When do you guys start scouting your hunting grounds for Whitetail? And if you start now or soon, do thier habits change from now to winter? Do they keep to the same trails? How about thier bedding areas?
I was also wondering if you carry a rifle or sidearm for protection. Our area has been visited by Mountain Lions, let alone coyotes and bobcats.

[ 07-15-2002, 02:30: Message edited by: CharlieinKansas ]

Charlie,
I am from Ohio and I start scouting in mid to late August and then during Squirrel season which starts in September. Archery Deer comes in the 5th of October this year so by then I have an idea of where and how I am going to hunt if on public land and I have an idea of what is going on on the private land I get to hunt(not much)
As to patterns they will change due to the season/mast/crops and also pressure due to people moving through the woods.
We are not allowed to carry rifles or handguns outside of gun season which is the last week of November. We have coyotes which are takeable and the occasional bobcat which is protected. (No lions)
As to the bedding areas if you find one populated by does then it probobly will stay that way. One populated by several bucks will not be due to the rut comming in and the competation between the deer. Trails also depends on what is using them and where the trail is going. If these are farm deer then they will be moving to the crop of choice, and if these are woods deer then they will be moving to the best mast(nuts) when they are ripe. (Acorns/Hazelnuts....)

Hope this helps a little

Greg

Greg,
Thanks for your help, I will be hunting on private land in late Nov. when firearms season opens. I just wonder about if the deer will also change their habits after archery,blackpowder and bird seasons come and go to where I will finally get my chance at them. By that time with however many hunters going through the woods what in the world will they (deer) be thinking? I have found that I like still hunting the most, it seems to give me more of a challenge, and to me is the most enjoyable part of the hunt. Usually at daybreak I'll have a spot picked out for their morning forage, then if I don't find what I want I'll proceed to still hunt and again if no results I'll repeat the morning activity at sunset.
Thanks again, Charlie

Charlie,
You are welcome.
Yes I believe the big deer don't get big by being stupid. (Something about Darwin and the gene pool )

I would spend some time between now and definitly in the early part of the season, if nothing else just sitting at daybreak and dusk watching. Keep notes and plan the first day from there.
As a note I had the oppurtunity to hunt a small private areaa very close to where I lived for a couple of years, There was a fair amount of sign including what looked to me to be a small cow that got out ans was living with the deer. Well my "small cow" turned out to be the biggest whitetail I have ever seen. I didn't get to see antlers but I am guessing this deer weighed 300 pounds if it weighed a pound. I saw it late one evening with 2 does and as the bean field had just been harvested and as it was in the last couple minutes oif shooting light I couldn't get a handle on the range. I am guessing betwwen 35-50 yards away but nothing for a referance point. I let him go and continued on without soppking him. 5 days later gun season opened so you KNOW where I was. I sliped in 1 hour before daylight and saw nothing. after a couple hours I stillhunted around the property(about 20 acres) I found a sandy patch that was frozen over that morning after daybreak. There was a FRESH track frozen that was over 6 inches long heading to a 5-6 acre city park. I know who that track belonged to. There were a set of woods across the street that some "City boy" hunters hunt. I heard them a couple of them banging around when I slipped into the woods and from the track so did the big deer. No one ever took him and since this was about 8 years ago I don't think he is still lurking around but he didn't get to be as big as he was without learning something. I know there are neigh sayers out there that say whitetail don't grow that big but remember this is OHIO farmland. He was Huge!

Good Luck this fall and let us know how things go
Greg