Post-Season Scouting

The Benoits & Josh Butler load
up trucks after a successful hunt.

Hunters Don't always fill their tags and have success each season especially when your hunting trophy bucks. If You're one of the lucky ones, you shoot your buck early. What should you do if you still have time left in camp? If you plan on hunting in that region next season then it's time to scout out that monster buck for next year. Don't go home early to show off that deer stay and explore some new country.

Two days of scouting revealed
some big rubs

I'm Always amazed how some hunters, who can't wait all year to go deer hunting, are in such a rush to go home early after only a week in camp. I see it every year in camps across the country; a hunter tags out and then he immediately wants to go home. He could be scouting for others that weren't so lucky or he could be locating bigger bucks to hunt next year. Once you fill your tag the pressure is off so you can spend the whole day traveling and looking for big bucks. If a hunter spends a few days looking for new sign then he will have a huge jump on next years hunt.

Last season we were lucky, every one in our camp shot a good buck, we even filmed seven out of eight bucks taken. When someone in our camp tagged out they would scout and locate big bucks for the other hunters.

Tom Blais with a hefty pair of
sheds from a buck that is still
roaming the thick northern forest.

After our group headed home my cameraman Josh Butler and I had two days before our next hunt. We spent those two days looking for big buck sign and old sheds. We had a lot of fun following deer trails, finding big rubs and some impressive sheds. We found some excellent places to start our hunt next year. Those two days were well spent and I'm sure glad we didn't go home early.