2nd scout ever what I learned and a question or 2.

O

oscar

Member
Buddy couldn't make this one so I headed out alone. Picked up some snake gaiters for this trip not taking chances by myself.
Saw this and know kitty cats are still in the area. cat1.jpg
saw good amount doe and fawn prints. bumped 1 med sized doe 15 mins into my hike.
buckprint.jpg
I wonder if this belongs to the buck i saw last time. Here comes a question Is this a scrape or just some rodent digging. tripod legs for size reference.
scrape.jpg
Going in by myself was so much quieter. Also knowing the land now lets me slow down so much more to watch and listen. I was amazed by how much noise I make just walking. My pace was what I thought was slow and steady, stopping to listen and look a lot. Now I know I need way more patience.
I heard my first grunts 5 quick ones sounded about a half mile away. not sure what makes those doe or buck. While glassing, about a dozen quail came within 8 feet of me They just kept popping out of the bushes.
I saw what I thought was a doe I bumped. I quickly sat down and tried to keep her calm and glass her, she went behind a tree. I stayed for about 10 mins looking for her, then got up to leave not being quiet. She popped up from god knows where I couldn't find, and starts bounding away in a rush. Turns out it was a small spike buck! That was at 50 yards. Cool! I have heard that they are hanging in bachelor groups right now, so I sit back down and hope to see his buddies. Sure enough another 10 mins and another young nubby buck comes around looks for his friend and wanders off in the same direction without noticing me. God I love this!
Low on water I start to head out and pick up my game cam that saw nothing. Then I find this!
antler.jpg
I was stoked! My first shed. found about 5 Mylar balloons also. Good trip leaned a bunch.
 
Wow that was an awesome scouting trip. Finding sign is of course good. Finding deer is better. Not sure if it's optical illusion but the track by your hand appears to be pig.
The area you show i believe is digging is not a scrape. Bit early yet.
 
Great scouting trip for sure!! You are onto something, keep at it sir.
 
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Wow interesting. The main thing that still bugs me about this place is I still haven't found a solid water source yet. Closest thing I have seen is one spring that has fairly moist dirt no mud just moist. Other springs are dry to just barely moist dirt.
 
Oscar,

Great scouting trip and you're getting a lot of great experience/knowledge of a deer rich area.....Definitely a cow & calf print....Probably dust bowls from quail or small birds (turkeys do this too, but bigger)….That's probably not a shed....Most likely a lion kill and the antler was taken off by a coyote.....Cool find none the less.

ps.....Anymore pix of the antler?
 
Thanks I wish that i could learn how to see these deer before they see me. My biggest problem is getting into this area earlier and staying later. It takes a long time to get here. I think I need to spend the night camped out to really experience whats going on. Especially since its been so hot.
ilovesprig How is a shed different? What part of the antler do you want to see? i'll post another pic.
 
IF you are going to hike in you want to be to your glassing point at least one hour before shooting light. If you do this you will see the world come alive which is by far my favorite part of hunting.
The best hunting advice I ever got was "if you are sweating you are not hunting" Basically means slow down, focus on not sweating and you will see more game. It is easy to get a ridge we want to make it to and we just put our head down and plow through. Slow down walk slow even if it takes you twice as long to get there you will see more game which is the reason we are out anyways. Stop every 100 feet and just look around for a little bit.
 
Truduct said:
IF you are going to hike in you want to be to your glassing point at least one hour before shooting light. If you do this you will see the world come alive which is by far my favorite part of hunting.
The best hunting advice I ever got was "if you are sweating you are not hunting" Basically means slow down, focus on not sweating and you will see more game. It is easy to get a ridge we want to make it to and we just put our head down and plow through. Slow down walk slow even if it takes you twice as long to get there you will see more game which is the reason we are out anyways. Stop every 100 feet and just look around for a little bit.
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great advice! "if you are sweating you are not hunting" will be said many times over in my head while i'm out there. Thanks!

Goyaałé Almost all I think about is when can I get out there again. I'm officially hooked. I can only imagine what its like to harvest a buck after doing all of this work.
 
Truduct said:
IF you are going to hike in you want to be to your glassing point at least one hour before shooting light. If you do this you will see the world come alive which is by far my favorite part of hunting.
The best hunting advice I ever got was "if you are sweating you are not hunting" Basically means slow down, focus on not sweating and you will see more game. It is easy to get a ridge we want to make it to and we just put our head down and plow through. Slow down walk slow even if it takes you twice as long to get there you will see more game which is the reason we are out anyways. Stop every 100 feet and just look around for a little bit.
Click to expand...

I second this! I honestly didn't learn this until I started watching MeatEater on Netflix a few years back. Changed everything. I use to hike all day long and kick up doe's left and right...it wasn't until I learned to hunker down did I start seeing bucks.
 
oscar said:
Thanks I wish that i could learn how to see these deer before they see me. My biggest problem is getting into this area earlier and staying later. It takes a long time to get here. I think I need to spend the night camped out to really experience whats going on. Especially since its been so hot.
ilovesprig How is a shed different? What part of the antler do you want to see? i'll post another pic.
Click to expand...
If you camp, this sounds like a no brainer, but camp far from where you want to scout/hunt. I'd say at least 0.5 mile maybe more.

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