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The first thing to remember is all deer patterns are based around food supply…period.  The best time to start your pre-season scouting is late summer / early fall.  During this time bucks are in their summer habitat / routines and that is the easiest time to pattern them.  They live in a very small range at this time and are comfortable traveling from bedding areas to feeding areas because there is no hunting pressure.  These patterns will hold up for the first couple weeks of the season.

Things to look for:  This time of year is pretty basic.  There isn’t a lot of scouting to be done for early season hunting.  You’ll want to look for runways being used all summer to come in and out of  feeding areas.  They will have several for the different wind directions.  If you’re fortunate enough to have seen where deer are coming into a field for feeding then that is a prime place to start looking for a set up.  If not, just walk the perimeter of the field or feeding area and find the runways.  Once you have found those runways, come into the woods off the field for a set up.  Remember they are bedding fairly close to their feeding areas…sometimes within a 100 yards…so don’t go too far.

Pay very close attention to wind currents.  Usually the wind is blowing from the south – southwest this time of year.  So look for a set up that is to the northeast and you should be safe.  If you have tricky land layouts then you may need to adjust.  Ridges and tree lines (along a field) will play with the wind.  If the wind is blowing from the woods out to the field, a lot of times the wind will come over the trees and blow right back into the woods.  Have you ever seen a deer sprint from the woods out to the middle of the field and start feeding?  That is why.  They use perimeter runways to skirt the field to smell for danger.  Try to prepare at least 2 set ups per hunting area to handle different winds.

If you are not able to hunt a field or are hunting only woods during early season then you need to look for the main traveling corridors.  It’s as simple as looking for deer tracks crossing a dirt road or finding the heavy traveled runways.  Place your different set ups to handle the winds and prepare to harvest your first deer of the season!