Deer Hunting Simple Tips and Tricks

[JRT]

My advice would be to get out in the woods and hunt. I feel like there is a lot of over thinking going on in this thread. If you’re in the woods you will get your deer.

My receipts, nearly every deer I’ve killed since my first at age 13. My dad would chuckle every time we walked by these in the barn, he hung the mirror there on the left after I shot it off my truck woodchuck hunting, he loved to tell that story.

 

[wjsmall97]

Never ever put your gun or bow on the rack of a "dead deer" for pictures until you are completely sure he is dead.

 

[Buck F]

I feel like there is a lot of over thinking going on in this thread.

Bro, this is NES, that's what we do...

 

[bdb]

I like the chem light idea, I will definitely throw a few in my pack this year. I usually rely on leaving my lighted nock stuck in the ground by the deer, which also works but if I am going back to the truck for a sled or cart I may as well take the arrow to and not have to worry about it.

As for pigs, they are made for bow hunting. I hunted pigs for years spot and stalk. Not over bait or with dogs. Once you locate pigs, if you can keep the wind in your favor they are relatively easy to sneak in close to. Their eye sight is not like a deer but they will see movement very well. They also are not as alert as deer, less predators I guess. When you find a hog milling about feeding they are 10x easier to get to 20 yards than a deer. It's fun as hell!

 

[rep308]

Driving through Upstate NY while in college, I had to drive through some areas that claimed to be Indian Reservations. Most of the time they just sold discount gas, smokes and booze but while driving through during Thanksgiving break, I noticed they were selling deer, gutted and just hanging on a rack.

"Hunters" would go upstate, drink, whore around, gamble for a week and the day they had to go home, they would swing by the reservation and buy a deer. They would strap it on the roof and I'm sure make up stories for the folks back home.

 

[Fixxah]

Never ever put your gun or bow on the rack of a "dead deer" for pictures until you are completely sure he is dead.

Poke it in the eye with an arrow or the barrel of a gun and be ready to headpop that bad Larry.

 

[ccm75]

Take off your jacket and long sleeve shirt before field dressing, then put your orange vest back on (public land).
Remove your watch & wedding band also.
And don't set your knife down in the leaves or snow during the process and then not be able to find it....
I spent 10-15 minutes looking for my favorite little Buck knife after dressing out a deer in PA last year....

 

[MadatMarek]

I can’t share my best tip or you will all know why I’ve been banned from the petting zoo

 

[bdb]

Keep your gun within easy reach if you need to drop a deuce in the woods!

If you are still hunting and think you are moving slow enough, you probably aren't and need to go slower.

 

[kerryman71]

Dress in layers, and don't wear all of them in if you're humping in to a stand, otherwise you'll be sweating you're arse off by the time you get to your spot. I dress lightly for the trek in, and once I'm in my stand I'll add a layer. As time progresses and I cool down, another light layer may go on.

Also, squirrels make more damn noise than deer, so keep scanning while you're sitting there.

 

[sjohnston0311]

Any tips on hunting without scouting beforehand? Had another kid this summer, so didn't have the time to prepare. To make things even harder for myself, I usually hunt from the ground. I have a saddle, but I'm not a fan of heights.

 

[SS1]

Killing 5 deer and 1 turkey with your truck,
Does not get you any hunting cred ....

 

[fshalor]

These are 3 good ones.

Especially the last one....I've heard....It was a ten pointer, with a kicker and a scar near its front eye....or some bullshit more times than I can shake a stick at.....

my response is always....if you had fxcking time and you were close enough to count the points, or see any detail...........you had time to find a shot.

I've never known how many points are on a nice racked buck Im going to shoot ....I'm too busy looking for a shot opportunity. Not at the deer. Count the points when its laying front of you dead.

You should never be looking right at the deer, you should be looking ahead of it, at its travel path, and getting an idea where you are gonna draw (if you havent already) and shoot. That keeps you from accidentally making eye contact. I swear to god, if you stare at a deer long enough, it will know it.

It's the smell. Your smell changes instantly when you see one and are thinking about the kill. It's always the smell.

 

[kerryman71]

Any tips on hunting without scouting beforehand? Had another kid this summer, so didn't have the time to prepare. To make things even harder for myself, I usually hunt from the ground. I have a saddle, but I'm not a fan of heights.

