2017 SCOUTING REPORTS

Discuss the science of figuring out our prey through good detective work.
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stash59
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Re: 2017 SCOUTING REPORTS

Unread postby stash59 » Sat May 06, 2017 9:05 pm

Put in about 4 hours on Wednesday (5/3). Found 15 beds. Might not all be buck beds, but they were all set up like a buck bed should be. They ranged from 250 to 600 yards of the road. Picked out some kill spots. Gotta get back in to set them up. Wore me out. Took about 5 minutes to get unstuck from 1 muck hole I slipped into. Forgot my phone and thought I may just live the rest of my life there!!! :doh: :lol:


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Dewey
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Re: 2017 SCOUTING REPORTS

Unread postby Dewey » Sat May 06, 2017 9:38 pm

stash59 wrote:Took about 5 minutes to get unstuck from 1 muck hole I slipped into. Forgot my phone and thought I may just live the rest of my life there!!! :doh: :lol:


Been in that situation a few times myself. Scary feeling especially when you keep sinking deeper and deeper.
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Re: 2017 SCOUTING REPORTS

Unread postby UofLbowhunter » Sat May 06, 2017 11:51 pm

That would have to be a scary feeling! I hope I don't ever get stuck like that, I'd probable start crying for momma!! :lol: :lol:. Glad you made it out alive! :lol:
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Re: 2017 SCOUTING REPORTS

Unread postby UofLbowhunter » Sun May 07, 2017 12:05 am

Dewey wrote:I managed to squeeze in one more scouting trip today. It was a wet day already so figured why not throw on some waders and rain gear and head deep into the marsh. My focus was seeking high water bedding since water levels in the marsh are at a 10 year high and this tends to make bedding much more predictable but the high water also makes it much more challenging to get to those spots. I am always amazed even this time of the year how many bedded deer I kick up bedding way deep into flooded timber where the average person would never even consider that deer would live there. Those very small bedding humps are very important to know about in high water years because they are used year after year. Setting cams in these spots during past high water years shocked me by the quality of bucks living deep in the flooded timber. I think those bucks spend much of their life in belly deep water and bedding on those humps.

I covered just over 6 miles today much of it in thigh deep muck water busting thru cattails while looking for bedding humps. While doing this I was constantly jumping ducks. I always say ducks and bucks are a great combination. Heard plenty of deer splashing water running ahead of me. I was able to add a good number of good looking buck beds for this fall that showed old vegetation packed down along with new green sprouts meaning that they are being used now as well. Likely primary beds.

Sorry no pics as I was pretty waterlogged and never removed my phone from the ziplock bag. I could have used a snorkel a few times today. :lol:



I done what you did a few weeks ago, threw on the waders and rain coat and dove right in. There was a lot of places I was pushing the limits of my waders :shock: ! My swamps are no cattails, there thick brush, I always called them buck brush! But don't know if that's what it is or not! Anyway the stuff was so thick and in deep water, it amazed me how the deer or even a nice racked buck could have gotten back there. They had to use select trails that's for sure! I did find some buck bedding and a couple of staging area, so I'm getting fired for those hunts! I don't think to many people get to those areas!!! I hope! :pray: It was a lot of work and I came out all scratched up!! Looks promising!!
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Re: 2017 SCOUTING REPORTS

Unread postby tbunao » Sun May 07, 2017 12:25 am

UofL, you guys have the same type of swamps that I frequent in Ny. I think this same thick barriers or brush in the swamps act as a wall to keep things out as well as a wall to force those bucks in a specific direction while moving natural. I just recently did the same thing last Tuesday in the rain and found the same as you.

A good swamp to scout for talent today would be the infield at the downs :lol:
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Re: 2017 SCOUTING REPORTS

Unread postby hunter_mike » Fri May 12, 2017 2:36 pm

Went for a walk this morning. Found some beds but couldnt pinpoint any that stood out above the rest. There was one area of high ground up from the beds a ways that had a lot of rubs! Probably worth an observation sit.

