Whitetail Hunting Simple Strategies for Success Scribd

7/27/2019 Whitetail Hunting Simple Strategies for Success Scribd

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Whitetail Hunting Simple Strategies

for Success

By: Monte Perron

www.Outdoorfathers.com

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012 W2 H03456 #75 829,

4t was three ocloc! and 4 had not seen onedeer. 4 elie;ed 4 had selected a good spot.9here were deer trac!s e;erywhere and 4 couldsee for miles in e;ery direction. 4 got there wellefore daylight and managed not to stomparound too much. 9he wind was almost right andit couldnt ma!e that much difference anywayious elie;ing that soon 4 woulde har;esting my first deer of the season. 4t waseither se> day and at this point 4 was not eing;ery pic!y. ?ar!ness came and my frustrationturned into anger. 4t was the end of the firstwee! in ?ecemer and 4 had not filled a tag yet.Since the second Monday in Septemer 4 hadspent day after day in the woods ecoming moreand more frustrated. 9his was my fourteenth

year of deer hunting and 4 had only ta!en fourdeer t ele;en seasons without filling one tag.


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9he day 4 Aust descried was the last straw.When 4 got home that e;ening 4 told my wife 4was going to gi;e up deer hunting 4 wasfrustrated

What frustrated me aout whitetail huntingwas that 4 felt li!e 4 did not ha;e any control. 4elie;ed that since 4 could not control the deermy chances for success were ;ery low. 2;eryarticle 4 read complicated things and confusedme. 2;ery time 4 tal!ed to someone aout deerhunting 4 ecame more confused. 2;ery stand 4selected was a guessing game. Hunting whitetail

deer was a lo;e"hate e>perience for me. 4 lo;edthe woodland e>perience@ ut hated sitting instand after stand without results. 4 told my wife4 was going to ta!e up a hoy where 4 wasnt atthe mercy of something with a rain. 9he onlything that !ept me going was a strong lo;e forthe outdoors and the eauty of 6ods creation.9his lo;e increased my frustration ecause 4 alsowanted to e>perience some success.

4f you can relate to my pre;ious frustrationthen this writing will e a tremendous aid to you.4n the ne>t few pages 4 am going to ta!e youthrough the thought processes and techniuesthat helped me to o;ercome the frustration andstart e>periencing the whitetail hunting successthat 4 stri;ed for. Since the day that 4 descried

in the first paragraph@ 4 ha;e filled as many tagsas 4 ha;e wanted to and ha;e ecome !nownamong my peers as a successful deer hunter.9he good news is that you can do the samethings that 4 ha;e@ and this oo! will teach youhow. 8ou will learn how to scout and select deerstands with confidence. 8ou will learn how to go


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to a totally unfamiliar piece of property andhar;est deer in a short period of time. 9hese arethe type things that 4 do and you will e ale toalso.

9715 9H2 45#O1M094O5 459O C5OWD2?62

4nformation@ according to the dictionary@ is thereception of intelligence. 4nformation aout deerhunting is readily a;ailale for those who willsee! it. ?uring my years of frustration 4 was asponge for information. 9he challenge was that 4

asored so much information that it ecameconfusing to me. My first season of deer hunting4 lundered through the dar! 5orth Earolinamountain wilderness and leaned against a treeas soon as 4 heard a cree! running. 9he windwas lowing aout +* miles per hour@ thetemperature was aout fi;e degrees ao;e Fero@and 4 was aout to freeFe ecause my clothingwas insufficient. 9wo hours into the hunt a spi!euc! wal!ed within *' yards of me and 4 filled myfirst tag. 9hat was it 4 didnt do any scouting. 4didnt do any practicing with my weapon. 4didnt e;en !now how to field dress my priFeuc!. 4 was dum as a red ric! when it came todeer hunting@ ut 4 was successful@ and 4 washoo!ed 9he ne>t ele;en years were a totallydifferent story.

4t seemed the more 4 read and heard aoutwhitetail deer the more confused 4 ecame.2;eryody was an e>pert to me and 4 triede;erything 4 heard. 4f a person had told me tohang from a tree with a wash tu and eat outthe tune to GOle SuFanna 4 would ha;e tried it


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at least once. 0ll right@ maye 4 am stretching ita little@ ut 4 was recei;ing a lot of inaccurateinformation. 4 was in a position where 4 couldntsort out the good info from the ad. Many times4 would tell my hunting partners that the more 4

hunted the more confused 4 ecame. 4t too! mefourteen years to get through that stage@ utthis writing can condense that time frame foryou.

9he title of this segment refers to thedifference etween information and !nowledge.4nformation@ as 4 pre;iously stated@ is the

reception of intelligence. 9his is the definitionaccording to Westers dictionary. 4n myopinion@ the !ey word is intelligence. 4 listenedto the wrong people for years. Because 4 wasgetting ad information it ecame difficult forme to differentiate etween good informationand ad. 9his was the root of my confusion. 9heway 4 o;ercame that situation was ;ery simple. 4egan listening to people who were consistentlysuccessful. My hunting e>periences ecameproducti;e when 4 started listening to peoplewith Gthe fruit on the tree. 4 solicited theassistance of a pro;en whitetail hunter. Heecame my mentor and 4 hung on e;ery word hesaid. His name was 1ichard #o> and he hadforgotten more aout deer and deer huntingthan most people will e;er !now. When 4 started

listening to him he had gone past the tag fillingstage and his trophy room spo!e for itself. 4 amgrateful that he cared enough to coach me andhelp me o;ercome my state of confusion.

