Pre-Scouting Deer

I have been hunting the same area for several years and not much luck at even seeing many deer. This year we have been putting in some leg work on new public land in search of archery opening day locations.

We are having a good acorn crop and searching those areas for any sign is what we are looking for. There are a few areas that we are finding the acorns and deer droppings mixed in so that is always a promising sign.

This location also has numerous mountain bike trails, so that may be an advantage for moving the deer around, or a disadvantage, as there is to much commotion in the woods. Early morning will be best for this area and the bike trails makes for easy and quiet access into the woods in the dark.

Another area that we are scouting is off a huge marsh, a funnel shaped strip of woods that has a cornfield on the backside. There was a small pothole of water that the deer are using, as there aren’t any other water sources in the immediate area, making it a good evening location.

Walking around the corn fields edge, hard to see tracks as the ground is dry and hard. Slipped into the woods on a back corner of the field and just inside the woods was two ground scrapes with a rub on a sapling tree next to them.

This corn field may be a good evening location as well and having a ground blind should be a good way to waiting them out. From the signs that I am seeing, hoping that there are more sightings of deer this coming season and looking forward to watching some new woods.