2018 Scouting Reports

Discuss the science of figuring out our prey through good detective work.
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justdirtyfun
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Re: 2018 Scouting Reports

Unread postby justdirtyfun » Sun Jan 21, 2018 3:00 am

Scouting today. Pack is loaded, truck is too. Wife is joining me with dog.
I am a lucky man. The plan is adjusted for her to see an old cemetery and schoolhouse. And for the dog more fields than woods. Love the outdoors.


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Re: 2018 Scouting Reports

Unread postby creepingdeth » Sun Jan 21, 2018 3:30 am

First outing of the year...new area, river bottoms pool area. Pools are located by locks so whenever locks are shut, the area may be extremely(4-5ft.) flooded. Walked the perimeter.Not one track in snow :shock: . Great example of how deer move close to food in winter. Since its a floodplain, no oaks or evergreens here. I know deer are present in warm temps because of swampy area and visuals. But, it is a low odds area and drops to the bottom of my list...I learned something today :handgestures-thumbup: Back at it tomorrow
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Re: 2018 Scouting Reports

Unread postby hunter_mike » Sun Jan 21, 2018 4:28 am

creepingdeth wrote:First outing of the year...new area, river bottoms pool area. Pools are located by locks so whenever locks are shut, the area may be extremely(4-5ft.) flooded. Walked the perimeter.Not one track in snow :shock: . Great example of how deer move close to food in winter. Since its a floodplain, no oaks or evergreens here. I know deer are present in warm temps because of swampy area and visuals. But, it is a low odds area and drops to the bottom of my list...I learned something today :handgestures-thumbup: Back at it tomorrow


That is cool, glad to see some beasts hunting those areas. I would like to try some of that type of terrain some day.
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Re: 2018 Scouting Reports

Unread postby RidgeGhost » Sun Jan 21, 2018 8:29 am

I'm needing some advice here. Scouted a new public piece this morning. Trying to expand my opportunities here in state. This place is steep hill country, all wooded. Even mixture of oaks (white, red, chesnut), pines, beech, poplar, and laurel.

I went in today and hit the best looking bedding points along one long ridge. Probably 6 or 8 points I hit. These are high odds, hard to get to points. Normally in the mountains, I can pick a spot on the map, walk to it and find the bed or a cluster of beds. Here, I found nothing. I found one bed all morning big enough to be a buck and only a handful of doe beds. The bed I did find was not well used. Jumped one deer off a good point, don't know what it was, and no bed.

The sign is there, huge rubs, scrapes, even found a few big tracks in the remaining snow. But I don't know why I couldn't find beds. One consideration is that most of the tips of the points were pine, leaving pine needles underneath. Maybe I just can't spot them in pine needles? I checked some spots that looked like potential beds, but no hair to be found. A second thought is, there are an abundance of good bedding points here. Maybe the bedding is sporadic and they have so many options they don't wear down one bed.

And of course, after a 4 mile walk, I found a big shed 10ft from the road where I parked :lol: Must have dropped in the last day, blood on it is still bright red, hasn't oxidized yet.

Any thoughts?
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Re: 2018 Scouting Reports

Unread postby Lockdown » Sun Jan 21, 2018 8:49 am

RidgeGhost wrote:I'm needing some advice here. Scouted a new public piece this morning. Trying to expand my opportunities here in state. This place is steep hill country, all wooded. Even mixture of oaks (white, red, chesnut), pines, beech, poplar, and laurel.

I went in today and hit the best looking bedding points along one long ridge. Probably 6 or 8 points I hit. These are high odds, hard to get to points. Normally in the mountains, I can pick a spot on the map, walk to it and find the bed or a cluster of beds. Here, I found nothing. I found one bed all morning big enough to be a buck and only a handful of doe beds. The bed I did find was not well used. Jumped one deer off a good point, don't know what it was, and no bed.

The sign is there, huge rubs, scrapes, even found a few big tracks in the remaining snow. But I don't know why I couldn't find beds. One consideration is that most of the tips of the points were pine, leaving pine needles underneath. Maybe I just can't spot them in pine needles? I checked some spots that looked like potential beds, but no hair to be found. A second thought is, there are an abundance of good bedding points here. Maybe the bedding is sporadic and they have so many options they don't wear down one bed.