Cnowledge y dictionary definition is thecondition of !nowing something with the


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familiarity gained through e>perience. Mymentor ga;e me ;aluale information that 4applied in the woods and the e>perience itpro;ided ga;e me !nowledge. 9hat !nowledgeecame my possession@ and 4 used it to ecome a

successful outdoorsman and hunter. 4n the ne>tfew pages 4 would li!e for you to honor me withthe opportunity to e your mentor. 9he rest ofthis oo!let will e filled with the informationthat 4 was gi;en as well as the !nowledge that 4ha;e acuired from years in the whitetail woods.

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9he first thing my mentor did was help mestart enAoying the time 4 spent in the woods.0fter all@ it is supposed to e recreational. Heaccomplished this y helping me to identify myprolem and prescriing the correct solution. Myiggest challenge was that 4 was not seeing deer@and they are really hard to har;est if you dontsee them. 9he ad;ice he ga;e me was ;erysimple ut uite effecti;e. He simply told me touit sitting in stands and start stal!ing slowlythrough the woods with the wind in my face.

9he results 4 had were phenomenal My firsttwo days of hunting this way 4 saw ten differentdeer. 4 did not har;est a deer in those two days@

ut 4 was encouraged. 4 spent the ne>t twohunting seasons slipping through the woods withthe wind in my face and egan to learn aoutwhitetail. 9he ad;ice that 4 recei;ed from mymentor was e>ceptional for many reasons. #irstof all@ the e>citement of seeing game ended myfrustration and encouraged me to !eep spending


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time in the woods. 9his@ in turn@ put me in aposition where 4 could turn information into!nowledge. 4 egan to understand my prey. 9hiswas e>citing. When !nowledge de;eloped intounderstanding 4 egan to enAoy the whitetail

e>perience. 4 still use the hunting method hetaught with good success@ ut the mostimportant thing this method did was put me insituations where 4 could learn.

WH492904D $'$7nderstanding the asic haits of the whitetail

will lay the groundwor! for learning how tosuccessfully har;est them. 4 am not a wildlifeiologist so my e>planations will proaly seem;ery simple. 4n my opinion@ !eeping thingssimple at this point is more important than mylac! of formal scientific education. 9he good

news is that !eeping it simple has wor!ed for meas it will for you.

Whitetail deer do se;eral things in the courseof a day that will ma!e them mo;e through thewoods. 9he predictaility of these dailyfunctions gi;es us an important edge. 9he mostimportant of these routine functions is feeding@edding@ and reeding acti;ity. 4 include

reeding acti;ity here ecause it is an importantpart of the whitetails daily rituals during theautumn when most of us are hunting. 4 am goingto concentrate on feeding and edding initiallyand co;er reeding acti;ity later.


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9H28 ?O 49 23218 ?08

4n my opinion@ understanding feeding andedding acti;ity is the second most importantthing a whitetail hunter can master. 4 will re;eal

the most important thing later. 9he reason 4consider these acti;ities so important is ecausewhitetail deer #22? 05? B2? 23218 ?08 8oucannot get any more predictale than e;eryday Breeding acti;ity is important@ ut it doesnot necessarily occur e;ery day. 9hepredictaility of feeding and edding is why 4rate it higher in importance than rutting acti;ity.

0 hunter who understands the significance ofthese two functions ecomes moti;ated toecome !nowledgeale aout the whitetailsfa;orite foods and edding areas. Mastering thisaspect of deer eha;ior is the foundation forecoming a proficient hunter. We will loo! atedding haits first and then tie it in to feedingacti;ity.

4n order to understand edding haits youmust allow yourself to thin! li!e a deer. 4f youwere a deer what would your top priority e forselecting a site to sleep, 4f your answer wassecurity then we agree on the whitetails chief

edding concern. 9hin! aout it@ all you want isto get a little rest and !eep your hide in tactwhile doing so. My point here is that thisthought process narrows down your possileedding locations. 8ou want a place that will!eep you hidden while ma!ing it e>tremelydifficult for a predator to get close enough to


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ma!e you apart of todays menu. 9his is whywhitetails select areas with dense ;egetation toe in. 9hat is why they ed in areas such ascuto;ers@ pine thic!ets@ laid"o;er fields@ andutility right of ways. 9hese areas offer

concealment and warning of potential predators.Hiding is possile ecause of the dense;egetation@ and warning is made possileecause it is difficult for predators perience has shown that deer will predictalyed in the thic!est areas they can find.Whitetails will ed in other types of woods@ utthe thic!est areas are a real safe et. When yougo to a new hunting area the first thing you needto do is find the edding areas: cuto;ers@ pinethic!ets@ laid"o;er fields@ etc. 9his information isthe groundwor! for de;eloping a huntingstrategy.

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9he ne>t step is determining potential feedingareas. 9his reuires some !nowledge of

preferred whitetail foods. Whitetails are a lotli!e goats ecause they will eat almost anything.When food is scarce they eat things with littlereal food ;alue as filler. 7nli!e us humans theyare tremendously attracted to foods that pro;idegreat nutritional ;alue. Ieroing in on thewhitetails fa;orite foods that are a;ailale


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during hunting season will gi;e us ;italinformation for selecting good stand locations.

