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Things you've learned (no gear allowed)

Nutterbuster said:
When you're hunting stuff that looks like this from an aerial

View attachment 25078

And this on a topo

View attachment 25079

You have to rely on changes in the understudy if you want an edge to key in on edges of thickets, transitions from grass to palmettos, palmettos to yaupon, yaupon to open woods, etc. That, and small elevation changes that don't register on today's maps.
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Your woods and my woods are very similar, pinch points and funnels are all a function of vegetation changes or sloughs or river banks.
 
Nutterbuster said:
Use edges to navigate on "autopilot." Break a property down and identify sections where you can box yourself in and eliminate the fear of being lost. For example, one 800 or so acre piece of property I hunt is very thick and swampy with no interior roads. Hard to navigate, especially in the foggy dark. But I have the peace of mind knowing there's a highway to the north, well marked property line to the east, a lake to the south, and a river to the west. Worse case scenario (compass and gps die and I'm slap in the middle of the property) all I have to do is maintain a straight line and I'll hit one of those boundaries and onow exactly where I am and how to get back to the truck.

Nothing will train you to navigate big woods like run'n'gun squirrel hunting. You're following a bark or whine across whatever gets in your way. Creeks, swamps, briars, palmettos, you follow the barking all morning, bouncing from tree to tree. Then you have to get back to the truck. Get good at that, and navigating to your deer stand becomes a cake-walk
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This is great! I will add that, being a newer WMA hunter, I would be constantly glued to OnX while doing boots on the ground. Without even realizing it, I was distracted by my phone and not absorbing (and effectively scouting) the actual area. I have learned to just put the phone away. know compass direction (wherever I am) and then develop a good mental map.
 
I hate seeing trash in the woods. Especially dump sites. But even excessive use of flagging. Do you really need to flag a ditch line? With gps on our phones, I’m still surprised with the amount of trail markers in the woods. I can understand marking a path through a thicket. In the dark you can’t see the path of least resistance well. Or a shallow ridge that’s underwater so you don’t wonder into the deep while making your way out. Some places look like a UFO landing strip when you turn on your light.
 
swampsnyper said:
I hate seeing trash in the woods. Especially dump sites. But even excessive use of flagging. Do you really need to flag a ditch line? With gps on our phones, I’m still surprised with the amount of trail markers in the woods. I can understand marking a path through a thicket. In the dark you can’t see the path of least resistance well. Or a shallow ridge that’s underwater so you don’t wonder into the deep while making your way out. Some places look like a UFO landing strip when you turn on your light.
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I love pulling flagging as I move through the woods.
 
Great topic. I've learned alot from this forum in general.

For me, paying attention to tracking a deer you shot is import. What general direction do they go? Where does it eventually lead? They are seeking cover and usually go into the nasty stuff. It's always a learning experience.

Also. If you think the woods are too thick for deer in a certain area...chances are you are wrong. I've been shocked to see heavy deer activity in places that humans can barely walk, let alone hunt. It goes back to, "go where people dont"

Also, leave your pee bottle at home, let it fly! I know that can be a hot topic but after reading the thread specifically about that I decided to let er fly this year and shot a nice buck 45 minutes after I watered the tree I was in.

Most of all, have fun and try new things. Push your comfort zones and try something you haven't ever done on the property you are used to hunting.
 
I've learned that a bunch of sign isn't always what you need to be in a good spot. Especially in the rut! A pinch that doesn't look awesome with rubs or scrapes doesn't mean you you won't see deer or a big deer. Had the biggest deer I found using a little sign area going to bedding from other bedding looking for the ladies. Think about it.......I really don't need but a deer or two that I want to harvest to walk close enough to shoot. I used have to have HOT sign to hunt a spot, now I look for some sign in thicker travel corridors and hang. I see deer more consistently this way.
 
Nutterbuster said:
I know we generally talk about gear on here. We all know what kinda saddle who wears, what kinda bow who shoots, and what kinda camo who wears (or doesn't wear.)

