Scouting

I know a lot of us scout year round and have a general idea of what is going on in the areas we trap. My question - when do you start to get really serious about scouting? It seems to me that I don't really get serious until two weeks before because so many variables can change and the quarry can move based on those conditions.

I am interested in what you think.

Brian

Once the corn comes off is when I get serious for where to put traps. Before the corn comes off is for determining if animals are there.

In my home area 2/3ds of the corn comes off as silage and in September. Choppers going night and day all over as we speak. Coon will move to the corn that stays for HMSC or ripe so I don't do any scouting until after the HMSC goes and that will be mid Oct here, Rats I wait until I see a couple houses and many times that is 1-2 weeks before season. I don't scout for canines much, I set mostly on location and most times there is sign there as well.

Bryce

Thank you. That sounds like what I do to.

I start scouting for beaver when I'm out bird hunting and getting trails and camps ready for the season,around late September-early October where I am.This is when the beaver start to cut feed and mud the house and dam.I scout for other furbearers when scouting for beaver.I also scout for other furbearers while trapping beaver and start to re-inforce the snares at the jackpots and repair any marten boxes that are down or damaged.
I dump gut buckets at the jackpots as soon as I start catching beaver around the second or third week of October right up until I start trapping land fur in November,and also hang the gutted beaver carcasses in the wood shed at the cabins to cure for trapping later on.I start trapping all the animals visiting the baitsheds when season opens then set up the rest of the line while still trapping some beaver.i scout new country every day I can while trapping so I can hopscotch traps to extend the line as season progresses and keep the catch up.

Beaver just starting nto cut here and ferns are wilting. Now is when I start really looking although I am aware of critters any time I go to the woods. Which is often.

Corn and beans are coming out right now. Pre-season scouting on my line is on like donkey kong right now

I used to go early and look around, especially if I had a brand new spot to trap and knew nothing about it.
Now I wait until after the corn and beans are out and go check the usual spots I trap to see if any changes in track patterns and other sign. Beaver and coon I have to check each season to look for new sign. Coyotes here pretty much same spots and areas year after year in certain locations. Others I have to look for tracks and trails to see what they are doing. Farmers change stuff up on me sometimes. One year I trapped a great big brushpile in middle of a corn field
Next year the farmer burned it to ground and it still was an awesome coyote spot. After that he worked the dirt there and farmed right over it and you couldnt find a track there at all but they moved back out to the edge again. Does pay to go on foot and not from truck or four wheeler I think. I like to hoof it and take my time to really pay attention to details. See a lot more stuff on foot. Its slower but if you have time enjoy the looking around. Pack water and a lunch, have a picnic out in middle of a quiet section while looking around. One of my favorite things to do. Nothing like planning the line while looking around and enjoying lunch in the woods or out in the field.

For me, alot of raccoon trails don't really "pop" until after we get a frost, this year thst is pushed back it seems until the week of Oct 17. Once that grass dies and quits rejuvenating itself you would be suprised what is there that wasn't just 2 or 3 days earlier. I always have a good idea of where these trails will be, timber to timber locations, timber to corn, and of course watersheds. I generally will wait as long as possible, or as close to the actual set day as I can. It's amazing how much things can change from prestaking here in iowa until setting day 2 weeks later.

Good points too, Iowatrapper. Same with corn and bean harvest. Some corn on ground and its a whole new food source.
Rifle deer season here can really change coyote patterns. Trucks everywhere but also gut piles. I start the very first day after rifle season and go until mid january.
Hot coon trails early turn cold later.

I started late last month (aug), start putting out my cubby boxes, so they weather good and the critters start getting used to them being there, I'm pre-baiting now. I've already got my bobcat cubbies built, because I use pine limbs to build them they will be brown when the season opens, and the snowshoes wouldn't be chewing on them, messing up my sets.
I leave my game cameras out all year, and check them month to month, so I can see game patterns and what if anything is changing, and for populations of critters. Since I also hunt deer, birds, etc, it really seems to help. I'm always surprised how critter movement changes from one season to the next.
But heck I'm retired so it keeps me busy, and I enjoy being in the woods.

I start in mid September when I start brushing and cutting blowdowns off the my line. It turns into bird hunting and also beaver trapping at the same time before freeze up. Occasionally there is snow through October which makes seeing sign pretty easy to know what’s already hanging around.

I start scouting when muskrats average $6 a piece.

Right I am driving in anchors for snaring along some of the normal beaver runs. Plus walking the runs to make a good defined trail now that the growing season is done.

I took a walk today, muskrats are starting construction. I thought on Tuesday I spotted a hut going up while driving too. 21 days to go!

Saw a place with 4-5 structures today, none there two days ago. Seems early to me, especially with the heat, but then maybe rats like many species are more photo period driven then heat unit. I am sure weather has an impact.
Been real rainy and cloudy here for about 4 days now with more clouds and rains for later in the week.

Bryce

I wait till harvest time too but some situations I start earlier. Trapping mink and rats on trout streams gives me an opportunity to do preseason scouting while fly fishing. I often move logs or rocks around to create a set location.