Once the deer is in the freezer and the hunting equipment is put away many deer hunters lose interest in going to the woods. But for the dedicated deer hunter the next hunting season is just beginning. After the hunting season the weather may turn cold, the winds may be blowing strong and the snow may be getting deep. 

Walking through deer habitat at this time of the year may no longer be an adventure, it may be more of a chore. But, for adventurous deer addicts, who want to learn more about deer and deer habits, this is a great time to be in the woods. 

Deer tracks that were obscured in the dirt and leaves of fall may now be easily seen in the muddy or snow covered trails. What looked like matted down grass in the fall may now prove to be a buck route, the drag marks of the buck's front hooves showing clearly in the snow. Following trails in the snow can eventually lead you to bedding areas, showing you where the big buck you couldn't find hid out during the hunting season. When you don't see the buck again next year you'll have a good idea where to find him. Trails can show you food sources the deer used during those inclement days when you sat on your stand without seeing anything. They can also show you escape routes you didn't know where there. 

Glassing
By cruising roads with a good set of binoculars near food sources during the morning and evening you can find out which fields the bucks are using. If you are there early enough in the evening you may see the bucks arrive and be able to determine where they came from. 

If you stay late enough you may be able to see them go to either another food source or back toward the bedding area. In the morning the deer usually work their way slowly from open areas, to high grass or brushy areas, and finally into heavy brush or woods, where they feed and bed intermittently throughout the day. Once you know the route the deer take back to their core areas you can setup along it during the hunting season. 

Rub Routes 
A buck's rub route leaving its core in the evening usually winds through several doe use areas before ending up at a night time food source. Then it leads through other doe use areas as the buck moves back toward its core area in the early morning, before daylight. You should be able to find several rubs along the evening rub route; and possibly scrapes in the transition zones near food sources, along field edges, and near doe core areas. Following the buck's rub route back to its core area in the morning can be difficult, because buck often travel under the cover of darkness in the early morning, which makes them feel secure enough to travel in the open. Since bucks travel in more open areas during the night, there are very few trees, which means you may not find any rubs or scrapes along the route the buck's uses on the way back to its core in the morning, until the route goes back into a wooded area. I think part of the reason that bucks don't make rubs and scrapes along the trail back into their core areas is because they are in a hurry to get back, and they don't take much time to mark their trail until the peak of the rut. But, you can usually find their trails by their tracks, and the rubs left from previous years.

Buck Trails
Although the lesser used buck trails may not be as visible in winter they, last year's rubs and scrapes, and any new rubs and scrapes may be. Even if the buck that initially made the old rubs and scrapes may not still be around, other bucks will often use the same trails. The trails used by bucks are chosen because they offer security. They are usually the safest means of travel from the buck's core area, through adjacent doe use areas, to nighttime food sources. Remember that in the fall the buck isn't just going from his core area to nighttime food sources, it usually travels through all the adjacent doe use areas that it can get to in a night. 

When you are looking for buck trails remember that they often parallel the more heavily used doe trails, intersecting the doe trails only at bottlenecks or near scraping, feeding and core areas. Buck trails, especially rub routes, may be traveled by only one buck, once a day, in one direction, therefore they show very little evidence of being used. If the trail you are following shows very little use, it may be a buck trail. 

Bucks also prefer to use their own trails, that are generally in more protected areas than the trails does use. If you find vague trails lower or higher on ridges than the doe trails; or trails that run through heavy cover, or follow creek bottoms, sloughs and forested lake shores, they may be buck trails. When you find a lightly used trail in a protected area, look for buck sign: large tracks, drag marks, rubs or large clumped droppings. 

Locating Buck and Doe Core Areas 
While you are scouting you may also find doe use areas with old rubs and scrapes; take note of where you find them. Once you find the doe use areas, or a food source, and the rub route, it is a matter of back-tracking the rub route of the buck to find its core area. If you want to be sure of finding the buck's core area now is a good time to go into it, even though you may spook the buck. By the time hunting season rolls around the buck will have forgotten about your intrusion and it will begin using its preferred bedding areas on a regular basis again. 
     
If you don't see a deer in the area check for beds, and large droppings or piles of clumped droppings over and inch and a half in diameter. Although does may leave these large clumps I usually find them in buck bedding areas and in, or near, scrapes. If there are a lot of droppings in one area with, old or new rubs on adjacent trees, it's a good bet you have found the buck's core area.

