one-way, 500 mile scouting trips

[hunter399]

Just curious why scout this time of year?  Getting familiar with the general area, where the various roads and trails go, etc. is fine, but where you find animals now and where you'll find them later is different.  Depending on what type of summer we have (initial forecast is another hot dry summer) animals are likely to be mostly gone from where they are now.  Another factor is fire road closures and , of course, wildfires themselves.  With fuel costs what they are, I'd save my money for later, more meaningful scouting.

If you are a serious whitetail guy there is no better time to scout then February and March. Looking for scrapes, rubs and trails. Almost will always be used again the following year. Better yet is finding a big bucks sheds pretty much in most cases tells you that you find his core area.

Yup,was gonna say the same.
The fresh brown gold of mature WT shed is what your looking for.
I know this won't help the OP ,But usually toward the end of all hunting seasons,cause I'm in so many spots .
I'll come across a few giant buck track from time to time.
Gives me clues to setup for the next year.
I actually just set a cam the other day ,based on deer tracks seen through winter cougar hunting.
Yet I've never laid eyes on him, don't know if it's still alive since the snow left.
I'll roll the dice on spots like that,slap a cam in just to take a peek.

[kodiak06]

Just curious why scout this time of year?  Getting familiar with the general area, where the various roads and trails go, etc. is fine, but where you find animals now and where you'll find them later is different.  Depending on what type of summer we have (initial forecast is another hot dry summer) animals are likely to be mostly gone from where they are now.  Another factor is fire road closures and , of course, wildfires themselves.  With fuel costs what they are, I'd save my money for later, more meaningful scouting.

If you are a serious whitetail guy there is no better time to scout then February and March. Looking for scrapes, rubs and trails. Almost will always be used again the following year. Better yet is finding a big bucks sheds pretty much in most cases tells you that you find his core area.

That was my plan and I kept up with snow depths before driving up. Even in April the areas I wanted to finish my trip scouting were covered in too much snow and I didn't have snow shoes to hump in. got some lower stuff covered, now gonna hit a lot of various elevations (mainly upper half of mountain). Be cool if I lived closer but hard to time travel time and weather that early. I'll have a better idea of what's up after this year.

[hunter399]

Your other option is to grow a mature buck.

I'm gonna catch some stuff here for saying this.
There is some research coming out that your looking for the best dirt.
Surprised it hasn't been said already.
A lot of guys are gonna say ,"the genetics aren't there".
I do admit genetics is definitely a factor at some kind of a percent.

Remember your looking for food deer nutrition,with good genetics.
Then on top of that you might find everything needed.
Someone smoked that big boy last year,nothing but dinks,and baby bucks now for a few years. Definitely a rotation to some areas.
Really your looking for a needle in a haystack.
But still that's what's nice about hunting,sometimes your lucky, sometimes not.


Anyway thought this video was interesting
It's in the dirt!

[kodiak06]

Your other option is to grow a mature buck.

I'm gonna catch some stuff here for saying this.
There is some research coming out that your looking for the best dirt.
Surprised it hasn't been said already.
A lot of guys are gonna say ,"the genetics aren't there".
I do admit genetics is definitely a factor at some kind of a percent.

Remember your looking for food deer nutrition,with good genetics.
Then on top of that you might find everything needed.
Someone smoked that big boy last year,nothing but dinks,and baby bucks now for a few years. Definitely a rotation to some areas.
Really your looking for a needle in a haystack.
But still that's what's nice about hunting,sometimes your lucky, sometimes not.


Anyway thought this video was interesting
It's in the dirt!

True... I have two spots in Idaho I hunted last year, two really good bucks showed on cam early but, the area was new to me. I also had a few nice up and comers. Staying away this year plus, as a non-res, Washington's a bit nicer to disabled vets on the pocket book, so I get to make up costs and do APR, MAY, and AUG scouting/cam checks. No WT dinks or does will be harmed since I kill an elk/BT every year here.

