I joined a new club this year and have been scouting the club is mostly pines cypress and a few small creeks after I was done scouting I found that all my locations were in swamps or creeks should I look out in the pines more or should the bottoms be better and if they get wet will deer still use them as much also any tips on scouting appreciated
Where pines meet a hardwood tree line are my favorite of all spots to hunt
x 2 on hunting the edges. I try to find trails leaving the cypress heads and set up on the predominately down wind side. I try not to set up too far in the heads so I don't bust them out when going to the stand.
In my opinion spend most of your time now learning the land and the way it lays as opposed to looking for deer sign. I agree completely with the edge thing as stated above but also look for more obscure edges like 2 different ages of pines or a subtle ridge that might run through an area. Remember alot of the places you find sign now will be different when hunting season rolls around as food sources change. An old saying is you cant kill a buck where hes at you have to kill him where hes going to be. Meaning if you find alot of sign in a general area that typically means the deer are spending alot of time there meaning at night or there using it for security cover either way its nearly impossible to hunt that sign without alerting them of your presence. Back off let the land and terrain dictate where you hunt and you will be hunting traveling deer as opposed to deer that are on high alert. Also look in those pines for an isolated feed tree whether it be hard mast or soft mast and you could have a hotspot that deer will feel comfortable coming to at all hours of the day.
