I love the heck out of it... don't discount what you learn mid-season.
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Re: Scouting, Part of the Hunt

Post by Shags1 » Mon Jul 16, 2012 8:54 pm

I agree with so many of the posts. Scouting is getting out, getting to see what trails are out there and being used, finding water holes, beds, etc. Technology has made life and scouting somewhat easier and are good tools, especially with gas at $3.60/gal. This year, I picked up a trail camera to use to limit how much driving I need to do. But all in all, a couple of weekend camping trips to get the lay of the land, and some hiking and lots of glassing is the best way to find where the critters are. IMO.

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Re: Scouting, Part of the Hunt

Post by 'Ike' » Mon Jul 16, 2012 11:43 pm

Every bit so...Even if it's just Google Earth from home, however boots on the ground are hard to beat.
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Re: Scouting, Part of the Hunt

Post by waspocrew » Tue Jul 17, 2012 4:50 pm

I would be more prone to getting out if it wasn't so dang expensive.... I have a blast every time I get outdoors though. Growing up, my experience with hunting was just showing up to some spot on opening morning with my uncles and we weren't very successful at all. Surprising huh? I've enjoyed the past few seasons more as I've gotten out before the opener a few times and that has helped me see a lot more game.

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Re: Scouting, Part of the Hunt

Post by Bowtech43 » Sun Jul 22, 2012 10:29 pm

Great post! It sure sounds like you are doing everything very well and being very thorough. I try to get there as much as possible without displeasing the wife or the pocket book too much. Tough balance. The only real way to know an area is time. And the process is almost as fun as the actual hunt, almost!
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Re: Scouting, Part of the Hunt

Post by sagehunter » Wed Aug 15, 2012 5:00 pm

If you hunt the backcountry like me scouting is also a great time to get comfortable with your gear. Its a good time what foods I like to have in the backcountry. I also really enjoy bringing my fly pole for the afternoons although sometimes I get caught up fishing and dont scout as much as I had planned. Yum fresh trout. For me scouting really is about as fun as hunting and its a little more relaxed.

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