No matter when you do it, the goal when scouting deer is to figure out the areas that deer are frequenting and how they travel between those areas. There are two main ways to do this.
- Direct observations: Either through watching deer or by using camera traps, you can get great information on deer habits; however, it’s hard to be in the right place at the right time.
- Reading sign: Much more information can be gathered by reading the sign deer leave behind because the sign persists in that spot for much longer.
Ultimately, scouting is a combination of direct observations and reading sign and the landscape to locate deer activity and predict future movements. Here are tips on how to scout and interpret deer sign.
