2017 SCOUTING REPORTS

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

Unread postby hunter_mike » Tue Dec 27, 2016 2:50 am

Had a good scouting trip friday. Walked around in an area new to me but it connects to an area that i know decently.

Imageimage posting

Found lots of doe bedding overlooking parking areas:

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Kicked up a medium sized buck. He looked like an 8 point. He was bedded with wind to back and watching an access rd to a parking lot.

Also walked up on a big coyote. Had him at 20 yards.

Found tons of rubs and i did find one set of big tracks that i wish i would have tried following.

Found a freshened scrape:
Imagehttps://postimage.org/

Fun walk, got well acquainted with the lay of the land and found a few areas that i want to come back to for a detailed scout when the snow goes away!


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Re: 2017 SCOUTING REPORTS

Unread postby cbay » Fri Jan 06, 2017 3:48 am

Nice Mike.
This thread should get lit up pretty soon with seasons coming to an end.
Still debating whether to load up here or start a journal...
Got the first snow of the winter good enough to track a deer today. With so few snows it's hard to decide where to spend the time but have to decide soon!
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Re: 2017 SCOUTING REPORTS

Unread postby stash59 » Fri Jan 06, 2017 1:20 pm

"Large wall holding back water in a river" this old dog is beat!!! Went for a walk about. Put over 2 miles on the ol' boots! Saw alot of old tracks. I was hoping to cut a set or two that had the right combo of track size, stride width and length to indicate a mature buck. i did find some that were in general bigger in all of the catogories than all of the other tracks. But none that compare to the pics and descriptions that I've seen on here and In the Benoit's books.

I'm hoping that at least what I found are tracks made by good 2 YO's or poor 3 YO's. So i'll at least have some 3 YO's to go after next year.

Other than over doing it and getting super sore. And getting some chilly fingers at the end. What a beautiful afternoon in the woods!!!!

:D :lol:
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Re: 2017 SCOUTING REPORTS

Unread postby IkemanTx » Sat Jan 07, 2017 8:37 am

On the 1st, I kayaked into a spot to scout and practice with my new Sit Drag and bolts setup. I only found 1 bed, but found two good clusters of rubs. One cluster had at least 6 rubs from this year as well as 6-8 rubs from previous years. That definitely got my attention. I also found a nice little trail cutting across a saddle that isn't shown on topo maps.
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The bed I found was within about 50-60 yards of the other cluster/line of rubs. It was lower than I expected, being about 1/3 from the bottom of the point instead of the other way around. But, the bed stuck out like a sore thumb. There was no missing it.
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Almost no hunter sign was out there, which is a very pleasant surprise in the heavily hunted land around me. Typically I come across 7-8 stands when I cover as much ground as I did, so I will take a few more trips out there to thoroughly cover and prep the area. Almost the whole area also lines up perfectly with our prevailing wind.
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Re: 2017 SCOUTING REPORTS

Unread postby Lockdown » Sat Jan 07, 2017 8:53 am

Boss made work optional today so I made it out for an unexpected scout :dance: My truck said -8 when I got out.

I headed to a more or less new to me property for a speed scout. Put on 3.52 miles in 2 hours and 15 minutes and jumped a half dozen does. I was pretty beat by the time I got back to the truck. I had a half dozen suspected spots to check and most didn't pan out like I thought they would. Not only that, I never cut any big buck tracks or saw any big rubs. I'm thinking this place gets cleaned out pretty bad as evidence of the THIRTEEN stands I now know of, and I haven't covered half of it. The best rubs were on baseball bat sized trees at hip height.

Lucky for me they were in the only bedding area that wasn't getting pressured, but man alive it will be a tough one to hunt. There are old and new rubs and I can actually observe it so that's a big plus. This area is really boggy so I'm wondering if access is the reason that spot is left alone :think:

I found two other good looking spots, but both had stands close by. Here's are some doe and fawn beds on a point that's got one new and 4 old rubs within 10 yards of each other:
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If I don't find any big rubs or tracks, this might be a property I end up ditching after a couple years even though it looks awesome on an aerial. I'll scout it one more time before green up, prep a set or two, then more than likely give it a try this fall. I'm just not sure it holds big ones annually, and thats what I'm after when I choose a new location.

All in all it was fun to get out scouting again.
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Re: 2017 SCOUTING REPORTS

Unread postby cbay » Sun Jan 08, 2017 1:49 pm

Been scouting my best area the last couple days hoping to find some big buck sign. With snow on the ground i've checked and checked again with no luck. The last couple years there has always been good tracks but so far all i can find is the sign from a couple two year olds i've seen in there. I'm guessing the reason for the lack of sign is sitting in my room right now. Was hoping to find evidence of another one in there.

