Whether you’ve secured a highly coveted tag or an easier to come by general season unit, scouting is key to increasing your odds of success. For me, time is tough to come by. It has become even more critical to maximize available minutes in the field. In this Cutter Column, I’ll go over a few things that have helped me over the years’ experience continued success.
E-Scouting
I’ve mentioned this in previous articles; technology has come a long way as an immensely valuable tool in scouting. Finding access, landownership, water sources, migration corridors, fire data, and glassing points are all extremely accessible in many of the apps on the market. Learning to efficiently navigate in whichever app you use, is an amazing way to “scout” without making the drive. I use a combination of OnX Hunt and Google Earth to really try and get specific topography angles and ideas of vegetation. Spend some time getting familiar with all the features that these programs provide.
Be sure to add notes to pins so you can recall why you were looking at a particular spot. Most of these apps have the ability to type in descriptive text or even color code pins. Coming up with a system and sticking to it can help you become effective in these mapping programs.
So, studying your phone and computer are great, but what should you be looking for? This greatly depends on the hunt type and unit characteristics. Remote water sources are great places to mark. Areas that have feeding, bedding and water sources all close together should be prioritized. I’ve really started focusing on pockets. These pockets are usually smaller in size and have everything animals need to not be out in the open for prolonged periods of time. Hunters have evolved. Optics are amazing, and shooting 500+ yards is no big deal for most guys these days. Big critters don’t get big living where they can be seen easily. In heavily hunted areas, these small pockets are often the ticket.
Boots on the Ground
Nothing is more valuable than spending time in the unit. Vegetation, water, human pressure, livestock, and game movements are all concepts only gained by being in the unit. When time is limited, it is crucial to prioritize every second.
Be mindful of when your season lands on the calendar and identify when would be the most beneficial times to scout, can help maximize time spent. For example, if you have a mid-November hunt, it doesn’t make a ton of sense to scout the high country. On the other hand, if you have an early season archery or rifle hunt, spending as much time in July and August can be very beneficial.
If time is tight, many times I’ve gone a day or two before the hunt begins to try and turn up something to hunt opening morning. Often, this can give you an advantage over other hunters that pile into the unit the night before the season starts. This has paid off several times for me. On one particular hunt in Wyoming, we packed in two days before the season opened. The morning before the hunt, we found two giant bucks in separate drainages. We were able to keep spotting scopes on both bucks nearly all day. Right before dark, a hunter trying to drag a mule into the basin bumped one of the bucks never to be seen again. We put the second buck to bed and at first light the next morning, we were set up within range waiting for daylight. He hadn’t moved more than a hundred yards from the night before and I was able to quickly slip in and harvest the 31” 4 point.
While scouting during prime-time hours, I try and get to glassing points that offer good views of areas that either I’ve hunted in the past or that I identified during e-scouting. Quality optics are a necessity to maximize glassing minutes and the ability to see further and clearer. Observing animals as they feed and move to bedding areas are valuable pieces of information to note. Watching them do this repeatedly gives you a pattern on which to place a plan. I do try and capture videos and pictures of animals as I glass. This gives me the chance to study antler configurations, outstanding features, and their behavior tendencies repeatedly. This provides awesome memories and motivation down the road.
During midday, I often spend time checking out water sources for activity levels or driving remote roads checking for tracks. This is a great time to check water you have found e-scouting or potential glassing vistas. Glassing shade is another great way to locate animals. This past weekend, we were driving through some new country. There was a long ridge with a few small stands of large pines amongst great food sources. As we were looking for tracks, we would stop and glass the shaded pockets every few hundred yards. At the third or fourth stop, sure enough, we had bucks spotted under a large loan tree. One of them was an ancient buck!
Something else to consider is spending time in units you hope to hunt in the future. When schedules permit, I do try and go to units I hope to draw one day. I’ve typically done this during the rut or on the winter range to get an idea of where deer migrate and what quality levels look like. Shed hunting is another means of learning country and gauging quality. In some states, I have nearly three decades worth of points. With this type of investment, I want to be as knowledgeable as possible when I finally do draw these coveted tags.
As I’ve mentioned before, I talk to as many people as I can. Don’t get me wrong by assuming I’m free with information. However, I do feel like sportsman need to stick together and I try to be as friendly as possible to those I run into in the field. I use these conversations to try and get a sense for what other people are in the area, how hard they hunt, and possibly gauge what they’ve been seeing that given year. You’d be surprised by what valuable information I’ve learned over the years from just being courteous and friendly.
Trail Cameras
Running game cameras is an amazing way to gather information. Cameras give you the ability to gain valuable information without physically being in the unit. Learning about an animal’s watering patterns is a huge asset. Some critters are super random, and some come to get a drink within minutes of the same time each day. Pay attention to which directions they came and went from taking note of how long they spend drinking each visit. I’ve typically had the best luck monitoring remote water sources or travel corridors. This is a great option to scout areas that you may not have time to get to otherwise.
Be certain to check all the regulations in the state you are targeting. Many states now have a specific time frame cameras can be utilized. Arizona doesn’t allow them at all. I don’t run as many cameras as I used to since the passing of all these new laws. Before these recent changes, I was running a handful of cameras year-round. It was amazing to watch and learn animals’ behavioral patterns during all seasons. I really loved capturing big bulls wallowing and learning how they behaved once the rut heated up. Cameras have helped us learn rut movement patterns in this particular area. We now can target bulls from summer to rut grounds along their route. During early seasons, its mind blowing to watch how quickly bucks and bulls pack inches onto their racks. Finding animals to hunt is often the biggest issue hunters face. Cameras can be a great tool from which to build a hit list and give you motivation to keep grinding out tough hunts.
Conclusion
Consistently harvesting animals in today’s hunting woods is tough. Scouting is often the pivotal function that equates to year over year success. Knowledge is king! The better prepared you are before the season begins, the higher likelihood of success come opening day. Map out your time and then try and maximize all of it!
