Scouting: The filler in between seasons

When hunting season is over, I am usual ice fishing, fly fishing or spending quality time in the outdoors with friends and family. But most importantly, I am spending most of my time scouting out new and old areas while preparing for the next hunt. Whether you were successful or not during the last season, as a hunter, scouting is crucial. It is worthless to choose a random spot to hunt and experience success without it. That is why I spend the majority of my time off-season searching for areas I believe will make for a successful hunt.

There are several questions I ask myself when preparing to scout. Did I hunt the areas I intended last year? Did I have a good understanding of the area and did I see the game I was pursuing? Did I find new areas and can I hunt there? We all want to improve from our last hunt, so when we consider these questions we can now begin to form a solid game plan.

I know that I will return to the area that I just hunted. But with years of hunting under my belt, I have learned to have a backup plan. If, for any number of reasons I need to hunt a new area, I have already made steps in finding a new location. Maybe not so much with boots on the ground, but with research through other means.

I know your time is precious. Your season is done and you probably used up all of your vacation time. However, in today’s digital world, we can do so much of our scouting from the comforts of our own homes, or at the office (during lunch of course). Start using Google maps to look over your area. Retrace where you hunted. Make sure you zoom into popular areas. You will be surprised at what you can see from your laptop or computer. Takes notes and compare them to your hunting notes. Again, did you hunt the areas you wanted to?

Look for new areas that look promising. Look for the habitat that is ideal for the species you are pursuing. Look for food and water sources. Make sure there is a good cover for bedding down. Look for areas that have connecting cover. This is the rule of triangulation; food, water, and cover. Solve that equation and you are probably on your way to making the next hunt even better.

At some point, probably during the summer months, you with have to get back in the field and put boots on the ground. Time to visit the areas you have hunted, and explore the new areas you have located from home. And what a great time to make it a family affair. Pack a picnic, grab a fishing rod and take the family out for a day in the woods. Hike those areas and look for sign. Make it an educational experience for your family. Do you see rubs, wallows, scat, and tracks? Here you can start to learn wildlife movement patterns.

Once you figure out the summer grounds, you can look for what could be winter shelter. Look around for migration corridors. A sure bet to determine movement is looking for game trails. This is also a good time to figure out retrieval points. If you get something, have a plan to get it out. Look for a nearby road. Start locating landmarks to help you get around. These can be landmarks like ridges, draws, meadows, dark timer, aspen or shrub, fence lines and rock outcrops you name like “nob point”, or “castle pine tree.” Whatever your imagination comes up with, make sure you can remember the names and get them marked on your map.

You now have a good plan for the upcoming season. Again, I know your time is precious, but consider getting out there one more time before the season starts. This may be a month out, or only a week out. But you will find this to be the most effective trip you will take. The good news is, less walking on this trip. If you are close to your hunting season then assume that someone else’s hunt is near or currently in season as well. This is a time to hike less and “glass more”. Without busting out game, get up to the spots you named and get comfortable. Start using your spotting scope or binoculars to look over your area. Check out the open areas first. Look near the edges of cover. You may not see very many animals doing this, so start looking for the small stuff like a flickering ear, an antler, a leg or a rump.

Now, spend time looking over everything. Glass the area using a pattern – look down, look up, look over and repeat. Always overlapping your field of view. Hopefully, you will spot your animal, and that heart will get pumping!

Now this one might be something you overlook but is equally important as everything else. Get to know the nearest town. You will want to know where to have a celebration dinner when you harvest. But consider the possibility of needing emergency support. Check while on your hike. Do you have cell service? Find high locations to see if that helps. If hunting in a group, “old school” two-way radios are a must. Get to know where the nearest hospital is and how to get there in an emergency.

In the event of inclement weather and you need to get out, move to a backup location. Or get to know the hotels and motels in the area. Keep in mind, these may all be booked. So now what would you do? Believe it or not, many retail locations will let you camp in their parking lot. Call and visit a few while you are in town and get confirmation on these places.

Finally, here are some resources and tools that will help you be more successful in scouting. The easy one is Google Earth and Maps. This with help you look all around your area looking for those wallows, connecting cover and so on. Better yet, you can print these from home. Additional resources to put on your list is Motor Vehicle Use Maps (MVUM), On X Maps, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and United States Forest Service (USFS). All of these will help you gain knowledge of the land an area you want to hunt, plus provide information about alerts and warnings in certain areas. County Assessor Maps, and/or On X Maps can be helpful when you want to understand property lines and learning who the landowners are. This could be a good starting point for acquiring permission to hunt on private land.

Smartphone/GPS Apps are helpful. Some things to consider when researching is what do you get for the free applications verses paying for full access. Check with your local state agencies. Here in Colorado, we can access the Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) website to research information on State Trust Lands (STL), State Wildlife Areas (SWA) and State Parks by using the Colorado Hunting Atlas. Plus, all hunting regulations and hunting data. Check with your local agency to see what they can provide for you.

A little bit of homework and a couple of field trips can pay big dividends. Be safe, let someone know where you are and when you will be back. Good luck this fall and Happy Hunting!

– Tony Dymek, Fall Obsession Field Staff