Getting a deer on opening day

[Robbins290]

Did the same thing year, 15 mins into the season, never made it to the stand. 121 lbs, Would have barely been a 4 pointer but one antler was broke off.

 

[WestKentucky]

Where I grew up there was no excuse not to get a deer each time you went out in the woods. There are so many there that you see something, so a meat hunter could easily tag out in the first 10 minutes of the season. I always waited for a big doe or a decent buck. This year I’m hunting a new spot with less deer so if it’s brown it’s down.

 

[Robbins290]

That's how I always hunted, You can not eat the horns and I hunt for the meat. I am only allowed one a year and I shoot the first legal deer I see. Normally its bucks only, but sometimes I win the antlerless lottery. When I do, my motto then is like you said "brown is down"

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

Here in Kansas the bow season starts in Sept. and runs through December. The deer are pretty well "educated",especially on the public land, over that long period. It's bow only during the rut here and the 11 day rifle season isn't till early December with the opening day on a Wednesday.

 

[Ru4real]

Another trick for hunter pressured areas is to wake up late and road hunt from 8 am until 2 pm opening day. I’ve seen a lot of deer standing or crossing roads close to hunter trucks or cars. Then it becomes a spot and stalk game, for which I’ve shot a lot of deer this way.

It also give you a chance to pattern hunters, which are sometimes the determining factor in this shrinking world.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

I typically have good luck during ML season and the first weekend of modern gun.
I don't pattern deer year round.

I start in August (archery starts in Sept) feeding them, and I put up cameras.
I put out hundreds of pounds of corn between then and opening day.
I have game cam pics that show me when they're coming and going.

So, while I don't pattern them year round, I certainly do for the couple of months leading up to season.
By the time opening day comes around, they're used to coming to my shooting lane to eat, and I know about what time they're going to be there.
And yes, sometimes they fool you and do the exact opposite of what you think they're going to do.
That's why they call it hunting.