2022 scouting thread

[justdirtyfun]

We had a long stretch of 90 degree weather and it broke today. I spend the evening snooping through a river bottom to check crop fields.
A couple bucks were spotted. One busted out from thick creek edge and gave a show out in the 20" tall corn. Stood around at about 30yds and was beyond the ears. 11 points with a bit of a crab claw going on.

Things are going to be interesting this season. Corn here and a large property nearby has negative activity for the deer. Normally this other place is a refuge w/o hunting with lots of food. But it will be empty/fallow . Interesting indeed.

[515Raven]

Some early pics coming out of one of my cameras in VA public land. Mostly does out of 175 pics but a couple bucks showing up.

[HuntingHamrick]

Took one of the first drives of the summer to see what the local public properties are planted in this summer. Saw one buck worth keeping an eye on. Still a lot to be accomplished by September.

[MitchB]

I took a drive tonight to do some glassing. Saw a few does but no bucks. Between glassing and the one camera I have out I’ve only seen one buck on public so far this year and he was smaller. Hope that’s not a bad sign of what’s to come this fall. I’m planning on getting more cameras out this weekend so hopefully the situation will improve shortly.

[mauser06]

As of 06/27 I have all 7 cameras I own in trees.


One behind the house...it never comes down...hoping a giant moves back in this year. Last year was really slow.


3 on a piece of public. 2 are near each other but I think will tell me different stories. The other is in another area where there are scrapes and a giant multi year rub line. I can't find bedding...I'm not sure if it'll be night travel or rrut traffic. The camera should tell me that story.


2 on another piece up in the hills. 1 on the ridge where 2 trails come together heading out to the oak point. The other is below it a little bit on an old logging road where there was a scrape when I scouted this spring. I saw a 130-140 class there a couple seasons back in bear season.


Today I got the last one hung in a piece of land between 2 sections of marsh. There's a crazy amount of scrapes through there every year...the land has several good oaks...last year when I went to hunt it, it was into the rut. The sign looked dried up. Today I realized the main trail was 30yds from where I accessed and I walked by where I probably should have hunted. I knew that other trail was there...the year prior the trail I walked in was the hotter trail. Today I found 3 scrapes under 1 tree on that trail I walked right by last season. Hung the camera there. Should be a good spot...lot of bear sign there...hopefully they leave the camera alone lol.

Big tracks everywhere I've hung cameras so hopefully some good pics and my scouting paying off.

Have been taking advantage of the cooler days and really enjoying it.


Also been shooting every day getting the new rig tuned in. Going to setup a stand in the yard to shoot from.



Not sure how long I will let the cameras soak. I'd like to just let em go till I hunt it. But I'd also like to see what I have to work with. I don't think any of the cameras are in super sensitive areas. Maybe grab the cards in early Sept and take it from there.

[AlabamaJoe]

1 Turkey Nest, 1 Morel & 1 Feral Chicken

* I shot a buck last year and was sitting exactly where this nest was found.




*I almost punched my turkey tag on this guy im so desperate












*I found this old bottle right in a Doe bedding area. Notice the deer hair on the left

Fantastic post!

[Lockdown]

Went for a drive with my girls tonight. Deer numbers were good. Bucks were a little scarce. Decent bucks were non existent.

Par for the course, but still fun to be out glassing!

[Dellingerj]

Looked at some public yesterday I have not had a chance to look at. Looks promising with the exception of some local hunter sign in a few areas. It’s really awesome when you find other hunter sign, then walk to where you think the deer would be monitoring them and find it. Sometimes we make deer to be highly sophisticated and methodical, but they are really just sleeping, eating, and trying to survive in between.

Also had twin fawns almost scare me to death. They waited until I was about 20 yds away before jumping and running toward me.

[DallasK]

I have permission on this piece. There’s a busy Highway on the east side. Splitting the two cornfields is a creek with a 10 foot drop on both sides. On the south side between the creek and cornfield there is a line of spotty plum thicket type shrubs. I found a bed where the blue waypoint is that I definitely think is a buck due to the size of the bed. The other blue waypoints are other beds I found bedded along the creek watching the cornfield. What are your guys thoughts on everything?

[<DK>]

Some early pics coming out of one of my cameras in VA public land. Mostly does out of 175 pics but a couple bucks showing up.

Cool share!

[<DK>]

1 Turkey Nest, 1 Morel & 1 Feral Chicken

Fantastic post!

Thanks man!

[Jrdeerhuntr]

I went for a drive last night to check crops and see if I could see anything. 2 small bucks and a doe that came off public and were headed to private bean fields. Also spotted 12 turkeys, 7 jakes in one group and 5 toms in another all on public. I Should have spent some time here last spring. I am going to try and get permission to shoot on to one of the bean fields that borders public. The beans were very short still which makes me think they will be green still come the mid Sept opener.

I was out on Saturday as well and all the fields near the public over there are corn. So I am hoping for acorns over there.

It is still over two months out but I am already counting down the days.

[Hookslinger]

When I hung cams last month I noticed one tree that I prepped to hunt was completely grown in and all my shooting lanes were covered. There would be no way to hunt it until after the leaves drop. It's a good spot and I wanted it to be ready so I went in yesterday to trim some lanes. I think I went a little overboard. For some reason when I get in the woods with a pole saw and pruners I just go haywire and act like I'm there to log a clear cut
Oh well, atleast I'll have shooting lanes! Season opens October 1 so hopefully my intrusion won't affect anything. I did pull the card in my cam seeing how I was there anyway. Lots of doe and fawn, but no bucks yet, which was actually a good thing for me seeing how I altered the habitat a little.

[mpernest]

Just took a long hike trying to find a way to access an isolated island of older growth trees. I used a heavily traveled ATV trail to get in part way. About 25 minutes down the trail I discovered a totally abandoned hiking trail. That old trail did not show up at all on aerials, so I decided to explore it. It was overgrown but passable and made for a way to get much deeper. Found some sign though nothing remarkable. On the return trek, right on the corner at the junction of the hidden hiking path and the ATV trail I bumped a mature doe. Not sure if she let me pass the first time and only spooked when I came back, or she’d slipped in behind me. Either way it was a classic case of hiding in an overlooked spot and monitoring traffic. I don’t know if a mature buck would sit right on top of an off-road vehicle trail or not, but it was a great object lesson about not just walking mindlessly by a hiding spot while fixating on getting somewhere else.

[Stingray713]

Pulled some cards this evening from a couple apple trees that always get hit hard when the first few apples drop. Got some good bucks showing up, one is particularly interesting because it looks like he’s already done growing. Got a good look at him on June 27th, and another one a couple nights ago, and there doesn’t look to be much difference.

Could have been weird angles, but it sure looks like he’s about done. Probably the earliest I’ve seen a big one top out.