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Give one tip on deer hunting

SNIPERBBB said:
Learn how to trap...you see so and learn so much more when you're trying to put a piece of steel in the ground that has 8-20 square inches of kill area. Tom Miranda was a big trapper before he was the known as a big time bow hunter. Last couple of years at out National Trappers Association convention he's given demos on how trapping has made him a better hunter.
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Believe it or not we just started dabbling in it last year. Just have three traps. My neighbor has sole trapping rights to the biltmore estate. He is stinking good at it.
 
Loopwing said:
Kyler nailed it. Boots on the ground. Another thing, just kill deer! Everyone wants to shoot the biggest, baddest buck. If you don't get pumped up by sticking a doe, you might want to find a different way to spend your time. Shooting a big buck is awesome, but dropping the hammer is dropping the hammer.
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I agree with shoot what excites you (within the law). But shooting does isn't for me. Taste great, but just doesn't excite me. Enjoy seeing them. I don't mind passing on bucks either, though I shoot bucks others here might pass. It's not book or bust or anything.

I guess my advice is do it your way, however that plays out. Don't feel beholden to expectations of other hunters. Most of all enjoy hunting.
 
My biggest advice is practice like you hunt. If you hunt from a treestand or saddle, practice from it. If you’re gonna be sitting on a stool or bucket, do that. That helps with not experiencing the draw and shot process for the first time when a deer comes in. Quality practice over quantity.

Second piece that I’m constantly reminding myself: if you’re gonna hunt elevated, don’t worry about height, worry about cover. If the cover is at 8 feet then climb there, not past it.
 
My biggest thing about shooting does, is people come on here and talk about getting discouraged because they aren't shooting anything, but aren't shooting what is available. Ever piece of land doesn't hold a Booner. Some spots you hunt might have a basket 6 as the largest deer or over populated with does. That is why I love game cameras all year round over bait or trophy rocks. It gives me a catalog of my huntable.
During the rut all bets are off though.
 
Get some experience killing any deer that makes you happy about antler size.

spend 4X more time scouting than hunting for the best chance at success. Learn to be a better woodsman every time you set foot in the outdoors. Whether that is reading tracks, rubs, scrapes, identifying tree species or identifying human pressure.

take everything us yahoos recommend with a grain of salt and be a critical thinker for yourself.
 
Robert loper said:
No doesnt really matter.
I have killed a ton of deer over the years going in blind during gray light.
Key is take your time.
In my high pressured areas I hunt, Deer actually move all day long.
People i think are misinformed that deer lay down at sunup and never get up until sundown.
This is total hogwash. Maybe in extreme conditions like relentless deer drives or even some sort of excavation intrusion.
Just yesterday i had two bucks a doe and her two fawns in the bean field behind the house at 11:30 am.
note that thry are most likley bedding teally close to field edges but they were up on the hoof.
The whole thing is that they dont move that far during daylight hours might only be 20-50 yards to chew on some sort of browse nearby. Really all depends on how much pressure is on them but, they still move all day long.
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I’m always reminded of just how little I know when it comes to deer. Driving with fam other day it was 90 degrees out mid day and the fields were filled with deer, we musta seen 20 plus and I mildly commented huh it’s hot figured deer would be bedded down and my 7 year old remarked deer gotta eat dad. Like well duh.
 
Loopwing said:
My biggest thing about shooting does, is people come on here and talk about getting discouraged because they aren't shooting anything, but aren't shooting what is available. Ever piece of land doesn't hold a Booner. Some spots you hunt might have a basket 6 as the largest deer or over populated with does. That is why I love game cameras all year round over bait or trophy rocks. It gives me a catalog of my huntable.
During the rut all bets are off though.
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Very true. Parcels I hunt there is land nearby thst hold bucks cuz I’ve got them in cam but my parcels mostly have does. If I never shot does I’d hardly ever shoot anything
 
Exhumis said:
Very true. Parcels I hunt there is land nearby thst hold bucks cuz I’ve got them in cam but my parcels mostly have does. If I never shot does I’d hardly ever shoot anything
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I shooting at what gives me chance. .46 bucks per square mile and .96 either sex deer per square mile. The only thing safe is mommas with babies and babies. I’m talking spotted babies.
 
I map trails too, and work backwards too. Figure out where they're going and then look at why. Of course I'm yet to kill a deer so put some extra salt with that one lol
 
Be quiet. Be still.

There's 1,000 great tips for being more successful hunting deer, but that one is #1 in my opinion. Because if you don't do that, then everything else good that you did won't matter much at all.
 
Lowg08 said:
I have a rudimentary method. I’ll find a deer trail and follow it til it’s nothing or find fresh sign. I try to map it. That way I can go back and look for pinch points, elevation change, beds and food along the way.
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This is exactly what ive been doing for 3 years now. Find a food source on a map whether it be oak flat, field, or cutover. Go there and start following deer trails off it. Some kind of fizzle out, some take me to active scrape areas and some take me to prime bedding areas I never knew about. I take it a step further and set up trail cams on the good ones to confirm or deny my assumptions.
 
philsanchez76 said:
This is exactly what ive been doing for 3 years now. Find a food source on a map whether it be oak flat, field, or cutover. Go there and start following deer trails off it. Some kind of fizzle out, some take me to active scrape areas and some take me to prime bedding areas I never knew about. I take it a step further and set up trail cams on the good ones to confirm or deny my assumptions.
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I have places that may have three cameras in the one area and I move them as I gain more intel so I can hone in a bit more on establishing an extra edge. Would love to say find a kill tree but I’m not that good
 
Lowg08 said:
I have places that may have three cameras in the one area and I move them as I gain more intel so I can hone in a bit more on establishing an extra edge. Would love to say find a kill tree but I’m not that good
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Why are you not that good???? Find a trail, use your cameras, find an actively being used oak tree, and hunt a tree in the area. ANY tree can be a kill tree in the right location. Made a 20 ft tall pine tree my kill tree. I was 8 feet up on the edge of a pine thicket over looking an old oak tree. A few deer died from that little pine. Where I set my tether, the tree wasn't even 4" in diameter. It held my 6'3" 250 lb butt for hours and hours.
 
Loopwing said:
Why are you not that good???? Find a trail, use your cameras, find an actively being used oak tree, and hunt a tree in the area. ANY tree can be a kill tree in the right location. Made a 20 ft tall pine tree my kill tree. I was 8 feet up on the edge of a pine thicket over looking an old oak tree. A few deer died from that little pine. Where I set my tether, the tree wasn't even 4" in diameter. It held my 6'3" 250 lb butt for hours and hours.
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I guess I base it on kills rather than deer seen. We have horribly low deer density. I’ve managed to get to where I see deer nearly ever sit but just no shot and very very few either sex days
 
Lowg08 said:
I guess I base it on kills rather than deer seen. We have horribly low deer density. I’ve managed to get to where I see deer nearly ever sit but just no shot and very very few either sex days
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A kill tree does mean kills and not seen. Ask yourself why you haven't gotten shots? I got into saddle hunting because I can hunt every tree I WANT to. Are you getting busted? Deer are walking just out of range? You are seeing them to late into the evening? Everything is fixable, except property borders (that is my problem on a couple properties I hunt). I am also a meat hunter, if I come home to many times without a deer the wife makes comments about watching the kids all day while I hang out in a tree. Dead deer means more hunting days.
 
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