Some may say these are the good old days of bird hunting. We have access to space-age gear and fancy gadgets that make being afield a breeze. From the modern marvels of GPS technology that help us control and keep our dogs safe to the game-changing, high-performance apparel that prevent us from becoming even a tad uncomfortable. We sure have come a long way since cowbells and flat collars, waxed cotton, buffalo plaid, and briar chaps. 

We’re also fortunate to have an overabundance of content and information right at our fingertips. From Facebook forums, digital intel, and must-have mapping apps, e-scouting has begun to dominate the approach many of us bird hunters take to our questing of the uplands. Digital scouting has certainly changed the way we hunt and it's a very handy tool, but the best bet is to always put findings to the test through ground-truthing. Any good scouting regime should never start and end on a screen. Part of the allure of the wild uplands comes from the sheer adventure and the experience of figuring things out on your own. Just get out there, that's part of the upland adventure. It could be a boom or a total bust, but no matter what, you just need to go.

Missing Information

There’s no debating the instant gratification that comes from accessing a heap of information at your fingertips through a mobile app or mapping program on your computer. Within a few clicks, you can save yourself a ton of time and avoid the hassle of knocking on doors and playing private land detective to find out who owns the cover you’re trying to hunt. If you’re lucky, you may find the right software or live in an area that has up-to-date details on the current landowner and property lines. Unfortunately, for some of us there seems to be a lag in relaying changes into the digital scouting software. While most states’ interactive maps and our favorite mobile mapping applications do a pretty good job at keeping pace with property changes, there are times with delays and inaccuracies. 

I’ve had a few instances where I thumbed onto a parcel only to find no owner or address attached to it. I’ve also arrived on location to find out there’s been a recent change of ownership or a property was subdivided and now has an excavator digging a foundation where a gang of grouse used to call home. Knowing these transfers can occur quickly and to maximize efficiency during the season, I spend the summer months on the ground keeping a pulse on the properties I like to hunt. The local cover I began hunting in where I once had free and easy access to a premium woodcock hangout is now completely inaccessible behind a shield of fresh posted signs guarded by an adamant anti-hunting landowner. Luckily, I caught this before the season and made plans to hit a new cover on opening day.

Ultimately, it’s up to us to stay on the right side of the law and on the good side of landowners. There’s never a bad time of year to ground truth your virtual findings and save some time when the hunting heats up. Go burn some rubber and boot leather during the off-season. Put eyes on new cover prospects, monitor an existing inventory of haunts, knock on doors, and check in with big game hunters, state wildlife agencies, and other resources to ensure everything adds up. Getting your land ownership and access information right through putting in the work prior to opening day will pay dividends in the long run.

Weather & Water

Aside from viewing any specific layers in your mapping programs that account for precipitation accumulations, you run the risk of making a big e-scouting snafu if you don’t somehow corelate your mapping research with local weather charts, rainfall totals, and other meteorological data. Simply looking at an aerial view of an area may only show you the composition of the landscape but may not reflect current water levels and soil moisture content. Having some intel on whether there was an adequate winter snowpack and spring rain events to recharge the area’s waterbodies and saturate the soils can make for all the difference when looking to target an area. This is especially true for western quail and chukar hunters seeking water sources or woodcock hunters searching for moist ground. 

Knowing something about the weather in an area during the spring mating and nesting season can also give you a better understanding of how the hatch and chick-rearing period might influence the abundance or absence of birds you might expect to find during the hunting season. After gathering what information and data you can, the only way to sort this stuff out is to go for a drive and take a hike. 

Prior to losing my aforementioned timberdoodle honey hole, I made the mistake of marching in one opening day hoping to move some birds, only to find out the beaver dam that flooded the cover had failed. The area was dry as a bone without a woodcock to be found. A lot can happen to a tract of land, even in just a few months. Get out and scout during your down time to avoid coming up under water or high and dry the next time you’re visiting a new-to-you cover.

Under Pressure

For several years, I kept that favorite woodcock cover a safeguarded secret and hunted it all on my own. After making friends with another local uplander and sharing a few hunts together, I was in shock and disbelief when he showed me “a promising spot” on his onX Hunt app that we should check out for our next hunt. As you can probably guess, my secret spot was no longer my secret. It just goes to show that if an area looks good to you, it’s bound to look good to other hunters too. Most of us are now quite proficient at picking out prospects from aerial photos and quickly key in on birdy places.

Digital mapping software doesn’t say anything at all about hunting pressure, at least not all by itself. It doesn’t broadcast whether or not the public area or private-owned public access plots on your destination road trip hunt get hammered by locals or contain an untouched bounty of birds waiting just for you. This is why it always pays to have a stable of places to visit. If you show up to a spot and there’s already a few trucks in the parking lot, it may be time to turn to Plan B … or C. But this can also be a sign to suggest that you’re on the right track. Keep searching for other similar-looking areas nearby and plan to push into those. Eventually, you will find a prime parcel that opens up for you alone and you’ll be glad you took the time to find it.

Don’t Take the Bait

Digital scouting (more than thumbing through maps on cell phones) now encompasses hanging around on social media to see how your followers are faring in their area or which hot spot is being blown up on the Facebook forums today. Planning a trip west this season? There’s no better way to get started than to start trolling the World Wide Web, listening to podcasts, and reading up on articles depicting the incredible hunting ahead of you at your chosen destination. 

Don’t fall victim to the siren song of social media as you could easily be lured into thinking there’s nothing too it or you could be unintentionally misled with improper information. Without knowing the whole story of when/where/how to hunt an area, you could fall short by not hitting it at the right time or missing the mark by a bit. With the extra pressure of a long drive and added logistics to any destination hunt, don’t let the influence of others steer you into this common digital scouting downfall. If you’re going into an area expecting to do well because you saw someone else crush it, you might be setting yourself up for some disappointment.

This type of intel gathering is certainly viable when done properly but use your discretion and consider this tactic to be beneficial in giving you a starting point for your upcoming upland adventure. Set proper expectations when you step foot into the unknown and don’t be afraid to make your own measures of success that don’t equate to a loaded vest or a limited-out pile pic. Instead, set your sights on the thrill of the journey and you’re bound to come out on top.