Topography. Hunting apps like OnX are good, Google Earth, actual maps. Look for sources of food, swamps/water, ridges, saddles, transitions and travel corridors. Be willing to go further off the beaten path if you can.

 

[Mark from MA]

Topography. Hunting apps like OnX are good, Google Earth, actual maps. Look for sources of food, swamps/water, ridges, saddles, transitions and travel corridors. Be willing to go further off the beaten path if you can.

On X has changed hunting alot! . You now know who owns property instantly...and there are some town/state land honey holes you can get into without a lot of side work.

Plus being able to map your stands by wind direction, etc.....

I resisted buying it for a long time, now I really feel its one of my best tools, as I don't have gobs of scouting time either and for hunting a new state where you don't know much about the area, its awesome.

 

[Mark from MA]

Any tips on hunting without scouting beforehand? Had another kid this summer, so didn't have the time to prepare. To make things even harder for myself, I usually hunt from the ground. I have a saddle, but I'm not a fan of heights.

Hunting from the ground with a gun is not a problem. Im 50/50 on hunting from the ground with a gun.

Hunting from the ground with a bow and trying to get drawn......NFW. Not that you can't do it....but with archery your close. Gotta be in a tree or your gonna get busted 8 out of 10 times.
That said, I have shot deer from the ground with the bow. But its not something I'd want to do if I was after a certain big buck.

 

[sjohnston0311]

Hunting from the ground with a gun is not a problem. Im 50/50 on hunting from the ground with a gun.

Hunting from the ground with a bow and trying to get drawn......NFW. Not that you can't do it....but with archery your close. Gotta be in a tree or your gonna get busted 8 out of 10 times.
That said, I have shot deer from the ground with the bow. But its not something I'd want to do if I was after a certain big buck.

This is kind of what I figured, but then again, I'm not after any certain big buck. Any legal deer will do. Still gonna be tough though.

 

[HARRYM]

Don't be somebody's bird dog. Walk through the woods without snow and that's all you are. Even with snow it ain't walking, it's looking non-stop while creeping. They hear better than you and smell better than you. The majority of my kills are on stands or barely moving through the woods. Train yourself to SLOW down and master the art of sitting and waiting. Get yourself between a water source and the bedding area and sit down and settle in for the day.

 

[Mark from MA]

This is kind of what I figured, but then again, I'm not after any certain big buck. Any legal deer will do. Still gonna be tough though.

Then I'd still hunt, or make a ground stand. It can be done.

When the centennial watershed opened up in CT, I didn't have time to scout it. And I was scouting/still hunting spots as I went. I killed 3 deer the first Saturday doing that.
That said, the deer were not that educated and had seen humans before

 

[HorizontalHunter]

This is kind of what I figured, but then again, I'm not after any certain big buck. Any legal deer will do. Still gonna be tough though.

I hunt on the ground 100% now with the crossbow.

You need to really watch the wind. My preferred windacator is milkweed fluff (Stripped off the seed). It carries a long way even on a gentle breeze

You must break up the head/neck shape as it is distinctly human. I use a light weight ghillie suit that I touched up with some sneaky leaf.

 

[kerryman71]

On X has changed hunting alot! . You now know who owns property instantly...and there are some town/state land honey holes you can get into without a lot of side work.

Plus being able to map your stands by wind direction, etc.....

I resisted buying it for a long time, now I really feel its one of my best tools, as I don't have gobs of scouting time either and for hunting a new state where you don't know much about the area, its awesome.

Definitely. I use the waypoints a lot to mark areas where I have seen deer or there is a lot of sign, where my trail cameras are, locations for potential tree stands, etc.

 

[HorizontalHunter]

A little ”S” carabiner will keep your backpack compartments closed when going through thick stuff.

 

[Mark from MA]

Hopefully this will help guys new to stand hunting:


If your considering treestand hunting....take in to consideration where youll be hunting before you go buying equipment. The stuff out there for stand hunting and the different methods can be mind boggling. The cost is highest on the lightest, most packable systems, and the saddle hunting fad, and one stick thing is nutty. But it can be very effective to move around. Howver the lightest most packable stuff is typically NOT very comfortable.

Private land with good access (Atv or truck) - weight of stand and type really don't matter, cheap ladders that weigh a ton are fine. Get the comfyiest setup so you can stay out there the longest. No one should be messing with it, and you can buy a lot of cheap setups and cover your whole area and just leave them there and if you find better spots move them as you go.

