Deer Hunting Knowledge you take for granted.

[Rhino]

Reading some of the responses to JimT’s question “Learn Anything” really got me to thinking. What are some of the knowledge and skills that we use every year that we believe improves our odds for bagging deer that we simply just take for granted. Some of the responses to Jim's question, like Saskman’s for example “big bucks structure consistently holds big bucks year in and year out” is just one of those things I took for granted that deer hunters knew. Let’s here some knowledge, tactics, or skills that you take for granted that some others may not have discovered yet.

Here’s one that was passed on to me from a friend of mine that just assumed everyone knew it. Going into an entirely new area how to you determine the prevailing wind direction? He simply looked at the tall grass and from the direction it was bent over, indicated which way the prevailing wind blew from. Pretty simple but something I never thought about.

Here’s one of mine. Most hunters (if not all) know that deer are by nature edge animals but possibly some people think of that more as the edge of a field or a fence line. Certainly they are edges but edges are more than just that. They also include and change in contour or structure too. That could be many things from one type of cover to another or the edge of a swamp. This past season one of the mature bucks I killed was due to hunting an edge. It was the edge of where a new timbered area met an open wooded area where dense cane covered the bottom next to a creek opposite the new timbered area. Mater of fact, both of the mature bucks I bagged this past year were from hunting an edge. The part of the edges I picked for stand locations coincided with a funnel.

Let’s here some of yours.

[Tominator]

Re: Deer Hunting Knowledge you take for granted.

4 things come to mind Alan, and you named 2 of them.

Wind direction, and edge habitat. In edge habitat, I'll go a step further and mention edge with corn nearby, and when the corn comes out. Corn really holds the deer because they use it for food and cover. I suspect they use it for cover more than food, so when I begin a season hunting, I almost ignore bean and wheat fields and concentrate on corn edge.

The other thing I take for granted is that deer shift their ranges constantly (around here at least). They may not totally migrate or anything like that, but they will shift their local range based on a lot of things I guess, but namely according to the growing season of the crops around here. As the crop come out and the rut kicks in, we'll see all kinds of deer we've never seen before, and might not ever see again after we spot them once.

The last thing I pay attention to almost instinctively is the moon phase. I know there's a lot of debate about how the moon affects deer, but in late October and early November I really look forward to the new moon during that period, and I'm up a tree as much as possible during that time.

[bulldawg]

Re: Deer Hunting Knowledge you take for granted.

Never rely totally on wind direction, as to where you focus your attention from a stand. Deer will walk with the wind now and then. Keep listening intently in case one decides to sneak in behind you.

[ThethirdI]

Re: Deer Hunting Knowledge you take for granted.

I know a lot of guys that will look outside at the pouring rain and say "I think that I am going to go back to bed." The two biggest bucks that I have ever seen in the wild while hunting were in the middle of the pouring... and I mean pouring rain. I guess what I am trying to say is...Hunt in the rain cuz the bucks are out there.

[Guest TheDanishDanger]

Re: Deer Hunting Knowledge you take for granted.

yeah the rain issue is good. I have found if you wait out the rain in your stand, the deer will start to come out and grab some food because in my theory, the deer stay bedded down when they know it's gon rain. So when it's over they all come out feedin and it's the perfect time to bag a doe or buck. It's worked for me.

[TreeWalker]

Re: Deer Hunting Knowledge you take for granted.

Find where the does are.....cause later on the bucks will find them too...

[horst]

Re: Deer Hunting Knowledge you take for granted.

Deer bunch up in the late season, it sounds pretty simple but a lotta begining hunters fail to take it into account.They continue to hunt the same stands they used in the early season and think the deer have either become spooked outta there or are only coming out at night.In reality theyve just bunched up and went to heavy cover with late season food sources.While theyre not seeing any deer I can continure to see 30 deer a night in a good year.

Deer are creatures of habit.With the crop rotation here between corn and beans you cant hunt the same areas every year.But most of the spots I hunt will produce deer every other year, deer are justnaturally drawn back into these areas as the crops change.

[ruttinbuc]

Re: Deer Hunting Knowledge you take for granted.

[ QUOTE ]

Deer are creatures of habit

[/ QUOTE ]

Hunters are creatures of habit as well. The biggest mistake you can make is burning out an area and having the deer pattern you. You need to change up your routine by having multiple stand setups or trees to climb for the ever changing wind direction. It also helps to have different entry and exit routes to and from those spots for the same reasons.

Knowing your area and the way the deer use it is also a plus. Getting your stands in place well before the season is important as well. Nothing messes up an area more than "in season" scouting. You can waste valuable hunting time and educate every deer in the neighborhood by trudging around looking for that "perfect spot."