2021 scouting reports

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BRoth82
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Re: 2021 scouting reports

Unread postby BRoth82 » Sat Jul 24, 2021 2:03 am

Lockdown wrote:First time scouting this area this year. 56 miles traveled, 6 deer seen :violin:

Off night I guess! I did see a nice up and coming two year old buck.


You must be down by me, that would be a good night seeing that many deer....


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Re: 2021 scouting reports

Unread postby Lockdown » Mon Jul 26, 2021 4:43 pm

Finally made it out to finish prepping a set I started this spring.

Image

I made the mistake of not bringing a small bottle with me :roll: I had a big jug of water but no way to bring any with in the field :lol: that’s me in a nutshell when I’m in a hurry - forgetful.

I figured I’d be good and thirsty by the time I got back but that was a near death experience!! 88 degrees + neoprene waders + waist high canary grass = complete exhaustion.

As expected there wasn’t much activity at this spot. There was some fresh sign though. Once the crops come out and the duck/pheasant hunters start kicking them around it will fill up.

I got an hour of cruising in at dusk. Per usual I saw a fair amount of does. Most had their fawns with them. I only saw one little buck though, and the bachelor group I had my sights set on didn’t show at all. :angry-tappingfoot:

Regardless, it felt good to get that stand prepped and check the access. I was glad to see waders are required even during extreme drought.
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Re: 2021 scouting reports

Unread postby Tennhunter3 » Thu Jul 29, 2021 11:55 am

Today I decided I'd go scout a new wma.
Put 3 power aids in my bag and began walking from public parking lot. Hills were steeper then im used too.

Found a really good bedding area today so pumped for season.

By time I got back to the car I was out of power aid and felt like having a heat stroke. The cold car air conditioning was amazing true love at first feel . After being out in 106 heat index.
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Re: 2021 scouting reports

Unread postby Evanszach7 » Thu Jul 29, 2021 1:42 pm

New piece of public. Cool track where the hind hoof lays into the front. Looks like this guy is crossing a small river to hit the beans. Hopefully the pattern holds up
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Re: 2021 scouting reports

Unread postby Hookslinger » Thu Jul 29, 2021 3:20 pm

Spotted a nice buck tonight in a private field that butts up to a tiny peice of public. Never scouted that little piece before but its real thick. There were vehicles frequently in the public lot across the street last season but there is a bigger chunk of public on that side too so I'm not sure where the hunting pressure is. Not sure if people bother to go across the street into that little thick patch or not. Slim chance the buck spends any time on the public but it has my interest.
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Re: 2021 scouting reports

Unread postby greenhorndave » Thu Jul 29, 2021 11:42 pm

Had twins bedded under my big spruce this morning...
1459.jpg
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Re: 2021 scouting reports

Unread postby lunger » Fri Jul 30, 2021 4:21 am

Hi,
I’ve been hunting for about five years. No prior experience. Bow hunting in suburbs of Massachusetts. I’ve been putting in a ton of time scouting this year in hopes of upping my game and getting a big buck. I wanted to know when I hear about hunting “hot sign” what does that mean? Does that mean your only setting up on sign you see from in season scouting? Are you scouting instead of hunting in season looking for the hot sign and then setting up on it? Are you looking primarily for scrapes, rubs, tracks, scat or all of the above. Just really wanted to know what hot sign means to you and how you’re using the information to hunt. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks.
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Re: 2021 scouting reports

Unread postby greenhorndave » Fri Jul 30, 2021 4:41 am

lunger wrote:Hi,
I’ve been hunting for about five years. No prior experience. Bow hunting in suburbs of Massachusetts. I’ve been putting in a ton of time scouting this year in hopes of upping my game and getting a big buck. I wanted to know when I hear about hunting “hot sign” what does that mean? Does that mean your only setting up on sign you see from in season scouting? Are you scouting instead of hunting in season looking for the hot sign and then setting up on it? Are you looking primarily for scrapes, rubs, tracks, scat or all of the above. Just really wanted to know what hot sign means to you and how you’re using the information to hunt. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks.

