When to Scout

[StronTower]

Hi everyone,


I am trying to figure out the best time to scout for the upcoming season. I have been putting most of my time into scouting my archery season location (e-scouting and boots on the ground). I have less time for scouting my rifle location. I have done e-scouting but still need to get boots on the ground. My schedule has changed a lot and has really pressed me for time to scout. I am trying to decide if I should go scout a 1-2 weeks before season, or if I should show up 2 days before season to scout. My major fear of scouting before season is pushing animals out of the area before opening day.


Any advice/recommendations would be much appreciated.
Thanks for your time and help.

 

[ribo451]

When is your season? For me our archery season starts Sept. 6th so I would scout a couple days before the season starts. If I were to do it a couple weeks before that is about the time bulls are gathering there ladies so if you find elk a couple weeks before the season the bulls may have gone out looking for love. If I were going to scout weeks before I would be looking more for cows than for bulls and if I were going to scout a couple days before I would try to do as much from a distance with glasses so I didn't run them off like you said.

 

[cohunter14]

Not sure if you are talking scouting for your archery or rifle hun, but either way I would plan on heading up two days earlier. If it's archery, I'd be getting out and just doing some road bugling and trying to locate some elk that way without getting too far into the woods. And if it's rifle, I'd be trying to find some glassing locations to get to and see if I could locate some that way before the season. A lot can change in one or two weeks, but they shouldn't move nearly that much in one or two days. Just my two cents!