4 mentioned the whitetails similarity to goatsto ma!e you aware that they eat a road

spectrum of ;egetation. 9he important thing forus as hunters is to ecome familiar with theirfa;orite foods. When 4 refer to fa;orite foods 4mean foods that deer will tra;el some distanceto get to. 9he word fa;orite also descries foodsthat deer will go to e;en when other foods area;ailale. Whitetails prefer certain foods o;erothers@ and they gi;e these foods priority when

they are a;ailale. 4n order to successfullyhar;est deer we need to !now which foods theyli!e the est.

0ny discussion of whitetail foods would eincomplete without including acorns. 2>periencehas shown me that deer ran! acorns ;ery high ontheir preferred foods list. 4 ha;e personallywitnessed deer running to get to acorns and

feed. White oa! acorns are the most preferredtype of mast food@ with chestnut oa!s and willowoa!s running a close second. 9he word mast is aterm commonly used to refer to the fruit ofwoodland ;egetation such as acorns@ grapes@ andeechnuts. 9he other types of acorns are alsopreferred foods ut usually ha;e to lie on theground for a while efore deer will eat them.

9hese acorns ha;e high uantities of tannic acidthat needs to leach out efore deer really li!ethem. 4t is e>tremely important that you learnwhich oa! trees are nati;e to your hunting regionand learn how to identify them. White oa!s@ ifnati;e to your area@ should e your top priority.4 hunt in the south where white oa!s are


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pre;alent and pro;ide e>cellent opportunities forattracting whitetails.

0 successful hunter also needs to understandmast production. 0corn production is influenced

y temperature@ water a;ailaility@ and soilconditions. White oa! trees generally ha;e goodacorn crops e;ery other year@ ut this is Aust ageneraliFation that should prompt you topersonally inspect the acorn crop in your huntingarea. White oa! acorns usually egin to appearon the trees etween late July and late 0ugust.4nspecting the trees in your area with inoculars

is a good idea. 4t is necessary to inspect thetrees in the woodlots you will actually e huntingin@ not Aust the ones in your neighors ac!yard. 8our neighors yard is influenced y theaddition of things li!e fertiliFer and water. Myne>t"door neighor has white oa! trees thatproduce large amounts of acorns e;ery year e;enwhen the acorn crop is low in neary huntingareas. 9his situation confused me for a whileuntil 4 realiFed that trees in residential areas arenot good indicators of woodland mast crops.9a!e this ad;ice and a;oid the mista!e 4 made. 4nsummary@ loo! for white oa! acorns first andswitch to the others when they are not a;ailale.9his is e>actly what the deer will do.

#ood a;ailaility ;aries with the time of year@

and has a ig impact on deer mo;ement. 0cornsare a;ailale during the early fall when moststates open archery seasons. 0s acorns diminishdeer egin to depend on other food sources suchas freshly comined corn and soyeans. 4n latehunting season deer will usually spend most oftheir time feeding on green food sources such as


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honeysuc!le@ clo;er@ and wheat. Huntingstrategies should adAust according to the time ofyear and food a;ailaility. #or e>ample@ earlyseason stands should e located with acorns inmindK mid season stands near comined crop

fieldsK and late season stands aroundhoneysuc!le thic!ets and green fields. 4 !nowthis sounds simple ut it wor!s.

By the way@ the heart is a small ut effecti;etarget area.

WH09 4S 0 #7552D 058W08,#unnels y my definition are land features

that cause deer to mo;e through a narrow area.When 4 started owhunting 4 realiFed theimportance of identifying funnels. Most deerthat 4 ha;e ta!en with a ow were less than $*yards away. Hunting funnels allowed me to getthat close. #unnels can e confusing until you

understand them. 9hin!ing of them li!e a gatein a pasture fence may help you understandthem. When a farmer wants to mo;e his cowsfrom one pasture to another he directs themtoward the gate. 9he cows are Gfunneledthrough the path of least resistance and that iswhat a funnel is.

4dentifying funnels in the woods ta!es effort

ut can e accomplished with practice. 9heimportant thing is to thin! in terms of paths ofleast resistance and attraction. #or e>ample@ area! in a fence is a good funnel ecause it isthe path of least resistance. 0ny deer couldAump o;er it@ ut most wont e>ert themsel;es


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when it is not necessary. 0 food source@ li!ewhite oa! acorns@ is an attractant that funnelsdeer to a particular location. 4 intend to listsome potential funnels to help you@ ut it is moreimportant for you to grasp the concept of

funnels. Just !eep loo!ing for the edding areas@food sources@ and paths of least resistance fromone to the other.

4 ha;e mentioned fence rea!s a couple oftimes in this section ecause it was fence rea!sthat helped me start understanding funnels.Besides eing good teaching e>amples they are

great stand locations. O;er the last few seasons4 ha;e had se;eral ow shots at two differentfence rea!s. 4n oth cases 4 disco;ered oldfences and cut the fences to create a funnel.One of the two spots was at an old home placethat had white oa! trees with lots of acorns. 4located this spot during a season when white oa!production was ;ery low. When 4 found it theacorns had not yet egun to fall@ ut 4 could seethem hanging in the trees. 4 cut a rea! in theold fence and did not return for three wee!s.When 4 came ac! 4 found a well worn paththrough my man made funnel with acorns anddeer sign e;erywhere. 9hat afternoon 4har;ested a doe at $L yards. 4t was e>citing 4noth cases 4 cut old fences that were ser;ing nopurpose. Please do not cut good fences.

