![]() Second, only by putting eyes on the area can you learn some of the small things that can make a big difference. First, while hunting apps are great, there is no substitute for boots-on-the-ground knowledge about the hunt area. There are many reasons for this, but two stand out. Making a summertime trip to the area is great if you can do it. Whenever possible, you should scout prior to opening day. Never forget how well a mature buck can see, hear and smell, especially when stalking one across wide-open terrain. Then, once on the ground, you’ll have more time to hike and glass, making it easy to stay mentally focused instead of wondering what to do next. Use this information to form a basic plan built around a scouting list. Use Google Earth, HuntStand, onX Maps and other mapping and hunting apps to give you a clear picture of the ground. Game departments have all the statistics you need about recent deer harvests, buck-to-doe ratios, winter kill statistics and even hunter numbers and pressure. ![]() You start this process at home, long before the truck is gassed up. Break those drainages into smaller chunks that can be thoroughly hunted in the amount of time available to you. Your goal is to "shrink your focus." By that I mean you must shrink the general area of the hunt from a large, unmanageable piece (the entire game management unit) down to a specific mountain range, then down to a drainage or two. The foundation for any hunt is pre-hunt research and diligent scouting. Here are the seven principles I use to find consistent success on public lands. Today, however, I have a system that works. While I don’t remember all the specifics, I do recall that I had no idea what I was doing. Though I hunted hard and used some off-beat tactics, I only saw some does and small bucks. I basically went in blind, and my results showed it. In my defense, I didn’t have the advantages of Google Earth, mapping apps, a scouting camera or looking up the weather on my smartphone. My first out-of-state DIY mule deer hunting road trip, back in the late 1970s, was a complete bust.
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