I'm no expert but
Well, first off, you're definitely on the right track by scouting the area. The more you can learn and understand, the better off you'll be. Hunting for deer is 90% being in the right spot, and being in the right spot is 90% a function of scouting. Yes, rubs will show you the bucks, but the rubs from this last season pre-rut may not mean that the bucks will use the same trails next year. You have to find the new rubs, starting in mid to late September to see where they're going to be staking out their new territory. Then at that time start looking for scrapes as well. You want to hang your stand or set up an ambush at a scrape if possible, because during the pre-rut & rut, bucks will visit each of their scrapes 2 or 3 times per day. Usually at night, but if you're lucky, they'll visit a scrape once in the daytime. Doesn't hurt to put some doe urine in one, or another buck urine or gland scent to get them fired up and visiting more often, but don't touch anything near the scrape that will put your human scent on it. The hard part is just finding the trails, rubs, scrapes. Scouting you will also see them occasionally of course. When you do, be stealthy & try not to let them see you (if you happen to see them first). The less conspicuous you can be (year round), the better. If they do see you, don't move until they leave the area. Leave a little doubt in their mind - they might think you are something other than human. You in Europe or North America or neither? Yeah, it will be a good time to look for antler sheds now through February, before the mice and rats start eating them completely as they will in the spring & summer, for the nutrients. Oh yeah, study those maps, and look for the natural funnels - places where stretches of timber narrow or where there is the shortest distance of open areas between 2 stretches of timber; or a bend in a creek is also a good funnel for the deer that are walking along it, but may go straight or around the bend when they reach it. If you are at the bend, then it doesn't matter which way they were planning to go; you've got them.
