How to Find More Deer Before Season Opens

Summer scouting kinda sucks. We did a whole podcast episode on it, and we actually had some practical tips you can use this summer. 

Mostly, though, it's hot. Mosquitoes think you're an all-you-can-eat buffet. Ticks are plotting against your bloodline. Spider webs only exist at face height, and if you're newer to scouting, there is also a good chance you're wondering if you're even learning anything while sweating through your clothes.

Which is exactly why a lot of hunters stop.

The thing is, though, deer do not.

Summer scouting probably is not going to hand you every answer. You're not walking into the woods in July and suddenly solving deer hunting. What it does give you is puzzle pieces. Bowhunting, especially on public land, is usually less about finding one magic spot and more about stacking enough small advantages together that eventually something works.

One point from the episode summed it up pretty well:

"Anytime you have to be in the woods this time, you can learn something in the woods."

That mindset matters because summer scouting feels harder than winter scouting for almost every reason imaginable. In late winter and early spring, visibility is unlimited. Rubs jump out. Trails are obvious. Bedding areas stand out. You can cover ground quickly and connect dots faster. Summer flips all of that upside down. Everything is thick, visibility is terrible, bugs are relentless, and every scouting trip feels like it requires significantly more effort for significantly less information.

The information is still there.

The biggest question most hunters ask is simple: what exactly are you supposed to be looking for right now?

Truthfully, a lot of the same things you look for the rest of the year. Bedding areas, trails, rubs, transitions, and travel routes still exist. They are just harder to identify.

Buck bedding, specifically, can actually become easier to identify in certain situations. Tall grass matted down into depressions, points sticking into thicker cover, marsh edges, transition lines, and places with airflow all become important because deer are not only seeking security right now, they are also trying to avoid bugs and stay cool. One thing that repeatedly came up during this conversation was how often bucks choose places that provide wind and relief from insects. If you are finding beds in these types of locations, the next step is figuring out whether they matter beyond summer.

That is where surrounding sign becomes important.

Beds with nearby rubs, historical sign, worn trails, or repeated use deserve attention. Beds with no surrounding sign may simply be temporary summer use. One of the easiest mistakes to make is assuming every fresh-looking bed equals an opening day target. Sometimes it is simply where a deer wanted to avoid mosquitoes for an afternoon.

Rubs are another area where hunters sometimes overcomplicate things. We tend to think about rubs as strictly a fall conversation, but historical rub lines, clusters of smaller rubs, and rubs surrounding bedding cover can tell you plenty during summer. Finding rubs around bedding areas is especially valuable because it gives context. A bed by itself is interesting. A bed with multiple years of sign around it starts becoming useful.

If all of this still feels overwhelming, simplify the process.

Walk water.

Creeks, drainage ditches, rivers, marsh edges, and crossings naturally funnel deer movement and shrink the amount of terrain you need to process. Water crossings often concentrate tracks, reveal preferred travel routes, and create repeatable camera locations. Instead of trying to scout an entire property, narrow your focus to terrain features that naturally force movement.

That simplicity was one of the bigger unlocks during the episode because summer scouting often feels difficult not because it is physically uncomfortable, but because many hunters are afraid they are wasting time. When you are covered in ticks and getting eaten alive by mosquitoes, it is hard not to ask yourself whether any of this matters.

The answer is yes. Just maybe not in the way you think.

Summer scouting is rarely about finding one tree to hunt in November. More often, it is about creating familiarity. It is understanding how water moves through a property, identifying bedding tendencies, finding camera locations, learning access routes, and slowly building confidence in areas that currently feel unfamiliar.

That process takes time.

Another point from the episode that stuck out was simple:

"Bowhunting is a game of inches."

Small bits of information matter. Tiny improvements matter. Knowing one more crossing, one more bed, one more rub line, or one more access route matters.

If you are newer to scouting or simply trying to become more efficient, keep it simple. Pick one property. Walk one waterway. Check crossings. Mark sign. Hang a camera. Go back later in the summer and repeat.

You do not need to solve deer hunting in July.

You just need to know slightly more than you knew yesterday.

And if nothing else, the mosquitoes appreciate your sacrifice.

Listen to the Full Episode

We dive much deeper into summer scouting strategy, public land tactics, bedding areas, trail cameras, water access, and how average hunters can actually make scouting feel useful instead of overwhelming.