This list assumes you have the bare necessities to legally harvest a white tail deer, including things like a bow, knife and required licenses. The rest of the items on this list just increase your odds of success.
1 Satellite pictures of the area you are interested in hunting. I like Google Maps and Yahoo Maps. These two sights show maps from different times of the year for my area. It is nice to see the vegetation as well as distinguish between trees and brush. You can see game trails, drainages, natural bottlenecks clearings etc. I am often able to pick an approximate hunting stand location based on the wind direction just from the information from aerial pictures.
2 Mock scrapes. For only a few dollars in mock scrape starter scent you can establish a route for the bucks in the area giving you a better chance of finding them especially as the rut draws near.
3 Tree Stand. Tree stands help get your scent up off the ground. Most deer predators attack from the ground, so being up in the air puts you in a place that deer do not expect to see predators, so you are less likely to be noticed. Tree stand have an advantage over ground blinds in that they give you a better point of view with less obstruction. They are also more portable than tripod aerial blinds.
4 Camouflage. Camouflage clothing is very important, I like Ghillie Suits but they are not a necessity. Be sure to camouflage your weapon and your face. I been seen by deer more often when my face was not camouflaged. Ohio Whitetail Hunts
5 Scent eliminator. Play the wind, use a treestand, but don’t forget scent eliminator, it is an inexpensive way to add another few percentage points to your odds.
6 Range finder. All the hard work you have done in the off season, scouting, trail cams, mock scrapes, stand selection is all for nothing if you can’t place the shot when it counts.
7 Estrus. When the rut is in full swing, a few drops of this golden elixir is sure to bring the bucks in from downwind.
8 Rattling antlers or rattle bag. From subtle rattling in the October pre-rut to aggressive ratting during the main rut, there is no other audible call more effective than rattling.
9 Good mechanical broadheads. They fly straighter and more predictably than fixed blade broadheads and they often have a greater cutting diameter with less weight.
10 Headlamp. When you place the shot in the waning light and you give it some time to expire it is good idea to try to track that night. A change in the weather could wash away your trail and it doesn’t take long for a deer to go bad if it is not field dressed. It would be a shame to do all this work and not to have anything to show for it, more importantly, it would not be respectful of our natural resources. Ohio Whitetail Hunts
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The sixth and final week of the 2009 PA archery season with the Wildlife Game Masters field staff and site members. Con the crew close the deal in the final days?
My answer to that question is yes, it can definitely improve your chances of bagging an elk and here’s why I think so.
I base my answer on the fact that I started out hunting whitetail deer many years ago in Alabama. I spent so much time in the woods going after that trophy whitetail. Years later, after moving to Colorado and becoming a guide and outfitter, I used some of the same skills from whitetail deer hunting to help bag my elk. And I have gotten my share of elk over the years.
If you really think about it, Elk are in the family of deer so they share many of the same characteristics and habits of elk. Deer and elk have the same basic needs. Both of these animals need to eat, rest and reproduce. Alabama Whitetail Rut Dates
When hunting whitetail, you are always looking for areas where they might tend to eat, or where they might be bedding down or maybe where they would be reproducing, especially during the rut. Because of these three needs, scouting becomes simplified. Using these whitetail skills will definitely pay off.
Now Elk hunting does have its own set of techniques but hunting whitetail deer definitely gives you an advantage. So by combining your present skills with the new skills you learn about elk hunting, your odds become much more favorable on getting an elk.
So, will whitetail deer hunting improve your chances of bagging an elk? You bet it will! Alabama Whitetail Rut Dates
There is nothing quite like looking out from your stand and seeing a big buck slowly walking in your direction. With each step the deer takes, you are one step closer to getting the dream shot at a trophy buck. Unfortunately, too few hunters really ever get that kind of opportunity, and the reason is not because big buck numbers are declining, but rather, because they simply do not know the right way to get themselves into position to get that opportunity. Here are 2 key tips to being successful when hunting white tail deer:
1. Tree Stand Location Strategy – You will want to have several tree stand locations and know when to move to each stand through the day. You want to be located where you can hunt high in the mornings, and hunt low in the afternoons. The deer will be located on higher ground in the mornings, deeper in foliage from the nighttime. As the day proceeds, the deer will come down to forage, meaning you will want to locate yourself in a similar setting. Supreme Deer Hunting Strategy
2. Food Source Strategy – Many hunters will overlook areas of activity because they are too focused on denser concentrations of acorn trees and shrubs. However, deer are partial to tender, younger greens and will often be found in less dense coverings foraging on the tender new growth that is present. Find these spots, and you will find quality deer.
Getting ready for great deer hunting takes work by scouting and mapping out a proper game plan for your days on the grounds. Be sure you have done your homework and you are well prepared for any potential weather pattern changes or other obstacles that may arise. Supreme Deer Hunting Strategy
The deer management techniques that we use on our property have changed a lot over the past thirty years in relation with the changing deer herd. Whitetail deer numbers in the entire state of West Virginia have grown considerably and our land has been no exception.
We started shooting does in 1997 after the pictures from our scouting camera revealed that we were overloaded with does. Since then we have shot 22 does and only 7 bucks. Three of these bucks, two 8-points and one 10-point are the three largest antlered bucks that we have taken in the last thirty years. We had noticed that there were larger antlered bucks when the deer population had just started to climb in the eighties and then antler sizes began to decrease as the deer numbers grew too high and we were shooting the young bucks each year.
