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Story & photos by Tony Peterson
6/22/2009
So you’re supposed to find a bachelor group of 150-inch studs, watch them in the alfalfa night after night until you’ve found the exact trail they’re using, sneak in mid-day to set up a stand on the trail? After that the next step is to shoot the biggest one on opening night, right? Right. There are an awful lot of articles written year after year about summer scouting and a good portion of them focus on a situation that is simply not reality for most bowhunters. I’ve been bowhunting hard for nearly two decades and I can count the number of times on one hand that I’ve glassed a bachelor group of Pope & Young bucks on property I can hunt.
It would benefit most bowhunters to look beyond the single-minded quest for a bachelor group in the summer and to expand their horizons. A multi-faceted approach to summer scouting can pay off dividends all season if employed correctly.
Work and Play
Work: Summer scouting doesn’t just involve glassing deer. In this day and age it involves hanging trail cameras and burning boot leather. This sounds easier than it is because summertime involves the most insects, the hottest weather and generally some of the nastiest conditions the woods will have to offer all year long. It takes the right mindset to venture out there in the dog days of summer.
In the arena of trail cameras it pays to think outside of the box. Most bowhunters will set up a camera or two in an area they know will see plenty of deer traffic (field edges, identified fence crossings). These locations provide a ton of hits and often some of the best photos but they teach very little. Hanging a camera on the edge of a soybean field in mid-August simply tells you what you already knew. Instead, use scouting cameras to tell you what’s going on in areas you’re not too familiar with. Follow your instincts to places you always thought would be good spots to hunt. Sneak into the areas you’ve always had a hunch about but for one reason or another have yet to hunt or scout hard.
With a couple of cameras hung in intriguing new spots, it’s always a good idea to get out and truly look around. Because last year’s obvious sign like rubs and scrapes will be long gone, turn your eyes to the ground. Look for tracks, nipped off plants that have been browsed, anything seeing plenty of use. Spend a fair amount of time walking not only field edges, but interior trails in the woods. Stumbling across something as simple as a low spot that’s been scoured by runoff and now holds rainwater long after the rest of the woods have dried is worth the stinging nettles and mosquitoes you’re sure to encounter.
Play: Glassing deer is one of my favorite ways to spend a summer evening. I typically employ two different methods for glassing deer. The first is the most common, which is to set up somewhere and use a spotting scope to watch a faraway field. This is the method I use when conditions are windy, or there is no good way to get in a little closer to where I expect the deer to show up. When dealing with larger agricultural fields, power-lines, or hard-to-access fields a spotting scope reigns supreme.
The second method is sort of a run-and-gun style where I’ll use binoculars and sneak from field to field looking for deer as I go. This is a lot more fun and typically involves more deer sightings. When going this route it’s important to play the wind, wear appropriate camouflage, and stay alert. Act as though you are hunting and you’ll be surprised the deer you see in places you hadn’t expected to have an encounter.
The Goals
Obviously, most bowhunters have their heart set on locating a nice buck or group of bucks during the pre-season. Most would benefit from having realistic expectations about their scouting efforts. For me, spotting what fits into my definition of “shooter” is the ultimate goal, whether I can pattern him or not. Spotting smaller bucks and doe groups gives me a great idea of what’s going on in the area I’ll be hunting.
The trap a lot of hunters fall into is that sighting a young buck, or the same does and fawns doesn’t equate into the kind of success they are looking for. For me, laying eyes on the same doe groups day after day clues me into where that particular group is calling home (valuable during the rut), and also tells me where to go to try and fill an antlerless tag (valuable all season long).
Despite the size or perceived value of each deer, every sighting provides a clue about deer behavior. Summer provides the easiest opportunity to see relaxed deer, deer that are doing what they want to the most. Outside pressures (human intrusion) are minimal and typically as non-threatening as they’ll be all year prompting whitetails to drop their guard’s slightly. Does and small bucks feeding in a certain alfalfa field may not get the heart racing as much as a velvet-antlered stud, but those deer are there for a reason.
Conclusion
Summer scouting can be tough work in miserable conditions. It can also be a relaxing night or two with your eyes glued to a spotting scope. It can be a muggy mess in the blazing sun, or it can be an evening spent ghosting along fence lines in-between agricultural fields with binoculars clutched in your hands. The bottom line about all of it is that whether it's work or play, the value is undeniable. Going into opening day with your finger on the pulse of your deer herd and with sightings of many of its members freshly engrained in your mind will provide insight and confidence throughout the season.