Scouting for the Rut, Keep It Simple

If you are getting ready for archery deer season, now is the time to begin your scouting, if you haven’t already. By scouting now you’ll start the season with a plan. With the information gathered you will know where you want to be opening day. The biggest benefit of scouting early is that you will disturb fewer deer during the season. By knowing where deer are likely to be you can spend your time in these areas instead of looking for them randomly. If you know what to look for now, you will have the answers you need in December and January. Let’s examine what we’re scouting for.

The first thing you will need to know is where the water sources in the area are. It doesn’t matter what animal you are hunting; they need water, especially in Arizona. Deer get a lot of their water from plants, but still like to drink cool, clean water whenever possible. Now that you know where the water is, look for game trails leading in and out. Follow the trails out a ways looking for ambush spots, careful not to set up to close to the trail. Also keep in mind that deer like to travel the easiest route when possible, so when your looking for your ambush site, if one side of the trail is hard traveling and the other easy they will veer to the easy side if they stray off the trail. If deer are using the trail a spot like this doubles your chances of a deer passing close by.

The second thing to check on is permanent food sources. Are there any planted fields in the area? Due to the various terrain, altitudes and food deer eat we’ll concentrate on the obvious, alfalfa fields, and the like. Deer will usually leave the fields at daylight and travel to water to get a drink then bed down for awhile to chew their cud. Where they like to bed is up on the side of hills where they can see below them and the morning wind currents are heading up towards them. On chilly winter mornings they will be on the sunny side of the hills getting some sun to warm up. After an hour or so they will move on to more permanent bedding areas. With this information you may be able to find more deer and after you find them surmise where they are going.

When hunting over water or on a trail, setting up your blinds now will give the deer a chance to become accustomed to them. These deer live in this environment all they’re lives and when we set up our blinds it’s equivalent to someone moving a new chair into your living room. It’s not only the sight of these blinds but the scent we spread around while building them. As a deer gets older and wiser his home range begins to shrink and he’s even more familiar with his surroundings. The worst thing that could happen is you’ll have your blinds in place early and you’ll have one less thing to worry about before opening day.

You may have noticed I haven’t talked about looking for bucks yet. There is a very good reason for this. Does have a smaller home range than the bucks, and they do not leave it during the rut, the bucks will come to the does. Even during the rut these does will water at the same tanks. During the season just because you may not see the deer you’ve scouted doesn’t mean they’re not there. Hunting pressure will usually cause them to water at night before it will drive them out of the area. When I find an area I want to hunt (high concentration of does, and available water) I try to find more than one watering hole. Believe it or not you can pattern mule deer, it’s just that their pattern is pretty loose. They will usually frequent three or four watering holes with some kind of regularity. Last year I hunted one big buck all of January. I found him almost daily; most of the time I spotted his group of does first then found him feeding not far away. By having an idea where he was going I was able to set up an ambush, I had that big booger at twenty yards twice. I never got him, but that’s another story, my point is a little homework now will pay off later.

There are other things you could look for when doing your scouting. Bedding areas are one, where deer cross fences may be another. What this article is intended to do is give you a brief over view on what to look for before the season starts. Many times our time allotted for scouting is limited, so we need to make the most of the time we do have set aside. These are a few basic steps that are very effective and will not bog you down with information that will not be relevant during the rut. Try these suggestions instead of locating where the bucks are now, then finding they’ve left to join the does when hunting season arrives. During the rut is our best opportunity to sneak up on a big buck while he’s temporarily lost his mind. So remember where you find groups of does the bucks will be close by even when they aren’t readily visible. The only trouble is that the does are still smart and constantly on the look out for trouble. So watch out for those does and good luck this winter. Be sure to let us know how you did on your hunts.

 John Samsill Archery Editor AZOD in early 2001