Rack-a-tology: Why March is the Best Time of Year to Scout Your Deer Woods

Put Boots on the Ground Now to Help Fill Your Tag This Coming Fall

By Pat Kolbe, Buck Fever Outdoors

If you’re a whitetail "nutso" like me - where thoughts of big tined bruisers cruising along a ridge line, dipping through a cut past your stand on their way to scent check a doe bedding area constantly swirl in your brain - say, year-round - then you probably already at least have an idea of why I’m about to make the proclamation I’m about to make: March is the absolute best month of the year to scout for whitetails to put yourself in position to tag one of those big tined bruisers you’ve been day-dreaming about this next fall. 

It’s a season of transition and there’s a lot to do, I know…kick those feet up on the La-Z-Boy and watch endless hours of Bracketology and college hoops. Sneak out for some late-ice fishing opportunities after some panfish. Then put the ice fishing stuff away and gear up for spring fishing. Speaking of spring - time to get on that ‘honey-do’ checklist as the snow melts and the daylight starts getting longer. Clean the garage out. Vacuum out the vehicles and all that winter salt and dirt. Hard to find time for some whitetails isn’t it? 

Well, those who do strap up the boots and hit those whitetail stomping grounds in March — they are putting themselves ahead of the game. The information, knowledge and intel (let’s call it March ‘Rack-a-tology’) you can learn right now only increases your odds of punching that tag this fall. Here’s why.

Everything Looks the Same as You Last Saw It

While there might be some of you who are die-hards who kept after those whitetails well into the late-season in December and maybe even January – most hunters had put away the bow or gun sometime in late November and have spent the last several months attending Christmas parties, family get-togethers, and living through the doldrums of winter. 

That whitetail woods that was full of sign in November — rubs, scrapes, trails, and more — well, it is going to look the exact same yet in March, and maybe even better. Trails show up as beat-down highways. Rubs still shine with ripped up bark and it's even possible to still see ground scrapes if the snow has melted - but if not, you’ll still be able to find those gnawed off overhanging branches indicating a scrape was indeed there this past fall. 

One of my main hunting strategies is finding locations where multiple ‘plus factors’ are present. Factors can include anything in the following: multiple deer trails in an area, trails converging in the same spot, a series of rubs, a large scrape, a series of scrapes, terrain pinches, edge diversity, water source or water funnels. I’m looking to find spots that have at least two of those factors working together in the same area, but really I’m working hard to find 3+ factors together. Those are the areas I’m marking on my OnX Hunt App or moving a treestand to if I don’t already have one in the area. If a spot only has one factor present, I’m moving on, and don’t consider it a prime location to hunt.

Who Cares If You Blow It Up

There is no reason to hold back this time of year. I can be very cautious when it comes to putting unwarranted pressure on some of the private hunting areas I have near the start of the season or in-season. Not now. With the bow season at least six months away, I have no problem walking through any bedding area, sanctuary or normally undisturbed area of the property. 

Now is the very best time to learn and see what was really going on in those spots this past fall. You might be surprised to find some mega-sign in an area you didn’t really expect - or vice versa - a place you would’ve swore was a big buck sanctuary because you never went in there, really didn’t have much sign of big buck use at all. 

Oh the Weather is So Delightful

Really? In March. Absolutely. Throw on a pair of pants, a hoodie, and a good pair of hiking boots and you’re good to go. Not too cold. Not too hot. No bugs which means no nasty bug repellent. Waiting for late summer to scout can lead to a sweat-drenched shirt, swatting mosquitoes, and an early quit on what you really wanted to accomplish. Cooler temperatures and no bugs means you can put on more miles and more effort into your scouting mission.

Things to Consider

Scouting in March doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll remember the things you learned a few months later. Wait, where exactly did we want to hang that stand again? Where did we see that cluster of rubs? Don’t let your time and newly found intel go to waste. Make sure you head into the woods with an app like OnX Hunt where you can store location pins that mark potential stand sites, deer bedding, and those ‘multiple factor’ areas I mentioned earlier. I often purely designate March as scouting mission time, and come back in summer to hang or adjust new stand sites. If I am trying to do both in March, I lose out on the ability to keep the boots on the ground moving and scouting more areas. 

If an app isn’t for you, bring along a notebook. I often do both, but at the very least after a weekend of scouting I will grab my hunting journal and jot down as many notes as I can recall about what I found and any treestand adjustments, new set hangs, or land improvement projects I want to do during the summer months. I will make a list and prioritize the projects as well - because with a busy life schedule, who knows if I’ll be able to get to them all - but at least I’ll have notes to look back on that will inform my decisions.

Bust Out of That Cabin Fever

If nothing else, getting out for a good walk in the woods in March helps us break out of that cabin fever that has been building up from the last few months of winter. Some fresh air, good exercise, and scouting for whitetails – that sounds good to me! Get out there in March and let your springtime scouting help you put a tag around a buck this next deer season!