Other e>amples of funnels are cree!s@ ri;ers@woodlots etween har;ested timer@ and naturalland depressions. 4n most cases deer use cree!sand ri;ers as tra;el corridors. 9heir paths areusually distinct in these areas. 0lso@ it is usuallya good idea to wal! along cree!s to pinpoint


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areas where deer cross. Once located as!yourself why they cross at that particular spot.9he answer will usually point to some type offunnel. Whene;er you scout around crop fieldspay close attention to the corners ecause you

will usually find a trail of entry at that point.MaAor la!es are usually surrounded y pulichunting lands. Da!e co;es usually create somefunnel acti;ity. 9he secret is to thin! in terms oflarge land masses. #or e>ample@ if a thic!edding area is located on one side of the co;ethen loo! for food sources on the other side. 9heshortest land distances will e at the point of the

co;e and this represents a funnel. 0lso@whene;er two distinct types of timer meet@trails will usually e found running parallel to thetwo types of timer. 0 perfect e>ample can efound at the edges of cuto;ers. Old loggingpaths and sur;ey paths are also good funnels.8ou can create funnels in cuto;ers y cuttingtrails which create paths of least resistance.

9his is something that should e done longefore you intend to hunt these areas. 8oushould e e>tremely careful not to cut desiredplants li!e planted pines.

Cnowing specific e>amples of funnels will ee;en more helpful if you consistently as!yourself why these areas are funnels.7nderstanding funnels will gi;e you the aility to

pinpoint deer in any loc! of woods. When youha;e de;eloped this thought process your standlocations will e selected with the confidencenecessary to help you patiently wait for thatperfect shot.


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W45? ?412E94O5 05? 9H2 S25S2 O# SM2DD

1ememer my reference to the mostimportant aspect of whitetail hunting. Well@ youguessed it W45? ?412E94O5 05? 9H2

WH492904DS S25S2 O# SM2DD. 4 ha;e usedcapitals and old print here for emphasis@ ut 4am sure that it is still not enough. 4 could putilloards on e;ery interstate highway@ uyairtime on e;ery maAor tele;ision networ!@ androadcast it o;er the emergency roadcastsystem and some people would still o;erloo! thisaspect of hunting. 5e;ertheless@ it is still the

most important consideration a whitetail hunterma!es. When a person tells me they are notseeing deer while they are hunting 4 immediatelyas! if they are selecting stands according to thewinds. Please ta!e this ;ery seriously.

Whitetails depend on their noses more thanany other sense. When 4 egan slipping throughthe woods 4 learned this lesson o;er and o;er. 4

ha;e watched deer wal! into my downwind scenttrail and olt as if 4 had shot at them. 9hey donot second guess their noses. 2>perience hastaught me that deer detect danger through threeseparate senses: hearing@ ;ision@ and smell. 9hesense of smell is the only one that a deer willdepend on without confirmation from the othertwo. #or e>ample@ 4 ha;e had deer hear me and

not spoo! until they saw my mo;ement. 0lso@ 4ha;e had deer see me and not run until theyheard me ma!e an unfamiliar sound. But@ 4 ha;eseldom seen a deer that did not run for co;erwhen it smelled me. 4n summary@ a deer may seeyou and not runK or hear you and not runK ut if itsmells you that white tail will loo! ;ery large as


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it lea;es the area.

1ememer the frustration 4 descried in theinitial pages of this oo! aout not ha;ing anycontrol. 9his is one area that you can control@

and doing so will put you in a position to esuccessful. Of course you cant control the wind@ut you can control how much consideration yougi;e wind direction in selecting stand locations.4 ne;er select a stand site without chec!ing thepre;ailing wind direction from the local forecast.

Some attention should e gi;en to the use ofco;er scents@ odor eliminators@ and cleanliness.

Eo;er scents should e something that iscommon to the area that you hunt in. Eoon andfo> urine are effecti;e in most areas ecauseoth animals are nati;e to many hunting areas. 4seldom use a co;er scent unless 4 am hunting onthe ground. 9he use of odor eliminators issomething that 4 highly recommend. Eleanlinessis e>tremely important in scent control and can

e tremendously enhanced y using anunscented soap and unscented deodorant. 0ll ofthe things mentioned in this paragraph areimportant@ ut they are not a replacement forputting the wind in your fa;or. 8ou can use allthe techniues outlined here with the wrongwind and deer will figure you out )' of thetime. 4 elie;e that a person can do e;erything

right and still Gstin! li!e a human y the timehe reaches his stand. 9hat is why he needs toput the wind in his fa;or e;ery time. 9here is alot of information to consider on this topic@ and 4am lea;ing a lot out to !eep things simple. 9hetruth is that if you only master the art of !eepingthe wind in your fa;or and lea;e out the other


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techniues you will ha;e an e>ponentiallygreater chance for success than if you do there;erse. While you are mastering this area !eepthe wind in your face and you cant go wrong.

9here are se;eral techniues to increase windawareness. Whene;er 4 am scouting 4 alwayswear a compass to determine which winddirections would e fa;orale for each stand. 0piece of white thread tied to each of my weapons!eeps me constantly aware of the wind direction.0lso@ 4 carry a ottle of powder wind chec!er.

4 really hope that 4 made you understand the

importance of wind direction in deer hunting.9he e>tra effort that you e>ert to ta!e ad;antageof the wind direction will pay great di;idends inthe whitetail woods. 8ou can separate yourselffrom a lot of other hunters y paying closeattention to the wind@ and paying the price toput it in your fa;or. 4n my opinion@ W45??412E94O5 05? 9H2 S25S2 O# SM2DD is the

MOS9 important consideration in successfulstand selection.

