Scouting edge

Discuss the science of figuring out our prey through good detective work.
  • Advertisement

HB Store


mheichelbech
500 Club
Posts: 4188
Joined: Thu Nov 21, 2013 10:00 am
Facebook: mheichelbech@gmail.com
Location: Charlestown, IN
Status: Offline

Re: Scouting edge

Unread postby mheichelbech » Thu Apr 16, 2020 8:36 am

Twenty Up wrote:
mheichelbech wrote:
Twenty Up wrote:I’ve found that finding beds really helps me understand deer travel routes, safety areas, behavior etc.. But I’ve never killed a deer in a bed that I’ve found while scouting in January or March. Maybe my “style” or interpretation of this is different than others, the geographical location and foliage is different or whatever, but that’s been my experiences after 7+ years of scouting and hunting “Buck beds”.

That being said, it has made me a much more efficient hunter and my encounters on mature animals has gone up. I wouldn’t fixate on finding beds per-say, but I’d focus on trying to predict, interpret and scout/hunt deer sign that you understand.

Included are bucks beds and exit trials located over the years in locations that I found on a map and confirmed bedding on foot. Predict, scout, interpret then hunt.

I hope this helps, it could be common sense but prioritizing Predicting & Understanding deer sign has been an asset for my success recently.

4E0109EB-589D-404A-8142-95B9DECC4628.jpeg
709A119F-7C61-4882-BA63-85A9289DC04E.jpeg
44444860-3AB9-4C1C-8C5F-6420FA937CE3.jpeg
CD7B69AC-1C6F-4792-AC3E-F6136A2BF73F.jpeg

Understanding and predicting have been very difficult for me. I assume it’s due to pressure but can’t say for sure, but most of the individual bucks I’ve hunted have seemed to be extremely unpredictable. They just don’t seem to follow the same routes day to day during the bulk of the season. Around here, the only time I’ve seen bucks do the same thing day to day is very late season and even then, only if it’s really cold or bad weather, which is not reliable in and of itself.
I have wondered whether I just haven’t put in enough effort to be able to pattern bucks or are they really just that random. I don’t think effort is the problem for me but perhaps the right kind of effort is more important.
This year I’m going to put more effort into actually finding mature bucks wherever they are instead of trying to find mature bucks where I mostly hunt. This has been my biggest mistake the last few years, thinking there are bucks in an area that I’m just not finding instead of finding areas that actually hold mature bucks.


Pressure can actually corral deer and make their movements more predictable.

An example for Predicting & Understanding that has recently worked has been I would be -going over aerials in July/August and see a good pinch point between Potential bedding and food. Go physically walk and look for tracks, we found a large set of tracks coming from exactly where we predicted them to. Set up a camera and ended up having 2 very respectable bucks using that trail entering the fields. Opening day we setup on 2 different exit trails, my buddy ended up having the largest buck at 22 or 24 yards, but no shot and the buck caught our ground scent somehow.

September- mid October is the only reliable “pattern” you’ll ever get on a buck in the Southeast. I’ve had bucks dogging does January 1-7th when our peak rut is November 3-10. That “trickle rut” takes away any late season food to bed pattern that guys up North rave about. It doesn’t get below 30 degrees here and we have plenty of does.

It took a lot of trail cameras and time in the woods to get to where I’m at today, and I’m still learning new things or getting humbled by old bucks. If you don’t own or utilize trail cameras, I highly recommend buying 5 cheap Tascos and leaving them out all season. Pictures worth a thousand words ;)

You mentioned the temps to get bucks on a late season bed to food pattern, I imagine that is area/region specific. I’m guessing around here it needs to be below 30, maybe even below 20 before that kicks in. We didn’t even get any ground covering snow this past year.


