scouting and legwork

[Bean Counter]

nub, I think you would be surprised at the time and effort a lot on here put into scouting and hunting. I too hunt with people that do not put in much effort. With that being said, I share some info with them but keep a lot of info to myself or the few that have earned the right to share it with. Your not crazy but as you will see as time goes by there will be a lot of areas you will not need to scout as much because of the knowledge you will gain about said areas.

I will share my camp with all my firends who are respectfull.......but that doesn't mean I share all the info I have gained. 

+1. Once you have a good repertoire of hunting spots, your season-after-season scouting needs go way down. Course by then you may be addicted to just being out in the woods 

[6x6in6]

It used to bother me, 30 years ago when I was the only one in our group taking the time to scout.  But I enjoyed that time out there too.  It made me a better woodsman and ultimately a better hunter.
Now, not a big deal.  It's about the friends and the hunt.   If my information leads to one of my best friends notching their tag and I don't, I could really care less.   It was a good year for the camp and another version of stories to tell. 

[bench beast]

It is FUN to get out and scout, and you cant put a price on FUN...
also how bad do you want to be successful, the more time you put in the better your odds.
 some people get lucky from time to time. and go kill one opening day and think its easy.
 others do their home work and put in the time and work hard and come away empty handed.
one of my best Elk seasons ever was a year that I came away empty handed, every day I seen lots of cows & spikes.
learned allot of new country. and hunted hard every day of the season. just couldnt find a branch Bull
Now that was FUN...

[Karl Blanchard]

Some of my favorite spots are places I looked at while driving to another spot and said "man I think I am gonna hunt there today!"  I am the exact opposite of the trail cam thing.  I am addicted to the unknown so new unexplored country is my drug of choice.  I am on a "explore all of Chinook pass" kick this year and can't tell you exactly how many miles I've hiked but its a lot more than 100.