B2??456@ #22?456@ #7552DS@ 05? S905?S2DE2E94O5

5ow lets ta!e what we;e learned so far andgo hunting. 4magine that you ha;e Aust Aoined a

new hunting clu and the land is totallyunfamiliar to you. 8ou want to start selectingstand locations. What are you going to do first,1ememer the section on edding areas, 9hat iswhere 4 li!e to start.

Most people egin scouting y stomping


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through the woods loo!ing for Gdeer sign. 9hathas wor!ed for a lot of people@ ut 4 li!e to use adifferent approach. 4 egin y gathering asmuch information as possile from a distance.9his can e accomplished with topo maps@

oser;ation from roadways@ and as!ing localswho are familiar with the area.

9opographical maps are tremendous scoutingtools. 0 lot of print has een de;oted to thissuAect. 9he frustrating thing for most huntersis that they do not !now what to loo! for on atopo map. Ceeping things simple is a good

approach. 9opo maps do not ha;e ig Ns onthem with signs that read Ghunt here. 9hey do@howe;er@ ha;e important info aout cree! andri;er ottoms@ field locations@ and ele;ationchanges. 9his info is an e>cellent starting point.#or e>ample@ cree!s and ele;ation changes canindicate potential funnels. #ields can either efood sources or edding areas depending ontheir growth stage. 9his is all information thatpro;ides a super starting point.

Many times significant info can e gathered yoser;ing an area from a long distance. 4 ha;eselected many successful stands from roadwaysnear my hunting areas. Dast year 4 too! oneuc! and watched a friend har;est his ;ery firstdeer from stand sites 4 had located from the

road. 9he uc! was ta!en with a ow in afeeding area. My friend got his deer@ a legal doe@in a cuto;er that was eing used as a eddingarea. On oth occasions 4 had not een in thearea at all efore these successful hunts. 4norder to teach you my thought processes 4 amgoing to elaorate on each hunt. 9he archery


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stand was located aout $'' yards from asoyean field. 4 selected this spot ecause 4 hadoser;ed three uc!s feeding in the soyeanfield aout fi;e wee!s prior. 9he hunt too! placein late Septemer and 4 wasnt interested in the

soyeans. 4nstead@ 4 was interested in theacorns that 4 was sure the deer had found ontheir Aourneys to the ean field. 4t was a hunchthat paid off. 4 too! the deer at eight yards. 9hesecond deer was ta!en one morning in the cornerof a cuto;er where si> deer were going to eddown after their nighttime feed. 4t was late inthe season and this particular cuto;er was

located within +*' yards of an alfalfa field that 4!new the deer were feeding in at that time.

9he time of day that one hunts is an importantfactor in stand placement. Since deer do muchof their feeding at night and ed during the day@we need to factor this into our stand selectionprocess. 4n general@ morning stands should elocated at funnels that are close to eddingareas. On the other hand@ afternoon standsshould e positioned in funnels that pro;ideopportunities to amush deer going to a fa;oritefeeding area. 9he first deer to come to thefeeding area will usually e does and fawns@followed y younger uc!s@ and finally y moremature uc!s. 9he type animal you wish tohar;est will determine your afternoon stand

placement. When you want to ta!e a doe orsmaller uc! you can place your stand in closepro>imity to the feeding area. Should your goale to har;est a mature uc! then your standshould e placed on a trail that is located fartherfrom the feeding area ut not close enough tothe edding area to alarm the animal. 4n this


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situation@ wind direction should e from thesuspected deer approach ample@ if your hunting area has ayoung cuto;er or a power line right"of"way on itthen a stand located to intercept deer comingfrom feeding areas should produce many deersightings. Bow hunters@ on the other hand@ mustidentify funnels that lead into edding areas inorder to get close enough. Dand depressions@cree! ottoms@ fence rea!s@ sur;ey paths@ andlogging roads that lead into or through thic!areas are good funnels. 9rees in cree! ottomsare usually not cut down when trees arehar;ested. 9hese areas are usually good standlocations. 0lways rememer to considerpre;ailing winds when selecting stand sites.

7tility right"of"ways and young cuto;ers aregood places to hunt when they are grown upenough for deer to feel comfortale in@ ut notso high that they cannot e seen. 9he greatthing aout utility right"of"ways is that they areusually maintained y periodic mowing. 9hismowing creates a cycle of changing use patterns


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that can e utiliFed y the informed hunter.4nitially@ deer will use the freshly mowed area asa feeding area ecause of the new growth. 0sthe ;egetation grows@ the right"of"way willchange from a feeding to a edding area. Some

areas will continue to e used as feeding areas@particularly in late season as foods ecomescarce. 9hese areas can e identified y the lac!of high growth and the presence of preferredfoods such as honeysuc!le. One power line that 4hunt has se;eral areas that ne;er grow ;ery talle;en though they are not mowed ut once e;erythree years. 0fter years of wal!ing past these

spots 4 as!ed myself why they remained lowwhile the rest of the power line had grown toheights that were taller than si> feet. My onlyconclusion was that the deer had !ept thegrowth eaten ac!. 9o confirm this theory 4started hunting these areas predominantly in thee;ening and my theory pro;ed to e true. 4 ha;eta!en many deer in these areas@ particularly in

late season when honeysuc!le ecomes apreferred food.

