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Winter Scouting For a Big Payoff Come Hunting Season

How to use an often-overlooked time of the year to scout and add to your hunting success.

Winter Scouting For a Big Payoff Come Hunting Season
(Photo courtesy of Tanner Smedley)

Sporting a big typical frame with no eye guards—the impressive buck was immediately recognizable. I watched him feed through the snow above me as I sat in the warmth of my truck, letting out a small sigh of relief knowing he made it through the season. After losing him the first weekend of the bow hunt, I filled my tag on my number two buck; however, I knew of a few other people hunting him, including a buddy who had a few close calls with the buck during the late season. I was happy to see the buck again because, though never a guarantee, if I can find bucks from the fall that made it to the winter range, the likelihood that I will be able to find them again the next summer is high.

Winter is a fantastic, and often overlooked, time for scouting. When people talk about scouting, it is usually in reference to the summer and early fall months leading up to a hunt. While this is the most important time to prepare for a hunt, I believe winter is a very close second. During this time, animals are concentrated and seasons have closed, making it a great time to set preliminary expectations for what the next season will look like. It’s time to “take inventory.” Here is what I look for during my winter scouting.

Specific Animals

bucks in snow
Age-classification of bucks in a given herd is valuable data come opening day. (Photo courtesy of Dreamstime XL)

There are a handful of things that I look for as I start taking inventory at the end of every season. The most obvious of which, though most difficult to apply, is to search out specific bucks that I chased earlier in the year. It is always fun to see what bucks made it through the hunting season and to know that I might get to chase them again.

However, as fun as this quest to locate an individual buck is, the truth of the matter is that it accounts for a small amount of the time I spend looking at deer and elk during the cold months. At this point, the knowledge of those bucks is still far from actionable, making it less of a priority for me. Instead, I focus on a handful of other variables that I know will benefit me as I head into my summer scouting.

Next Year

does and fawns
The overall health of the herd is paramount to your success in years to come. (Photo submitted by the author)

The benefits of having a high-level understanding of the herd when you begin your summer work cannot be overstated. I organize this high-level information into two categories: Next year and Future Trends.

Next Year information is data that is easily applicable in my summer scouting a few months later. I take note of several variables including buck-to-doe ratio, age class and winter effects on the animals. During inventory, if I find primarily two-year-old bucks, with a handful of three-year-olds, I know that I shouldn’t pass up an opportunity at a four-year-old buck during the hunt. However, if I’m able to find a couple of four-year-olds in the mix of younger bucks, then I know that finding a five-year-old buck is the goal during summer scouting the following season. I still take note of the nice four-year-olds in case I can’t turn up the five-year-old age class.

hunter holding antler shed
Picking up shed antlers in the spring is often a direct result of winter scouting efforts. (Photo submitted by the author)

I won’t say much about buck-to-doe ratios because you can probably find the information through your DNR as well, but it is worth noting and understanding those numbers.

The effect the winter has had on the animals is the final thing that I look at when building my Next Year category. I want to know how severe the winter has been, how the animals are handling it and when the severe storms hit. I’m of the opinion that the primary factor in deer size is nutrition. Specifically, high-quality nutrition during the spring and early summer months. If the winter is particularly severe, and the deer don’t have any fat left going into spring, then most of the nutrition from those first months will be used to regain body composition. On the other end, if the winter was mild, and the spring produces great feed, then the bucks are going into the new year with fat reserves and the optimal nutrition can go to growing their headgear.

Future Trends

hunter glassing in the snow
(Photo submitted by the author)

This category is not too different from the Next Year category; I just look for trends that help me make better predictions for the following year. I know how different weather patterns in the winter will affect the herd because I will have taken note of it in the past. There are a few things I specifically watch for.

First, watch for winter mortality rates of fawns. Fawns this year are your target bucks three to four years from now, so paying attention to fawn survival will pay off later. Second, make note of what you perceive the overall doe health to be coming out of winter. Maternal health has been shown to have a large impact on the upper end of what a buck can become, given that it has adequate nutrition. This belief makes it worth noting which spring does are in great shape, because four years after that is a great time to have a tag in your pocket.

The Cherry on Top

shed on the grass
(Photo submitted by the author)

If all that information is the ice cream, fudge, and sprinkles, then finding shed antlers is the cherry on top. Winter inventory helps you know where the animals are hanging out around the time they drop their antlers. This is a nice advantage. Canvas those areas once the snow melts and you’ll likely find a few sheds to decorate your home. Regardless, it is added motivation to get back in the hills and get the mountain legs in shape each spring.

The Caveat

hiking in the snow
Winter scouting provides valuable intel as well as helps shake the cabin fever. (Photo submitted by the author)

It is important to note that this winter inventory will look different in every unit. On some ranges the deer and elk winter very close to where they summer, making this inventory easy. However, in other areas, the migration takes them hundreds of miles to their winter range. These variables inevitably impact how effective you can be with your winter scouting, but for most hunters, it is worth looking into. In my opinion, anything that can give you an edge when hunting season rolls around is worth the effort in the end.

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