pre season scouting

[Woods Walker]

badgie: You may be refering to the Acacia and Carpinus genus'....locust and hornbeam. They are both commonly know in areas as "ironwood".

But for MY money, that title goes without a doubt to OSAGE ORANGE!!!

When I was in the tree care business, I could take a brand new chainsaw chain that would take a 1/4" sawchip out of dead, aged oak, and try to cut Osage Orange with it and all I'd get is burned dust!!! That stuff is HARD! No wonder native Americans used if for bow and arrows!

[msbadger]

That's it we have blk locust and the eastern hophorn....great fire wood game birds and deer love them and hell on a chain saw[;)]....Thanks I can count on you WW[:)]

[msbadger]

They also used it across the mid west as fencing ..grows fast and impenetrable....I under stand that Osage makes a very fine long and recurve bow

[Woods Walker]

YUP! And it's SOOOO damn hard, that even BUGS don't bother it! (hence the fence posts....)

[Cut N Run]

Your best to scout pre-season is a couple of weeks after the season over. That way, you'll see all the most improtant and critically used trails. In Winter, the deer don't tend to wander around aimlessly and burn calories unnecessarily. Rather, they usually take a fairly direct route between food sources and bedding/ sanctuary areas. If you can connect the dots and find a great stand site that overlooks some of those key areas, you're probably set.

You also mentioned a couple of ponds. Deer only swim ponds when they have to. Most of the time, they choose to go around them. A couple of my best stand sites are where the prevailing Northwest winds carry my scent over a pond and the deer are forced to walk the trail that goes around the pond. Use that water to your advantage if you can.

Good luck.

Jim

[DanburyBowhunter]

Don't forget to look for pin oaks as well. Do your homework first though. I thought they were reds at first. Seems pin oak acorns are right after whites on the deer menu. If you aren't sure, pick up a fallen leaf and an old acorn with the cap still on and google like a mad man. Since your area is so big you may want to mark your 'sample' and a map so you remember where it came from. Good luck!

[beardsondogs]

I'm new to hunting and am in kind of a tough spot. I know it's incredibly late to start scouting but I just move to Vermont and haven't had much opportunity to get out.
Fortunately I'm on a decent bit of land. The basic lay out of our property is that we have a wooded ridge that runs down the middle of about 150 acres and most of the west slope has been cleared and use as cow pasture. I'm wondering if I should focus my efforts on the wooded area or if the deer will for the most part ignore the presence of cows.

[charlie 01]

I would stick to the woods. As far as cows and deer, I've seen it go both ways, some deer were afraid of cows and some tolerated them.

Scouting, just get to it, the sooner the better. Just look the whole area over and make some choices, and hope for a good rain to clean things up. You may end up moving a stand or two thru the season anyway. It's goes by what you learn of a property while you hunt it.

[bmstaaf]

I would stay clear of the cows, they will give up your location in a quick second..if they don't see your fine, but its another set of eyes that can pick you up if your not careful..(they will alert the woods!)

[kellory]

Cows and deer mostly ignore eachother, some times they will stare at you and alert the deer, but horses will give you away every time if they know you are there, and will follow you if you move. I would hunt inside the edge of the woods, the deer will for the most part follow the edge of the woods, skirtting the edge of the cow pasture, If they move in with the cows, they will be moving pretty fast. They get along, but they don't like eachother.