Scouting for my first deer season

[Billy74]

Spent the day out around Mt Spokane to feel out some areas.  I was pleased overall and learned a lot, confirmed a lot and have a lot to think about.  Hearing and reading things is great but no substitute for boots on the ground.  Here are some take aways:
1.  I'm a lot louder than I thought.  I'm sure the dry weather doesn't help but hope the softer ground in October mitigates my clumsiness.  Walking slow is hard.  I also look at the ground a lot more than I knew.
2.  Glad I'm testing my boots now
3.  Property lines come up quick.  Glad I had my onx hunt maps and GPS.
4.  Not as good at IDing tracks  as I thought.  Google was my friend.
5.  Finding signs of deer wasnt as hard as I thought but don't know how that will translate to October.  Saw signs of past hunters so a plus?
6.  I can see how this close to town could get crowed.  What looks like a lot of land on maps isn't that much when you cut out all the non hunt-able and accessible ground. 
 Took some pics  of areas I thought might be good for finding deer, natural blinds, glassing spots, trails, bedding etc.  Any thoughts


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[Seahawk12]

Looks nice.
Experience is the best teacher.
Best of luck to you this season.

[fishnfur]

Sounds/looks like you're off to a great start.  You might consider looking for a hunting partner or mentor on the "where to go, hunt swaps/partners page on this forum.  http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/board,26.0.html
A local expert would be able to get you off to a great start.

[Stein]

You'll do fine, get as far off the road as you can.  Hunt in units where you can shoot any deer vs those really restricted (3pt or better).

[Cab]

another thing to think about, when your going to be going into the woods its going to be pitch black. don't use your phone, have a headlamp so you can be hands free and make sure it has a red light setting so that you can have your eyes adjusted to low light. If you are going out in the morning and there is a full moon you wont need the headlamp as much if at all but on the mornings when there is over cast it can be so dark that you cant see your hand in front of your face! so for that exact reason have a spot you want to hunt but even more so a spot you want to sit marked on a gps or phone. DO NOT think you can find your spot in the dark without marking it down, trust me you will find out real quick how much everything looks the same in the dark. You will walk around more, spread your scent more, will get hotter quicker and spook more animals. Have an exact route to and from said spot. Know the wind for that spot and if its poor DONT HUNT IT JUST BECAUSE. have back up spots and be able to change and adapt. this is why you want to mark the exact location of where to sit because if you change location based of situation and end up trying to fit a good location, you will quickly learn how frustrating it is to do in the dark. Finally ask questions, know limitations, and most of all HAVE FUN! if you need any other help PM me anytime and I would be more then happy to help. If i could suggest 1 thing to buy it would be Steven Rinellas" complete guide to hunting, butchering and cooking wild game vol. 1 big game" that should answer almost every question you have and might be the best thing you can buy for less then $20.