{"id":20,"date":"2015-12-31T16:59:19","date_gmt":"2015-12-31T16:59:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tma65.com\/blog\/?p=20"},"modified":"2026-05-21T11:38:45","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T11:38:45","slug":"post-season-scouting-for-whitetail-deer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/post-season-scouting-for-whitetail-deer\/","title":{"rendered":"Post-Season Scouting For Whitetail Deer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Summer <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.tractoptics.com\/shed-hunting-with-a-binocular\/\" title=\"Shed Hunting With a Binocular\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"792\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">scouting<\/a> has always been the most preferred method of noting whitetail habits. Whether it\u2019s sitting stand with a quality <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.tractoptics.com\/why-turkey-hunting-with-binoculars-works-for-me\/\" title=\"Why Turkey Hunting with Binoculars Works for Me\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"778\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">binocular<\/a>, walking the property, hanging trail cameras or all three, nobody gives too much thought to looking for deer sign directly after the season has ended. In fact, it doesn\u2019t even seem to make sense. The following are a few key facts that might make you rethink your scouting techniques.<\/p><p><\/p><p><\/p><div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_83 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\"><div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\"><p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p><span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 eztoc-toggle-hide-by-default' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/post-season-scouting-for-whitetail-deer\/#No_pressure\" >No pressure.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/post-season-scouting-for-whitetail-deer\/#An_easy_read\" >An easy read.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/post-season-scouting-for-whitetail-deer\/#February\" >February.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/post-season-scouting-for-whitetail-deer\/#How_to_prepare\" >How to prepare.<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"No_pressure\"><\/span>No pressure.<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><p><\/p><p><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Who cares if you bump deer out of their bedding areas? As long as you don\u2019t make a habit of rummaging through their home lands on a daily basis, they\u2019ll soon be back. Of course you\u2019ll never want to venture into a buck\u2019s bedding area during the season or even right before. But again, when the season is over, you won\u2019t have to worry about ruining the <a href=\"https:\/\/tractoptics.com\/blog\/category\/hunting\/\" title=\"hunting\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">hunting<\/a>. Plus, <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.tractoptics.com\/the-phases-of-a-deer-hunter\/\" title=\"The Phases of a Deer Hunter\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"1211\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">deer can sense the pressure put on them by hunters<\/a> when they\u2019re being shot at and chased out of their home territories on a daily basis.<\/p><p><\/p><p><\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"An_easy_read\"><\/span>An easy read.<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><p><\/p><p><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Unless you live in the Deep South, there\u2019s a pretty good chance of snowfall during the <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/tag\/winter\/\">winter<\/a> months. In the early spring, when said snow begins to melt, is a great time to find tracks and trails in the mud. Plus, and again this largely depends on the area of the country in which you live, you may find some sheds. Another advantage is that every leaf in the woods is lying on the ground and thus makes spotting rubs a lot easier. Scrapes too. Coupling these things with trail camera images, and you\u2019ll quickly learn what bucks made it through the <a href=\"https:\/\/tractoptics.com\/blog\/how-to-maximize-deer-hunting-season\/\" title=\"How to Maximize Deer Hunting Season\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">deer season<\/a>.<\/p><p><\/p><p><\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"February\"><\/span>February.<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><p><\/p><p><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Need we say more? And many of you can agree &#8211; February is hands down the worst month of the year for the lack of things that makes the fall and winter the best parts &#8211; <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/tractoptics.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"hunting\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"273\">hunting<\/a> and football. If scouting is as close to <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.tractoptics.com\/all-about-hog-hunting\/\" title=\"All About Hog Hunting\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"717\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">hunting<\/a> as you can get, then we recommend it. Relieve yourself of cabin fever by kicking around in the woods for a day, planning new stand sites and visualizing where the next big buck is going to come from.<\/p><p><\/p><p><\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_prepare\"><\/span>How to prepare.<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><p><\/p><p><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This list of things to do and take is not complicated. In fact, it\u2019s just about everything you\u2019d pack for a <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.tractoptics.com\/planning-a-caribou-hunt\/\" title=\"Planning a Caribou Hunt\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"760\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">hunt<\/a> minus a weapon. For starters, remain as scent free as possible so your presence will leave the area shortly after you do.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tractoptics.com\/products\/binoculars\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Quality binoculars<\/a>&nbsp;will give you an advantage when you\u2019re either surveying an area for deer or have already laid eyes on a buck and want to get a better feel for his size. With good magnification you might even get lucky and happen to spot a shed on the ground you never would have seen otherwise.<\/p><p><\/p><p><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A few additives to pack are a trail camera or two to place in heavily-used bedding areas or <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/tag\/travel\/\">travel<\/a> corridors. If it\u2019s legal, dumping out a bag of corn just to draw a buck in and get him to stand still for a clear image is a good idea. Lastly, and many of you may already have this in your daypack, but some orange tape to help identify trails and potential trees to hang a stand is important. Unless you\u2019re very familiar with the property or just have Jeremiah Johnson like senses, sometimes finding your way back to an exact spot on an expansive piece of land isn\u2019t as easy as you might think.<\/p><p><\/p><p><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The lull between deer and turkey seasons can be tough on some <a href=\"https:\/\/tractoptics.com\/blog\/30mm-vs-1-inch-rifle-scope\/\" title=\"30mm vs 1 Inch Rifle Scope\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">hunters<\/a>. If nothing else, post-season scouting is just a good excuse to get outdoors, reminisce about past <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.tractoptics.com\/binoculars-for-turkey-hunting\/\" title=\"Binoculars for Turkey Hunting\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"716\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">hunts<\/a> and make plans for the future. The exercise and cold winter air filling your lungs will make you feel better when&nbsp;cabin fever hits its peak.<\/p><p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Post-Season Scouting For Whitetail Deer | TRACT design and engineer performance-grade optics without the added retail costs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12614,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2493,2591,2797,2914],"class_list":["post-20","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-binoculars","tag-deer-hunting","tag-hunting","tag-magnification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11602,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20\/revisions\/11602"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}