Hey, and welcome to the Beast!

The short answer is yes. Your off-season scouting should serve as the foundation for your in-season scouting for hot sign, so those rubs and scrapes you found can be the basis for checking your spots. There’s obviously more to it than that, but doing some searches on nighttime scrapes and rubs might help because location of those things will dictate when they might be being used.. But the keys are “when was the sign made and how you can cue in on it?” You’ll know fresh tracks, poop, scrapes and rubs when you see them. That’s the start of your discovery and planning. Where do you hunt that day and why? Got to think about time of day, wind, expect travel,etc. But when you find it, set up on it. It might only wind up serving as an observation sit, but will provide intel no matter what. I ran into some incredibly fresh and good-sized buck turds in a place I’d never been before last season. Jet black, wet and shiny. I had my mind set on an opening just 30 yards away but the turd quantity and freshness should have tipped me off that I needed to chill and set up on the ground immediately. I didn’t and the buck and I surprised each other at 2 PM in September (we were both moving around slowly and in thick cover and pretty much bumped into each other without warning) and I didn’t get a shot. I was in his core area. That’s one example I can give of finding and being ready when you hit that hot sign. Same with an ag county scrape. It was in an overloaded spot and I put a camera up. I passed on an OK two-year old that I regretted a bit at the end of the season, but I knew there was a bigger buck in the neighborhood. Again, a cluster of scrapes so fresh that the hoof marks were so sharp and defined it looked like scalpels had cut the dirt and the dirt was wet.
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Re: 2021 scouting reports

Unread postby lunger » Fri Jul 30, 2021 9:02 am

greenhorndave wrote:
lunger wrote:Hi,
I’ve been hunting for about five years. No prior experience. Bow hunting in suburbs of Massachusetts. I’ve been putting in a ton of time scouting this year in hopes of upping my game and getting a big buck. I wanted to know when I hear about hunting “hot sign” what does that mean? Does that mean your only setting up on sign you see from in season scouting? Are you scouting instead of hunting in season looking for the hot sign and then setting up on it? Are you looking primarily for scrapes, rubs, tracks, scat or all of the above. Just really wanted to know what hot sign means to you and how you’re using the information to hunt. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks.

Hey, and welcome to the Beast!

The short answer is yes. Your off-season scouting should serve as the foundation for your in-season scouting for hot sign, so those rubs and scrapes you found can be the basis for checking your spots. There’s obviously more to it than that, but doing some searches on nighttime scrapes and rubs might help because location of those things will dictate when they might be being used.. But the keys are “when was the sign made and how you can cue in on it?” You’ll know fresh tracks, poop, scrapes and rubs when you see them. That’s the start of your discovery and planning. Where do you hunt that day and why? Got to think about time of day, wind, expect travel,etc. But when you find it, set up on it. It might only wind up serving as an observation sit, but will provide intel no matter what. I ran into some incredibly fresh and good-sized buck turds in a place I’d never been before last season. Jet black, wet and shiny. I had my mind set on an opening just 30 yards away but the turd quantity and freshness should have tipped me off that I needed to chill and set up on the ground immediately. I didn’t and the buck and I surprised each other at 2 PM in September (we were both moving around slowly and in thick cover and pretty much bumped into each other without warning) and I didn’t get a shot. I was in his core area. That’s one example I can give of finding and being ready when you hit that hot sign. Same with an ag county scrape. It was in an overloaded spot and I put a camera up. I passed on an OK two-year old that I regretted a bit at the end of the season, but I knew there was a bigger buck in the neighborhood. Again, a cluster of scrapes so fresh that the hoof marks were so sharp and defined it looked like scalpels had cut the dirt and the dirt was wet.