And of course, after a 4 mile walk, I found a big shed 10ft from the road where I parked :lol: Must have dropped in the last day, blood on it is still bright red, hasn't oxidized yet.

Any thoughts?


Start a thread, Ridge... I think your questions will get more exposure going that route.
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Re: 2018 Scouting Reports

Unread postby <DK> » Mon Jan 22, 2018 5:29 pm

The maps are open... its scouting season!!!
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Re: 2018 Scouting Reports

Unread postby tbunao » Tue Jan 23, 2018 5:59 am

Took a backseat this weekend and helping a new bow hunter out. His father was a great woodsman and was a great teacher. He brought up a few things during the scout that got me thinking of other situations. Always keep an open mind. He’s doing an awesome job breaking down a nearby piece of public. 2 solid beds were found along with trees picked and a plan of action. I am truly excited to see how his season unfolds.

Image

Image
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Re: 2018 Scouting Reports

Unread postby <DK> » Fri Jan 26, 2018 9:28 am

Please sticky to top
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Re: 2018 Scouting Reports

Unread postby <DK> » Fri Jan 26, 2018 9:31 am

JAK wrote:Image went and used the tactics I just learned from swamp bedding DVD boy is it a game changer Image . Narrowed down a huge swamp dogwood red brush and cattails to 2 points found allot of beds and what I think looks like a good buck. None of the beds had rubs in them but they were big and lone beds. Pretty easy access I'm really excited about this spot trails were insane


:clap: :clap: :clap:

Very impressive sir! Stealing that track pic for wallpaper
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Re: 2018 Scouting Reports

Unread postby JAK » Fri Jan 26, 2018 10:54 am

Darkknight54 wrote:
JAK wrote:Image went and used the tactics I just learned from swamp bedding DVD boy is it a game changer Image . Narrowed down a huge swamp dogwood red brush and cattails to 2 points found allot of beds and what I think looks like a good buck. None of the beds had rubs in them but they were big and lone beds. Pretty easy access I'm really excited about this spot trails were insane


:clap: :clap: :clap:

Very impressive sir! Stealing that track pic for wallpaper

:lol:
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Re: 2018 Scouting Reports

Unread postby Rob loper » Fri Jan 26, 2018 11:34 am

Please keep us updated
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Jonny
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Re: 2018 Scouting Reports

Unread postby Jonny » Sat Jan 27, 2018 3:47 am

Could use some cleats out in the marsh. I will say this, 2 miles doesn’t sound bad, but it’s 2 miles of head high marsh grass. Feels weird
You have a monkey Mr. Munson?
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Dewey
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Re: 2018 Scouting Reports

Unread postby Dewey » Sat Jan 27, 2018 4:42 am

Jonny wrote:Could use some cleats out in the marsh. I will say this, 2 miles doesn’t sound bad, but it’s 2 miles of head high marsh grass. Feels weird

This time of the year it's a piece of cake. September is a totally different story. ;)
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tgreeno
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Re: 2018 Scouting Reports

Unread postby tgreeno » Sat Jan 27, 2018 4:45 am

Dewey wrote:
Jonny wrote:Could use some cleats out in the marsh. I will say this, 2 miles doesn’t sound bad, but it’s 2 miles of head high marsh grass. Feels weird

This time of the year it's a piece of cake. September is a totally different story. ;)


What gets me is the thin layer of ice on top of the solid ice! It gets your heart pumping every once in a while :shock:
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Re: 2018 Scouting Reports

Unread postby Jonny » Sat Jan 27, 2018 4:46 am

tgreeno wrote:
Dewey wrote:
Jonny wrote:Could use some cleats out in the marsh. I will say this, 2 miles doesn’t sound bad, but it’s 2 miles of head high marsh grass. Feels weird

This time of the year it's a piece of cake. September is a totally different story. ;)


What gets me is the thin layer of ice on top of the solid ice! It gets your heart pumping every once in a while :shock:


Just take a spud bar. Top inch or two is garbage and underneath is rock solid.

And yeah it’s pretty easy walking. Only took me 45 minutes to get back here
You have a monkey Mr. Munson?


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