Not scouting?

[JPickett]

i hunt like 3 units for deer and 2 for elk. and there is no reason for me to scout any of them. i know the units, i know where the animals are going to be. every year i go up there and kill a bull and a buck. now if i'm thinking of a new unit i go scouting but there are years, like this year i don't scout a single day.

i know that's internet badass sacrilege but im betting im not the only one. summer with my girls vacationing, camping and fishing. thats what i prefer while there still home. that and making sure my project is set up for me to be gone pretty much all fall is in my opinion time better spent

so how about you. whos going to admit to not being a super hunter on here and not scouting for 3 months of 100 degree weather?

 

[Blank]

Pretty much true for several of our spots. Just have to go in two hours in the dark, or down in a hell hole, or pray for bad weather that keeps other saner people in camp!!! Easy peasy.

 

[Zeke]

I'll bet "not scouting" puts you in the majority.

Limited tags are one thing but general tags in a well known area is another.

I do like to get up early (while the wife is in bed) and stay out late (while she's pampering me by fixing dinner) and scout.
I always call it a camping trip and we hike and lounge in camp during the day. Pretty soft core for the most part.

Give me a limited tag or especially a sheep tag and the switch is on!!!

Zeke

 

[JPickett]

draw tag or like i said new unit is a different story. spot i OTC deer hunt i can set my watch to when and where ill see bucks

 

[schoolhousegrizz]

I Spend the summer with family for the most part. However, I always get a handful of days scouting in even on general hunts. Sometimes I combine the vacationing with the scouting.

 

[hossblur]

Same. Add to that we hunt areas for elk especially, that don't hold elk this time of year.

Definitely scout LE though

 

[Sallaberry]

Sounds lame but I won’t put in for a unit unless I’ve been in that unit hunting with someone previously. I’m not that adventurous plus money always played a huge roll when I was younger. I could either work Saturday, Sunday or spend a couple hundred bucks to go look for game. Always work and money take the cake. I’d rather spend my time with the season open than spend the time just looking around. If and when I get a sheep tag I’ll spend some time looking for them. I get out a couple days before the season to set up camp and usually say 9-10 days to hunt. If I don’t get it done in that time I usually turn to a weekend hunter. Also for what it is I haven’t killed anything huge but I’ve had my chances with deer.

 

[nontypical]

i hunt like 3 units for deer and 2 for elk. and there is no reason for me to scout any of them. i know the units, i know where the animals are going to be. every year i go up there and kill a bull and a buck. now if i'm thinking of a new unit i go scouting but there are years, like this year i don't scout a single day.

i know that's internet badass sacrilege but im betting im not the only one. summer with my girls vacationing, camping and fishing. thats what i prefer while there still home. that and making sure my project is set up for me to be gone pretty much all fall is in my opinion time better spent

so how about you. whos going to admit to not being a super hunter on here and not scouting for 3 months of 100 degree weather?

Several of my better bucks have been pre-scouted. Muleys and antelope. I scout EVERY year. Don't expect much, but I'm OUT THERE. Can't think of a better place to be! I know the areas, but I don't know what's there unless I scout! I'm neither an internet badass nor a super hunter. But...I don't strive for either. I mean when you get right down to it, what else you gonna do? Besides fishing, of course! Kids are grown and gone. Plus...I'm retired.

I know what you mean about the heat though. But we rarely reach 100 degrees here( Wy). Even this hot summer( more days over 90 than I can remember!)

Scouting is a great reason( excuse) to get out and enjoy nature's majesty.

Well...I gotta go scout for a nice antelope buck! Have a great day!

 

[JPickett]

two of my kids are still home. I’m out so much in the fall it already feels like I don’t see them from September to March when I’m done coyote hunting. Couple years it will just be me and the wife. She doesn’t seem to like me much anyway so at that point I’ll get back to to twelve months a year

 

[Blank]

JP: Kinda the same with me, before I retired. Busy and gone hunting and fishing ALL year long! I never saw the family.

After retirement, I met this strange lady in the house. She seemed friendly, and cooked pretty good, so we started hanging out more.

 

[JPickett]

I did that a lot when my oldest two were young. Hunting, scouting all the time. Always gone or working. They were young, I was young, I killed a lot of stuff and went to some amazing places. I’m a little older now and frankly it’s one of the things I regret most in my life. Don’t get that time back. I’ve tried to not make the same regrets with my younger two daughters

 

[Focoelkman]

True that ! Same here - no need to scout, Not a super hunter , just keep getting lucky I guess.

I am venturing out in different spots for antelope!

And bear this year.
-

 

[JPickett]

To be fair the areas I hunt now I once scouted heavily. Just no need anymore. I know what caliber if buck/bull I’ll shoot and I know there in there. I don’t need him picked out before I get there

 

[ridgetops]

I get what your saying Jpickett.
I've cut back my scouting this year and probably the next couple years while my son is still in high school doing sports. I'll make it so I'm around to support him when needed.
As for scouting in past years. I have enjoyed scouting a specific buck and then try and find it in the hunting season, for me it's the ultimate challenge. I also try and combine family camping and scouting trips when I can but that's not always possible.

 

[BeDawg]

This year is not a possibility to scout for me. Not even close. New baby on top of 2 kids. New puppy that requires more time than the newborn. Moving, going to start a new job on top of working 5-6 days per week about 50 hours per week. It’s hectic.

 

[Homer]

I'm strictly pure dumb luck.....

 

[Longun]

Scouted around here for the last 20+ years..don't need to anymore..

 

[ridgetops]

I'm strictly pure dumb luck.....

That's probably why you don't have anything to show us year after year.?

 

[Jeremy2019]

Traded all my scouting days for ranch help on some of the properties I hunt around, this year all be able to cross the fence. Hope it pays off like scouting can.

 

[hogg_65]

6 years ago, I decided to Coach my only son's football team. I have not scouted 1 day, since that decision. He was 8 when we started football together. This year he started Highschool Football, I am on the coaching staff. 4 more years of Football for us. I do miss all the Hunting, Scouting, and time on the Mountain, I use to know. Each year since football started, we were able to get a few days here and there to hunt Deer. My son has been able to hunt on 1 tag of his own, and 2 mentor tags from me, since he turned 12. He has filled, all 3 Deer tags, with no scouting. I do miss scouting, but I would I wouldn't change a thing that we've done. I do look forward to get more time, back on the Mountain.

 

[desperatehills]

My scouting is all over the map. I know right where to go for antelope yet I made the 5 hour drive 4 times. It is 8 hours to elk camp. We will make one trip to put game cameras up. We arrive the day before the season to check the cards and go hunt. I have flown out to Utah and Arizona to scout for special hunts but most of my out of state hunts consist of showing up a few days early. It seems my scouting trips are more about logistics and finding animals comes second. One of my biggest fears is pulling my 29' trailer down the wrong road with no place to turn around.