Deer season is a grind. Especially for those hunters seeking mature, and hopefully big-antlered whitetail bucks. Although social media and hunting television can sometimes make it look easy, successfully sending an arrow or rifle cartridge through the vitals of a coveted buck can be quite the task.
2022 was a tough year for this whitetailer. Hunting in the deer-dense Texas hill country tested my patience, home life, and, at times, my hunting ego. Despite great planning and effort, I failed to put myself within the bow range of a buck that had both the age structure and antler traits I sought.
In hindsight, I know I could have likely had more success if I had planned more around my August and September scouting. While I usually do, I had really dropped the ball. Sure, I scouted, but didn’t maximize my favorite method, digiscoping.
Digiscope Scouting in a Nutshell
While trail cameras are a good way to scout whitetails, they are limited in what they capture. If you’re not viewing the deer in person, you’re leaving intel on the table. To supplement trail cams, put your optics to use–but take it a step further by combining your smartphone camera with them. This is called digiscoping.
Phone Skope’s custom adapter kits allow you to make this vital connection.
Put simply, Phone Skope digiscoping kits turn your smartphone and optics into a camera with long-range capabilities–which means you can strategize around what you see and capture. Digiscoping deer movement gives you important information such as what direction the deer came from.
What are some other reasons to emphasize digiscoping during this period of the year?
Bachelor Party
Late summer and early bow season coincide with a golden period; one when bucks travel together. What deer hunter doesn’t like seeing multiple bucks in one sitting? Leverage these “bachelor groups” by viewing and capturing how they use the area you hunt. It’s an actionable and meaningful way to inventory the bucks that use your hunting digs.
Late summer digiscope scouting is a great way to leverage bachelor groups-and ultimately, find a shooter buck for the early season.
Food to Bed and Bed to Food
The deer hunting pre-season is also marked by regular deer movement between food and bedding areas. While this behavior decreases as the season goes on, it’s usually money in the bank from August through mid-October. Set up for digiscoping near features such as crops and game feeders and look for this prevalent pre-season whitetail pattern.
Window of Opportunity
It’s widely known that the bucks that live on or travel through your property often move on to another area in their home range as the season progresses. Bachelor groups break up too. The intel you gather via digiscoping right before the season can give you a rare opportunity to pattern a good buck. Remember, some bucks’ presence on your hunting grounds is only temporary. The clock is ticking.
The Ultimate Trail Cam Supplement
As mentioned, trail cameras can be invaluable to deer hunters. However, they don’t tell the whole story. They do provide useful data such as when and where some deer show up, usually during the morning and late evening hours. You don’t have to abandon these little boxes of intel. Rather, marry them with a healthy digiscoping regimen to put you over the top. For example, if there’s a desirable buck showing up in one of these areas, at a minimum, use digiscoping to see how he got there…and how he exited.
Don’t abandon trail camera scouting, rather use them to supercharge your digiscoping efforts.
Strike Early
Some things, like football, just don’t live up to the expectations of what they should be. The loyalist of fans will watch, but it merely feels like a dry run for the regular season.
Early season whitetail success is anything but a practice drill. The same goes for the few weeks leading up to it. Gathering intel on deer at this last-minute stage can lead to a good buck on the ground, at the front end of deer season. This takes some pressure off, allowing for more enjoyment during the rest of the season. Ask about any deer hunter and they’ll tell you this is a good thing.
What to Do Next
The above reasons for digiscoping during this information-rich period represent a great opportunity for serious deer hunters. Once you’ve taken advantage of them, document your findings. Our daily lives are ripe with work, chores, and kids’ activities. Give your memory a little break by documenting your findings. Whether in a journal, hunting log, or the back of an envelope, describe what you see along with other variables such as weather conditions, time of day, and location.
Last but not least, set up your blinds and tree stands to leverage the information born of this unique form of photography.
Document (and put to use) the data you obtain through digiscope scouting.