Power Scouting For Big Bucks
Used to be, you set your stand before the season. If that spot failed to pay off, you either watched the leaves die or hunted from the ground in a different area. Not anymore. With climbing stands and today’s lightweight hang-ons, hunters should never feel confined to one spot throughout the season.
The bare essence of climbing stands is the mobility they provide. Hunters can hunt different locations morning and evening, day after day, as long as there are appropriate straight trees for attachment.
But only in recent years have hang-ons become so lightweight and easy to hang that they, too, can be moved every time you head to the woods.
This newfound mobility has liberated the trophy buck hunter into an effective killing machine that can show up anywhere. It’s also given rise to “Power Scouting,” or “Speed Scouting” during the season to precisely intercept a buck that may have altered its trails.
Famous competition turkey contest caller Chris Parrish and Knight & Hale Ultimate Hunting Team member film for Summit Treestand’s hunting program, Summit’s High Places, and often have little time to scout the areas where they hope to harvest a trophy on camera.
“We had an opportunity in 2006 to hunt a place called Langham Outfitters in Illinois,” Wahlig said, “and we had very little time to scout. – just a couple of weeks. We had to scout fast.”
Unlike many hunting programs that simply head to a well-kept lodge and hunt stands hung months, and many times years, in advance, Summit’s hunters and cameramen use their own knowledge and experience to locate trophy bucks, hang their own stands and harvest their trophies.
“When you’re power scouting,” Wahlig said, “the first and foremost thing you’ve got to do is obtain a topographic and aerial map of the area. One thing to look for is an area where two large blocks of timber are joined by a narrow area of timber.”
Parrish agreed, noting that during the rut bucks will use this area routinely as they head back and forth looking for ready does.
“We looked at aerial photos of the area prior to heading to the land to scout,” said Parrish. “Aerial photos are the key when looking at a new hunting spot.”
Aerial and topographic maps will give you a lot of info to direct you to those funnel areas that naturally pinch deer down to smaller areas.
“Key to killing big bucks is first hunting where big bucks live,” Parrish said, “but you’re never going to get on them in those big blocks of timber unless you get in a funnel area.”
Of course, locating a funnel doesn’t guarantee a slam dunk big buck. Locating a likely funnel is the first step. Pinpointing exactly where the bucks will travel is the next one.
But, you’re dealing with an animal – one that habitually uses the same trails – but an animal nonetheless. Bucks will change the trails they use for various reasons, including changing food sources, hunter pressure, possibly even wind direction and moon phase, not to mention the rut, when locating does can make even well-worn trails lonely for company.
Hunters also need to pay heed to prevalent wind direction, and if possible, hang two stands in a funnel area, one to hunt when the wind is out of the south-southeast and one for a north-northwest stand. With today’s lightweight hang ons, a hunter easily can move a single stand if there’s an unexpected wind shift.
So, you’ve located a funnel on an aerial map. Now check to see if there are any other characteristics that will help you identify the perfect spot to ambush a buck. Is there a creek winding through the area? Look for very thick areas nearby that might serve as bedding areas. Where are the potential food sources? See if you can predict the path a buck will take as it heads from bed to food, and vice versa for morning hunts.
Whitetail deer are creatures of edges, but while you’ll often see does and young deer on the open side of an edge such as a timberline, mature bucks will be farther into the woods, at least during the day. Anything that creates an edge can help dictate where a buck will make his trail, a creek, fenceline, powerline right-of-ways, abrupt topographic changes such as cliffs or drop-offs, and areas such as saddles and ravines in mountainous or hilly terrain.
But there is only so much one can glean from an aerial and topo map. Take that knowledge and head to the area for first-hand scouting.
The rut makes certain topographic characteristics more important than others. Hunting the early season, the topographic characteristics of creeks, fencelines and basically the “easy route” to and from bedding to feeding areas are more important. As the rut peaks, bucks roam farther and spend a lot of time checking on does, making saddles and narrow areas between bigger blocks most important. If you’ve set up on a buck during the early season on a path heading from the bedding area to the feeding area, as the rut nears a move should be in order.
As does come into estrous, push bedding areas and feeding areas to the second place and put first travel routes between two areas.
The very first does of the season were coming into estrous when Wahlig and Parrish headed to Illinois and Langham’s Outdoors. As this occurs, does will first attempt to get away from the trailing buck, which can take them anywhere, but normally still inside cover. So funnels, those narrow areas that force deer to travel a certain path, become prime locations as the rut cooks up.
One spot that had piqued Parrish’s interest was a small, narrow 13-acre block of timber bordered by cropland that connected two massive blocks of timber. The narrow area had a creek running the length of it. It also featured a fenceline and crossfence.
“I always look for an inside corner, and the creek running through the area plus the intersection of the two fences created a nice inside corner for us, inside a funnel,” Parrish said. “We also saw some buck sign nearby and felt that this would be the place.”
The pair went into the area in the afternoon and hung two stands, positioned to take advantage of the predicted prevalent southeastern wind.
“We were using two Summit Copperhead hang-ons,” Wahlig said. “We were in and out of there in less than 30 minutes. From the photos we knew the general area we wanted, and just went in, saw what we wanted, hung the stands, sprayed everything down with Code Blue EliminX odor neutralizer and got out of there.”
The pair hunted the stands the following morning. With the unpredictable nature of bucks chasing does, they sprayed themselves down with EliminX prior to getting into the stand and again after they’d taken a break for an early lunch at 10 a.m., just in case a doe led a buck into their scent stream.
“We had a full moon that night and I’ve killed more big bucks in the middle of the day after a full moon than any other time,” Parrish said, explaining why they were back in the stand at 11 a.m. that day.
The action started almost immediately after they got back into the stand. A doe just coming into estrous crossed nearby with a big 160-class buck right on her tail, but the pair passed just out of range.
“Not 15 minutes later, another doe passed through with a big buck on her tail,” Parrish said. “He made the mistake of stopping broadside at 15 yards and Keith put one through the breadbasket.”
Some hunters scoff at moving stands during the season, but it’s done effectively all the time, and it’s really a necessity if you’re hunting the same tract of land the entire season or are bent on killing the biggest buck in the woods.
“Through aerial and topo maps, you can learn a lot about the land before you even step foot on it,” Wahlig said. “When you power scout, use as much scent control as you can, on everything from the stands you hang to your gear to yourself. Also, talk to the land owner to find out where he sees not only bucks, but as the peak of the rut nears, where he sees does as well.”
Moves are necessary, whether it be across the creek or across the county to a different area. Luckily, todays lightweight and easy-to-hang treestands make moving a snap. And with effective power scouting, one move can mean the difference between blanking and big bucking.