One long look at my map, however, revealed some pocket cover in a drainage where I’d never hunted. What was even better, I did have another spot marked nearby, so in a way, I already knew where to go.

On opening morning, I sat glassing the south slopes of the drainage and spotted my buck bedded under a cedar tree a few hundred yards away.

Many times, a buck that you have patterned a few months before the season will change his daily routine when hunting season nears. If this happens, just be persistent because within a couple of days of a disturbance, he will usually go back to his same old pattern.

The next most important tool to carry with you during the pre-season is a set of quality optics. I cannot stress this enough. Quality binoculars will make you a better hunter, but only if you use them.

I sometimes chuckle to myself when I come across another hunter with a $1,500 dollar rifle and a $500 scope and yet hanging around his neck he has a cheap pair of binoculars, or no binoculars at all.

During the last few weeks before the season starts, try to find a good vantage point to glass from. While glassing, look for any escape routes a buck might have, and potential ambush sites to cut him off if hunters from another party are a possibility. If you’re on public land, you can bet on having company.

The bonus of glassing during the pre-season is, with all the other data you’ve gathered, you can begin to piece together a plan for opening day. With the help of your map and notebook, you can sit behind your binoculars and pattern your buck’s movements.

By this stage of scouting, you should know where you plan to be on opening day. Mark it in your GPS so you can walk right there on opening day.

HIGH-TECH SCOUTING
Most of what I’ve covered here has gone from basic to advanced. I know of very few hunters who really put in this kind of time in scouting. But those who do are successful more times than not.

But now, you need to think about beating the competition. It’s hard enough that you have to defeat an animal that’s already wary of predators, but the competition I’m talking about now are carrying deer tags in their back pockets. If you want to beat out the rest of the field, you need to go way beyond simple mapping and patterning of individual bucks.

Of late, hunters have turned to computers, trail cameras and night-vision equipment to locate deer during scouting time.

Computer software is now available that lets a hunter enter a GPS coordinate, and a 3-D image of that actual area will appear. Now you can scout without leaving your office chair! These programs are easy to use and deliver the most up-to-date information available for your area. Higher-priced programs even provide aerial photos and satellite images. Advanced features include the ability to download GPS waypoints.