1ight"of"ways ecome edding areas whenthey are allowed to grow into thic!ets.4dentifying food sources around them canpro;ide e>cellent stand locations for othmorning and e;ening hunting. Once you ha;eidentified a maAor food source then your strategy

should e to place yourself in a funnel tointercept deer tra;eling etween the two. 7secaution when approaching a stand to a;oidspoo!ing deer in route. #or e>ample@ whenapproaching a morning stand located near aedding funnel@ do not wal! through the maAorfeeding area. 9he re;erse is also true when


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hunting an afternoon feeding area. 0lso@ pic!routes that !eep the wind lowing from the deerto you.

WH09 0BO79 9H2 179,

5o deer hunting discussion would e completewithout co;ering reeding acti;ity. Mostwhitetail hunting seasons coincide with thereeding or rut period@ therefore understandingthe acti;ity that is triggered y the rut is ;eryimportant. ?uring summer months whitetail

uc!s usually tra;el in small achelor groups oftwo or more. 4t is uite common to see se;eraluc!s feeding in crop fields during late summere;enings@ and it is smart to spend summere;enings tra;eling on rural roads locatingachelor groups of uc!s that you may want tohunt during the upcoming season. Howe;er@when the season arri;es do not e>pect to seethese uc!s tra;eling together in small groups.0s days shorten and the ;el;et comes off theirantlers@ uc!s ecome ready to reed and theirtolerance of one another ecomes ;ery low.Buc!s are physically ready to reed at this timeand would reed a recepti;e doe as soon as their;el;et is gone. 9his is the period that manydescrie as the pre"rut. 4t would e moreaccurately descried as the pre"estrous ecause

the does are not ready to reed yet. When mildweather coincides with this time frame it is notuncommon for hunters to claim that the uc!sare not in rut yet. 9his is a fallacious remar!ecause the uc!s are ready to reed as soon astheir ;el;et is gone. Photo"sensiti;ity is theiological response to light@ and a uc! responds


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to the shortening of fall days with an increase intestosterone that causes antlers to lose their;el;et and the reeding urge to egin.

?uring pre"estrous@ uc!s spend much of their

time ma!ing scrapes and rus. Dets tal! aoutscrapes first. Because there are few does readyto reed@ uc!s will ma!e and ;isit scrapesregularly at this time. Buc!s will ;isit scrapeshoping that a doe will come y and e ready toreed. 1us@ on the other hand@ are caused yfighting practice. Buc!s instincti;ely !now thatthey may ha;e to fight for the opportunity to

reed so nature prompts them to strengthentheir fighting muscles y pushing against treeswith their antlers. 9his acti;ity strengthens theirnec! muscles which e>plains the large nec!sdisplayed y uc!s har;ested during the rut.

0s does come into estrous@ deer mo;ementand acti;ity increases. Buc!s egin to chasedoes as part of the mating ritual. Once a uc!

has located a doe on the ;erge of estrous he willfollow her until she is willing to stand and ered. When the doe is red and goes out ofestrous the uc! will e on the mo;e to locateanother doe ready to reed. 9his period is oftencalled the pea! of the rut@ ut it is really thepea! of the doe estrous cycle. 9he pea! of theestrous is when the highest numers of does are

ready to e red. 0s a result@ deer can e seenmo;ing at all times of the day. Buc!s will loseinterest in scrapes at this time ecause they areusy chasing recepti;e does.

0fter the pea! of estrous@ e>hausted uc!swill egin to slow down some to restore lost fatreser;es and energy lost during the rigorous


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reeding frenFy. Howe;er@ the urge to reeddoes not disappear and interest in scrapesreturns ecause some does still remain to ered. 9his is sometimes called the secondaryrut. Biologists in your area can tell you when the

pea! of the estrous is and you can e>pectanother pea! reeding time to occur aout %'days later. 9his cycle of reeding and tendingscrapes will continue until the uc!s lose theirantlers. 9he pea! of estrous is in mid"5o;emerin my area@ ut many first"year does are red inJanuary and #eruary during their first estrouscycle.

9H2 179 #0E9O1

5ow that we ha;e some !nowledge ofreeding acti;ity lets see how we can use it toincrease our hunting success. 4n many ways awhitetail uc! is doing the same thing that weare during the season loo!ing for deer. 9heonly difference is that he is only loo!ing for does.Ceeping this in mind@ lets e>amine how thisinformation can help us get close to a whitetailuc!. ?uring the pre"estrous the uc!s arema!ing scrapes to attract does@ ut what arethose does doing, 4f you said feeding@ edding@and tra;eling etween the two you would ha;eeen e>actly right. With this in mind@ where do

you thin! uc!s would e li!ely to ma!e theirscrapes, 9hey will put their scrapes in the tra;elcorridors etween edding and feeding areas. 4tAust ma!es sense that they would locate theirscrapes in high traffic areas in order to ha;e thegreatest e>posure to potential mates. 5ow theimportance of !nowing and locating fa;orite deer


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foods and edding areas ta!es on e;en greatersignificance. When you locate the funnelsetween edding and feeding areas you alsolocate the highest numer of does. Docating thedoes will lead you to the highest numer of

uc!s during the pre"estrous and post"estrousperiods.

My personal hunting strategy has een to huntthe funnels etween edding and feeding areasin the early ow season. While 4 am in theseareas 4 am constantly loo!ing for scrapes andrus. Once 4 ha;e located an acti;e scrape

during the pre"estrous 4 will hunt it when thewind is right. Scrape stands should e placed onthe downwind side ecause uc!s will oftenscent chec! from the downwind side. 4 do nothunt a scrape e>cessi;ely so 4 will not cause theuc! using it to change his mo;ement pattern. 4will !eep hunting different edding and feedingfunnels until 4 ha;e located se;eral differentscrapes in different areas. Once 4 ha;e locatedse;eral@ 4 will rotate from one to the other eingcareful not to put too much pressure on onespot.

