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New Successful Tactics For 2019

Murph4028

Murph4028

Well-Known Member
Vendor Rep
Joined
Jan 2, 2019
Messages
1,489
Location
North Carolina
Here in NC we got two weeks left in the season. December as always has been slow for me and it's been hard to get on deer. It's had me reflecting on the new tactics I have employed this year that have contributed to successful hunts during early and mid season. Here are some things I have done different that have benefitted me this year:

1. Still hunting - when conducted with patience and being constantly aware of my own movements I have got within eye sight of a good amount of deer and even got my first still hunting kill this year. Definitely a useful tool in my toolbox that I will continue to work on. After my experience with it I am never just walking through the woods. I am either still hunting, still hunting to my hunting location, or saddle hunting.

2. Hunting low - this year I did a lot of what Dan Infalt calls dating the fat chick. I hunted a lot of less than ideal trees because it was where I needed to be and that's what was there. Hunting lower, anywhere between 5-15 feet instead of 20+ definitely kept me more concealed in a lot of near bedding situations. This year I killed a buck hanging 8 feet off the ground that I wouldn't have had a shot on had I been at the normal 20 or so feet and I wouldn't have been in the right tree. Most of my hunts this year have been below 15 feet. Every situation is different and that situation will dictate how high I hunt but hunting low is never out of the question for me now.

3. Bump and dump - Anyone familiar with beast tactics knows what this is. Although it didn't result in a kill I now have seen how it works first hand. One afternoon I accidentally bumped a buck out of his bed and remembered Dan talking about this tactic. I quickly set up in a nearby tree and about an hour later he came back through but stayed out of bow range. Pretty cool to see it work though.

What tactics have you tried for the first time this year and what level of success did it bring you? What are you planning to employ?
 
I shot my buck this year with the bump and dump. In the past I would’ve been frustrated for boogering deer and moved on. I also learned the importance of mid-season scouting. My buck and a couple does this year we’re shot in areas I had never been before. Just out scouting with my bow and saddle.
 
I hunted a lot with my daughter - funniest season I have had in decades. We did a lot of ghillie sets ups and just had a blast. As for some of my specific techniques - I cover them in my videos will be releasing more videos on scouting, DIY/mods, and using cameras effectively this spring/summer.
 
I have hunted the "fat chick" many times this season and more "just off" winds than I have in the past. I plan to do more ground and still hunting next season.

The #1 change for 2020 for me is I will no longer hunt local land just because I have it. I wasted many hours sitting in a tree where I had no targets on camera or from glassing our fields pre-season. We ended up seeing all of the bucks we had on camera and none were worth the effort. It has been too easy to get drawn into going local just because it's there and you have time, hoping you win the lottery with an unknown buck from somewhere else showing up, but never happens here. I refuse to waste time like that again. Same goes for game lands. I will spend more time scouting this off season than I will sit in the woods next fall and only hunt areas with known shooters going forward. Bump and dump will be a part of this strategy. Only hunt where you have real odds of killing your target!
 
No big changes for me this year but I learned a lot. I had a nice buck ground trailing past my stand and out of range 70-80 yds. I stuck to my position, and about an hour and a half later watched another nice buck trailing on the same doe. Next year I see a buck on an obvious hot doe track, I'm moving over to get that track in bow range.
 
I called in a decent buck this year for the first time. I was still hunting with my bow and saw a buck in the distance. I watched him freshen a scrape, make a rub and browse a little and it became clear that he was going to walk past me at 60 yds.
So i tried the grunt tube and he wasn't interested. Then i figured i may give a snort wheeze a try,never had done that before.
Wow did that work,he immediately changed direction and came at me,looking for a fight.
I drew back when he passed behind a tree and he stopped at under 20 yds and checked me out. I was not going to take the head on shot and waited for what seemed like an eternity for him to turn. He eventually did and i let go but the arrow hit a sapling i didn't see and just grazed the buck. He ran of 50 yds and was trying to figure out what just happend.
Cool experience.
 
