Scouting Dilemma

[nofishfisherman]

So here is my issue, I'm wondering which route you guys would go.

Due to work, family commitments, and various other scheduling issues my buddies and I aren't able to get up and do any scouting this year before the season starts. We have hunted the same general area for a few years now so know the basic lay of the land and we do have a few spots scouted from last year that we can hunt.

However we have identified a few spots on satellite maps near our hunting spot but further away through fairly rough terrain that we'd like to scout and possibly hunt. We have 3 options as I see it.

1. Hunt our old spots opening morning and then try to push out to these new areas in the afternoon and try to scout on the fly and get set up with climbing stands for the afternoon/evening hunt.

2. Head up north a day early and spend Friday before opener scouting the new area and getting our climbing stands or ladder stands placed for opening morning.

3. Forget about scouting entirely and hunt the same spots as last year. One spot produced a lot of does last year but no bucks. The other spots where on some good fresh sign (scraps/rubs) but didn't produce any action during shooting hours.

We are in a lottery zone and none of us holds a doe tag so its bucks or bust this year. The new area we would like to scout is a series of funnels between a lake, a few small ponds, and swamp and is near the area we saw a lot of good sign last year but its further into the woods.

So what do you guys think I should do? Each option has serious draw backs.

[Powerstroke]

I would choose #1.

You risk bumping any deer the day before you hunt by doing option 2. At least if you push to the new spots on day 1 you can shoot a buck you bump from his bed.

As far as 3, what fun would that be? You're looking for bucks and those spots aren't producing bucks. I've learned after many years that I tend to find "doe areas" really easily. As I've gotten more experienced, I've learned to look past area with high deer sign because bucks don't make high amounts of deer sign.

I think rubs and scrapes are the second highest reason for empty tags, not hunting is the highest. I see too many guys, my dad included that want to plop down and hunt a scrape or rub that he decided is fresh and interesting despite the research that shows most scrape activity is nocturnal.

Food, bedding and travel corridors are the ticket. Ignore the "sparkly" things like rubs and scrapes and study travel corridors. I've used your "option 1" several times when hunting with my family on high-pressure state land. There are no drawbacks IMO. Are you more concerned about hunting for deer or sitting in a stand. Be a hunter and go find them!

[nofishfisherman]

#1 was the option I was leaning toward. There is something exciting about setting up on a new spot for opening morning not knowing how its going to pan out but it might be best to sit on our old spots for one morning and then move out and scout new spots later in the day when we have day light to work with.

[Bear55]

Yep #1 is an easy choice, hunt what you know first without messing anything up, if things look good stay there if not keep pushing with the climbers and look for better sign. Good luck!

[smsmith]

Boy, I don't know. If I had an area with a known series of funnels...and I hadn't seen any bucks the previous year in the other area...I think I'd be trying to get set up in the new area. I would NOT scout the new area the day before season though.

Think I'd go for option #4...still hunt my way back into the new area on opening morning and get my stands set up. Then I'd hunt the new stands all day

[mabr]

Boy maybe im the odd duck here but i hunt where the does are for gun season. The does don't go to the bucks during the rut, the buck seek out the does.

Option 1 would be on the Sunday after opener at the earliest if i didn't have any rutting behavior. And that would only be if i was hunting the weekend only. Otherwise I'd be waiting till midweek before i got to exploring. All depends on how long you will be hunting and whether your sitting all day. Doe core areas are often checked mid day by bucks looking for hot does.

[nofishfisherman]

The area we have seen good doe activity in the past is the one spot we plan to keep hunting. Its a nice funnel between a lake and wetland that leads toward a grassy swamp area where we have seen some does bedding down.

Last year was only the first year of hunting that spot so I can't say with certainty that there are no bucks using that area. I'm sure there are some since bucks follow does that time of year we just didn't see any evidence of it.

It was an easy choice to stay at that spot last year when the zone was hunters choice and we wanted to fill the freezer with some meat. My buddy ended up shooting a very large doe from that stand. We named her doe-zilla. When we dropped it off for processing her body dwarfed all of the bucks that were lined up waiting for processing.

[bigbucks]

Last year was a very late rut, this year will coincide much better with gun season so I'd bet that "doe" stand will also be a buck stand.

I'd be inclined to go with option #1 as well, but I guess it would depend on how little confidence I had in my old spot. If you really don't like it & have the time to go find a new spot the day before I probably would. You don't really know if you're going to find sign other hunters will be there or what.

At rut time especially often you can bump deer & they move so much they'll be back or others will be.

[bottomdweller]

If it were me I would try and get up in a week or two, look the new spots over and if they look good mark it on gps and hit it opening morning

[nofishfisherman]

If it were me I would try and get up in a week or two, look the new spots over and if they look good mark it on gps and hit it opening morning

Of course that would be the preferred method but my schedule just won't allow me to get away. Its a 4 hour drive each way and I have way too much on my plate right now.

We've got our spots picked out for opening morning and depending on how that goes we'll either push out to those new areas in the afternoon or we'll sit tight if we are getting good action.