Effectively Scout Big Bucks On Public Land

There is nothing more exciting than going out and finding Big Mature Bucks, let alone on public land. Most people know that their are great public land bucks, but they think it takes weeks or months to scout big bucks effectively.

NOT TRUE.

This article: 5 Ways To Effectively Scout Big Bucks On Public Land, will show you how to find and scout Big public land Bucks fast (most likely faster than finding them on private land).

Read the following below and then apply it to your hunting strategies, so that you can put down a Giant Public Land Buck. We are going to show you 5 easy ways to Scout Big Bucks On Public Land. These tips are broken down so that you can easily apply them to your hunting plans today! Lets jump into it!

E-Scouting

This is the first step to scout Big Bucks. The first thing to do is getting an aerial photo go the area that you will be hunting. You will want to look for big blocks of timber and cross those off because that isn’t holding Big Bucks.

Next you should look for large marsh areas, and cross them off, because they won’t be using big areas of marsh, maybe smaller marsh areas though. Now that you have crossed those off the list, you can look to see where the popular entry points are on that piece of land, and cross all of that off, you want to be at least a quarter-mile away from all of the other hunters.

A good place to focus in on is islands of timber, and ridges that will funnel the deer into an ideal creek system with small amounts of marsh, that the deer will use to bed in.

Finding water systems the deer use to travel/ cross, and use for drinking water will give you the hunter a huge advantage, because the deer always need water, all year long and they will consistently go to these areas to get a drink and to cross the creek at the same time.Now you can start marking areas for a potential scouting location.

After you have crossed off a majority of the land you plan on hunting, you will be able to focus in on a few key areas, that will allow you to go in and do some quick scouting to see what sign is their, and how the deer might be using that area. That Brings us to the next Tip:

TOOL: For E-Scouting We use OnX Maps. You can get it on your phone or computer.

2. Scout Target Areas On Foot

In order to Scout Big Bucks, Make sure that their isn’t human sign near the areas that you have targeted to scout big bucks. To effectively scout big bucks on public land, you need to get away from all of the human activity.

Good indicators that your target area has human pressure is if you find trash, and bullet shell casings. This should tell you that too many people are back here and the bucks are not.

Once you have found a target area that has low human pressure and high amounts of deer sign, such as rubs, scrapes, bedding, and deer droppings, then you should key in on that spot for further scouting. I like to look for historical rubs and scrapes, ones that are used every year, not just 1 or 2 random times.

Now that you have a good spot, lets focus on a good access point. Can you get there by walking, kayaking, boating, using wiaters, or another strategy? Can you get in and out quietly without the deer seeing, hearing, or most important smelling you? Create a secret walking trail if you can legally. Make it easy as possible for you to get back to this target area.

Now that we are all set up to do further scouting into this or these target areas, you can now find the next piece of the puzzle:

3. Identifying Buck Bedding

The next way to effectively scout Big Bucks, is by identifying their bedding areas. Bucks need to be able to use all of their senses in able to feel secure where they are bedding.

They want to smell what is behind them, see what is infront of them, or hear what is around them if they are bedding in thickets, or high weeded areas.

This is where your access points come into play. You want to be able to get into your stand without being smelled, seen, or herd. If you do that and the weather conditions are right then you are going to give yourself a really good chance at killing the public land giant.

Good places to look for buck bedding is on the side of ridges, they like the wind at their back, while looking down the hill (ridge) to see anything coming up toward them, most will have their backs to a log or a brush pile.

Once you have found a buck bed, see if it has been used recently (You should find some deer hair in the bed). If it has been used recently them you can get down in the bed and analyze his entrance and exit trails.

Why is he using each one? Where is he going? How is he coming back? Those are good questions to help yourself get a picture of what the deer is doing.

Now that we have found a buck, it is time to see what one it is with:

4. Surveillance is the Key

Surveillance plays a big role when you are trying to scout Big Bucks. This means setting up on a field and glassing to see what bucks are using it (good strategy for summer) or setting up trail cameras so see if any of the bucks using that bedding area are potential Hitlist bucks.

If you are legally allowed, use some attractants to bring the deer in closer and to make them stop, so the trail camera can get good pictures of them.

If you can’t use attractants to slow the deer down, then consider getting a camera with higher trigger speeds to capture the moving by deer faster. This gives you a better chance to see the deer and if it is a shooter or not.

Summer and fall surveillance are two completely different methods. In the summer you are trying to get an inventory of the deer on the property, in fall you are trying to pattern deer so that you can go in and hunt them with the odds in your favor. You can read our 5 Trail Camera Tips Here.

Now we can use the knowledge that we gained from our surveillance strategies, its time to:

5. Picking the Killing Tree

After You scout Big Bucks, its time to Hunt them, and that requires a spot to be at when your chances are at an all time high. Are you going to use a Treestand? Ground Blind? Spot and Stalk? You will want to have a bulletproof game plan going in after these Big Bucks.

When you scout Big Bucks you should pay attention to their every move. Body Language, Posture, Behavior, and more. You will be able to use this information to pick out the perfect spot to hunt this Big Buck.

Now that you have went through these steps, you should know the perfect spot and with your surveillance information, you should know the exact times and conditions to be out in your stand.

Let me warn you, the reason that buck is back their is because the human pressure is low and because he feels safe. if you leave scent behind and leave signs that you were their, the deer will pick that up and potentially move out of that area. So when you scout for Big Bucks make sure to limit the disturbance and to control your scent.

Make sure to use your access points wisely and to be stealthy. Make sure to hunt the right wind direction and to pay attention to the weather. Hunt the cold fronts and keep the wind in your favor.

Closing:

Now that you have learned to effectively scout big bucks, you can apply these tips to your strategy and go Kill You Big Buck!

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