The classic bedding is still being used though. I know two of the 2yr. olds made it this season and suspect they are making the sign i'm finding.

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A normal cedar tree and another the way i like to see them where i hunt. Spots where there are broken out tunnels through the cedars always gets my attention.

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Went to a new area today trying to take advantage of a little remaining snow to get a jump on where to concentrate my scouting. Immediately i was running into bigger tracks. No slob type but tracks from deer a least bigger than mature does. Was impressed with the sign i found It gets some pressure but not as much as i thought and it has a lot of good topography and cover so it will be a challenge to learn it.

Found a couple different sets around this size. Fair amount of doe beds and a couple possible buck. There's a lot of room for error on whether buck or doe but when i find a real good one there's no doubt when i see it. Haven't found that yet.

Image
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Have around 8 new pieces to scout this season hoping to get some intel on some good ones. The search has begun. 8-)
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Re: 2017 SCOUTING REPORTS

Unread postby jwilkstn » Sun Jan 08, 2017 2:24 pm

Cbay that cedar pic is crazy! Never seen something like that before.

I was blood trailing a doe yesterday (whole other post) and found alot of recent beds. Here's the only buck bed. This is typical of the beds I normally find- great spot for the buck, but not worn to ground. Only used sparingly due to the sheer number of great bedding spots I presume. This is pretty rough country.

Bed:
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View behind bed. The flat on top was select cut 5 years ago and very thick:
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Buck's view from bed. That's a bench below with a bluff in between:
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I killed a 3 year old buck on that bench a few years ago, and passed some smaller ones since, including this year. From this intel, I learned I need to hunt it in the afternoon instead of the morning.
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Re: 2017 SCOUTING REPORTS

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Sun Jan 08, 2017 2:44 pm

Great looking bench!
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Re: 2017 SCOUTING REPORTS

Unread postby hunter_mike » Mon Jan 09, 2017 6:41 am

Did a ton of walking the last day and a half. Very cold out. Most of my areas are nearly void of deer right now. But everything is frozen hard. Really great way to cover a ton of ground and get the lay of the land. Found two areas in particular i want to come back to at a future date when everything thaws out.

Nice big rub. My friend is 6'-2"
Image
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Re: 2017 SCOUTING REPORTS

Unread postby IkemanTx » Mon Jan 09, 2017 12:52 pm

We had the tiniest dusting of snow here in north Texas two days ago, so I drug my 9 year old son out and walked 3 miles of a property. This has been my first real time checking sign in a snow situation, and I am now insanely jealous of you guys that get snow. I am used to either powdery sand, or rock hard clay... neither of which leave any fresh sign. Often times, the only "sign" on the ground is the lack of vegetation from consistent travel. The snow let me determine what species used which trails.

This property is in a county with VERY low deer densities, and as such bucks typically lay down very little sign. There just isn't much territory overlap on bucks.

The snow allowed me to find a spot worthy of a camera. I'll let it sit for a month or so and try to catch a pic of what's around before antlers come off.
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Re: 2017 SCOUTING REPORTS

Unread postby <DK> » Thu Jan 12, 2017 5:35 am

Great Intel! Is this thread for everyone to post? If so I will jump back on when I finally get going
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Re: 2017 SCOUTING REPORTS

Unread postby hunter_mike » Thu Jan 12, 2017 5:40 am

Darkknight54 wrote:Is this thread for everyone to post? If so I will jump back on when I finally get going


Yep just a general place for anyone to post their scouting report. Its for times when we want to report our scouting finds but dont want to start a whole new thread on it. Some people also prefer to have their own scouting journal. Whatever your preference is!
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Re: 2017 SCOUTING REPORTS

Unread postby <DK> » Thu Jan 12, 2017 6:13 am

Awesome Mike! Thanks
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Re: 2017 SCOUTING REPORTS

Unread postby tgreeno » Sun Jan 15, 2017 7:45 am

I was out scouting today. I hit an oak island in the middle of a marsh. I found a couple nice beds (rubs in the beds) with large tracks (3 fingers plus & nice stride) in a small patch of cedars about a 100 yards off it. I found a good killing tree. I'm excited to re-check this area again once the snow melts.
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Re: 2017 SCOUTING REPORTS

Unread postby Lockdown » Sun Jan 15, 2017 7:51 am

tgreeno wrote:I was out scouting today. I hit an oak island in the middle of a marsh. I found a couple nice beds (rubs in the beds) with large tracks (3 fingers plus & nice stride) in a small patch of cedars about a 100 yards off it. I found a good killing tree. I'm excited to re-check this area again once the snow melts.



Sounds promising 8-) nothing better than finding big buck sign in a bedding area right after the season!


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