Hot Weather Scouting For Cold Weather Success

Hot Weather Scouting for Cold Weather Success

By Nick Pinizzotto

It was a sultry 85 degree day in early August. With the sun beating down on me and not a single cloud in the sky offering protection, I hiked along the fencerow of crabapple trees in search of just the right spot to erect my blind for the evening watch.

Waving away mosquitoes with one hand and struggling with my folding chair in the other, I found myself wondering if all of this extra scouting work during the dog days of summer would pay off during the frigid days of November.

Undaunted, I climbed into my blind and readied my video camera on the tripod while checking the wind one last time.

To many people, the idea of scouting whitetails anytime before they begin shedding velvet is borderline obsessive.

The fact is, anytime is a good time to learn more about the deer in your hunting area, particularly mature bucks that have survived a season or two and will be the subject of your quarry in the fall and winter.

And for many reasons, late summer scouting can be more effective and tell you more about the quality of the bucks in your area than a jaunt through the woods in October.

When I talk with people about my summer scouting routine, I often get looks of confusion, or a blank stare that assures me that the person I am talking with thinks that I am a borderline lunatic.

The fact is summer scouting can tell you a lot about the bucks you plan to hunt in the fall and winter. For me, I use this time to get a gauge on the quality of the bucks in my hunting area, and to determine which of the bucks are dominant and will provide the greatest challenge to hunt. Unlike any other time during the year, bucks are traveling together in bachelor groups, oftentimes in gatherings of five or more. It is not uncommon for people to tell stories of seeing up to 20 bucks in the same field on a given evening during this time.

This provides a unique scouting advantage to hunters by allowing them to see the majority of the bucks that call their hunting area home without having to walk the area, acre by acre.

And, because deer tend to feed in open fields earlier in the evening during this time, they can be watched from a distance without being disturbed, and possibly pressured into leaving the area.

There are some important things to consider when scouting whitetails during the summer months. First, it is important to get to your scouting location as early as possible. For mid- to late August, I find that 5:30 p.m. is usually appropriate.

You do not want to be caught moving to your viewing area by deer already feeding. This may lead to the deer retreating to the woods until nearly dark, thus ruining your scouting for the evening.

Second, make sure you planned your travel route carefully, taking into account wind direction and cover. Always be sure to keep the wind in your face and only travel between fields using fencerows or other quality cover, such as corn stalks or brushy field diversions.

Sweating during this time of the year is inevitable, and deer can detect your presence from vast distances, causing them to be wary to enter fields where they are easily seen.

Finally, be sure to use a manufactured blind, or a natural blind to cover your movements.

No matter how hard I try, I find it virtually impossible to remain still during this time of the year. A blind will afford you some opportunity to swat pesky bugs, wipe the sweat from your brow and maybe jot down a few notes about what you are seeing.

I also find a blind to be helpful for videotaping or taking photos of the deer you are watching. I am always looking for new footage to use in presentations or videos, but it is much more difficult to maneuver this type of equipment without being afforded the protection of a blind that masks movement, and even sounds.

Once you have successfully established a viewing location, preferably at least 100 yards from where you anticipate the deer entering the field, you can begin focusing on the bucks themselves.

Typically the younger 18-month-old bucks sporting their first set of antlers enter the field first. I often consider these bucks to be the least intelligent deer in the woods.

Remember, they have only been on their own since being kicked out of the house in late April, and they are looking for friends anywhere they can find them.

With hormone levels still being fairly low at this time, many young bucks find friends among other young bucks that are also looking for companions.

Once the younger bucks have been feeding safely for several minutes, the mature deer cautiously enter the feeding area. In most cases they enter alone, but may join with other mature deer as they feed throughout the field.

With their antlers still covered in velvet, mature bucks can appear to have enormous racks, making them easily distinguishable from immature bucks.

You may also notice that the mature bucks have little or no tolerance for their younger, inexperienced companions.

I have witnessed mature bucks kicking and even biting at younger bucks that ventured too close. Although bucks are not very aggressive at this time, a loose pecking order is still being established.

If you scout continually from mid-August through late September you will notice that the bucks tolerance for one another becomes less by the day, and eventually a bachelor group that may have been made up of 10 bucks may be reduced to three or four immature bucks.

During the first couple of weeks of archery season it is still possible to see these small bachelor groups passing through.

Once the velvet is shed, mature bucks will typically distance themselves from one another and begin establishing their future rutting territories.

At this point it is unlikely to see mature bucks feeding together in fields before dusk, thus signaling the end of late summer scouting.

Keep in mind that summer scouting will not give you much insight into where mature bucks will be hanging out in the fall and winter during the rut.

I have witnessed several mature bucks during the summer months that I never saw again once archery season began. It is only intended to inform hunters about the quality of the bucks in their given area. It can be particularly helpful for scouting new areas that you plan to hunt.

Aside from physically scouting during the summer months, I find that using a motion or heat-activated trail camera is an effective way to get to know the bucks in the area.

I typically choose heavy travel corridors leading between bedding areas and fields for camera locations. A good quality camera will produce excellent photos, even during nighttime hours when your only scouting choice may otherwise be a spotlight.

There are a few basic tools that can help make summer scouting more enjoyable and rewarding. Perhaps the most important is a simple notebook.

Record what you see and when you see it. A basic 35-mm or digital camera is also helpful so you can photo document what you see in conjunction with your notes.

Topographic maps and aerial photos, although not necessary, are also extremely helpful when determining the most appropriate direction to approach your scouting location.

A manufactured blind or natural blind, bug repellant and a comfortable chair are a must. If you are not comfortable you are not going to enjoy yourself, and you risk inadvertently alerting deer to your presence.

A good scent eliminator that destroys human odors is also helpful, as it will combat the problem of excessive perspiration. My personal choice is Phantom Hunter, a scent eliminator I developed and manufacture through my company, Appalachian Whitetails.

A good pair of binoculars is also necessary so that you can view deer several hundred yards away. And if you plan to take video of the scouting trip, a tripod is necessary to stabilize the camera for long, zoomed-in shots.

Finally, a reliable trail camera can be effective for scouting those areas too thick for viewing from a distance, and for monitoring deer movements after dark. I use a Deer Cam, which is manufactured by Non-Typical, Inc.

Spend a little extra time in the woods this year and give summer scouting a try. Aside from being an enjoyable way to scout whitetails, it just may be the extra advantage you need to etch your name in the Pope and Young or Boone and Crocket record books.