Once the estrous is in full swing 4 do e>actlywhat the uc!s are doing H759 9H2 ?O2S?uring the early season 4 usually identify se;eraldifferent areas that a lot of does are using.

9hese are the areas that 4 hunt during the pea!of estrous. 0lso@ 4 spend a lot of time in thewoods at this time ecause uc!s areparticularly ;ulnerale and constantly mo;ing.9his is the est time to spend all day in thewoods. Many good uc!s are !illed in the middleof the day during this time. Se;eral years ago 4


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hunted a spot twice in mid" to late"Octoer andsaw si> does each time 4 hunted it. 9hesesightings prompted me to lea;e this stand aloneuntil the estrous pea!. On 5o;emer th4returned and the first deer 4 saw was a nice

eight"pointer that was standing e>actly where 4had first seen the does. He had his nose in theair and was trying hard to smell those does. 4twas a fun hunt ecause 4 had formulated a planthat pro;ed to e successful.

0fter the estrous pea! 4 will go ac! tohunting edding areas@ feeding areas@ and

scrapes. Why, Because that is where the doesand uc!s are. One of my fa;orite late seasonstands is in the middle of an alfalfa field on afarm 4 ha;e access to. 9here are not suitaletrees neary so 4 hunt in the middle of the fieldwith a stic! lind and a portale stool. 4 ha;eta!en se;eral deer from this stand and ha;e putmany others there with the same results. Dastyear 4 placed two different people there and theyoth loo!ed at me li!e a cow loo!ing at a newgate. Both hunters shot two different deer eachfor a total of four. 2ach hunter shot a doe and agood eight"pointerone of which was ;ery goodfor our area. 4n each case the doe came outfollowed y the uc!. 9hey oth ha;e greaterfaith in my stand selection now

HOW O#925 SHO7D? 4 H759 0 S905?,

One of the most common mista!es huntersma!e is to put too much pressure on a stand yhunting it too often. 9here are many reasons forthis. Some of the reasons include lac! of hunting


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area@ unwillingness to ma!e the effort to locateother good stand sites@ inaility to identify othergood stand sites@ and not !nowing that hunting astand too often will cause a change in tra;elpatterns. 0nyone who lac!s hunting acreage can

fi> that y finding additional areas to hunt.How, 4 ha;e li;ed in my home area for ten yearsand 4 ha;e aout @''' acres to hunt on o;er adoFen pieces of land. 4 got those hunting areasy constantly eing aware of potentialopportunities and as!ing a lot of different peoplefor permission. 6uess what, Some people said5O 4n spite of that 4 still !eep as!ing, 9he est

way to get permission to hunt is to dress instreet clothes when you go to as!. Put yourselfin a position to ma!e a good first impression.Doo! li!e someody lo;es you My fa;oriteapproach is to find someone out in their yard orfield.

Whene;er 4 see anyone outside of their house4 stop and as! them aout permission to hunt.Many times they are not the landowner ut they!now who is. 9his is ;aluale information. 4 amne;er offended y a no. 9hose of us who aremarried would proaly ha;e ne;er een marriedwithout ta!ing some nos. What were we goingto do uit after the first no, 0solutely not@and you shouldnt either. When you get a no Austas! someone else !nowing that you are getting

close to yes. 0lso@ once you ha;e acuiredpermission you should ma!e an effort to spendtime with the landowner outside of huntingseason. Offer to do helpful things and ringthem small showings of your appreciation. 9hisis what 4 call the courting phase. 4 do it sincerelyand it has helped me gain many 6OO? friends.


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0lways rememer that you are a guest and actaccordingly. Be a good steward of the ownersproperty and you will ha;e the est chance ofha;ing a good place to hunt for years to come

0nother option for acuiring land to hunt is toAoin a hunt clu. Be certain when you find onethat you are comfortale with the clu rules andaide y them to stay in good standing as amemer. Hunt clus also pro;ide a great way togain access to other areas of the country thatyou may ha;e a desire to hunt.

Pulic lands also pro;ide great huntingopportunities that many people do not ta!ead;antage of. Many of the hunters that 4 tal! toaout pulic land are concerned aout safetyand hunting pressure. 9hese are legitimateconcerns that can e o;ercome with a little

creati;ity. 9he simplest way to a;oid othershunters on pulic land is to do what most areunwilling to do. 0 lot of times you can separateyourself from the masses y wal!ing a littlefarther@ finding o;erloo!ed areas@ or ta!ing auniue approach. #or e>ample@ 4 freuently hunton pulic land that surrounds a neary la!e. 0ll 4do to a;oid the crowd is use a oat. 4 am certain

4 am not the only one using this tactic@ ut it iseffecti;e for one great reason " it ta!es a littlee>tra effort@ and that is what separates me fromthe masses. 4n $' years 4 ha;e umped into twoother hunters while approaching a hunting spot.Both times it was my first attempt to hunt thoseareas. 4 simply got ac! in my oat and went


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somewhere else. 9here were thousands of acresa;ailale to me. 9wo of my fa;orite places areeffecti;e ecause they are ;ery close to homesor usinesses. 4 thin! they are o;erloo!edecause most people elie;e there is too much

human acti;ity for the deer to stic! around. Ohcontraire@ the deer are right there and 4 amhar;esting them in places others areo;erloo!ing. Just eing creati;e has pro;ided mewith great opportunities. 0;oid the easy accessand you may find pulic land hunting ;eryenAoyale.

