give it up, deer hunting secrets

[moooose102]

what is YOUR single most important thing about choosing a hunting spot? the single thing that either makes, or breaks the sight. scrapes, food, water, bedding area, etc., etc.. if it does not have this one particular item, you dismiss it completely. for me, i look for fresh scrapes, then other signs. and try to find as many as i can to try to evaluate the area.

 

[bps3040]

Funnel points and look for does. Where the does are the bucks will follow.

 

[Deer Hunter]

The following will SECURE you a deer in the freezer....































PRACTICE BEFORE YOU GO HUNTING!

If you can't hit the deer, you wont be much use out in the field.

 

[Art Eatman]

I always try to figure out the country. Where the deer are likely to bed down, where is the water, where are the feeding areas. Then, if I'm gonna sit, I want some elevation to see down into the brush. I prefer the wind in my face, although cross-wind is okay. And, best with the sun behind me.

Mid-day, I like to walk or sneaky-snake around, working into the wind. Kick bucky out of bed. Up close and personal is fun.

"Real" bucks tend to bed down on the downwind side of a crest and near a brushy saddle. They can see or hear any booger's approach from below, and smell or hear anything coming over the ridge. When spooked, they'll go uphill and upwind with the cover of the brush in the saddle. Does and little bucks will run any old whichaway. Anyhow, ease along the length of a ridge, crosswind.

When moving, bucks tend to go up draws and off toes. Dunno perzackly why.

Note: There ain't no "always". Not every buck has read my book, "What Deer Do".

 

[wankerjake]

I'd say pre-season scouting. Here in AZ, deer hunting is never a sure thing, we just don't have the numbers. Once you find a spot you should scout it out pre-season to make sure they are still there. It happens time and again, one year I'll find a spot that has all kinds of deer, next year or come fall there are little or none. They have moved completely out of the area. Can't shoot one if they aren't around. We don't have many rut hunts with rifle (hard to get drawn for) so you have to find the bucks before the season, you can't rely on does to have bucks with them. One year I saw at least 100 does before I saw a buck.

 

[Sinixstar]

Pre-Season scouting is absolutely one of the most important things in my opinion. Spend some time over the summer, and before the season starts walking the woods, looking for trails/tracks/evidence of deer movement, develop a plan.
Where I hunted we were lucky, because there was a range near by. We could go out in the morning - go for a little hike to check on the deer, then head over and shoot for a few hours - make a day out of it. Also gave us motivation to go more often.

These days - i'd make use of some of the technology out there like google maps. Might not be the first thing people think of - but you can get a better idea of what's in the area, sometimes even see heavily used paths.

Check this for example:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=kingsbury+indiana&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=57.030354,79.101563&ie=UTF8&ll=41.523827,-86.601378&spn=0.001669,0.002414&t=h&z=19

That's an area I used to hunt. From the ground - you can tell deer definitely move through the area, but from the air - you really get a sense of the sheer volume of movement. (Yes, those tracks are all made by deer!)

Aside from the basics of knowing your weapon of choice, and being able to make the shot - the 1/2 the battle is knowing when/where the deer are going to be. If you don't know where the deer are going to be, and when - you're just sort of stumbling around the woods hoping to come across something by chance. A little intelligence gathering gives you a greater number of opportunities to take a shot.

 

[d2wing]

Sure I'll tell you my secrets. But wait, they're secret. There isn't much to tell because the hunting mags pretty well cover it. Scent control, good scouting,
good shooting, experience. Getting a good spot to hunt is the biggest part of it. Then do everything right, then pray.

 

[AKGuy]

...figure out the lay of the land and the behavior patterns of your game animal according to season/terrain/species...and practice practice practice with your firearm or bow. Same as any responsible hunter...I guess the about the only other "thing" that I regularly do that seems to have upped the number of successful hunts is use either cover scent or scentblock or both...

 

[stiab]

Fake scrapes work, bleat calls work some time, rattling works some times. I don't use any cover scent, don't wash my hunting clothes in any special detergent, and don't hang my hunting clothes outside, but DO PAY CLOSE attention to wind direction and use the odorless powder squeeze bottles to determine what it is. I have killed 4 bucks this year and passed up several other bucks/does by doing the above. I highly recommend it.

 

[Greg.B]

There are many 'secrets' as the others have said, but for me, the two most productive have been to hunt the funnels and to use natural cover.

I've had much more success hunting from the ground in natural cover such as a fallen tree as I have from man made ground blinds or commercial treestands. I suppose it's because the animals are more accustomed to seeing those items and don't even pay attention to them since they're there year round, as opposed to ground blinds, stands, etc. that we put up before the season and take down afterwords.

