Jason Balazs
Scouting for Whitetails: A year round process
By Jason Balazs
Mar 8, 2005, 10:40
 

It was early September in North Carolina. I had been sitting in my tree-stand for over four hours. The sun was creeping low on the horizon and the beads of sweat were building on my brow from the heat and humidity.

There was only one way to describe it, hot, dead hot and it was everything I could do to stay in the stand. I had scouted this area and found a huge 5-point shed after the last season. But, here I sat in the miserable heat and humidity waiting for the shot that never did come.

How many times have you been waiting for that monster buck to come through that “travel corridor” you scouted only to see nothing but doe’s and maybe if your lucky, small bucks?

Have you always asked yourself “What am I doing wrong, I know there is a buck in here”? 

In this article we are going to cover things such as scouting and stand placement, so sit back and let me share a few tips and tricks that will help you out this next fall.

No matter what type of bow you have, the type of arrows you are shooting,
or what grain Broadhead you use you can’t shoot something if you don’t know where it is. We will cover all seasons of scouting. Yes that’s right all seasons. People often make the mistake of scouting right before season and then just quit once the hunting starts. To be successful you need to
do the homework and that means scouting all seasonlong. 

 Pre-season  (Summer)

During your pre-season scouting the main thing you will be looking for are travel corridors between food sources and bedding areas. If you are new to a hunting area I suggest you start with a topographic map. 

I always look for any type of terrain that will form a draw or make a deer go a certain direction. Such as a creek bed or ridge.  Make sure that you take into account the distance between the bedding area to the food source and most importantly the normal wind direction in that
area. You might notice old rubs, scrapes, and trails when you are walking though this area. Mark these on your map for future use.

Once you have gathered all your data on that specific area sit down and study your map. 

Notice the rubs you marked. Do they run in a logical manner? Year after year bucks that are not pressured (or killed) will follow the same routes and 9 out of 10 times a buck rubs his antlers he is making a “territory marker” (we will cover this later). 

Notice the trails you scouted. Most trails that move from bedding areas to food sources are clear and definitive. You will notice that right before the food source the trail will fan out and go into the source in all-different directions. 

This is what I call the “hang up area”. You might notice that on your map where the trails fan out you will have marked a lot of rubs. This is the place that bucks stop and wait before they head out into the food source for their nightly feeding. 

Early Season (early to late September)

Scouting this time of year is critical to me. This is the time of year
that the bucks start rubbing and scraping and leaving sign that let you know they are in the area. I have shot some of my biggest bucks during this time of year. 

In 1996 while doing my pre-season scouting I saw two nice bucks feeding on a power line. Due to the thickness of the woods, I could not determine their travel route. That is, until I found their rubs. It was like a hunter who puts up their trail markers on his way to and from his truck, the bucks made a rub line that was 150 yards long. 

I set up right on the rub line with the wind in my favor and the first day I shot a huge 7 point directly under my tree stand. Two days later I shot the big 8 point 50 yards from there. I am a true believer of hunting rub lines in the early season because the bucks are still using that trail
for at least a few more weeks. 

Pre-Rut/Rut (October/November)

This time of year is always wild and crazy.  I try to concentrate on areas where there is a lot of doe activity.  Look for food sources like acorns, foliage or any other type food that grows naturally. 

If you are having trouble locating these areas start at the creek beds. They are a great place for White Oak or Persimmons that drop acorns and fruit. Also, the creek beds create natural funnels and when you are walking these you more than likely will find rubs and scrapes verywhere. 

In the Pre-Rut the scrapes will be torn up and refreshed all the time. Once the rut starts all of the scrapes will look as if they are a dried up water hole in the desert. Leaves will cover them and you will think all the deer have left the area. 

This is not true!! When this happens, pack a lunch, book, and a tree
urinal because you will be hunting all day. As hard as it may be, I try to stay in my stand all day when hunting during the peak rut. This increases your chances of having that doe that is irritated at this total stranger that won’t leave her alone, coming by your stand with him in pursuit. On a side note: I think that some of these doe’s know there is a hunter the area, ha ha.

Post Rut/Late season (December/January)

Everyone is tired, the bucks, the does, you, and your spouse.  The bucks have dropped a lot of weight from chasing the does and the does have gotten into shape from running away from the bucks. Us on the other hand have more than likely packed on a few pounds from the snacks and other
things sitting in the stand. 

The bucks are now concentrating on putting on weight for the winter months ahead. Once again we concentrate on food sources. During this time of year you want to look for late season mast crops or if you are lucky enough to have an area that has food plots you might get lucky there also. 

I always try and hunt Red Oaks this time of year because they drop their acorns around mid December.  While scouting you might find out that those scrapes that went cold are now active again. 

There is something called a second rut that the yearling does come into there first estrous cycle and the does that did not conceive during the first rut cycle again. This rut is not as hard as the others so I try and just concentrate on ambushing bucks right by there bedding areas. 

Post Season (Winter/early Spring)

This time of year you can take off in the woods with out worrying about scent or spooking deer. Look for things such as scrapes that you might have missed or discover new bedding areas. You might be surprised and find some shed antlers which will let you know that there is a buck in that
area that made it through the hunting season alive and well. 

Once again mark these on your map. After the season is done your map might look like a kindergarteners hopscotch square but believe me it is worth it. You can use this map as a reference every year.. 

Now that we know what we need to look for while we are in the woods, lets talk about productive stand placement for each season. 

Early season

A huge mistake new bow hunters make is setting up in that “Hang up” zone we talked about earlier. This is how you should set up. Position your stand about 60 to 100 yards towards the bedding area. I have a method behind the madness and I will explain. 

All animals have memory, even deer. To put it in perspective, how many times have you driven somewhere and don’t really notice things along the road like the names of certain stores or the changing of a building. But once you get closer to home you notice things like those kids that are always playing in the street or someone on the block painting their house. 

Just like you, deer notice change in an area that they spend most of their time in.  Remember; don’t get stagnant on a certain trail. Change your stand accordingly with the presence of new rubs and trails. 

Pre Rut/Rut

Once again I must stress that where the doe’s are the bucks will be. If you have to set up in the middle of an acorn patch because all the doe’s are there then so be it. Combine the food source with good travel corridors and you have the recipe for success.

Post Rut/Late season

This time of year you want to totally change the way you are hunting.
Most bucks are only going to travel at last light and first light. 

I recommend that you get the wind in your favor and get as close to the bedding area as possible. This year at the end of the season I was only 45 yards away from one of the bedding areas that I hunt. I hunted that stand 5 times in December and saw an average of 4 antlered bucks every time. But be careful because there are little trees that grow so fast they will clog up your shooting lanes. 

Take for example this year it was last light and I had a huge 6-point come in. He was about 19 inches wide with thick main beam. I drew and released when all of a sudden a small gum sapling sprouted up between my arrow and the buck! All joking aside these areas that you are going to set up in this time of year are going to be thick and sometimes you are only going to have a few seconds to draw, look, and shoot.

In Conclusion

Scouting is a year round process and with technology today you can almost watch direct feed satellite of your hunting area. There are even places you can log on and watch deer over the Internet. 

With all the items on the market that allow you to get a better insight into the ways of the whitetails, none of them will beat the good old fashion knowledge and hands on scouting that is needed to bag that trophy.

~Jason~

© Copyright 2005 by Bowhunting.net