Post season scouting ... do it now!
by John Sloan

Do you have snow where you are? Boy, if you do, you have it made. When it comes to post season scouting. Here in the South, (Smile when you say that), we have to contend with ankle deep leaves and maybe mud. Makes it a little harder to find the really deep trails and the ones that signify traveling bucks. But we can do it.

This may be the most important time of the tear for the serious deer hunter. Now is when he, (or she), lays the foundation for next season's trophy hunting. It is during this time of year when I make many of the decisions about how I'll hunt the rut. It is now, when all the trees are naked, that I can see the terrain and see both how and where, a deer will travel; especially a mature buck.

What do I look for in post season? Basically, I look for only three thing. 1. Rut and pre-rut patterns. 2. Annual food sources, (the ones that will be there every year). 3. Core areas in thick cover. Let's take those one at a time.

Bucks, mature bucks, don't use the same trails during the pre-rut and rut as they do during most of the rest of the year. Unlike most other trails, these trails have little, if anything to do with food sources. These are connecting or travel trails. These trails come into use when the bucks, having disbanded their bachelor groups, begin to search for receptive does. They travel from family to family group, checking the status of the mature does. It is during this time that scrapes along the field edges appear, simply a calling card. Now is when the disperseer buck, the one that changes his entire home range, is most vulnerable.

Since these family groups may be widely dispersed, the bucks are forced to travel more. To do that, they abandon their regular travel routes and take more direct and often more secluded trails. Prime places to look are on ridges that connect with other ridges, form T's. But there are prime keys to look for.

It is now that you need to fully understand and be able to recognize, signpost rubs and traditional rubs. Signpost rubs are often huge and often the work of more than one buck. Traditional rubs are rubs that appear in the same place every year. These rubs, in many cases, indicate buck travel trails. Now, with the leaves off the trees and woods bare, you can track these trails and plot stand sites for next season. Remember, these trails won't come into play until late October or early November.

White or red oak acorns are food sources-prime, preferred food sources - but they are not annual food sources. They may not be there every year. On the other hand, agricultural fields are often annual. The crop may change but the field is still a food source. Trails leading to these fields are prime spots for afternoon, early season stands. But key these trails into acorns. By following these trails back into the woods some distance, it is possible to find prime stand locations for the bigger deer. Look for trail intersections and clusters of old rubs and old scrapes. It also helps for those areas to have some oak trees near. Check in the fall to see if they have acorns. If they do, hang the stand. Usually, the big, mature bucks, won't enter the field until after dark. Find a spot back in the woods, someplace they stage and feed, and you have a chance. here is where you guys with snow have it made. Down here, we just go postal.

February is the perfect month to find stand sites for December and January, providing you have a season in January. Now is the time to find those secure, secluded core areas where the bucks hang out when the pressure is on. Look in the thick stuff. Look for the big rubs and shed antlers. Most of the time, these places are not found by following trails. These core areas are used by only one buck and he doesn't leave much of a trail...except in snow.

These hidden core areas are also places to hunt during the peak of the rut. During those days when the bucks are with the receptive does, they are not traveling. They move into cover for the length of time it takes for the doe to get bred. Quite often, where they go, is to these core areas. Warning. Do your scouting, make your stand site selection, then get out and stay out. Don't go back until you are ready to hunt that place.

What don't I look for in the post season? I don't look for droppings or beds or tracks or deer. What I am looking for are the signs that tell me where the deer were, and will be in October and November and December. I don't care where they are in February. What I care about now is the key to finding the big, mature, (3-1/2 years of age or better), bucks. In reality, I'm going to have three time periods to effectively hunt them; Pre-rut, rut and post rut. Other than that, many of these big bucks may not be huntable. I'll wait until simmer to look for places to hunt the early season deer. That search will be totally for a food source.

So turn the television off, quit assembling those Rocky Mountain heads, you can do that later and get into the woods.
It's scouting time.

Permission for the use of this column is granted by writer John Sloan and Champion Bow Company.