Snow scouting...super interesting this year. Stuff I have learned.

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OH nontypical
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Re: Snow scouting...super interesting this year. Stuff I have learned.

Unread postby OH nontypical » Sun Jan 14, 2018 12:20 am

Dewey wrote:I have been trying to tell guys around here the same thing for years but everyone says winter patterns and bedding are completely different and snow scouting is a wasted effort. Your observations match mine 100%.


My favorite time to scout is our muzzy season in Jan. Gun on my back and snow on the ground.
Have found great bedding that is still used later in the year.


mainebowhunter
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Re: Snow scouting...super interesting this year. Stuff I have learned.

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Sun Jan 14, 2018 12:25 am

And thus ends the snow scouting for now. Crazy. It was below 0 at night for days on end here. Back to bare ground scouting.

And this week? 40s and 50s and rain. The snow is all but gone. Great for the deer. Really really gives them such a leg up.
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Re: Snow scouting...super interesting this year. Stuff I have learned.

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Fri Jan 19, 2018 1:35 pm

Back on snow again today. Really, I am trying to kill 2 birds with one stone. I would like to lose another 30# in 2018. Lost 30 in 2017, gained 6 back over the holidays. And of course, great to be in the woods. I really would rather be out there after the snow has been on the ground for a few days.

So had a couple hours after a meeting. Jumped in and figured I would jump on a medium track that was headed back to a known bedding area. From the size of the bed, I knew it was not a giant. But with only couple hours of daylight left, figured I would follow it. Took me from one bed, to another bed and then to a final bed...this is the one I believe I kicked out of because tracks were fresh and they were running.!

What is interesting is that the snow was on the ground and started to fill in the tracks...stopped snowing at about 3 or 4 this morning. So that deer really only bedded 3x times in almost 10-12 or so hours.

It was also interesting to see the deer slow up, turn and watch its back track. Then take off running again. AND then to watch it hit a main travel corridor and move right down the corridor at full tilt. Also you start to realize if I were a tracker, just what kind of snow it takes to really get on a good track, KNOW its a good track and take it. Easy walking snow. BUT really hard to if you get into a bunch of tracks to sort it out. Snow was just so fluffy.

I am not a tracker by any stretch but the information you can find how these deer move through a piece has a lot of value. What is so great about this is these deer are behaving much the same way they did during the season. Gives me a chance to pin down exact beds they are using now and keep track of it for next fall. 100% they are bedding all the same areas.
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Re: Snow scouting...super interesting this year. Stuff I have learned.

Unread postby tgreeno » Fri Jan 19, 2018 3:50 pm

This is what I've been doing in areas, that I have questions about bedding. I've been back-tracking any good tracks I find.

Maine, are you assuming the bedding you're finding this time of year, will also be used early in the hunting season?
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mainebowhunter
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Re: Snow scouting...super interesting this year. Stuff I have learned.

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Fri Jan 19, 2018 10:52 pm

tgreeno wrote:This is what I've been doing in areas, that I have questions about bedding. I've been back-tracking any good tracks I find.

Maine, are you assuming the bedding you're finding this time of year, will also be used early in the hunting season?


Not assuming. I know they are. I killed a buck off one of them this year. What I am doing is matching up all my intel I have during season and now.

Most of this work is all towards learning all I can about 1 deer.
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Re: Snow scouting...super interesting this year. Stuff I have learned.

Unread postby Scratchman » Fri Jan 19, 2018 11:19 pm

With the crust we have in Vt right now, they are everywhere. No yarding, using fall type forage and travel patterns.
"I could eat shlapjacks every day of the weeksh, eh." Jimmer Nagamanee from Menominee
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Re: Snow scouting...super interesting this year. Stuff I have learned.

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Fri Jan 19, 2018 11:26 pm

Scratchman wrote:With the crust we have in Vt right now, they are everywhere. No yarding, using fall type forage and travel patterns.


Scary stuff with the crust. We dodged a bullet with the last warm up. ALL snow was gone. So now we have 6-8 of fresh powder.


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