How do I hunt whitetails, advice please.

[wt]

I am hunting over near sprague this year in some wheat fields that my cousin has in the family. I have hunted blacktails for the most part, but was able to get a nice three by three with eye guards on the same property last year just sitting down and watching a group of deer cross a wide open field out of range and hold up in a large pine thicket, then just stocked in on them. My question is, what are the tricks of the trade for the whitetail deer? For example; blacktails will tend to hold to cover and let you pass by, if its a down pour hit the bt woods, they will come out and scent check your back trail so look behind you from time to time etc. Mule deer bust and pause after a while for the shot. What do you expect from white tails? do you grunt or raddle, do they pause like mule deer? Will they hold to cover or explode over the next hill? Is there an active part of the morning 10-1 or is it dead from 10-3? I will be taking my 9 year old son out for his first deer hunt (with his own rifle) and want to increase our odds with some increased knowledge of our query. Thanks for any help you offer.

[lokidog]

I'd sneak in and set up on the pine thicket.  If the buck you shot thought it was a good place to hang out, another will as well.  Good luck to your son!

[fishnfur]

I have no first hand knowledge of hunting whitetails, but I've seen a ton of shows on TV and read perhaps a thousand or so pages of text regarding the issue. 

If you're hunting unknown territory, in my opinion, you should concentrate on geographic features similar to those you find BTs and Mulies using - brushy draws, saddles, trails following just below ridgelines, the inside corners of L shaped breaks in edges, or any other type of funnel you can locate on satellite photos or topo maps. Find the tight travel lanes the animals move through to increase your odds of seeing a legal deer.  Water this year should still be a major concern for the animals, so attempt to locate isolated areas that might have a spring or wet area or perhaps check out creek crossings which often occur in shallow areas between two bends. 

If you know what they eat and where, then concentrate your efforts on the edges of feeding areas. 

Not much help, huh?

[tgomez]

The Whitetail deer is America's most sought after big game animal. They are a very cunning deer that can adapt and live in the heat and dry areas of Texas and Mexico, to the extreme bitter cold of Canada. Whitetail are vey versatile in the areas that they call home whether being thick woods, or being miles out in argricultural fields laying in tall grassy side fingers. I personally like to spot and stalk whitetails. Try to look for trails where trails lead from bedding to feeding areas. If there is a point where these trails "funnel" into a place where the trees and cover meet with the edge of the feeding areas, then play the wind and try to hunt there. Deer drives can be awesome for whtetails. Set up the shooter where escape trails are with the wind in his/her face and have another hunter start 1/2 mile away and try to push deer twoards the hunter who is set up already. When moving be VERY aware of your surroundings. Take a few steps then stop and scan the area with your eyes looking for an ear/tail flicker, piece of hide, deer legs, etc. Use your binoculars to pick apart brush and see into the shadows of the forest. Try to step as a deer would, and not just simply walk through the forrest. Be slow, quiet, and methodical in your approach. Watch where you are placing your feet as to not snap twigs and brush that could alarm the deer. If you do, stop and listen very carefully for a couple minutes and scan area with your eyes before proceeding to move again. If you jump a buck from his bed and he presents you with an oppurtunity, you usually only have about 3 secounds to get on him and make a shot before you see a "white flag" waving at you by, and is out of sight. Whitetail bucks are a fun and tough challenge, but are a true trophy not to mention a blast to hunt. So move slow, scan with eyes/bionoculars, keep wind in your face and you should do just fine. Hope you get what your after, God bless, and good hunting to you and your child.

[jasnt]

Some times wt will hold to cover but often they bust. One thing I've learned is they like circling back. If you bust a nice buck and he disappears over the hill. Back off a ways down wind. And post up. 30-hour. Many times he will come right back to his hidey hole

[MuleDeer]

WT are very transition-oriented deer.  Look for transitions between habitat and/or cover.  Around ag lands, they will find an area of protective cover and "hold" there until they feel it is safe to enter the fields.
They are generally not curious at all, and tend to think that all stumps are hunters out there to get them!
The biggest difference between WT and other deer, are that WT are very much creatures of habit.  If you can start from far off and watch them, they will tell you what you should do the next hunt.  Unless they are spooked off of a pattern, they most likely will do the same thing every day.  My advice would be to start at a distance, where you can observe their patterns, then base your hunt off of that.  Ask the local landowners what they usually see the deer doing at certain times of day, and it can give you a good head start.  Good Luck!

[Jarhead Chase]

Apparently setting up a turkey decoy and trying to call them in works pretty well too. I've had several come in to see what all that racket is. Had a moose come in when I was chasing my spring gobbler. 😂

[kball4]

Is it worth the time to rattle and call during modern season?

[tgomez]

Is it worth the time to rattle and call during modern season?

During the rut yes it is. Not till late season for modern.

[jasnt]

Is it worth the time to rattle and call during modern season?

very light rattling can work early mf.  I'm getting pics of bucks having little bouts but they last about 3 sec and it looks more like playing. I've had luck early just bumping the antlers together a few times every 20 min. Late season is more the fight time.

[Smoke]

White tails will pattern a lot easier then mulies and BT's... they pretty much stay in the same area their entire life as long as cover and food remains and follow the same trails... find the trails they use from beds to food, they will be covered in scat, fresh and old... try to find where 2-3 trails converge or cross and set up your tree stand down wind...  if ya bust one goin in or out, back off and watch your backtrail or down wind side... if they didn't get a good look at ya they will circle around and watch you to see what ya do/where ya go... if close to or during the rut the big bucks will be following the does, just off the main trails in the thicker cover... watch for them sneaking thru about 10-15 yards off the main trails about 2-5 minutes behind the does...
of course, if the hunting pressure is hard, with lots of jerks walking around in the woods, all bets are off...

[wt]

Thank you very much for the reply's. The time is drawing near and I'm starting to worry about not having enough time to get everything done before we go hunting. My boy is getting really stoked as well and we are feeding each others fire, this is the first year I'm not the only hunter in the house. Keep the input coming if you are so inclined. Thanks

[AKBowman]

Are you kidding me WT?! If you can kill the caliber of BT bucks that I've seen from you than WT's are going to be a cake walk!

This is your year. Don't forget to post pics! Good luck!

[KFhunter]

Still hunting is not very successful for WT early season, better during active rut but almost impossible to still hunt a big nocturnal WT buck. Walking slowly through the woods will show you lot's of white flags and very few shot opportunities.  Small bucks might pause like a mule for a shot but not a big one.  Big ones also will hold cover and slip out, you won't even know they were there a lot of times.  I still hunt for them occasionally, and see the big tracks of the ones I missed that slipped out on me.  In my experience very few people can still hunt properly.  Most people think they're still hunting but it's more like busting brush for an "on the wing shot" at a deer hoping for that broadside pause.

Ambush is the most popular and most successful WT tactic,  put your back to a tree (or in a stand, or in a blind) where deer move through and sit n wait.  WT move more than BT so sitting is a good option.  Always mindful of the wind.  Brush blinds work very well when built ahead of time. 

baiting works well especially late season,  drop a little doe n heat around the bait and bigger bucks will scent check the area, it's so saturated with doe urine he can't resist..he probably won't even feed just pop in and sniff around a few minutes then leave.

[PolarBear]

 
Whitetails are sooooo much easier to pattern than blacktails.  Finding where they travel and just sitting and waiting for them has put a LOT of big whities on my wall.