Re: What to be looking for when scouting?
My suggestion is to get the record book of BC ...In your management hunting area see the locations in the record book of the species you"re after and it should give you some locations ...In your MU walk the areas and look for rubs...This is where the deer are during Nov and Dec ...They might migrate after heavy snow to a different area to winter...They winter in Mature Douglas fir and pine stands ...Old log blocks next to mature forests is a good starting point..My area is near the hwy about a mile to 3 away..These areas tend to be protected from logging because they are mule deer winter range...Also a trip to the Forestry dept in your town closest to your area should let you know of deer winter areas..Areas that have sheds can be good hunting and also can be poor hunting ..Its all weather dependent ...In my area I dont find many sheds ...The odd one but.....there are some big deer there ..The numbers of deer now in some traditional areas has really thinned ..Why because of all the logging of beetle kill ...What was mature barren forest now is sucession feed areas ...They used to migrate from there to further away ...Now they have logged regen blocks and mature timber to winter so they stay more resident.....One thing I have noticed is that now the big bucks tend to be daytime shy more and move more in timber and late in the day or very early..Good luck hope I've helped ...Dennis
Re: What to be looking for when scouting?
If you are hunting early in the season then finding current sign preseason helps. If you won't be coming back until the rut then all the current preseason sign can be meaningless. Deer will adjust their prefered locations, times, and browse quickly when conditions change (including human intrusion). So keep this in mind when scouting. I prefer to see scouting as an opportunity to get to know an area rather than specifically looking for deer. Then you use the sign to try and gauge how the deer use the area. The more pieces you can put together then the better your chances of finding the deer when you need to find them (in all seasons).
Re: What to be looking for when scouting?
alpinedust
What region are you thinking of hunting? Whitetail or Mule deer? ......lets say you are thinking Mule deer, Oct 1st because thats when any buck is open. Its a trial and error thing and looking for poop is a good place to start as its evidence that a deer was there although it may not have been a buck. Put some miles on a good pair of boots and when you find your buck chances are that next year it may produce for you as well. Check out edges of logged area's, ridges sparsely treed so you can see some distance, you will get one. Good luck to you!
Re: What to be looking for when scouting?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
338win mag
alpinedust
What region are you thinking of hunting? Whitetail or Mule deer? ......lets say you are thinking Mule deer, Oct 1st because thats when any buck is open. Its a trial and error thing and looking for poop is a good place to start as its evidence that a deer was there although it may not have been a buck. Put some miles on a good pair of boots and when you find your buck chances are that next year it may produce for you as well. Check out edges of logged area's, ridges sparsely treed so you can see some distance, you will get one. Good luck to you!
Thanks and thanks to all the posters above - started to piece together a plan. Spent a lot of time in region 2 and some in region 3 with not much luck. Going to try to explore region 3 and 8 more this year. Possibly head up to region 7 for a longer trip this fall - won't be able to get up there before the season to check things out though. Have always been in areas that supposed to have lots of mule deer - have seen lots of does, but never any bucks during any buck season