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Pretty excited for the coming season. I should have plenty of spots and deer to check up on to keep me busy. Is it september yet?
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Re: 2017 SCOUTING REPORTS

Unread postby isitseasonyet? » Sun May 28, 2017 7:12 am

My "puzzle pieces" thread has me thinking. I'm out re doing all of my spring scouting because I don't think I got the intel I need. I'm tired of relying on luck. So far my first spot suspicion was confirmed. It's a buck bed, an good one too. I don't know how I'm gonna hunt it either :think:
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isitseasonyet?
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Re: 2017 SCOUTING REPORTS

Unread postby isitseasonyet? » Sun May 28, 2017 7:41 am

isitseasonyet? wrote:My "puzzle pieces" thread has me thinking. I'm out re doing all of my spring scouting because I don't think I got the intel I need. I'm tired of relying on luck. So far my first spot suspicion was confirmed. It's a buck bed, an good one too. I don't know how I'm gonna hunt it either :think:


Spots 2,3,4 are busts.


Spot 5 showed promise. Large bed big tracks. And the tree I was gonna pick has a stand in it Watching the creek crossing.. I think it's the game buck. Same big square toed track as spot 1. But spot 1 is a much more secure bed, I'm asking myself "why wouldn't he bed here" instead
Of why is he bedded here..

I'm gonna look at google maps when I get home, I have an idea for access, but I don't know how to actually hunt it yet.
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isitseasonyet?
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Re: 2017 SCOUTING REPORTS

Unread postby isitseasonyet? » Sun May 28, 2017 8:17 am

Bumped a large bodied deer but he was bedded off the public, but there are some good rut funnels and cruising trails that I'll add to my list.
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Re: 2017 SCOUTING REPORTS

Unread postby Lockdown » Sun May 28, 2017 8:55 am

Loving the drive isitseasonyet... Keep after em and you'll get them figured out!! 8-) It takes time.

I'd be willing to look over an aerial or two for you if you want a 2nd opinion on anything.
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Re: 2017 SCOUTING REPORTS

Unread postby Lockdown » Mon May 29, 2017 11:57 pm

Finally made it back into the woods yesterday. Was itching to go elsewhere and explore but decided prepping more kill trees was the responsible thing to.

I threw on my waders and LW... Had never crossed the river before but it was only crotch deep. Perfect. This is a brand new set and bedding that I found earlier this year. Wasn't much sign back there today, but the bed had been used recently :dance: if you zoom there's a bunch of hair in the bed.
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I also noticed there was a legitimate brows line within 5-10 yards of the bed. After that it dissipated.

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Man I'm excited to hunt this bed! Evening hunts will be a tough go... I'm about 40 yards from it with satellite beds 30 yards to my left. If anything is in those satellite beds id be done for. So the plan is an a.m. hunt. Might try early season evening while the vegetation is tall and abundant. I'll for sure hit it up pre-rut.



Bed is 40 yds away in that clump on the transition. View is west
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SW view
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South view. If you look toward the upper left there is red brush there. Lots of beds and a few rubs. I'm confident it's NW wind bedding and my wind SHOULD be just off. It was yesterday with our prevailing NW wind. There are also beds in between the main buck bed and the red brush.
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NE view. Escape trails to river crossing. They also lead to some more bedding to the north. Shadows make that trail look pounded...
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This is a DYNAMITE gun stand. If I have a tag during muzzleloader season this will be a go to spot. I can cover the river and see a lot of ground. I will kill a deer from this set some day... I'm quite confident.
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Jackson Marsh
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Re: 2017 SCOUTING REPORTS

Unread postby Jackson Marsh » Tue May 30, 2017 1:13 am

Nice work Lockdown!
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Re: 2017 SCOUTING REPORTS

Unread postby tgreeno » Tue May 30, 2017 2:49 am

Nice work Lockdown! Looks like a great spot!
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Re: 2017 SCOUTING REPORTS

Unread postby Lockdown » Tue May 30, 2017 3:39 am

tgreeno wrote:Nice work Lockdown! Looks like a great spot!


Pretty excited about it! The bed has big rubs in it, new and old. Might be a primary bed. Not sure. There was big tracks in there this spring while there was still snow on the ground. I did find a skeleton 50 yards from the bed too... In the satellite bedding. Looked fairly small but couldn't find the head.
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Re: 2017 SCOUTING REPORTS

Unread postby justdirtyfun » Tue May 30, 2017 4:27 am

Yesterday I was out, semi-scouting with wife and dog. We logged 2.6 miles in a river bottom area along a planted corn field. On a solo run I would have got a cam or two dropped but overall a nice day together. We crossed a NICE buck track and I confirmed a rut stand location that was along that buck track. It is a mile from parking and other guys would be pushing movement to me.
My dog is notorious for finding the stinkiest, rankest, putrid debris to roll in :angry-banghead: and it happened ...twice. LOL. At least we had spots to dunk her and knock down the funk.
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