Bowmanmike said:
I called in a decent buck this year for the first time. I was still hunting with my bow and saw a buck in the distance. I watched him freshen a scrape, make a rub and browse a little and it became clear that he was going to walk past me at 60 yds.
So i tried the grunt tube and he wasn't interested. Then i figured i may give a snort wheeze a try,never had done that before.
Wow did that work,he immediately changed direction and came at me,looking for a fight.
I drew back when he passed behind a tree and he stopped at under 20 yds and checked me out. I was not going to take the head on shot and waited for what seemed like an eternity for him to turn. He eventually did and i let go but the arrow hit a sapling i didn't see and just grazed the buck. He ran of 50 yds and was trying to figure out what just happend.
Cool experience.
Click to expand...
I agree. Nothing cooler than having a deer respond to your calls to the point you get a shot at him.
 
I don't think I've hunted 20ft or higher all year. I've been surprisingly successful at 10-15ft on average.

For years I've hunted high because it let me get away with movement. But you lose a lot of shot options due to the canopy blacking you out. You also can't see as far. Hunting lower means I have to really be on my game seeing deer before they see me, but it's been working.

It's nice just slapping a handful of squirrel steps or 3 mini sticks up and hunting. It seems like 12ish feet is just high enough to get you above their line of sight, without being so high that you're backlot against the sky. If I have cover, I'm fairly safe from prying eyes.

Not new to a lot of guys, but I was very sceptical of it until I started killing deer and even a coyote that way.
 
This is an awesome thread. Thanks, @Murph4028 for getting it started and imparting tactics that have been successful for you this year.

This is my first year where I have “hit it hard” in the woods and I have not shot a deer yet. I passed on a doe during the rut, but have not had a chance at a “shooter” buck yet. I hunt on a 40 acre parcel of private land. I have seen some monsters in the field next to me, and we also have some monsters on game camera—all during nighttime hours. We have 5 pre sets on this land and that is all I have hunted. Even after all of the scouting that I began doing told me that these deer were not traveling by these stands. I. Still. Sat. There. Every. Time.

The last items I need for my saddle setup should be in soon. I will then begin to employ still hunting and bump and dump into my hunting. I will also start scouting and hunting the three WMAs I have that are within a 2 hour drive from me.

I don’t know why I have repeatedly set myself up for failure. Maybe it is because I was raised using pre sets and some years I had some luck. Or maybe because it required less effort. I was unlucky most years, though.

I have until the end of February for my archery season. Can’t wait to test out some of these tactics and see how they reward me. Even if all it means is adding a new piece of information to the puzzle. Thanks, guys!
 
When I started saddle hunting 3 years ago the ease, simplicity and effectiveness of hunting lower were all too obvious to ignore. I rarely hunt above 15 feet anymore because where I am it just isn’t necessary often. I added a ghillie suit this year and that thing is amazing


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This past season was pretty much run and gun hunting, moving away from pre set tree stands like I usually do in part to starting to saddle hunt and alot of areas were still flooded from all the rain Michigan got so it pushed the deer to different places. While running and gunning I explored new areas I've never hunted and found new spots that I will now hunt. Did alot of still hunting and just sitting on the ground instead of climbing a tree, seen deer just never connected. So from what I did this year and what I learned my tactics from here on out is gonna either be in the saddle or hunting from the ground in either spots I've scouted boots on the ground while small game hunting this winter or spring. The only preset stand I'll hunt is my firearm opener spot that has been good to me the past 3 years in a row. I did find walking into a new spot and setting up near some sign was usually my best hunt to see deer.
 
Man I used still hunting to and from my stand location and it resulted in me not going a hunt without seeing deer and almost getting a shot on a couple. Super fun way to hunt. I also used the heck out of binoculars while doing that

Also not sitting in the same darn tree over and over again! That combined with in season scouting lead me to my best bow kill/deer yet. Found a RO raining acorns and set up on it with my climber....which is why I now own a saddle

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