State Land - If your not going too far, a climber like lone wolf, or summit will do, and be relatively comfortable. Alternatively XOP and Millenium have decent stands and sticks at moderate prices. I do like sticks, they are lighter and more packable and if you want to leave the stand there pull the bottom one or two and most people will leave it alone.

Deep State land or Multiple Moves - this is the newest fad. Though it is pushing the limits on stand design and packability, which I like and they will eventually come out with cheaper alternatives. You'll spend a ton of money to be light and mobile with lone wolf custom gear, or some of the one stick saddle setups. If you get into the latter, youll have to learn knots, lines, repelling down a tree. I sometimes thing these guys are more into tree climbing than hunting.....but Ive learned alot.

A little of everything - this is where I ended up and I have setups from a Summit Climber, to 4 light sticks (skeletors) and a Millenium M7 that weighs a total of 14 pounds, and carries like a dream, if I need to go deep. I also didn't spend Lone wolf custom gear money on it either. Ive also got some fairly packable XOP sticks and XOP stand for state land or private land where I feel no one will mess with stuff. With sticks, you can pull the last one (as I start up high with an aider) and keep people honest. I don't hunt out of the saddle only much...its hard on my back and not very comfortable for me, and I feel you give up some shots as well as compared to using a saddle in conjunction with a stand where you can shot almost anywhere.

Safety Harness.....I would not waste money on a dedcated hunting harness. I would spend your money on a good climbing harness or saddle. I've incorporated a saddle as my safety harness only now...and that's all I use. Its much more versatile. If I want to shoot backwards off the front edge, or sides of my stand, i can just hang in the saddle and do that....... I also use one sticking tech, to hang my steps, instead of the linemans' rope, and repelling down with a figure 8 to retrieve everything instead of climbing down, especially if Im keeping a few steps and the stand there. There are other more expensive replelling aids but the 8 works for me and its cheap. Make sure you use some sort of back up to your device when repelling and climbing. Alot of these clowns using one sticking don't. I backup with a friction hitch to my saddle.

Tether and Linesmans Rope- Instead of using prussic hitches, look into the variety of rope holders like Kong Duck and Ropeman 1 to be able to adust your linesman rope or tether as you go up the tree. (again, back them up) Look into the lighter styles of 8-9 mm ropes that like Res Tech, and Canyon, instead of using big 11-13 mm rope usually sold in these safety kits. The smaller rope is strong and much more packable. If you are one that runs your tether up the tree like I do when using a climber or sticks, use a rubber stopper or and accessory called the ohm, that keeps your tether loop from falling down the tree all the time. Stupid simple, but it saves frustration of your rope falling down and hitting the climber and clanking.

 

[slap shot]

 

[Drix]

When you shoot a deer from an elevated stand, try and relax and take inventory of the last tree or landmark when you last saw the deer disappear out of sight. When you get down from the stand, things will look significantly different. You may have to get back up there after and re assess from the stand exactly where you saw the deer, getting back up in the stand will make it easier.

I will usually tie something to the gun rest of my stand in the direction I last saw the deer, when I climb down I draw a line from that item to the center of my seat and try to extend that on the ground by dragging a nice deep line with my foot. More than once I've had to walk back to my stand, line up again, and walk back out to where I last saw the deer to pick up blood trail

When tracking its always best to have two people......not many more than that. Too many will ruin the trail. Use the guy or gal with the most patience and attention to detail stay on the found blood and move forward slowly, while the other person goes out ahead carefully looking for a carcass or obvious blood. You can cut tracking time down by hours by doing that.

For a few short hundred bucks you can pick up a thermal, it's not great for blood but it'll pull a body on a moonless cold night like no tomorrow. Cheating for hunting use IMO, but great for tracking.

I make a separate pouch in my backpack with my knife, gloves, zip ties, tags, clear plastic tag holders, cleaning wipes and a few headlamps for when I need to dress and tag a deer so everything is there in that one pouch and I'm not reaching with bloody hands into my whole backpack trying to find shit.

My knife sits on the outside of my bag, gloves are usually inside in a pocket.

And don't set your knife down in the leaves or snow during the process and then not be able to find it....

Oh man, done this before.
I don't know where the best place to put a knife is, but its not on the ground.