Consider purchasing a laminated aerial photograph of a targeted property, as you can write notes directly onto it with an erasable marker; I've found this a particularly helpful research aid. Do the same with your map. As you begin preparing stand or blind sites, the number of notes on your map and photograph will increase, indicating an emerging pattern that will aid you in preparing your ultimate ambush.

One of the most convenient sources of aerial maps is www.terraserver. com. Prices vary, but for $60 you can get a laminated version with a usable image size. It also pays to order a map that includes neighboring properties, enabling you to see the fences and other boundaries that deer go back and forth across to avail themselves of next-door resources. Also: Aerial photographs are widely available, but if you have a buddy with an airplane and a safe flying record, think about taking your own photo.

As for maps, companies such as Maptech offer programs, downloads and options for printing personalized maps of your hunting area. A simple map may run less than $20, whereas programs and downloadable access may be markedly pricier, depending on the amount of data you want to purchase. You can even obtain programs to download into a handheld GPS unit.

SCOUTING IN THE FIELD
Aerial photo and map in hand, start your summer scouting comfortably: Cruise around the property in your vehicle, again taking advantage of air-conditioned comfort. By this time, whitetails have bonded with any new travel routes and are firmly established in a home environment. The crops they feed on are maturing; they visit water sources regularly; their bedding areas are shrouded in the thickest cover of the season. In short, life is good, and the routine patterns that the deer follow daily at this point in the year reflect that.

By this stage of the season, bucks will have enough antler growth for you to distinguish the big boys from the average males, so it's definitely time to kick off your scouting. At dawn and dusk, conditions are favorable for catching plump, hungry bucks gorging themselves on the edges of fields and croplands. Soybeans, corn, alfalfa, small grains and other crops lure whitetails into an open environment, such that nearly every buck I've glimpsed in the summertime was feeding gluttonously on crops.

As a crop targeted by deer in the summer may well be gone before fall, look for and make note of adjacent crops that might lure whitetails throughout the hunting season. Corn and soybeans are two staples that deer feed on from late summer on well into late fall and winter.

The secret to this initial scouting effort lies in keeping your distance. By sticking to county and farm roads, you can glass field edges and corners looking for bucks at your hunting location. Even though deer may spy your vehicle, they won't consider you a threat as long as you stay a quarter-mile or so away. Also, note any high-density populations of does. Even if you select the buck you want now, the odds are good that when the rut arrives, he'll head out with the other hormone-crazed males to seek out areas harboring estrous females.