I wanna hear what you've learned, that can apply to any hunter, saddle or no. I don't care if you hunted 2 years or 60. But...

RULES

You cannot mention a piece of hunting gear, you cannot argue with what somebody else has learned, and you cannot comment without including what you have learned. Dem'z da rules.

I'll start.

Deer are pretty simple to hunt. It all revolves around the desire to not be eaten and to keep their bellies full. For about one month out of the year, they also wanna breed. This inclusion of one little task throws their entire, simple little world into insanity. Wanna find deer? Ask yourself, "Where can I hide, what can I eat, and where can I hookup with the ladies?" That's 90% of the game.

Deer don't read hunting magazines. They don't know where they're "supposed" to live, or how they're "supposed" to move. They don't read maps, or feel obligated to be where the map says they should be. They live where nobody bothers them, and eat the best food they can find without compromising their safety.

Your secret spot is not secret. No, not even that one.

Bucks die during the first week of season and during the rut.

You can't shoot as well as you think you can.

20% of the spots produce 80% of the deer. Don't hunt a good spot. Hunt the best spot. Always be looking for the best spot, whether it's on 50 acres or 50,000. Collect best spots like crazy ladies collect cats. You can't have too many, and you obviously have to replace the ones that die off, right? ;)

I'll add more as I think of them. Maybe this will be a good summer thread?
Click to expand...
 
Don't wear out your big buck spots, be patient for the time they will be vulnerable, for me this is the week leading into firearms season in Mn. Go hunting whenever you can, don't use excuses like it's too windy or the moon is full.
 
treecat said:
Don't wear out your big buck spots, be patient for the time they will be vulnerable, for me this is the week leading into firearms season in Mn. Go hunting whenever you can, don't use excuses like it's too windy or the moon is full.
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No, no the full moon is a great excuse. Please stay home then, the hunting sucks on a full moon.
 
* Pay attention to as many details as you can both before and after the shot. It's so easy to not notice a slight quartering to or away.

* The woods look totally different when you're not in the stand, so be sure you take a compass bearing for what way the deer headed.

* Be as quiet as possible after the shot and listen as far as you can, marking the compass bearing of the last noise.

* look for any land mark you can to help locate the wounded animal.

* "Don't miss the forest for the trees". Be sure you're looking both for individual sign of an animal and the flow of the woods(funnels, elevation, etc.)

* Don't judge success by what you bring home.

* Enjoy the process just as much as the kill.

* Nutterbuster is gifted in the gift of gab. ;)
 
Never look for deer. Look for horizontal lines. Except for fallen trees, everything in the woods is vertical. When you start looking for horizontal lines, you'll see more deer.

There is nothing better than breathing fresh air while sitting in a tree on a crisp fall morning.

Like a woman who has a baby, she never remembers the pain of labor only the love of holding her child. When a man shoot a buck he never remembers the sweaty mosquito infested terrain and the soreness in his legs and back from dragging that deer out of the woods. whenever you hear someone tell about a deer hunting story, they never talk about the drag.

Sometimes you feel it... you walk into the woods and you know that you're going to kill a deer and you do. Sometimes you know you're not. But you never know do you get into the woods.

If you give a man 50 bullets and tell him to go kill a deer, He should go to the range and practice with 49.

I should've started filming my hunts in 2000.
 
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Knowledge is power. Knowledge from past experience, knowledge acquired scouting, knowledge from other peoples experiences, knowledge from mistakes made. Awareness that we should be students of the deer woods(and life) as long as we live. There's always something new to learn, different techniques to try, and different perspectives to "see" from. Confidence to act on our knowledge, even though we may fail more than we succeed. Don't eat a bunch of jalapenos the night before an all day sit.
If you see a buck bird dogging a hot trail out of range, MOVE, because he's probably not the only buck on the hill who's going to find and follow that trail.
 