Walk The Buck's Rub Route 
If you haven't found the buck's rub route, the buck's core area is a good place to look for it. With the use of a topographical map or aerial photo to show you where the food sources, roads and bottlenecks are, you can make a good guess which way the buck travels and where he will end up. A buck's trail usually leads from a wooded area (that it uses during the day) to an open food source (where it feeds and looks for does at night). You can usually find the buck's trail out of the bedding site and follow it by the rubs the buck makes as it walks along the trail. 
     
If it's possible, and you have access to all the property the buck uses, follow the entire route, from the core area to the food sources and back to the core area again. Once you know the buck's rub route you know where to find him. But, unless you have seen him regularly, not when to see him. When you have found the trails, doe use areas, buck core areas and rub routes, record their location on a map. If you see deer record the time, place, weather conditions, food sources, activity and other factors in a journal, so you know where to find the deer later on. With the information gathered in late summer it takes less time and effort to locate, observe, record and pattern the deer when it comes time to hunt.

Know Where The Bucks Travel and When They Travel 
If you have time to observe the rub route trails you can learn where and what time the buck uses them. Finding the rub route and knowing when the buck uses it helps you choose the right time and place to hunt. 

If you don't have time to watch the trail you can use a Trail Timer or other timing device to let you know what time the buck comes through the area. But, this won't tell you the size of the buck's rack. If you want to know the size of the rack without being there you can use a Photo Hunter or one of several other cameras to take the animal's picture as it passes by. 
     
If you use a timing device be sure to get one with multiple timing functions, so that you can tell you how many deer came through the area. If you get one of the knew cameras that are connected to a timing device, the camera can tell you the sex of the deer, and the size of its rack.  

If you don't use a timer to find out the buck's travel time, the best strategy is to find its core area and setup as near to it as you possibly can, using different stand sites for morning and evening hunts, and for varying wind conditions. By getting close enough to the buck's core area to watch it, but far enough away from the core area that you don't alert the buck to your presence, you increase the chances of seeing the buck during daylight hours.
   
If you are really addicted you can watch the deer to learn their travel routes and the times they use them. I start out watching deer by picking one or two sites where I can see as much habitat as possible. 

I like to choose a stand that overlooks a food source, open area or bottleneck to watch deer. A treestand overlooking a food source is an excellent spot. Any location that lets you see a long way, like a hill that overlooks bedding areas and travel lanes, is good. I do this a lot during the pre-rut to pattern the bucks, but I also do it in the winter because it cuts down on the amount of time I have to scout and observe in the fall, before the hunt. It doesn't take me long to figure out where to set up after I see a buck two or three times while I am scouting.
     
The more time and effort you spend scouting, observing and patterning deer after the hunting season, the less time you have to spend doing it before the next season. For those of you who shed hunt, winter scouting to locate rub routes and buck bedding areas is an excellent way to stumble across a shed antler.

This article is an excerpt from the Whitetail Addict's Manual ($19.95 + $5.00 S&H), by T.R. Michels, available in the Trinity Mountain Outdoor Products catalog at www.TRMichels.com.

If you are interested in more whitetail hunting tips, or more whitetail biology and behavior, click on Trinity Mountain Outdoor News and T.R.'s Hunting Tips at www.TRMichels.com or email me at: TRMichels@yahoo.com. If you have questions about whitetails log on to the T.R.'s Tips message board. To find out when the whitetail rut starts, peaks and ends in your area click on Whitetail Rut Dates Chart. 
 

To List Of T.R. Michels Articles: T.R. Michels T.R. Michels is a nationally recognized game researcher/wildlife behaviorist, outdoor writer and speaker. He is the author of the Whitetail, Elk, Duck & Goose, and Turkey Addict's Manuals. His latest products are the 2003 Revised Edition of the Whitetail Addict's Manual, the 2003 Revised Edition of the Elk Addict's Manual; and the 2003 Revised Edition of the Duck & Goose Addict's Manual. For a catalog of books and other hunting products contact: T.R. Michels, Trinity Mountain Outdoors, PO Box 284, Wanamingo, MN 55983, USA. Phone: 507-824-3296, E-mail: trmichels@yahoo.com, Website: www.TRMichels.com For a catalog of books and other hunting aids contact: T.R. Michels  Trinity Mountain Outdoors PO Box 284 Wanamingo, MN 55983 507-824-3296 E-mail: trmichels@yahoo.com Web: www.TRMichels.com

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