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Author Topic: Deer Hunting Tips - Tips and Tricks  (Read 3775 times)

Offline john1972

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Deer Hunting Tips - Tips and Tricks
« on: September 11, 2016, 01:05:30 AM »
Don't let the deer know what you are doing.
Here is a rule I hunt by. I never walk if I can drive and I never drive if I can use the binoculars.
Stomping around on foot all over your hunting area is a sure way to let all the game know that you are after them. The best way I have found to check out an area is to sit for a few hours, preferably at dawn and dusk, at an elevated point, such as a hilltop. From there I have a good view over the area. With a pair of high powered binoculars in the range of 10 x 40 or 10x 50, I can observe from far away what the animals are doing without ever letting them know that I am in the area.
If this is not possible I drive around in the car. Cruising the country lanes and back roads spooks game very little, they are more used to see vehicles than people on foot.

Be different and kill a buck.
A good friend of mien has gone hunting for many years, but failed to shoot at anything. He asked me why that might be. In a brief conversation I found out that he does every year the same thing, even placed his tree stand in the same tree.
The only thing that constitutes insanity is to do the same things over and over again but expecting each time a different result. If it is not working what you have been doing then perhaps it is time to change what you are doing and if that means you have to get out of your comfort zone then so be it. It is often not what you do that spells the difference but what you are not doing but should do.

Avoid other hunters, deer do to.
To upon your hunting success and make it a lot more fun, take this advice to heart. First you got to hunt on some place where there are deer. Some hunters I know of hunt on places where there are no deer or very few and far in between. Second I always hunt places where there aren’t many hunters. This to me is the most important aspect. I know most of us hunt on public land, where it seems at times that there are more hunters than game. But even these places have pockets where other hunters do not venture to, for various reasons, mostly because these places are to far away from the car. Over the years I have become somewhat an expert on public land hunting and I always look for the places that other hunters don’t go to and that is where the deer go too. My very first Buck was killed on such a place. Right next to the parking lot in a thick dangle of undergrowth where no sane human being ever would think of going.

Deer calling that will bring the deer to you.
When I talk to hunters about deer calling then many complain that calling does not work for them. As I have often discovered in such conversations. The reasons are.

Calling where there are no deer. The deer need to hear your call to be able to respond to it. Deer are not like elk and turkey which react to prospective calling.
The wrong call at the wrong time of the season. Make sure you use the right call, i.e. A Doe-in-oestrus-bleat won’t work in the early season. A dominant buck grunt in an area where there are no big dominant bucks will scare all the deer out of the area. The same is true for very aggressive antler rattling.
The most common mistake hunters make is simply to call to LOUD. Deer don’t SHOUT at each other, they whisper. A deer hears about 500 times better than a human what sounds quiet to you is deafening to a deer.
And finally use a quality deer call, such as those from Modern Call Products. LLC. These calls come so close to the natural sound that you and more importantly the deer won’t know the difference. But not only are these calls top quality sound and material wise. They are also so small that they fit in the palm of you hand or you can keep them in your mouth with the bowstring pulled for that bleat to stop the buck just long enough to get the arrow into him.

Tree stand height.
Bring a few bow hunters together and get a conversation started about tree stand height and soon you have a very heated debate going. There are those that advocate 20ft. of the ground and even higher tree stand placement. While others are of the opinion that 12ft. to 15 is enough. Well the truth is that the most important aspect to tree stand placement is background cover and being able to get a clean shot at the deer. It is an irrefutable fact that the higher you climb up a tree the more likely you are to run out of both, the background cover and being able to make a good killing shot. That is just plain common sense.

Check your Equipment
Check your equipment when you get in the stand not when a buck walks out. Is your scope clear, will your bow draw back properly, shell in the chamber, etc. etc.

Stay to the last Minute
Don't leave before the legal shooting time is over. Probably the best time of the day to kill a buck is the last minute of shooting light. Don't leave your stand like me and most hunters tend to do, 10 minutes to early.

Lower the Bow Pull Weight
Many bowhunters have their bow poundage set too high. Not too high for the bow but to high for their arms. Its onething to be able to pull it in practice and quite another to be able to hold it steady for 30 seconds waiting for the deer to step out from behing that bush.

Hunt more!
To increase your success. Hunt more! Sounds dumb but its the truth. You say you hunt every chance you get when you don't have to work!!! Well that may be true but how much of that time is spent at the camp? Why not spend the middle part of the day in the woods? Staying in bed due to bad weather! Not a good excuse! Remember deer are killed every single day of the deer season. My biggest buck was killed in the middle of the day. The largest bodied deer was killed in between rain showers. You can scoff and say this is not a real hunting tip but I promise you one thing, if you were to live by this one rule it will increase your kill opportunities more than any other tip you find ANYWHERE.

Hunt a new stand location every day
When hunting a new area, or during the rut where bucks are constantly moving, it pays in the long run to hunt a new stand each day. This is the fastest way to learn the deer movement patterns.

Be mobile

Ever sat in a, oh so carefully, scouted stand and wondered why the deer move past your stand hundred yards out and not by your stand where they should? There are many reasons deer avoid your stand or simply have changed their travel patterns. Some hunters keep hunting the same stand day after day in the hope the deer will come closer. The smart hunter changes the stand location to where the deer are moving. A successful hunter is adaptabs to deer movement!