All of this made us realize that we needed to lower the deer population by shooting does and letting the young bucks grow up.
We are currently doing several different things in an attempt to have a well-balanced, healthier deer herd on our farm. These include:
Keep records on the deer harvested and a log of the bucks seen during hunting season.
Leave an area of sanctuary during the hunting season so that the deer are not pressured.
Provide a limited amount of shelled corn with automated wildlife feeders.
On some occasions we also cut down trees to provide browse in the winter and fertilize plants growing along the edges, especially the honeysuckle.
The Results
Since changing our hunting strategies we have noticed some changes for the better. We have seen bucks fighting, which we had seldom seen in past years and bucks have started reacting to calling, particularly grunting. We are finding shed antlers now; sheds are hard to find when they’re just spikes. Also the numbers of bucks as compared to does caught on our scouting camera pictures has increased dramatically. This tells us that our buck to doe ratio is improving.
On the other hand, we still feel that our total deer numbers are too high. The body weights of the deer we are shooting are still low. The body weights of the three does that we shot in 1997 ranged from 65 to 85 pounds while the weights of the four does in 2003 varied from 55 to 82 pounds. Although we are not deer aging experts we do look at tooth wear to determine the approximate age of the deer. We usually look at the lower front teeth. A couple of the does that we’ve shot have had these lower front teeth worn all the way to the gumline. Whitetail Shed Hunting Tips
Hunting Highlights of Backwoods Outdoors Season One, two, and three….Stay tuned for more action… backwoods outdoors buck sportsman realtree deer hunting shooting whitetail “deer hunting videos” outdoor paris hilton first bow kill first bow kill first bow kill backwoods outdoors sportsman realtree paris hilton
Hunting whitetail during the rut is quite different than hunting during the PEAK RUT period of the season. While the rut is on, most bucks are roaming the woods at all times of the day searching for does in estrus. Since this window of opportunity is so brief (generally 5-10 days), bucks will spare little energy and time to seize these opportunities and will do so with surprising carelessness often times. However, as this window closes, bucks revert back to regular patterns which dramatically reduce their movements during daylight hours. The prudent hunter will compensate for this by changing his/her basic strategy.
The following strategy is proven effective when the common strategies used during peak rut have proven only futile. There are three basic tenets of the strategy which can we will label, 1) position, 2) protection, and 3) incentive.
Once bucks have gotten back to “business as usual”, they have all but eliminated movement during the daylight hours and use this time for resting from their exploits of the rut. As they do need to restore expended energy from the previous two weeks, feeding largely takes place after the sun has set. Big bucks are known to bed in thickets which are often too thick to hunt. But these thickets usually are very close to feeding areas which are found often in fields, plots and other open areas. I’ve found that these are the ideal places to set up as bucks enter these fields come feeding time. I have also found that bucks will make their way to the edge of these fields where they stay until it is too dark for the human eye to see. Or until evolution gets around to developing our nocturnal vision. And since the theory contradicts the Bible on a number of points, I wouldn’t hold my breathe. This is where I will improvise by locating a tall pine at the edge and pushing my way up a good 20-25 feet so that I have a good view down into the thicket. Ideally a thicket with open patches is best as you are hoping he will enter. When you have found this tree and verified a good viewpoint, you have established “POSITION”. Peak Whitetail Rut Dates
Big bucks depend heavily on their sense of smell and since this is a given I won’t expand on the necessity of covering scent. But I have found in late season when bucks are less careless, lures can be quite effective as a they will not automatically dismiss the possibility of intimate encounters with does that have gone into estrus for a second time or even a younger doe that has blossomed a little later than the others. Deer are curious animals and bucks especially are prone to investigate when intimacy is a possibility. So while I am cautious not to overdo it with lures, neither am I shy with using them in the latter season as they can also serve to cover unwanted scents as well. With this you have established our #2 principle, “PROTECTION”.
Lastly, I have had surprising success with using a bleat or estrus call during the latter season which serves to grab the attention of some bucks and proven to be a good compliment to the lure. Again, I am careful not to overuse my call. I typically will hit the call once every 20 minutes or so and hit one last time 20 minutes before dark. On a number of occasions I have heard the thickets shaking from a buck in transit as the sun begins to set. On as many occasions the buck has remained in that thicket until the sun was gone. Using the call is the first part of the #3 point of the strategy which is “INCENTIVE”. And I have consistently brought bucks to the edge of thickets and on approximately half of these occasions I was able to get off a clear shot as the buck moved through the thicket. Peak Whitetail Rut Dates
The second part of point #3 is the use of a decoy. For this I use exclusively the fold-up decoys which provide a two dimensional perspective, so it needs to be thoughtfully positioned and depends on the specific layoff the area your hunting. When the buck gets close enough to edge of the field or open area, seeing your decoy may be incentive for him to move closer in.
If the action has decreased once the rut has concluded, this strategy will likely increase your odds at taking a buck. Additionally, I have tweaked this strategy as needed while hunting a specific buck that I know is in the area. A fellow hunter told me once that hunting trophy whitetail is much like playing chess and I have found that this is true indeed, so don’t be overly mechanical. Much of it is a game of wits. Good luck. Peak Whitetail Rut Dates
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