Todd Amenrud
Guest WriterWith all the Midwestern deer seasons closed, many hunters donít visit the whitetail woods again until the following season. These hunters donít know what theyíre missing out on learning.
Much can be absorbed by observing movements and habits all year long. Late winter and early spring are my favorite times to go through my sports with a fine toothed comb. I can now go through the areas I was afraid of spooking deer in during the hunting season. If you spook him now, he has months to go back about his daily routine.
February through April is filled with general scouting and shed hunting. Some area whitetails inhabit year round, and in other territories they move out of and into ìyardsî of wintering areas. For this reason I donít put a lot of confidence into a pair of sheds leading me to a buck the following season. The buck that owned the antler you found might by living twenty miles away when hunting season is on. Then again if youíre in an area where whitetails live the year through it is possible that something can be learned. Some people go absolutely bonkers for shed hunting. Most of the time I just go for the purpose of scouting and if I happen to run across a shed, thatís a bonus.
With the foliage off the trees, rubs youíve never seen before start to pop out at you. I do put a lot of confidence in these. Travel routes, direction of travel, and size of buck can be told. You have to hope that the buck will be back the following season. At least this sign is a sign that was made during the hunting season.
During late winter and spring as I said, I donít worry as much about spooking the deer, but why let them know youíre there? I always take the same precautions as far as scent elimination goes for scouting as I do for hunting, even this time of year. Rubber boots, rubber gloves, and Scent Killer are my most important scouting tools. Not only do we have to pay attention to the odors we carry on us, but also the ones we may leave behind. From March through July my favorite time to scout is during a rain storm. Much of your scent is simply washed away.
During the colder winter temperatures I use a small, rechargeable 12-volt battery in my Game-Vu cameras, rather than the AA batteries I normally use. In cold winter temperatures I can still get a good two weeks out of the 12-volt, whereas AA batteries would last about two days. These cameras are especially important to me this time of year so that I can learn for sure which bucks made it through the season and which areas I need to concentrate my efforts on.
Just before and during the season, I back off an area and try to be especially stealthy. If you have a good understanding of a region from your winter - spring scouting, why spook a potential trophy? Iím sure youíll find that scouting during this time of the year will help you line things up for the up-coming season.
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