E-Scouting Made Easy
If you’ve followed along on the podcast long enough, or have heard James and I talk about our hunting tactics, then you’ll know that we enjoy hunting new pieces of land we have never been to before. We relish the idea of not knowing anything and welcome the challenge of going in blind and just, “figuring things out” by putting our woodsmanship to the test.
Over the years, we’ve seen other hunting groups really push this style of hunting with the same passion we have and have watched as they too have become wildly successful at it. They aren't using magic or hunting high fence areas, they are simply using their past experiences and knowledge learned from previous hunting seasons and applying it to their current situation.
I’ve been asked a few times, “where should I go?” or “I just found this spot on public and can't seem to find a good spot to go to”, and my favorite response is, “Why?”. Some people think that tackling a new hunting area they've never been to is a daunting task, but it's really very simple and doesn’t take long to figure it out.
I live by the motto of “you can never have too many pins marked out on a map”. In fact, if you were to look at my Huntwise Maps, it looks like I had shot a few hundred pins onto a map with a shotgun. In a sense I have, but with this strategy in mind:
Whenever summer rolls around and I find myself thinking about the upcoming hunting season, I’ll start looking around at public land to hunt on Huntwise and start dropping pins. I’ll throw on the topographical layer so I can see the elevations. I start by locating and drop pins on ridges, pinch points, tunnels, saddles, or anything that looks “bucky”.
Note: Take the time to familiarize yourself with these types of terrain features. The more you can identify the better understanding you’ll have of the area.
I’ll then turn the aerial/satellite layer back on and see what kind of vegetation is around, open areas, or if I was completely off on that pin! If a pin looks good both on topo and satellite, I’ll make sure it's saved as a GREY colored pin. And here’s why….
Before the hunting season I might not have a lot of time to scout or pattern deer. Life is busy with a family and sometimes it's hard getting out to scout. Having multiple pins is a great way for me to just get out and go if I have time. Having predetermined locations picked out allows me to pick a spot to scout (or hunt) and determine whether or not the spot is good or not.
If I like the spot it gets the GREEN color of approval.
If I don't like the spot, it gets the RED mark of death.
I try not to delete pins. I like to think I have a pretty good memory, but sometimes I tend to forget and this helps me track history of where I’ve been, and if there are any hot areas to key in on.
So there you have it. It’s a pretty simple system that, obviously, gets more complex as you start doing some boots-on-the-ground scouting. The key is to load up on spots to check out early and to slowly narrow it down as you go - you can’t have too many pins to begin with. Keep these principles in mind as you start to build your list of new spots for the year and happy hunting!