Why You Should Still Glass from the Road

For a lot of folks, driving and glassing is a way to scratch the deer-hunting itch until opening day. But done right, it’s more than a drive. It’s a low-impact, high-reward way to scout late-summer deer. So if you’re looking to scratch that itch, here are a few ways to make those evening drives actually count.

Some folks might say driving around to look at deer is about as outdated as a .30-30. Quaint, even laughable, in the age of cellular trail cameras and mapping apps. But I still kill deer every season with my grandfather’s Winchester ‘94. Sure, I’ve got access to flashier, faster rifles. But that old lever gun just works. And just like Grandpa’s rifle, a slow evening drive still gets the job done.

For one, glassing from the truck doesn’t pressure your spots. You won’t bump deer or stink up a field edge. Instead, you watch from a distance, which means the deer are usually relaxed and unbothered, especially on this side of hunting season.

Modern trail cams can text you a picture of a buck the second he walks by, but even the best camera only sees what’s right in front of it. You’re limited by where you stick it, what it’s pointed at, and how many you can afford before your cell plan starts looking like a mortgage.

But glassing from the truck gives a wide-angle view of deer behavior. In ag country, that means from the right spot, you can see an entire field. You see where they come in, where they leave, how long they hang around, who bullies who, and which one disappears the second the wind shifts.

After a few nights, you start to notice patterns: which corners the bucks like, which edges show the most activity, and which fields stay quiet. That’s the kind of pattern recognition you can’t just phone in.

Evenings are typically the best time to glass from the road. Late-summer bucks feel most comfortable stepping out into the open around the last 90 minutes of daylight. Thanks to long summer hours, this should give you plenty of time after work or dinner to hit a few spots. You don’t have to cover the whole county. You just need to be in the right places at the right times.

Late summer is like a buffet line for whitetails, and they’re big-time thinking with their stomachs. As the heat of the day fades into evening, deer head for food, and that’s where you want to be watching. Look for beans, clover, alfalfa, hay, almost anything green and lush, especially if it’s away from human traffic.

Hot spots are edges near thickets, overgrown fence rows, thin strips of timber, and crops tucked behind a tree line. Focus on areas with a good range of visibility, especially where you don’t have to stop evening traffic. You don’t want to be the jerk who blocks the road with his hazard lights on while he whips out the spotting scope. Instead, strategize your stops for easy pull-offs, tractor entrances, or along roads with wide shoulders.

Once you’ve mapped out a loop, make sure your approach doesn’t blow the whole evening. Coast in quiet if you can. Don’t slam the door (seriously, it still needs to be said). Bring good glass. You can use a solid pair of binoculars or a spotting scope to pick out antlers without ever setting foot in the field.

It’s easy to get tunnel vision when a big velvet buck steps into a field, but if you want your scouting to count, you’ve got to zoom out.

Watch how deer enter and exit. Are they slipping through a low spot in the fence? Following a ditch line or hugging a brushy corner? Those entry points are often their exit routes, too.

Take note of timing. Are deer showing up 10 minutes before sunset? Thirty? Velvet bucks tend to be habitual. If they feel safe, they’ll keep using the same routes at roughly the same time.

Watch how long they feed and where they hang out. Are they deep in the beans or lingering near cover? If you spot a bachelor group, study their behavior. Who’s cautious? Who’s cocky? These dynamics matter once it’s time to hang a set.

And don’t overlook does. If the field looks jittery, ears twitching, fawns stiff-stepping, glances darting to the treeline, something’s off. That could be coyotes, trail cam traffic, or another hunter making loops. Jumpy deer in August means you’re probably not the only one watching this spot.

It’s not flashy intel, and it won’t show up on your map app. But knowing where the pressure isn’t can be just as useful as knowing where the bucks are.

So take notes. Seriously. Whether it’s a field journal, a voice memo, or a crumpled napkin, jot it down. Patterns emerge fast when you’re paying attention. And those patterns are how opening day plans take shape.

Seeing a buck step into a field is great, but watching the arrow disappear behind its shoulder is even better.

Once you observe where deer enter and exit, drop pins, outline trails, and use satellite maps to backtrack their likely travel routes. Look for things like low spots, ditches, and benches that bucks may be using to get from bed to feed without being seen.

Then figure out how you can get close without blowing it. That might mean a stand 40 yards off the field on the downwind side of a staging area. Or maybe it’s a quiet sneak along a creek bottom to hunt the backdoor trail no one else is watching. Either way, don’t rush in. Early-season deer are patternable, at least until they’re not. You don’t want to be the thing that blows that pattern because you hung your stand in the first good tree.

If you’ve seen the same buck enter the same field at the same time for three nights straight, and the conditions line up, go for it. But one sighting at last light isn’t enough to hang a stand on. Keep watching and taking notes until you build a pattern.

Driving and glassing in late summer might feel like a throwback, but if you’re paying attention, it can shape your entire early-season plan. You don’t need a dozen cameras or a PhD in deer movement. A tank of gas, good binos, and a few quiet evenings will do just fine.