Great! Thanks a lot. That was very helpful. Will give me plenty to work on pre and in season. Thanks again.
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Re: 2021 scouting reports

Unread postby greenhorndave » Fri Jul 30, 2021 9:09 am

lunger wrote:
greenhorndave wrote:
lunger wrote:Hi,
I’ve been hunting for about five years. No prior experience. Bow hunting in suburbs of Massachusetts. I’ve been putting in a ton of time scouting this year in hopes of upping my game and getting a big buck. I wanted to know when I hear about hunting “hot sign” what does that mean? Does that mean your only setting up on sign you see from in season scouting? Are you scouting instead of hunting in season looking for the hot sign and then setting up on it? Are you looking primarily for scrapes, rubs, tracks, scat or all of the above. Just really wanted to know what hot sign means to you and how you’re using the information to hunt. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks.

Hey, and welcome to the Beast!

The short answer is yes. Your off-season scouting should serve as the foundation for your in-season scouting for hot sign, so those rubs and scrapes you found can be the basis for checking your spots. There’s obviously more to it than that, but doing some searches on nighttime scrapes and rubs might help because location of those things will dictate when they might be being used.. But the keys are “when was the sign made and how you can cue in on it?” You’ll know fresh tracks, poop, scrapes and rubs when you see them. That’s the start of your discovery and planning. Where do you hunt that day and why? Got to think about time of day, wind, expect travel,etc. But when you find it, set up on it. It might only wind up serving as an observation sit, but will provide intel no matter what. I ran into some incredibly fresh and good-sized buck turds in a place I’d never been before last season. Jet black, wet and shiny. I had my mind set on an opening just 30 yards away but the turd quantity and freshness should have tipped me off that I needed to chill and set up on the ground immediately. I didn’t and the buck and I surprised each other at 2 PM in September (we were both moving around slowly and in thick cover and pretty much bumped into each other without warning) and I didn’t get a shot. I was in his core area. That’s one example I can give of finding and being ready when you hit that hot sign. Same with an ag county scrape. It was in an overloaded spot and I put a camera up. I passed on an OK two-year old that I regretted a bit at the end of the season, but I knew there was a bigger buck in the neighborhood. Again, a cluster of scrapes so fresh that the hoof marks were so sharp and defined it looked like scalpels had cut the dirt and the dirt was wet.



Great! Thanks a lot. That was very helpful. Will give me plenty to work on pre and in season. Thanks again.

I’m just a guy who’s pretty new to deer hunting and I’m really good at making mistakes, but those were a couple of hot sign encounters from last season.
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Re: 2021 scouting reports

Unread postby Lockdown » Sat Jul 31, 2021 11:55 am

Been eyeing up a really small WMA near home. I know there are shooters next door, and it only seems reasonable that they mosey on over here and there. Suspected bedding is nothing more than willow thickets next to a slough, which of course is dry this year.

Right off the bat I jumped a lone deer out of the cattails next to a thicket. Pretty sure it would be wet there on a normal year... bucks might be hard to pin down with that much bedding! They love dry cattails.

After that I kicked a doe and fawn out of a willow patch.

Farmer was running his irrigator over the public fence, so took advantage of that to check for tracks. No big tracks spotted in any of the ruts...
Image


As always the big willow trees amongst the thickets were a magnet for bedding. When I reached the back side of the property (which I suspected to be best) the trails and beds picked up some. Here’s a nice big bed that has been used recently.
Image
You can tell they bed all around that tree.

I didn’t find anything earth shattering, but if a big one shows I’ve at least got a game plan and am familiar with the land. I only found one old rub but probably missed some. With the lack of preferred rubbing trees I’m not too concerned.

Decided to “plow” my way through the brush on the way back and ended up having that backfire :lol: it was crazy thick
Image

Pulled 17 ticks off me.
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Re: 2021 scouting reports

Unread postby Lockdown » Mon Aug 02, 2021 7:15 am

Meet “Smokey”. The haze is from the Canadian wild fires. Hence the name. He’s a wide framed ten point 8-) :dance:
Image
This is a fairly new to me area and I was concerned that all the pressure it gets would mean the bucks get picked through. Especially since it’s a 1 deer zone and not many does get taken. So finding this buck is a VERY welcome sight!! I’m pumped because I know my sets in this property are legit. There’s a lot of bedding to cover though, so I’m keeping realistic expectations.

