For those of us who spend a significant amount of time chasing wild game, finding and harvesting a trophy animal is often our top motivation. I recently got to thinking about how often I return home from the deer woods empty-handed. My success rate (or lack thereof) is staggering. I mostly don’t mind because I simply love the process, the challenge that wily deer, elk, and many other game animals present.
My game animal of choice is the whitetail deer. Luckily for me, I not only cherish the challenge but also go to great lengths to maximize my chances of the next mature buck crossing my path. This means real scouting. That is, a boots-on-the-ground approach to locating target bucks and deer in general. It’s much more than hanging trail cameras and gawking at countless images. My companion hobby of photography, or, more accurately, digiscoping, does the trick. There are several reasons why, but before I get to them, I’d like to share my scouting credo: Scouting is hunting. Why?
First off, digiscope scouting means you can put your hunting skills to the test every time you go out. Whitetails are edgy critters. Leaning on digiscoping as a means of scouting is a chance to camo up and experience a real boots-on-the-ground pursuit of them, albeit through the lens of your smartphone camera. Plus, it’s a ton more actionable than clicking through hundreds of trail camera photos on your couch, many of which tell you very little. Now, here are a few good reasons to utilize your phone, optics, and Phone Skope adapter as an effective means of scouting for your favorite big game animal.
Minimizing your footprint.
Digiscoping allows you to scout from a distance, maintaining a downwind position and avoiding spooking game. This allows you to see how animals move through an area without disturbing their natural behavior. This is especially imperative during hunting season, but plenty important during the offseason. Sure, trail cameras are low-impact
scouting tools, but they only reveal a small swath of the landscape. Digiscope scouting is also low-impact—you just have to work for it. Again, scouting is hunting, and this is an opportunity to get outside and get dirty. The benefits will follow, including an improvement to your hunting prospects and enjoyment.
Detailed intelligence.
The advantages of digiscope scouting are largely a directional matter. By stepping back and viewing a large expanse, you can capture images and videos that show not just the presence of an animal but also how and where it enters and exits an area, its habits, and its general movement patterns. If you can see for hundreds of yards, you’d be surprised by the detailed intel you can witness. For example, you might see a whitetail buck make a scrape or other action, information that can be vital to our success as hunters. Needless to say, this provides more in-depth information than a trail camera
Solving hunting decisions.
Once you start relying on digiscoping as a primary scouting tool, other hunting strategies and efforts become clearer. For example, by documenting deer movement, you can make better decisions about where to place your stands to maximize your chances of success. This also aids decisions about effective hunting entry and exit routes. Similarly, understanding animal movements in and around your hunting grounds helps in determining good locations for food sources, such as food plots or feeders, where legal and possible.
Digiscoping as a means of scouting helps make better decisions around stand placement, among other things.
Aging and judging game: Mastering the ability to accurately age and judge deer and other game animals on the hoof is a game-changer for any serious hunter. It offers far more than just bragging rights. It’s crucial for responsible herd management, allowing you to selectively harvest mature animals, contributing to a healthier herd, and ensuring you’re taking the animal you intended to. As a hunter, this is huge, whether hunting a specific age class for meat, a potential trophy, or simply an ethical harvest that benefits the herd. While most people judge deer and other game from trail camera images, there are plenty who also do so through the lens of their favorite spotting scope or binoculars. Why not go the extra step and add your phone camera to the mix? Now, viewing turns into capturing—and capturing turns into better on-the-hoof judging of deer and other game.
A gift of the moment and memories. Finally, digiscoping provides gifts, even beyond any scouting benefits. Hunters are typically nostalgic about the hunting tradition, as well as its fringe benefits. Beyond the thrill of the harvest itself, carrying a camera forces you to slow down, truly observe, and appreciate the myriad details of the wild spaces your feet lead to—the crisp morning light on a red oak, the unique markings on a deer’s face, or even the pattern of a hawk’s feathers—the one that coincidentally lands in a tree dozens of yards from where you sit.
These aren’t just snapshots. They’re not even just shots to aid one’s hunting exploits. They’re tangible memories of cold breezes, evening shadows, and the quiet moments. Hunters are storytellers and digiscoping allows us to relive the entire story of the hunt, not just the outcome. It does so by going that extra step and taking distant images that you previously couldn’t capture. Of course, we love to share these experiences visually. Yeah, scouting via digiscoping doesn’t only up your hunting game, it enhances an awareness of the beauty around us when we hit wild spaces.
Are you not convinced yet? I highly recommend that you visit the Phone Skope Builder page and create a custom digiscoping setup perfect for your personal optics and smartphone models. It will improve your hunting, scouting, and overall outdoor experience