Fist Time Deer Hunting Scouting

T

thelowlife

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Sudbury Ontario
My brothers and I are planning to get a first time deer hunt. We've formed a group and were planning on going to a local to hunt. The area in which we originally planned to hunt was a little congested.

So this leads us to go to a new area and we are considering crown land. This has me a little stressed, my inexperience has me worried because my experience has come from hunting fielded areas (which honestly there was very little to consider.. knowing the area and having the deer walk out to the food source), where our planned Crown Land hunt has us in forrested area that we have had little to no experience in.

I understand that I should scout the area beforehand but for what and how early?

I'm in Northeastern Ontario, Sudbury to be specific. What does a deers diet consist of in woodland areas vs. fields?

When scouting should I be looking for routes travelled or potential food sources?

If there is 6 of us in our group how far spread apart should we be hunting?

Should we vary the strategy between stands and ground blinds?

Basically any first timer tips for a new area hunt, if you have pictures of any of these signs would help plenty!
 
If you get out and start your scouting as soon as the snow is leaving you might be able to find some well used, deep-in-the-dirt migration trails as most of the deer populations around the Sudbury area get into large deer yards in the winter. Finding these migration trails can/will lead you to where these deer will spend their summers, trust me. Placing salt blocks along these trails early in the spring can help attract deer that will be staying in that particular region for several months.
As for sign, the best start is to find these migration trails early in the year (they will look like little highways through the bush before the leaves come out). Once you've narrowed down an area with heavily used trails in the early spring you can start wandering around, with the help of a GPS and/or GoogleEarth to find any kind of funnels that deer might use, one of my favourites is between swamps or other larger water bodies and just off of cut blocks - you'd be surprised how many game trails exist just in the bush outside of cut blocks (within 50m). I've had lots of success hunting deer in cuts that have regrown with alders and aspen, and high ridges with oak/maple seem to be visited frequently. Spruce swamps are one of my favourite places to still hunt in as you can walk very quietly and the deer seek the dense forests for cover and will feed on cedar once the snow flies. Areas with good access are often hunted by others, but will give you a chance to spread your group out, you don't want to be hunting right beside each other - we often hunt as a group of 4-6 and are usually spread at least 400 m between hunters when stand/blind hunting. Pushing the bush for deer can be successful, but topography and various other features of the area need to be considered for getting deer to go past the hunters on watch (keep safety in mind if hunting like this).
The choice between a stand and a blind really depends on a number of factors, and number one is setting them up in an area where you KNOW deer will come through, though this can be discredited by some as bucks will be almost patternless and show up anywhere in the type of forest around Sudbury during the rut. Invest in a trailcam or two and set them on game trails that you've found to see what has been using them, that should help narrow down approximately how often deer come through the area. Once you've narrowed down a spot, it would be in your best interest to set a stand/blind downwind of the trail - if the bush is thick being on the ground would be your best bet, even sitting behind stumps/logs works well. Scouting is key for finding decent hunting spots, especially if you're going to hunt from a stand or blind. After hunting season ends next fall, get out into the bush as much as you possibly can, deer will be moving around more freely, you can venture outside of your hunting area from the fall and look for signs of bucks in an are- scrapes on the ground, rubs on small tress, and once the snow gets 6-8" deep keep an eye out for the start of the deer migration, this is the time of year you will see the most deer (bucks in particular) and have a better feel of where the deer spend the spring-fall - just before Christmas I went for a walk just outside of Sudbury and saw 30 deer - 7 were bucks, 6 of which were all together in a single file line about 30 m from myself and two friends (6 point, 8 point, 10 point, and 4 spikers). I don't have any pictures of sign that I can put up here now, but if you PM me I wouldn't mind sending a couple to your email or answering any other "specific" questions you might have.
 
I used to hunt big timber like that. I miss it. I see more deer in the farm lands but I miss hunting those huge chunks of crown land. I found that I had to get off the beaten trail to find good sign. Most hunters are lazy and hunt the roads or very near to them.

The best spot I ever had was about 2km of the road into the bush. I found it by accident but it taught me a lot abut how the deer use the topography. This particular spot had 3 ridges that dumped onto a bench and on the 4th side was a v shaped creek valley with a huge wide beaver damn across it. I haven't seen that amount of buck scrapes and rubs ever since. Now that spot is all grown up with white pines and you can't see 20 feet. I imagine when those pines mature and you can see through the forest again it will be a great spot again.

Use a map, walk around and look for funnels, benches, low spots, saddles, etc. Remember if you see no droppings but there is other sign then they are not hanging around but walking through. If there are lots of dropping the deer bed or stage there. Stay out of those bedding areas and hunt access points (watch the wind) to these areas.
 
BTW all that bait, apples grain etc that you may have used for southern deer will probably go unrecognized as food to northern deer, unless your hunt spot is close to a community where the deer might have been exposed to same.

The first season may pay off, but don't be surprised if it's a steep learning curve. Local hunters moving deer around for you may be your best opportunity if the area is heavily hunted. If it's not, then calling, or driving deer yourself can pay off. Don't get lost eh? :)
You need to scout the area first thing in the spring just to get to know it with the leaves off. Plan your spots, and find the trails. Once the leaves are on you won't be able to see a damned thing in the bush. Sudbury is mostly poplar type trees, and evergreens, not like typical southern bush, so you really need to learn the ground.
 
I think I will be primarily hunting from a stand.. When spring rolls around I'll get out there to scout. The area is fairly large so I'll use some online maps to get general areas that may provide good habitat for deer.

Knowing that they have to drink would it be wise to assume that the deer will travel toward these sources, and bedding within range of this? Lots of emphasis is placed on feeding but what about the drinking needs? How large of water sources would they likely use? River, ponds, lakes?
 
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