I'm not saying that man made blinds and stands aren't effective, and in certain situations I still use them. YMMV

 

[Cocked & Locked]

corn

 

[DRYHUMOR]

In January, I do my scouting to see the most recent and heavily used trails. Late season travel is a bit different from early season travel when there hasn't been any pressure.

I also used to also clear trails, coming off of a deer trail. I'd cut branches, rake the leaves to the bare ground, and keep the leaves and trail clean all through the spring. Once I see that there is good use on it, I leave it alone. This is a good way to route the deer where you want them. Does with fawn will use it, the fawns will continue as they age, and then the cycle repeats. I've got one trail I made nearly 10 years ago to feed into a field. Still in use. Shot a nice buck a couple of years ago that came out on it,

Mid summer onward, I don't step into the deer woods ever. No meanderings, no scent trails, no surprise jumps or scares.

When the season opens, I go to and from the stand only.

I've seen deer stand just off of the road or fence line and watch as I've passed by, make one move into "their" territory, or make eye contact, zoom- they are out of there. They are used to activity in the field, they will accept that as "normal", but not activity within what is their territory.

It's hard enough to hunt where I hunt, everyone else shoots anything that walks all around me. I figure my land is the sanctuary. But with all the pressure, as the season goes by, they become more and more nocturnal.

I never hunt an individual stand more than twice in 3 weeks. I know you may have short seasons, you may look into having 4-5-6 stands you can hunt from, changing every day or two.

 

[interlock]

Secrets..... Bullsh**

There are no secrets only basics. if you follow the basics like rules you will kill deer.

1) PRACTISE UNTIL YOU ARE A GOOD SHOT WITH THE RIGHT KIT.

2) TRY TO LEARN YOUR GROUND

3) DEFINATELY READ ABOUT YOUR GAME AND LISTEN TO GUYS THAT KNOW (BULLSH** IS EASILY FILTERED)

4) PLAN YOUR HUNT

5) HUNT THE WIND

6) MOVE AS SILENTLY AS A NINJA ON SAS TABLETS.

7) START MOVING REALLY SLOWLY THEN SLOWDOWN

8) USE YOUR BINOS

9) SHOOT WITHIN YOUR CAPABILITIES (WHICH YOU WILL KNOW BECAUSE OF YOUR PRACTISE)

MOST IMPORTANTLY



























BE SAFE, YOU ARE NO GOOD TO YOUR WIFE AND KIDS DEAD

 

[kolob10]

Preseason & post season scouting! Keep notes on rubs, scrapes, bediing areas, escape routes, travel corridors. I use a GPS and mark each area with a waypoint with detail. I then go home and study the maps. One can pretty much calculate the best areas to hunt. I get a decent buck every year here in Southern Indiana. Good Shooting!

 

[bobby n.]

there are three things , three rules i go by.

rule one.. pre season scouting...look, listen and plan ahead
remember the 7 p methodology
previous proper planning prevents pi$$poor performance
rule two: scent. a buck can discern
one drop of doe urine from a mile away. dont think bambi can't smell you. thats how his nose is hardwired
rule three. leave a plan with someone in case something happens. if you don't show up when you say, let someone know where you plan on being. carry water to drink, matches in a waterproof case and a good sharp knife and other small essentials with you. you never know when something untoward might happen. again the seven p rule applies

 

[caribou]

First I send the kids off to protective custody, for their own safety....Then,because the kids have taken my.22 Crackshot to go BrownBear hunting while their being watched, I go armed with my .50 cal Barret Semi auto (with hunt legal 5 rd magizine) , I shoot randomly at sounds and shadows, untill Im out of shells, then I turn my 3 pack of Bloodthirsty Arctic Gray Timber wolves loose, give them 10 minutes, and wade through the forrest , knee deep in the blood and gore of slaughterd deer left to rot when the wolves killed them for fun and eat only creamy insides, like an ungdulate Twinky.

I sort them out in piles, throwing the Bull Moose, mature Beef and trophy Elk into one pile for burning, and the scraps of the Deer Im hunting into the truck for sausage.

Then I pose with my "Goooood Buck" racks and send them out for a full body mount and hang my Wolves up till next season.

Yep....heres picture of those Wolves, caught in the act of ripping the skins and tearing the heads off the still living Caribou.....please stand away from the picture, they can still bite!

DANG!!! I dropped the heads somewhere.......


My wife loves it while I stand there, drinking hot coffee, telling her all her mistakes untill shes cleaned every animal.

Then we usually go out to eat....'cause vinisen tastes funny

 

[janobles14]

THE secret for the southeast at least....

find the acorns early...find the fields and browse later. get deep in the woods early...run after does mid to late.