I just read two very good articles Gary wrote about bedded deer and they make me want to take a walk in the woods. In the past I have never done a lot of pre season scouting. We always hunted the same area with the same group. We would always meet at the same diner for breakfast and talk about the “New ideas” we thought of over the summer to do the drives we’ve done hundreds of times before. But inevitable we would end up putting on the same drives the same way every time. We always had some success and most for the group just hunted to get into the woods. This year though most of my group wont be hunting. I have decided I need to spend more time scouting. Without 5 or 6 guys stirring up the woods it will be more difficult to see deer. I firmly believe no time in the woods is ever a waste. But! Is it too soon to do serious scouting? Do the patterns of the deer change so much through the course of the year? If I find where they bed in June, what are the chances that they will still bed there in October? Does anyone scout this early and what info do you gain from it?

Thanks john

IMO's..........yes, you can do some scouting....but yes the patterns will change by the late season n rut etc. you can scout to find the general areas where the deer are, but you may know the area already since you normally drive it.

if your gun season coincides with the rut....then about the best advice one can give is to "hunt does" at that time of year. the bucks will be chasin/followin/breedin does, and what better place to find them.

find and hunt travel routes, preferably funnels and likely crossings etc. here....setting up on one hill to watch another is my preference. i like to see as much territory as i can, much unlike bow hunting. of course the leaves being off the trees helps a lot that time of year.

the VERY best time to scout out an area is to do it after the season is over late winter or early spring will show the heaviest traveled areas, bedding areas, rubs n old scrapes etc. and you do not have to disturb the deer you are hunting to look for it.

so this season hunt travel corridors, funnels, and does. the bucks will be using that fer sure prepare for the next season after this one is over. by having lottsa "driving" experience....you should have a good idea where deer go, or what routes they take when under pressure, and some likely doe hangouts also.

By the time my firearms season comes in the deer have changed their patterns from what they were even 2 weeks earlier. One of the biggest keys that time of year is finding the food, does, and cover. If you have put on drives exactly the same way for the past several years try and still-hunt from a direction that they aren't expecting you to approach from. You may have to wait for the wind to get right but you may well find as I did this year that you can walk up on a deer looking in the other direction. Last season I had about a 10 mph wind blowing that would cover any noise I was making and I walked up on a young buck and shot him from about 40 yards while he laid in the bed. He never knew I was anywhere around.

Scouting over the next 3 months or so can give you an idea of what kind of bucks are in the area if you can see them. Don't be surprised to bump into a bachelor group of all the big boys hanging together.

Move slowly, silently, and use your binoculars. You will be amazed by how many deer you have simply walked by in the past. The extra magnification enables you to pick out an ear, an antler tine, and you can tell the difference between a "stump deer" and the real thing.

I like to get out this time of year to see what crops the farmers have put in. I did put out my Cuddeback camera in the same place I had it this fall to see if I get the same type of deer activity. The only thing I don't like right now is all the bugs. The ticks were thick this year during turkey season.

I agree with Kyode the best time of the year to scout is in the post season after the season closes. That gives away travel patterns old trails, rubs, scrapes that at other times of the year it may be to thick to see. This time of the year from now to late summer I spend in the woods checking food sources to set up on and hunt during early season.I like to take my binoculars and check the tops of oaks to see what the acorn crop could be come sep-nov. Then Like Gary said I hunt does if you find them come the rut you'll find the Bucks.Another good thing to do during this time of the year if you have oaks on you hunting property is put some fertlizer to them it may not pay off this year but it will in the next 2-3 years individual oaks tend to Bumper out down here in my neck of the woods only once in 2-4 year cycles.Any time in the woods though at any time of the year can be positive I just don't think you can scout to much as long as your careful about your scent.