I hope you had a great deer season with a lot of good memories. If you want a head start on next season’s buck, post season scouting for deer is the best way to know where you need to be next year. As soon as the snow is gone during or after winter, you’ll be able to see all the rut activity from the previous fall. If you wait until green up, you’ll be too late.

Post season scouting will allow you to identify primary scrape areas, rub lines, travel corridors within cover between bedding areas. Even if the dominant buck in that area was harvested, another buck will take his place and use the same features of the property.

Prepare your trees and shooting lanes at this time too. Then in August you can make a quick check of your spot and clear out any summer growth while hanging your stands. This will keep the area undisturbed and preserve your spot as a true ambush situation come hunting season.

Several years ago my post-season scouting really started to pay off big time after I watched a DVD by John and Chris Eberhart called Bowhunting Pressured Whitetails – Vol. 1 “Post-Season Scouting and Tree Preparation”

I thought I knew everything there was to know about getting a leg up early on next Fall’s buck until I watched this DVD and read his book. I have not seen any DVD anywhere that goes into the detail that this one does. You won’t see this information on TV anywhere. It will take years off your learning curve. I couldn’t wait to apply what I had learned.

The next fall, this buck was a direct result of acting on a couple tips I learned from John and Chris.

This time of year most hunters are content to sit home on the couch and watch some football. Not me. Now is one of the best times to get out in the woods and do some post season scouting.

But first, I would recommend going to John and Chris’ site to grab a copy of their DVD. It will be one of the most valuable $15 you spend this winter.

If you’ve already seen this DVD, leave a comment below to benefit others and/or pass along this post using the icons below. Your friends will thank you.