Summer Scouting in the Midwest
For many of us, these hot, humid days of summer don’t really bring about thoughts of deer hunting. On a hot and miserable day, we may think about how nice it would feel to be sitting high in a tree on a cool October morning with a cold front moving through, waiting for a big 10 to come through our shooting lane, but the heat and humidity rarely make us want to get out and spend time in the woods. For those who do get out at this time of the year however, the effort can pay off handsomely come fall. I used to be one who rarely entered the woods until late July or August to hang a camera or two.
In the southwest corner of Missouri where I live, summer months in the timber are brutally hot and humid, so I tended to just drive the back roads and watch for deer in the fields late in the evening. Once I started being more aggressive with my scouting and getting out into the field more, the payoff was immediate. My harvest rate went up exponentially because I was able to pattern the deer better by starting earlier in the year and having a plan. Here are some tips for scouting for deer in the heat of the summer.
1) Prep for safe summer scouting
Before we begin, it’s crucial to take precautions against the heat during summer scouting. Never leave home without adequate hydration, tick/bug spray, and appropriate clothing. Heat exhaustion/heat stroke, or other injuries during extreme heat, can be catastrophic. Tailor what you take with you based upon where and how you are scouting. For instance, when I go scouting on large tracts of public land where I have to hike a lot, I know I’m going to be out in the humid timber for several hours so I take extra water, tick spray, and a backpack with a protein bar and any equipment I will need for the day (camera, batteries, scents, scent killer, folding shovel, multi-tool, machete, harness if I’m climbing into a stand, etc). If I’m going out to the farmland where I am never too far away from the truck, I don’t prepare quite as militarily for my time afield. Safety is always of the utmost importance, especially when in extreme temps.
2) Have a plan
When I go to a new place to hunt, whether it be a large tract of public land, or a small private farm, I pour over satellite images and topo maps of the piece of land I’m heading to. Apps like OnX Hunt or GoHunt Maps are great for this kind of e-scouting. This allows you to have a general idea of what the terrain looks like before you go in, and also helps you identify food areas, funnels, saddles, potential bedding areas, and other natural features that draw deer. That narrows down the area of focus substantially. By having the foreknowledge of the terrain, you’ve limited your footprint in the area by a lot. No need to walk the entire property, potentially disturbing game, if you already have your prime spots identified. Having minimal impact upon the land and game is important for fall success.
3) Focus on food and cover
Now that you’ve e-scouted and have a plan, it’s a good time to hit the woods. Grab your scouting pack and water and head out. Important: Make sure to spray down good with scent killer spray, like Scent Thief or the like before you go out. This helps minimize your impact. You might bump some deer, but with proper precautions and care, the impact will be minimal to zero when the time to hunt comes around. Spend time hiking in the area that you zeroed in on during your e-scouting, specifically the food and cover areas. During the early part of bow season, these are the key to success. I like to really focus hard on hiking the outskirts of the cover areas, looking for trails and sign indicating travel corridors to and from cover. I am not a big fan of breaching the cover areas at this time, but I believe focusing on the travel lines in and out can pay off big down the road. When you find a good, well used travel corridor, that’s a great place to put a camera to survey what is going and coming and how often.
4) Cellular cameras, where legal, are your friend!
The advent of cellular cameras over the past several years have been a blessing for those who like to scout year-round with minimal impact. I know in some states they are outright banned or highly regulated, and I understand that some hunters don’t like them at all. But if you can and do use them, they can be a great way to keep eyes on your herd. You can stick a camera up almost anywhere on a good parcel of land with a lot of deer and get good pics. But approaching your camera placement with a plan is still quite beneficial. I like to put one or two on the main food sources on my place. I put one on each of my smaller food plots right near the entrance point where most of the deer come into the field. I put two cameras on the main trail that gets the heaviest use, often times mounting one high and angling it down toward the trail to get a different view of the deer while putting the other in a more traditional location on a tree near the travel corridor.
5) Making mock scrapes during the summer
Some folks believe that deer only scrape, or only pay attention to scrapes, for the purposes of breeding. This is a big misnomer that hurts you if you believe it. While esterous scrapes are exciting and draw the big bucks, whitetail deer are an animal with a very complex social structure. They use scrapes year around for communication purposes. Building a summertime mock scrape can be a great way to get the deer patterned. I clear a spot a few feet across under an overhanging branch that will serve as a licking branch, and use Black Widow Branch Butter and doe pee to make scrapes each summer, and I can tell you confidently, that my deer work those scrapes like crazy all summer. I always put a camera over my mock scrapes to view the activity. As summer grows long, the activity picks up, and with season right around the corner, you have a great idea of not only which deer are coming in, but when they are moving the most.
6) Keep a journal
Many don’t like the idea of keeping a journal. I’ve had folks tell me they don’t keep diaries because they’re grown. I’ve heard people say they got out of school to stop keeping notes. I get it. I was that guy myself a while back. I have a decent memory, why do I need to journal what I’m seeing? What changed my mind was a few folks that I know who consistently fill their tags with nice deer told me that they keep a rough journal of what their scouting shows during the rest of the year. They would note things like deer seen, weather conditions, time of day, direction of travel, etc. Over the course of a year, you get a really good idea of the patterns of your deer. You know what weather, time of day, food source, etc that they prefer. This can only help you when it comes time to decide which stand or blind to hunt when season arrives. And it doesn’t have to be a notebook and pencil if you hate writing. You can keep a journal on the notes app on your phone, or on a spreadsheet on your computer. There are a myriad of tools available to you these days. Leverage whichever technology appeals to you to help track your herd.
These tips won’t guarantee you a perfect season or a huge deer, but they can definitely help accomplish your goals. Don’t be afraid to get afield during the summer to look for deer. It’s hot and sticky, but it’s also a great way to get ahead of the game for the coming season. Good luck, and stay obsessed!
-Heathe Pendergraft, Fall Obsession Field Staff