After the big buck sighting I put on my hip boots and threw my stand on my back. Sign in the bedding area looked good. It’s active now and should only get better as pressure increases. I’m thinking I might try to sneak out here once early season, but I will definitely do a morning rut hunt. I’m right in the bedding. Sneak through the cattails, cross 20 yards of grass and I’m in my tree. Here is a bed 20-30 yards from my kill tree. Verified hair in it. Fresh tracks too. The lone shed I found this spring wasn’t far from this bed either.
Image

I checked on my ground blind and good thing I did. A branch had fallen and blocked all my lanes. That would have sucked to find on hunt day...

The remote “treeless” bedding (canary grass, cattails, willow thickets, etc) had next to no activity. It was crazy how different it looked this spring. I did set up in a lone willow that I had marked. Should make a decent late season archery spot, and a phenomenal gun spot.

My phone died so I don’t have an exact mileage but I’m thinking it was around 4.5. I brought what I thought was plenty of water but ran out. With all the high stepping through the tall marsh grass and pushing through cattails, I was beat when I got back to my truck. Legs are a little sore today!

Bring on archery opener! For the first time, I accomplished everything on my summer to do list. I have some killer bedding to hunt and big bucks to chase! I’m confident and ready :twisted:
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Re: 2021 scouting reports

Unread postby Tennhunter3 » Mon Aug 02, 2021 9:37 am

Last night watched a buck come off a clearcut point and cross the cut using a drainage.

It was about 250 yards so I wasn't able to get a super good look at antlers.

Today I scouted and found a doe bedding area with buck trails downwind of them.

This year I feel like I have scouted harder and more properties then ever before.

Several areas i hunted last year were logged so I've really had to step up my game.
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Re: 2021 scouting reports

Unread postby austin1990 » Mon Aug 02, 2021 10:57 am

I made a hot 4.5 miles today here in south AR, but found lots of good stuff! This was a major creek crossing, coming from bedding area to a couple different food sources, and activity should only pick up once acorns start fallen
20210801_080921.jpg


Found a bunch of persimmons dropping already and couple deer are starting to find them

20210801_084315.jpg


This was a great buck bed I found in a killer spot. Bed was on top of a pond levee, in the shadow of willow trees. Water to his back and he could see 200 yards across the open ground from the bed and slip out unseen. No idea how or if I even will try to hunt it. But still good to know.
20210801_092550.jpg



This was actually a killer trail I found, each trail went to either side of that point of hardwoods that ran out into the open bedding, trails coming from the bedding met right there. Several oaks and persimmons were around there, hopefully itll be a good early season spot
20210801_094835.jpg


Lots of hog sign found as well
20210801_093842.jpg


And last but not least. Found some good gator tracks in a creek bed between a pond and one of the lakes in the area. This is a front right and left rear foot prints
20210801_113704.jpg
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Re: 2021 scouting reports

Unread postby Dhoff » Mon Aug 02, 2021 11:51 am

austin1990 wrote:I made a hot 4.5 miles today here in south AR, but found lots of good stuff! This was a major creek crossing, coming from bedding area to a couple different food sources, and activity should only pick up once acorns start fallen20210801_080921.jpg

Found a bunch of persimmons dropping already and couple deer are starting to find them

20210801_084315.jpg

This was a great buck bed I found in a killer spot. Bed was on top of a pond levee, in the shadow of willow trees. Water to his back and he could see 200 yards across the open ground from the bed and slip out unseen. No idea how or if I even will try to hunt it. But still good to know. 20210801_092550.jpg


This was actually a killer trail I found, each trail went to either side of that point of hardwoods that ran out into the open bedding, trails coming from the bedding met right there. Several oaks and persimmons were around there, hopefully itll be a good early season spot
20210801_094835.jpg

Lots of hog sign found as well20210801_093842.jpg

And last but not least. Found some good gator tracks in a creek bed between a pond and one of the lakes in the area. This is a front right and left rear foot prints20210801_113704.jpg

Gator prints :shock: haven't seen those in wi yet...


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