Explain to me like a 2 year old...

[Kayl]

This is my third season of hunting. I have somewhat of an idea what I'm doing, but not much. I scouted off season last year and have an area with lots of rubs located as well as a couple of scattered scrapes (in different areas) last year. I don't really have any movement locked down on camera and can hunt/scout Monday during the day.

My plan is to put some miles on my boots with the goal of finding some new areas. I'm hunting public land in SE Wisconsin that is mostly swamp/marsh with some hardwood as well. We have a bumper crop of acorns this year and I haven't been able to lock down a hot tree or feeding area.

What would you need looking for on Monday? I have a few isolated clearings deep in the woods that I wouldn't mind checking out, but I'm open to any ideas!

 

[jphillips97]

E-scout and look for transition lines (edges). Look for water. Look for typography. Fingers, saddles, draws.

 

[thedutchtouch]

Walk until you bump deer or find poop that's still steaming or scrapes that are still wet. Then hunt those spots. Did I get it @kyler1945?

 

[Exhumis]

Whew there’s a lot to cover there. Here’s some tips:
-Scent management. What I mean by that is the less you spread the better. Try not to touch everything in the woods, practice scent hygiene. Don’t wear street clothes hunting.
-Hunt the wind. That means once you figure out where you want to go, don’t hunt that spot if the wind is blowing your scent over a bedding area, travel corridor, close by food source. Try to get it blowing out over a field, lake, creek, cliff, etc.
-Sit still. Deer are masters of detecting movement. If you think you’re moving too much you probably are.
With those two primers out of the way, try to think like a deer, like a prey animal. I want to feel safe, minimize my exposure, move quickly but be able to see. That means look for forest edges where the deer will feed along but can dark back in. Look for choke points like funnels, trails, travel cooridors, saddles, etc where the deer would need to travel between two tight points, say where a forest transitions down into a tight spot, or where the forest thins out into one spot, etc. Here’s a pic of a place I hunt. I hunt the blue circle, the deer use the red line as a travel corridor and they bed down in the yellow circle.

This is not a large parcel at all, 15ish acres but myself and the other fella that hunt the property routinely pull 8 pointers out of there, he pulled a 10 last season. The deer walk back and forth and we catch them while they’re traveling. The red line is their travel corridor; there is enough woods there they feel safe as they don’t want to go further north or south which exposes them. This is just an example, try and find a similar situation. If you can post up a screenshot of there you’re thinking about going we might could direct you further.
This early in the season deer is focusing on feeding and building their winter stores. Here in a few weeks the bucks will get a case of the stupids and you could almost kill one with a baseball bat so that will change the dynamic of how you hunt. Same with late season when the browse and greens are gone, they’ll be hammering the late acorn and other nut drops so you’ll transition to food sources, and late crops, etc. those are just some starting points, I’d hit up stuff from whitetail habitat solutions, maybe THP, etc.
If you do nothing else and forget everything remember this: hunt the wind. If the deer scent you you’ll never even see them cuz they’ll steer far clear of you.

 

[Anobody]

If u look at it and say there aren’t deer there. Go there first

 

[Mschmeiske]

If you know of oaks dropping near any thick cover/potential deer bedding, play the wind and give it a sit and record your observations or who knows, maybe you’ll even have an encounter. I sometimes rely too much on cameras and have to remind myself it’s a small glimpse in time. A sit or two or three can really tell ya something about an area.

 

[MattMan81]

What are you hunting for? Deer in general? Bucks? Big Buck?
Deer have to eat. Deer have to sleep. Usually you can draw a line between the two and intercept. You just gotta get their with out being seen and smelled. Bucks tend to Cruze good coverage on the down wind side of doe bedding. Or will approach feeding areas from down wind tactical advantage. If you find hot sign, ask those questions.. where do you think they are bedding? Where are they going? Where can I sit to kill them.
If you don't find what your looking for. Keep walking. If you think it's to obvious of a location but the sign it there. Hunt it. Don't over think it.

 

[gcr0003]

 

[Weldabeast]

Drive vroom vroom to the dark forest but be sure to go potty before u leave bye bye. Wanna go on a walk? Don't forget ur snackies and sippy cup. Walk walk walk. Try not to get ur feet wet. Avoid strangers. Did u find some yucky poopie and bunches and bunches of tracks? Be careful careful careful and climb waaaaaaaay up there. Sit still and stop swinging.