Glassing for Whitetails

With the heat of summer with in a couple of months many of us forget about the importance of scouting for the upcoming fall. This is the time of year when the bucks in your area are the most relaxed and the most visible. Often time’s hunters will wait until September to glass fields looking for bucks. By the time Sept. rolls around most of the bucks have shed their velvet and have begun to regress back to their hermit type lifestyle. Now is the time to take inventory on your buck herd for this fall.

For most of the summer bucks will stay in bachelor groups. The size of these groups will vary I have seen groups of up to 10 bucks together during the summer. These bucks will have a very small range during this time of year. They will stay in their “bachelor pad” grow antlers and get fat for the fall.

My favorite areas to look for bachelor groups are soybean, clover, alfalfa, and hay fields. These high protein food sources are on the whitetails dinner plate this time of year. The best advice that I can give is to glass these fields from the road if possible. If you don’t have road access to some fields make sure that you stay a good distance away from the deer. The main thing is to keep your summer recon missions as low impact as possible.

If the farm that you hunt does not have any of these food sources on it keep your eyes on the surrounding farms (from the road). A buck’s summer range will often differ from his winter range. You may see your favorite adversary a mile down the road from your farm.
Although these bucks will live together all summer they cannot tolerate each other during the fall. Once they shed their velvet they will disperse to their respective fall range and establish their dominance. Another thing to remember is that the bucks you see a mile down the road will likely make an appearance on your farm during the rut.

So dust off your binoculars, and go pick out the buck that will drive you crazy this fall. As always drop me a line with any questions or comments. Good Luck!!

Matt Farnham
Whitetail Manager

Phone: (217) 734-2526
E-mail: mattf@heartlandlodge.com
Harpole's Heartland Lodge

Thats Some Great info Matt, Thanks for shareing

Matt,

That is so true thanks for sharing.

Thanks for sharing!

Great post! Thanks for sharing. That's some great info.