Wait, don't move that stand now!
If you have to relocate your stand, or set up a new stand in the middle of the hunting season, do it in the middle of the day when deer are resting and not in the morning or late afternoon when deer are on the move.

If you have any helpful deer hunting tips feel free to share them with our readers by adding them in the comment section.

My name is John
My website: http://hunthacks.com/
if you have any question please feel free to contact me
« Last Edit: September 11, 2016, 08:54:37 PM by john1972 »

Offline PNWJimbo

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Re: Deer Hunting Tips - Tips and Tricks
« Reply #1 on: September 11, 2016, 07:35:13 AM »
Hi John. I see this is your first post. I will use my first post to say thank you for such a great guide. Unlike you, I am coming here as an absolute beginner and newbie, so all of this advice is very helpful. I moved to Washington from the East Coast where no one really has guns or hunts in my area, so I am trying to learn as much as I can on the internet, and this kind of stuff is really helpful. After being here in WA for 2 years and developing a love for firearms and nature, I am ready to go hunting for the first time. Really hope I am able to fill my 1 tag this year. I have a lot of questions... is there anyone out there who is an experienced Deer hunter in the King/Snohomish county area that wouldn't mind if I PM them or something? Would really appreciate some mentoring.

Thanks again and have a good day everyone

-Jim

Offline Blacktail Sniper

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Re: Deer Hunting Tips - Tips and Tricks
« Reply #2 on: September 11, 2016, 09:04:48 AM »
 :hello:

Welcome!!

Lot of good information and helpful folks on here, a good reference/resource for blacktails to have on hand would be one of Boyd Iverson's books. 

We recently lost Boyd, but his books can still be found on the internet, ebay, etc. 
It is better to be consistently incorrect than inconsistently correct...

Sarcasm: The ability to insult stupid people without them realizing it. 

My level of sarcasm depends on your level of stupidity...

Sarcasm makes smart people laugh and stupid people mad.

Offline fishnfur

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Re: Deer Hunting Tips - Tips and Tricks
« Reply #3 on: September 11, 2016, 11:39:12 PM »
Hi John. I see this is your first post. I will use my first post to say thank you for such a great guide. Unlike you, I am coming here as an absolute beginner and newbie, so all of this advice is very helpful. I moved to Washington from the East Coast where no one really has guns or hunts in my area, so I am trying to learn as much as I can on the internet, and this kind of stuff is really helpful. After being here in WA for 2 years and developing a love for firearms and nature, I am ready to go hunting for the first time. Really hope I am able to fill my 1 tag this year. I have a lot of questions... is there anyone out there who is an experienced Deer hunter in the King/Snohomish county area that wouldn't mind if I PM them or something? Would really appreciate some mentoring.

Thanks again and have a good day everyone

-Jim

Welcome to the forum.  You should post this in the section for "hunt swaps/Partners".  More people will see it.  Good luck this season!
“When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car.”  - Will Rogers

Offline Skyvalhunter

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Re: Deer Hunting Tips - Tips and Tricks
« Reply #4 on: September 12, 2016, 05:32:42 AM »
Welcome aboard Jim.. Moderator Jackalope will be glad to help you and point you in the right direction he's a real nice guy.
The only man who never makes a mistake, is the man who never does anything!!
The further one goes into the wilderness, the greater the attraction of its lonely freedom.

Offline PNWJimbo

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Re: Deer Hunting Tips - Tips and Tricks
« Reply #5 on: October 12, 2016, 10:18:51 PM »
Thank you guys, sorry for the late reply. I did post over there but not much action on my thread   :dunno: :tung: I will message that mod!

Offline fishnfur

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Re: Deer Hunting Tips - Tips and Tricks
« Reply #6 on: October 12, 2016, 11:59:09 PM »
Bummer!  Sorry no one took the bait on your post.   

I recommend you stay out of the big timber this weekend during the big storms.  If all else fails, try going out (maybe next weekend) and finding a south facing slope in 5 year old reprod fir.  Locate a stump where you can see 50 - 100 yards down below you or across a draw. Big timber above or adjacent to your your spot would be a good thing too - the edge between clearcut and timber is where the action is.  Have a seat on your favorite stump, sit still  and look for deer bedded under trees with your binoculars while you wait for something to move.  As we get closer to the end of the month, the deer will move more during the day.
« Last Edit: October 13, 2016, 12:08:52 AM by fishnfur »
“When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car.”  - Will Rogers

Offline jackelope

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Re: Deer Hunting Tips - Tips and Tricks
« Reply #7 on: October 14, 2016, 12:12:11 PM »
Welcome aboard Jim.. Moderator Jackalope will be glad to help you and point you in the right direction he's a real nice guy.

Never been there. 
:dunno:
:fire.:

" In today's instant gratification society, more and more pressure revolves around success and the measurement of one's prowess as a hunter by inches on a score chart or field photos produced on social media. Don't fall into the trap. Hunting is-and always will be- about the hunt, the adventure, the views, and time spent with close friends and family. " Ryan Hatfield

My posts, opinions and statements do not represent those of this forum

 


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