5ow that we ha;e opened up new lands tohunt letQs tal! aout how to a;oid putting toomuch pressure on a spot. 9here are se;eralways to accomplish this. 9he first and mosto;ious is to limit your ;isits to once e;ery $'days. Ma!e sure that you do not hunt when thewind is not in your fa;orK and do e;erything you

can to a;oid changing the deerQs normal tra;elroutes. #or e>ample@ ma!e sure you approachyour stands with fa;orale wind. 0nother way tominimiFe the pressure on a stand is to !eep asignificant distance etween yourself and whereyou e>pect to see deer. 9his is most effecti;e forrifle hunting and can allow you to huntconsecuti;e days without detection. 4 ha;e a

place where deer freuent a green field in theafternoon. My approach and e>it allow me tomo;e undetected@ therefore 4 ne;er alarm thedeer. 4 see a lot of Gcelerity hunters using thistactic to locate the deer they want to hunt.Many of the Montana hunts you see on tele;isionare set up using this tactic. 9he hunters wait at


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an ele;ated spot o;erloo!ing a !nown foodsource amples of areas that can e hunted this way.Whene;er possile plan your entry and e>it so asnot to alarm the deer and it will afford you the

opportunity to hunt that spot more often andstill see deer. We ha;e all had the e>perience ofgoing to a stand for the first time and seeing asignificant numer of deer@ ut if we continue toput pressure on that area the deer sightingsegin to decline. 9his particularly true onafternoon hunts where you spoo! the deer asyou lea;e the stand. Many times it is

una;oidale@ ut you should attempt to a;oidthis as much as possile. 4 ow hunt a lot andmany times 4 ha;e deer in range after it is toodar! to shoot. 4 ma!e e;ery effort to a;oidletting these deer associate the upcomingdisturance with human intrusion. 4 will ar!li!e a dog@ throw my soda ottle at them < ofcourse 4 pic! it up efore 4 lea;e=@ and sometimes

4 do oth. When 4 am ow hunting in an uransetting 4 will egin to sing out loud Aust to throwthem off a little. 4 am not sure any of thesetactics wor!@ ut they do ma!e me feel etteraout how 4 left the stand.


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9h ottom line is once again to e creati;e andnot put so much pressure on a stand that deeruit coming there in legal shooting light.Ehances are they will continue using the area@ut o;er hunting can cause deer to ecome

nocturnal. 8ou o;iously cannot ta!e themwithout hunting@ ut use good common senseand try not to put enough pressure on them toimpact your chances for success.

D29QS P79 49 0DD 9O629H21

0 few years ago 4 was fortunate enough to get

drawn for a ow hunt on a state par! in aneighoring state. 4t was a two day hunt andthey were allowing those that were drawn tohunt due to o;erpopulation. 4 was unale to getto the area until the e;ening efore the huntKand when 4 arri;ed to scout there was less thanan hour of daylight. 4 had two friends huntingwith me. Both manged to hang stands and that

is where they hunted for the ne>t two days.9hey inuired aout where 4 had hung my standKand 4 responded that 4 did not find a spot that 4felt confident in. 9hey then as!ed what 4 wasgoing to do the ne>t morning. My answer wasthat 4 was going to put the wind in my face andslip through the woods until 4 found a spot that 4


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elie;ed a deer would e apt to pass within owrange.

My original plan was to use the formula 4 ha;edescried in this oo!. 4dentify the edding

areas@ find the preferred foods@ and locate thefunnels that connect the two. 9his is a greatstrategy unless there are no o;ious eddingareas. 9hat was my plight on this hunt ecausethe area was completely co;ered in maturetimer. 9here were no cut"o;ers@ powerlines@pine thic!ets@ or swamps on the entire loc!. 4wal!ed with a stand on my ac! for two hours

and did not see anything ut ig mature timer.9he forest floor was ;oid of ;egetation ecausethe old trees had cut off the sunlight andpre;ented weedy growth.

So what did 4 do, 4 went to plan B. Plan B wasto hide my stand mar! it with my 6PS andcontinue wal!ing slowly through the woods withthe wind in my face. 1esult 4 slipped withinfifteen yards of an unsuspecting deer and withone well placed arrow 4 performed myconser;ationist duty that morning. DetQs re;iew "my original strategy was my stand"y eddingarea@ foods@ funnels@ and proper wind. Once 4realiFed that the edding areas were going to ehard to identify 4 adapted and got the desired

result.

We ha;e outstanding resources a;ailale to usin this age of lightning fast information. 6oogleearth is one of them that can e used to get


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familiar with a piece of hunting property. 4t cane used to identify edding areas and funnels. 4tis an amaFing time sa;er.

4 e>pect to see deer e;ery time 4 hunt. Why,

Because 4 ha;e a strategy that wor!s. 4t wor!sfor me and it can wor! for you. 4t wor!s ecauseit is haitat ased. 8ou simply identify the estdeer haitat and guess what else you will find,1ememer@ find the edding areas@ find thefoods@ find the funnels@ and hunt with the wind inyour fa;or. 9hroughout the entire process youwill e gathering information as 4 did on the

state par! hunt. Start with the plan and adapt toyour disco;eries.

4 hope this information helps you the way ithas me

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