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It doesn't matter if you hunt public land or private land. By scouting for deer in the summer can increase your chance for a better hunt.  Even if you know the land your hunting. I for one was one of those guys that never did much planning ahead for the hunting season. But that all changed a few years ago after I went looking for deer sign in the summer of an area where I was interested in hunting.  A friend of mine talked me into it and that was it. I found by doing so it gave me strategy for planning my bow hunts and rifle hunt

I live in Wisconsin, and I enjoy white tail deer hunting.  A friend of mine named Art was interested in hunting the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge.  In Necedah Wisconsin. I was not familiar with that area and neither was he.  So we decided to go scout the area for the Whitetail deer. He suggested the thought and I agreed.  This would have been my  fourth scouting expedition for deer. I started scouting a few years back on farm land I use to hunt because I wanted to learn where the deer were coming through. Although I hunted that area before I wanted to be sure that nothing had changed. Sometimes deer pattern may change for many reasons. In this case Coyotes or the farmers  land may have upset their pattern and I wanted to be sure. Since A friend talked me into early deer scouting. I have loved it every since.

At any rate I had to learn some of the Necedah Wildlife Refuge because I had not hunted there before this. So we went. It was awesome. We took a G.P.S with us and some field glasses our back packs some drinks and some food. When we first arrived we had to find what public lands we could hunt. The public lands there were divided for different hunt zones and wild game. To be sure we were reading and understood the signs correctly that marked the public grounds we checked at the ranger station that was in the refuge.  We were pretty sure of ourselves but we wanted to confirm. The public lands were marked with signs for hunters. The area we found had thousands of acres of land for bow hunting and the whitetail deer gun season. It was awesome. Art and I sat our GPS and hiked on in, to scout the fields.

Talk about nice hunting land. There were streams and marshes and forest all around us. Blue berry patches everywhere. But the best part. Deer trails and droppings where the deer had been walking through. Old buck rubs on shrubs. We knew we had found a good area to hunt. We studded the rubs and deer trails. Our goal was to take a party of hunters there so we could really have a good time and take some deer out of that area.

Art found an area where he wanted to score on a buck. Some of the rubs we found were not far apart from each other. so our hopes were that nobody had taken this buck yet. That can be a downfall. But at the same time it can also mean where one deer goes other deer are bound to follow.  We compromised where we found the rubs and deer trails.  I would hunt one end of that field and Art on the other side.  There were many trails leading throughout this field of marsh land. Also on all sides of us were clusters of forest land. It was perfect to place our hunting parties with tree stands and ground blinds. We found an area where I would be posted in a tree stand with another guy not to far from me in his tree stand for the bow season. We could get some clear shots from our stands into some of the open areas.

The tree where I would be, looked good for tree stand. The one where Arts son would hunt was not far from mine. Different angles and great for shooting distance.  This is one reason why it pays to scout early in the summer for deer hunting grounds. You want to be sure and plan ahead to have a successful hunt. Art got his deer in that area that year. A nice doe with his bow and a nice buck with his rifle.  The deer that I did see during the bow season were too far out to shoot. But it was disappointing because they were almost within shooting distance. I do not think they were even a hundred yards out but it would have been a wild shot with my bow as they kept on the move and got between me and some limbs on trees and bushes.

As for the gun season if I had  been in a tree stand instead of a ground blind I  may have taken a nice six pointer. However because I turned to quickly when I heard him in back of me he ran right past me through the forest. I could not get a clear shot. Arts son missed his shot there but did take a young buck on some farmland later that year for the gun season. That  was also some farmland we scouted even though we know the area. Planning ahead made for a good hunt there. It was a CWD area. I manage to take a deer from  with a shotgun where I had scouted in the summer prier to the hunting season. I also took a young buck in an area in Villas County where I had scouted early that year. On an earlier hunt .

By scouting you can learn the deer patterns and improve your chance of getting one. Now that I have started scouting early for deer. There is a good chance that I will always do so.   For most of my hunts.

Good Luck Deer Hunting!

Written by :

drr1289