Whitetail Deer Scouting

     If you want to have a successful hunt, you first have to scout out the area where you plan to hunt.  You just cant go out and put up a stand or a ground blind anywhere and expect to get lucky.  I like to start scouting towards the end of summer.  You have to first locate the deer.  This can be done a few different ways.  The first tip I have for you is to go out scouting after a good soaking rain.  It will make the ground muddy, and easier to spot tracks.  I like to go out "hiking" or squirrel hunting as an excuse to just get out in the woods and start looking around.  Maybe I'll jump some deer.  Or maybe I'll spot some big tracks along the side of a trail.  Then when I find a spot I think that would be good deer habitat a little distance off the beaten path (oak trees, acorns, lush thickets, corn fields, big tracks etc.) I start to look for sign.  Keeping my eyes on the ground...  I went out scouting yesterday and found some good sign.  Here are a few examples from my outing in the wildlife management area.

Tracks:  Let you know that deer have been through the area.  Are there a lot of tracks?  Is it a deer trail/highway, or is it just a lone wandering deer.  Are they big tracks or small tracks?


Left: picture taken
a few yards from the photo
above.





Right:  some old tracks, and some new probable yearling tracks.






 Droppings:  Are they old droppings, or are they fresh and moist, maybe even warm?  Fresh droppings let you know a deer has been though the area recently.  These were fresh, moist, and still had fly's and bugs on them...  A deer was here within the last day.

Rubs:  When buck begin losing their velvet sometime as early as September, and continuing throughout the winter bucks will begin to rub their antlers on trees and brush.  These antler marks found on the side of trees are what we call rubs.  I found this one last year on a farm I have permission to hunt.  Here in WV it is still a little bit early to be finding rubs and scrapes.  These let us know BUCKS are in the area.  We will look for more signs of these as we get closer to the opening day of archery season...  Have you been out deer scouting yet?  Seen any good deer?

Until next time- Brandon