Where to start scouting?

[Outbound]

I haven't hunted in years, and I want to get back into it. When I did hunt, it was basically road hunting with people who I thought were actual hunters. I was mistaken. Needless to say, I learned very little about hunting.

As a newbie hunter, I'm beginning my scouting for this season now. I'm doing my best to avoid the farm fields and private land the majority of the people in my region of northern Alberta tend to hunt. I want to get off the beaten path and put some miles on my boots. Right now, I'm using a combination of Backroads Mapbooks and Google Earth to narrow down areas to start actively scouting.

My question is when looking at terrain and satellite images, what features do you look for when it comes to deer habitat? Valleys, rivers, clear cuts, cut lines, meadows?

[r106]

Mule deer bucks. Hit the ridges. Honestly hit the dirt road and just pull over and hike up hill. Amazing what you can find.

Might help with what mu your hunting

[Outbound]

Mule deer bucks. Hit the ridges. Honestly hit the dirt road and just pull over and hike up hill. Amazing what you can find.

Might help with what mu your hunting

I guess I should have specified. LOL. I'll be hunting primarily whitetail deer between Grande Prairie and Grande Cache but may wander as far south as Hinton, Alberta.

[RyoTHC]

Think you’d have a lot better luck on the Alberta forum tbh. Scouting over there is going to be a different ball game than scouting the interior mountains I’d imagine.

[Outbound]

Think you’d have a lot better luck on the Alberta forum tbh. Scouting over there is going to be a different ball game than scouting the interior mountains I’d imagine.

I've gotten a bit of info there. I like the crowd here much better though. LOL. I figured whitetail will behave similarly in BC or AB. I'm not really looking for specific areas, more the types of geography or landscape features I should be focusing on.

[Downtown]

There are a few things in life you can count on. One of them are the majority of People including Hunters nowadays are Lazy.

If you go off the beaten Path (which usually is a well worn ATV/ ORV or side by side trail) hike in on Foot you don't even have to goto far to get into prime hunting. spots.

Find yourself spots were you can overlook large areas, hunt like a Wolf (allways under cover) and spend as much time behind your Binoculars as possible.

Cheers

[Harvest the Land]

There used to be a decent amount of big whitetail bucks along the Athabasca between Hinton and Fox Vegas as the crow flies, but I think they had a brutal winter back in 2007 2008 and wiped a good number of them out, so I don't know what its like now - but used to be deer all over in that area. Tons of cutblocks of a variety of ages all in there so I 'd look for one where you can get a good vantage point and look down into. Or hike along the edge of the tree lines and look for trails/scat/old rubs etc. But now is definitely the right time to start scouting. Hang a trail came or as many as you can. Some of the biggest moose I've seen in there too. Decent bears all over. Did not see many elk or mulies. Did come across some wild horses. Nice area. Good fishing too if you're into that. OBED lake has giant Brown trout (and I mean really f_cking huge trout). Good luck

[Outbound]

There used to be a decent amount of big whitetail bucks along the Athabasca between Hinton and Fox Vegas as the crow flies, but I think they had a brutal winter back in 2007 2008 and wiped a good number of them out, so I don't know what its like now - but used to be deer all over in that area. Tons of cutblocks of a variety of ages all in there so I 'd look for one where you can get a good vantage point and look down into. Or hike along the edge of the tree lines and look for trails/scat/old rubs etc. But now is definitely the right time to start scouting. Hang a trail came or as many as you can. Some of the biggest moose I've seen in there too. Decent bears all over. Did not see many elk or mulies. Did come across some wild horses. Nice area. Good fishing too if you're into that. OBED lake has giant Brown trout (and I mean really f_cking huge trout). Good luck

Travelling that Fox Creek to Hinton road is something I want to do for sure. I've heard of Obed lake and it's on my list to fish for sure.

I know of a few cutblocks, but I need to check them for vantage points. Due to all the oil and gas activity, wellsites and leases are everywhere. Do deer tend to avoid those due to the machinery or do they like the clearings created?

[HarryToolips]

I haven't hunted in years, and I want to get back into it. When I did hunt, it was basically road hunting with people who I thought were actual hunters. I was mistaken. Needless to say, I learned very little about hunting.

As a newbie hunter, I'm beginning my scouting for this season now. I'm doing my best to avoid the farm fields and private land the majority of the people in my region of northern Alberta tend to hunt. I want to get off the beaten path and put some miles on my boots. Right now, I'm using a combination of Backroads Mapbooks and Google Earth to narrow down areas to start actively scouting.

My question is when looking at terrain and satellite images, what features do you look for when it comes to deer habitat? Valleys, rivers, clear cuts, cut lines, meadows?
They will use all the mentioned areas at one time or another for feeding, breeding, bedding, and water...hunt the sign...and a lot of the time, you will be in the right place - at the wrong time...that's hunting...

[HarryToolips]

I've gotten a bit of info there. I like the crowd here much better though. LOL. I figured whitetail will behave similarly in BC or AB. I'm not really looking for specific areas, more the types of geography or landscape features I should be focusing on.
I find WT will behave on a somewhat more predictive schedule, which many times is determined by the geography/landscape, but also dictated by hunting pressure....

[Harvest the Land]

Travelling that Fox Creek to Hinton road is something I want to do for sure. I've heard of Obed lake and it's on my list to fish for sure.

I know of a few cutblocks, but I need to check them for vantage points. Due to all the oil and gas activity, wellsites and leases are everywhere. Do deer tend to avoid those due to the machinery or do they like the clearings created?

Yes!! Totally forgot to mention the seismic lines - you definitely want to hit up as many of those as you can. Easy quiet walking and you can see a long ways. Just try to stay close to the side of the timber that has the shade and walk in the shade with the wind in your face. Deer and all game animals love travelling seismic lines. Also, make sure you have 4X4 if you're going off the main roads because it can rain pretty good and some of those less used roads are really easy to get stuck in once they get all gummed up. Good luck

[Outbound]

Awesome, thanks for all the info. Lots of good stuff here to get me started. I'll definitely get on those seismic lines. Fortunately, I have a solid 4x4 with awesome tires to get into those lease roads. I've done some work down them and I know exactly how nasty they can get with rain!

[brian]

The first thing I look for when scouting new areas is something interesting. On a satellite map or a topo map, you’ll see a whole lotta the same, then something will jump out at you. That’s different! That’ll be my first destination. Maybe it is experience or intuition or whatever, but something on the map will say, look here. Once I get out there, I usually drive the roads and get to know the lay of the land access wise. Take note of interesting stuff. But the real fun is when you get your boots on the ground. Head out to the stuff you thought looked interesting, but follow the sign, follow the trails, look for where you think the animals will be the most comfortable. Start learning the lay of the land like it is a neighbourhood you know well. Learn all the different places and how the animals use them and when. It may take years to piece it all together, but eventually it will start falling into place. It is a lifetimes worth of learning. But that is how to scout a new area. Just keep going back and finding where the animals like to be.