Spring Scouting for Whitetails

 When it comes to scouting a new property or property that I am familiar with for hunting whitetails, this is hands down my favorite time of year to do it.

A lot of this has to do with the simple fact that the effects from me trekking through an area will be long forgotten by the time next Fall rolls around. During this time of year, you can scout bedding areas and will have virtually zero impact for the following season.

In March and April, there are still plenty of evidence left over from the previous Fall to give you an idea about a property and a good idea on where and how to hunt it.

When scouting a property in the Spring, I look for the following:

- Shed antlers

- Water sources

- Food sources

- Travel corridors

- Rub lines from the previous Fall

- Old scrapes

- Bedding areas

Before I ever set foot on a property, I like to always do a little digital scouting with a mapping app to try to get a lay of the land topographically. This will generally mark off areas for me, as I know they will not be viable due to the terrain. If I can locate some saddles, funnels, or pinch points, great. I'll shift my focus to these areas and put my boots on the ground.

When looking at the terrain that you are hunting, keep in mind that deer will normally take the path of least resistance when traveling between areas. This is why saddles and natural funnels are one of the main terrain features that I look for when scouting for deer.

There was a time in my life when I didn't know what a funnel or saddle was, as it relates to hunting, so I'll explain. A funnel is pretty much what it sounds like. When you have gentle terrain surrounded by rough terrain on either side, it creates an easy path for deer to take. A saddle is a low spot in a ridge line that deer can take to use less energy going over a ridge and still feel safe while doing so.

I have often had luck hunting saddles on public land and they are probably my favorite places to hunt.

So once we have identified some good places to look at, let's get our boots muddy and go have a look. 

For some reason, I tend to gravitate towards finding travel routes and game trails first and I kind of let the rest fall into place as I look. In my opinion, I just find it super easy and relaxing to find a trail and just follow it and see where we end up in both directions. You also never know what areas it may lead you to that you didn't know about or see while you were digital scouting on your couch.

Ideally, we want to find a very used trail that comes from a known bedding area to a food source and vice versa, such as agriculture fields, oak stands (acorns) and so on. If we can identify these trails, we will have a good idea of where to setup a stand to ambush that big mature buck the following Fall.

While walking these trails, I often locate the other items on my checklist that I look for, such as rub lines, old scrapes and even the occasional shed antler. 

The antler pictured had been there for a while, but it was lying in the middle of one of these trails and I found it by just doing my walking thing.

The most important thing when scouting during this time of year, apart from looking for deer sign, is to just have fun and soak it all in. If you stress too much on looking for one big track or only mature buck sign, you'll miss out on the little things that actually produce a nice buck for your wall. Never forget that bucks chase does during the rut.

In my opinion, a big buck killer is a hunter that knows where the does are. Food for thought.