"One of the chief attractions of the life of the wilderness is its rugged and stalwart democracy; there every man stands for what he actually is and can show himself to be." — Theodore Roosevelt, 1893
User avatar
Twenty Up
500 Club
Posts: 1885
Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2014 1:06 pm
Location: Dirty South
Status: Offline

Re: Scouting edge

Unread postby Twenty Up » Thu Apr 16, 2020 12:05 pm

mheichelbech wrote:
Twenty Up wrote:
mheichelbech wrote:
Twenty Up wrote:I’ve found that finding beds really helps me understand deer travel routes, safety areas, behavior etc.. But I’ve never killed a deer in a bed that I’ve found while scouting in January or March. Maybe my “style” or interpretation of this is different than others, the geographical location and foliage is different or whatever, but that’s been my experiences after 7+ years of scouting and hunting “Buck beds”.

That being said, it has made me a much more efficient hunter and my encounters on mature animals has gone up. I wouldn’t fixate on finding beds per-say, but I’d focus on trying to predict, interpret and scout/hunt deer sign that you understand.

Included are bucks beds and exit trials located over the years in locations that I found on a map and confirmed bedding on foot. Predict, scout, interpret then hunt.

I hope this helps, it could be common sense but prioritizing Predicting & Understanding deer sign has been an asset for my success recently.

4E0109EB-589D-404A-8142-95B9DECC4628.jpeg
709A119F-7C61-4882-BA63-85A9289DC04E.jpeg
44444860-3AB9-4C1C-8C5F-6420FA937CE3.jpeg
CD7B69AC-1C6F-4792-AC3E-F6136A2BF73F.jpeg

Understanding and predicting have been very difficult for me. I assume it’s due to pressure but can’t say for sure, but most of the individual bucks I’ve hunted have seemed to be extremely unpredictable. They just don’t seem to follow the same routes day to day during the bulk of the season. Around here, the only time I’ve seen bucks do the same thing day to day is very late season and even then, only if it’s really cold or bad weather, which is not reliable in and of itself.
I have wondered whether I just haven’t put in enough effort to be able to pattern bucks or are they really just that random. I don’t think effort is the problem for me but perhaps the right kind of effort is more important.
This year I’m going to put more effort into actually finding mature bucks wherever they are instead of trying to find mature bucks where I mostly hunt. This has been my biggest mistake the last few years, thinking there are bucks in an area that I’m just not finding instead of finding areas that actually hold mature bucks.


Pressure can actually corral deer and make their movements more predictable.

An example for Predicting & Understanding that has recently worked has been I would be -going over aerials in July/August and see a good pinch point between Potential bedding and food. Go physically walk and look for tracks, we found a large set of tracks coming from exactly where we predicted them to. Set up a camera and ended up having 2 very respectable bucks using that trail entering the fields. Opening day we setup on 2 different exit trails, my buddy ended up having the largest buck at 22 or 24 yards, but no shot and the buck caught our ground scent somehow.

September- mid October is the only reliable “pattern” you’ll ever get on a buck in the Southeast. I’ve had bucks dogging does January 1-7th when our peak rut is November 3-10. That “trickle rut” takes away any late season food to bed pattern that guys up North rave about. It doesn’t get below 30 degrees here and we have plenty of does.

It took a lot of trail cameras and time in the woods to get to where I’m at today, and I’m still learning new things or getting humbled by old bucks. If you don’t own or utilize trail cameras, I highly recommend buying 5 cheap Tascos and leaving them out all season. Pictures worth a thousand words ;)

You mentioned the temps to get bucks on a late season bed to food pattern, I imagine that is area/region specific. I’m guessing around here it needs to be below 30, maybe even below 20 before that kicks in. We didn’t even get any ground covering snow this past year.


I don’t think there is a specific number to it, but we rarely get below 30-40 at night and stay around 40-60 during the daytime down here. The animals metabolism really slows down and they don’t NEED to eat to survive. With their thick winter coats they can comfortably survive. But that rare 15-25F cold front and every animal is moving to get enough carbs in them.

That’s my take on it from what I’ve seen and what my cameras have picked up. Cold for me and cold for you will definitely vary.
Trust the Process~~ Lost Boys Outdoors ~~

YoutTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UC7TXknGut5WfZQ6CbddgqYg


  • Advertisement

Return to “Scouting”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 33 guests