The buck mentioned above fell only because, just when I thought IвЂ™d finished my trimming job, I made one more loop to see if there was a trail IвЂ™d missed. Second, I can truly take the time to decipher trails and brush out effective shooting lanes to them. I know these lairs are ones a buck is faithful to, which is critical information to have come fall. The best beds are those where the buck has laid in a specific spot so many times that heвЂ™s altered the landscape IвЂ™ve found dished-out beds devoid of leaves or debris with multiple piles of droppings in or near the bed. But walking those spots in March lets me pinpoint whether bucks are laying up near a pile of blowdowns created by a windstorm last fall, or whether a maturing forest has forced them to alter their bedroom to a place where they feel more secure.

I know, for example, that my bluff-country bucks tend to bed on ridge ends. But in March, the woods look exactly like they did in October and November, so I can see what the deer were up to last fall and anticipate some of next fallвЂ™s action too.Д«ecause food sources can change so drastically, even between now and fall, my March scouting sessions focus on two key spots: bedding areas and terrain funnels. Why? Because things change, and because I never get as much scouting done as I want to during the season. Most of the properties I hunt are relatively small tracts of 100 acres or less, some of which IвЂ™ve chased deer on for more than 20 years. Spring Scouting Last seasonвЂ™s rubs and scrapes are as visible in early spring as they were in fall.

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