My hunting partner and I went out last weekend, but I am not sure we are doing anything right. We did a little pre-season scouting, but don't really know what we should have been looking for.
Last Sunday we went out to some gated property that had a sign that said it was open to public for hunting, then we hiked in about 2 miles and sat in a clear-cut where we had seen some deer poop. The poop was the only deer sign we had found anywhere but it looked pretty old to me.(it had turned mostly white) We never saw any deer other than the nice 4 point buck my partner spotted opening day sitting right under a "No Hunting" sign.

It dawned on me the other day though that really we don't have much of a clue between us on what we should be looking for. I mean I have read that the things we need to look for are food/water/cover that the deer like. But what does that really mean? Water seems pretty straight forward; creeks, or ponds that have fresh non-stagnant water. But what do the deer/elk around western washington eat? What kind of cover do they like to move in? Is finding a clear-cut and waiting for deer to show up really all there is to it?