[kodiak06]

Well that was fun. Averaged 6-8 miles a day snooping around. My two new knees held up well courtesy of Uncle Sam, much better than the early April trip. Found a few good spots and had a few does hitting a licking branch I doctored up Apr04. I was able to leave 2 cell cams out this trip, so at least I'll get a few photos waiting on mid-Aug when I head back up.
Saw where a tree took out a guys solar panel/tactacam cell cam over a bait station basically on the walk in road. Not sure why anyone would bait that spot on public land. Oh, saw a wolf late y'day putting out my last camera

[kodiak06]

Licking branch I made in APR

[hunter399]

Sounds like your all setup good 👍.

[kodiak06]

Sounds like your all setup good 👍.

I'll find out. The hard part is knowing where others typically hunt being new to the areas. Hopefully a few spots are free of people...

[hunter399]

Sounds like your all setup good 👍.

I'll find out. The hard part is knowing where others typically hunt being new to the areas. Hopefully a few spots are free of people...

I hear ya there.
Campsites, ATV trails,on and on.
Then when you think you have a spot,there will be someone there.
It really is hard to find remote locations for camera setups.
I have a few spots that I still throw salt down,but have pulled the camera. Just to many people on the camera.
I don't mind them hunting there,just figured it's a matter of time before the cam gets messed with.

[kodiak06]

Sounds like your all setup good 👍.

I'll find out. The hard part is knowing where others typically hunt being new to the areas. Hopefully a few spots are free of people...

I hear ya there.
Campsites, ATV trails,on and on.
Then when you think you have a spot,there will be someone there.
It really is hard to find remote locations for camera setups.
I have a few spots that I still throw salt down,but have pulled the camera. Just to many people on the camera.
I don't mind them hunting there,just figured it's a matter of time before the cam gets messed with.

For sure. The browning cam has gps and theft protection setting so, if they walk they can be shut down or located.  I have a trip planned in AUG to check cams and feed but, I may head over again sooner just to look at a couple more spots, undecided.

[hunter399]

I have a lot of respect for ya.
Putting in the work, scouting isn't easy.
With that said ,I'm in the same exact boat.

I'm always searching for the holy grail.(Big Buck)
It may be a mature buck. Or I may hunt some areas that just have a high ratio of smaller dink bucks.
It just falls in line also with plan b,c,d,e,f,g.
I just like having options another spot to go to if that spot is occupied for the day.

[kodiak06]

I have a lot of respect for ya.
Putting in the work, scouting isn't easy.
With that said ,I'm in the same exact boat.

I'm always searching for the holy grail.(Big Buck)
It may be a mature buck. Or I may hunt some areas that just have a high ratio of smaller dink bucks.
It just falls in line also with plan b,c,d,e,f,g.
I just like having options another spot to go to if that spot is occupied for the day.

Thanks, I can't go in hunting blind and I can allot time to scout. I know where the elk are here yet I still scout and hang cams, addicted I guess. Like your last sentence, I want to have back-up plans in place to stay in the woods.

[huntnnw]

Sounds like your all setup good 👍.

I'll find out. The hard part is knowing where others typically hunt being new to the areas. Hopefully a few spots are free of people...

I hear ya there.
Campsites, ATV trails,on and on.
Then when you think you have a spot,there will be someone there.
It really is hard to find remote locations for camera setups.
I have a few spots that I still throw salt down,but have pulled the camera. Just to many people on the camera.
I don't mind them hunting there,just figured it's a matter of time before the cam gets messed with.

It’s more rare for me to setup cams where people already are. I rarely see anyone

[kodiak06]

Sounds like your all setup good 👍.

I'll find out. The hard part is knowing where others typically hunt being new to the areas. Hopefully a few spots are free of people...

I hear ya there.
Campsites, ATV trails,on and on.
Then when you think you have a spot,there will be someone there.
It really is hard to find remote locations for camera setups.
I have a few spots that I still throw salt down,but have pulled the camera. Just to many people on the camera.
I don't mind them hunting there,just figured it's a matter of time before the cam gets messed with.

It’s more rare for me to setup cams where people already are. I rarely see anyone

Without knowing the areas and having observed the hunters in the area I hope to get lucky. I know a couple spots for sure should be ok, depending on what kind of bucks show. I have a few more spots to hit but, I need to see the snow levels this year to know how high is too high for late season.

[huntnnw]

Definitely a huge consideration is snow and if you have rigs to get in. Been there and done that. We started hunting only a few miles off maintained roads as the snow would pile up making it impossible to drive in very far