Summer Scouting

[jshanegreen]

What is the best way to scout this time of year?  Or is there even a point to scout this early?

[TheHuntinHog]

It kind of depends on when you plan on hunting.  Obviously, food and water change throughout the year and therefore deer travel patterns change.  And, what you see now will help you very little during the rut.  About all you can gather right now are potential food sources, water sources and travel routes.  And, those are most likely only to help you about the first two weeks of October.  I'd stay away from the chiggers, ticks, and poison ivy and wait until August.  You should be able to find good bachelor groups in August that will help you for early, early bow season.  You'll find them hitting fields and fruit in later August on a fairly standard routine, like within 10 minutes every day.  Then October 1, you've got a good chance to bag a decent buck.  It's completely different hunting 2 weeks later. 

I'm sure others on here may have a different opinion.  But what I see now, I use for early bow season.  And while hunting early bow season, I decide where I'll hunt from there on.

[ArkansasSloughboy]

You won't catch me scouting for seed ticks I mean deer this time of year, but one thing I always try to tell people is that even though deer's patterns change they have places I call their home base or their hide-out. They are usually a very small area that no one ever enters. They are often thick, but right in your face and if you walk around in one they have more or less tunnels rather than trails. Most commonly I've found them in Privett Hedge with lots of Honey Suckle. Deer use these places to bed most of the time and they spend hours every day in them. If you can find these spots their patterns don't matter much cause they always come back to home base at some point.