I've been chasing whitetails for about 45 years now; I'm not saying I'm an expert (or even good at it) ,I am saying I've taught a lot of people about deer hunting and woodmanship. I have come up with a "formula" for success to give newcomers the confidence that it will happen for them. I expect this will be obvious for the caliber of hunters on this forum but here it is anyway.
1-hunt where deer are
2-be quiet and move slow
3-(now here is the formula) One out of 3 hunts you will see deer, one of of 5 deer sightings you see you will get a shot, make the shot count.
thus hunt 15 times and you will take home the venison.

of course we eventually get into high stem count areas during the rut, paying attention to wind, and trying to figure out food and bedding areas.
Also we all know the first time in is the best time in, so my hunt 15 times to get a deer is usually wrong; but new kids often get frustrated when they see deer they can't kill and take bad shots as deer walk away or are too far away. If you can be patient in the deer woods, wait for an easy shot, you will be successful.
 
I've learned I don't know nearly as much as I wish I knew and I'm not anywhere near as smart as I think I am. Every time I go in the woods mother nature teaches me something new.
I've learned to slow down, and if I think I'm going slow I should probably go slower. I've also learned that even though deer are predictable they're also unpredictable. I've learned to wait a lot longer after the shot, especially if it's a buck during rut.
 
Nutterbuster said:
I know we generally talk about gear on here. We all know what kinda saddle who wears, what kinda bow who shoots, and what kinda camo who wears (or doesn't wear.)

I wanna hear what you've learned, that can apply to any hunter, saddle or no. I don't care if you hunted 2 years or 60. But...

RULES

You cannot mention a piece of hunting gear, you cannot argue with what somebody else has learned, and you cannot comment without including what you have learned. Dem'z da rules.

I'll start.

Deer are pretty simple to hunt. It all revolves around the desire to not be eaten and to keep their bellies full. For about one month out of the year, they also wanna breed. This inclusion of one little task throws their entire, simple little world into insanity. Wanna find deer? Ask yourself, "Where can I hide, what can I eat, and where can I hookup with the ladies?" That's 90% of the game.

Deer don't read hunting magazines. They don't know where they're "supposed" to live, or how they're "supposed" to move. They don't read maps, or feel obligated to be where the map says they should be. They live where nobody bothers them, and eat the best food they can find without compromising their safety.

Your secret spot is not secret. No, not even that one.

Bucks die during the first week of season and during the rut.

You can't shoot as well as you think you can.

20% of the spots produce 80% of the deer. Don't hunt a good spot. Hunt the best spot. Always be looking for the best spot, whether it's on 50 acres or 50,000. Collect best spots like crazy ladies collect cats. You can't have too many, and you obviously have to replace the ones that die off, right? ;)

I'll add more as I think of them. Maybe this will be a good summer thread?
Click to expand...
That's some good learning right there!

Sent from my SM-J727V using Tapatalk
 
Things I’ve learned...

Scouting in season is more valuable than post or preseason. When I have plenty of time I like to scout for 2-3 hours before an evening setup. I just make sure I’m doing it in a way that I’m not going to blow the whole area up.

Look for water. Anywhere there is a creek, pond, pothole, swamp, etc. where more sunlight gets through the tree canopy it will create vegetation diversity which usually means edges and security cover. Plus it gives the deer a barrier to bed up against. I find a lot of deer bedding along those edges of potholes, creek branches, small ponds.

Deer are better at patterning people than people are at patterning deer. Don’t do the same things the other guys do. Enter a different way. Park in a different spot. People sign is just as important as deer sign. I’ve gotten onto deer before by driving by around by public land parking areas in the morning a few weeks in a row and figuring out where people are hunting and what’s getting left alone. Literally killed one of my best bow bucks because I noticed this one particular spot never had a vehicle parked in it. Went in there found tons of fresh buck sign, setup on it and killed the buck first time in there.
 
Some that I hadn’t seen shared.

Take the high road with everything you do.

You regret shots taken not those held back.

Aim low with a bow.

Trust your gut.

Know what the wind was in trail cam pics and at the time you shot a deer.

Gear helps, Gray matter kills.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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