The main goal of scouting for whitetail deer is to understand the terrain and vegetation in which you hunt. In this guide, we help you gain insight into how to identify bedding areas, food sources, natural funnels, and more to ensure your time in the field is spent as efficiently as possible.
The main goal of scouting for whitetail deer is to understand the terrain and vegetation in which you hunt. In this guide, we help you gain insight into how to identify bedding areas, food sources, natural funnels, and more to ensure your time in the field is spent as efficiently as possible.
From analyzing the terrain you’ll be hunting to checking wind forecast the night before, onX Hunt puts the most powerful scouting tool in your hands.
Marking tree stand locations, trail cameras, and crucial deer sign like scrapes or trail intersections will help you gain a better understanding of the property you hunt. Additionally, you’ll gain insight on the adjustments you need to make and identify overlooked areas. Waypoints are the foundational piece to many of our core whitetail features, such as Optimal Wind, Wind Calendar, and Markup Folder Sharing.
From any Waypoint on your map, you can set an Optimal Wind for that exact location. This allows you to visualize which stands will provide huntable conditions on any given day. These wind condition forecasts are pulled from the nearest weather station. With more than 100,000 data points, you’re ensured an accurate forecast.
Our Wind Calendar is derived from Waypoints that have an Optimal Wind set. The Wind Calendar pulls the Optimal Wind data from each treestand and gives you a morning, afternoon, and evening wind forecast for the next seven days. This tool allows you to easily forecast your next hunt.
Do you have hunting buddies that don’t know how to get into your stand locations? Or maybe you moved a trail camera you need your old man to grab? Now, when you tap on a private parcel and scroll to the content bubble, you can add all your content from any property to a folder, allowing you to seamlessly share an entire collection of Markups at once. Hunt more collaboratively this fall.
Understanding the food sources in your area will help you formulate a better strategy for getting into range of a mature buck. With annual updates to our Crop Data Layers, you’ll know exactly what was planted the previous year. Based on crop rotations and the historical Crop Data in the App, you can easily predict what will be planted anywhere in the country.
Know exactly which tree types you’re looking at on aerial imagery across the country. The Tree Data Layer helps you locate acorn-producing oaks, young aspen stands, thermal deer cover, and more to take the guesswork out of what the landscape will hold for food sources, cover, and diversity.
In this eleven-part series, The Hunting Public walks you through how to approach every scenario you could possibly encounter when hunting deer on public or private land.
Part 1 of our 6 part mapping series. Starting with the big picture of finding public land to hunt whitetails.
6:42
Part 2 – Identifying access and hunting pressure.
12:27
Part 3 – Scouting access points on public land.
13:47
Part 4 – Mapping bedding areas.
16:46
Part 5 – Scouting buck bedding areas.
13:35
Part 6 – Facebook live discussion of our mapping series.
29:29
We’re scouting a pond on public land and discuss strategies for hunting bucks near water!
10:43
We’re scouting overlooked open country habitat and find where the bucks are bedding!
11:28
Aaron, Ted, and Jake are scouting big timber for bucks!
11:22
Zach, Ted, and Dylan are scouting a river bottom for bucks!
11:23
Live Q and A podcast discussing how to scout and hunt four different habitat features!
22:09
Research & Planning
The aptly-named “Big Sky State” is on the top of many hunters’ bucket lists, and for good reason. Home to most Western big game species, Montana offers opportunities for both resident and nonresident hunters.
Learn
Montana hunter and photographer Steven Drake talks shed hunting strategy in onX Hunt’s latest masterclass, Shed Hunting With Steven Drake.
Learn
Brush up on black bear hunting tips, see how spring scouting compares to fall, and dive into state-by-state snapshots of black bear hunting seasons and regs.
Food & Cooking
Looking for wild game recipes? Here are some ideas including a recipe from MeatEater’s Steven Rinella.
Learn
Peak whitetail season is nigh. To improve your odds of success, it’s critical to study optimal shot placement from every angle. Bonus: Free placement chart.
Hunting Gear
With the release of onX Hunt’s new Trail Cam Integration, we checked in with our top whitetail ambassadors for their top trail cam tips and tricks.
With a comprehensive set of features for deer hunting, you can’t go wrong with onX Hunt.
Interested in hunting whitetail deer but not sure where to start? Read our guide on How To Start Hunting for tips on how to dive into the world of whitetail hunting, what gear you need, and how to gain knowledge.
An expert hunter is always scouting. With onX Hunt, you can scout from the comfort of your home all throughout the year. It’s critical to put boots on the ground as hunting season approaches to get the lay of the land and study deer movement.
It’s important to not alert your prey to your presence right before a hunt. Ensure that you have done all of your scouting in advance of hunting season to prevent spooking bucks.
See our other onX e-scouting guides for elk, waterfowl and upland birds.