1. How early do you guys start scouting?
2. What do you look for if you are scouting in the summer months?

If your not watching your deer on a feeding program, my favorite way to see what deer you have on your property is put out some good deer mineral licks with trail cameras.

I know thats not really scouting persay.....but its sure is nice to see the bucks you have on your property and make a game plan accordingly...

If no mineral and no feed/attractants are are used I look for pinch points between the largest blocks of timber of bedding cover. Pay attention to the wind directions when looking around and get you several N wind and S wind spots located than decide how to set up if your bowhunting or rifle. Try to access the locations without disturbing any deer at the property.

These are the basics scouting tips in my opinion...THats a B I G question that one could spend a lot of time answering.....

1. Never too early to scout

2. Looking for a place for stand location, I look for a spot where several deer trails intersect, watering holes, good food sources,(oak thickets for when acorns start dropping, etc...). I usually set up a camera and throw out about 1/2 bag of corn and in a week see whats come in. I have one location that is in a oak thicket with a stream running through it with plenty of cover and 5 deer trails intersecting it and have set up a feeder and planted a small food plot and when I get home on June 2nd, I will put up a camera and see whats going through.

I should have been more clear. What about scouting WMA's and other public land?

You need to get out now and look for sheds. This will put you in the general vicinity of a buck's core area. The ones that survived have been laying low for a while after deer season was over.

Get a map of the area if possible. The easiest places to get to will always be covered up come deer season...and mostly by so-called hunters that start scouting the day before season...

Depending on your location, look for the natural food sources and watering holes/creeks and the like. Then start looking for old rub lines. That will give you a good start.

We scout all year round so we know where the deer are in the winter, spring and fall. After many many years of this you we have a pretty good idea where we can go to observe deer at any given time. Although not 100% guarenteed it does give you a good starting point to put down mineral and trail cameras to be able to capture anything you might not know is in the area.

And as mentioned before look for natural pinch points especially if they lead to a food source!