List your top hunting secret(s) that you personally know works great but one of the following applies to other hunters. A. Not that many other hunters know about. B. Know of, but don't know how good the tactic really works/doesn't work. C. Know of, but seems to overlooked for some reason. D. Are just flat out too lazy to do. A few I thought of. Put warm heating packs on your kidneys to help keep warm in real cold weather. Hunting directly over food plots is done too much and rarely lets you see/shoot big bucks. Some exceptions apply. Planting Winter rye is grossly under-utilized in food plots and is such a great thing to plant. Food plots don't need to be weed free to feed deer. In fact, deer will often eat the weeds you work so hard to kill. I'll try and add more later. Post yours and lets all learn something.
Time to spill the beans TJ! Everyone complains that tactics are not discussed enough on here. Time for the forum to put up or shut up.
If you meat hunting or even trophy hunting, Don't overlook the close spots! Even if it's heavily pressured public land, there is no need to go in 3 miles deep. you can fill your freezer by sticking close to the parking area, hunting over the sign that everyone imediately brushes off because it's so close. of course you have to plan accordingly. i always get setup an hour before the normal crew rolls in. watch them walk by, than let the deer do the rest. works well for me every year! EVEN on my land. my stand this year is 30 yards inside the woodline, same spot i shot my buck last year.
Let's see, some secrets.... hmmmm... 1. Vanilla is a great cover scent, and even better attractant fr whitetails. 2. Don't clear 360 degrees of brush for shooting lanes ( I feel too many clear waaaay too much) 3. Urinating from your stand DOES NOT spook deer, but sometimes it makes them come closer from curiosity. 4. A HUGE razor sharp broadhead is not needed to kill a whitetail, practice until that one shot hits the mark every time and that's when you'll be more successful. (A bad shot is a bad shot, some just get lucky with larger broadheads) 5. Don't walk past that berry patch grumbling because of the jaggers and thorns investigate it because you may have just found an optimal food source. That's all I'll share for now to see how "serious" the others here are. I feel there are no "secrets" that should be kept when hunting we are all here to learn and hopefully pass this tradition on to the next generation, so I will share what I know freely.
There is this stuff called corn that deer really like that I use to enhance the deer's food supply. Now, if you use this stuff called corn you cant hunt around it every time you go out, you have to let the deer feel comfortable using it. Some people cant grasp that concept. But it works great if you let the deer feel comfortable using it, slip in with the right wind and hang your stand in a position that gives you a good shot but offers you some concealment. That's my secret.
Only problem is here in PA this "corn" you speak of is illegal to use during hunting seasons! lol Just had to poke the cage a little!
I realize that some states aren't progressive enough to allow the use of the super secret product. I would also bet that there is still a lot of this stuff being used in those states that don't legally allow it. Really guys, its that good.
Razor sharp broadheads are more lethal than dull ones. Blood platelets attach to jagged cuts and clot the wound. A sharp broad makes a clean cut not allowing the platelets to clot. That is why is is hard to stop the bleeding when we cut ourselves shaving. Want to stay cool during the hot September afternoons? Take a 5 gallon bucket and fill it about 1/3 full with water and a cup of baking soda. Soak the leafy wear or ghillie suit while driving to the hunting spot. Put the suit over a pair of shorts and go hunt. Each time the breeze blows it feels like air conditioning. The baking soda helps hold down human odor which reduces mosquito bites. The suit should be dry by the time the hunt is over.
The best day to bowhunt in Illinois is the first Saturday in November: (1) Some part of the rut is taking place. (2) Other bowhunters are hunting. (3) 95 to 100% of the crops are gone and the deer are adjusting and are recently more visible. (4) The first week of November is argued by many to be the best week to hunt deer. (5) But the number one reason the first Saturday in November is the best is because it is opening season for pheasants and rabbits. Tons of the best bedding areas are pushed, dogs are running, guns are going off, etc. which puts deer on their feet and moving during daylight hours. Do not overlook this day.
When hunting public land, hunt areas that are only accessible by going down. Nobody likes to drag a deer uphill.
I would like to to add always have a arrow ready and when you have to get out of your stand look at your watch and stay ten min longer. Know your hunting area, stay out of it only to kill during the season.yes you may kill a deer but how many big ones did you tip off that you never seen because of scent you left near trails,first time in mentality on every spot. Move around and keep the deer guessing and no matter what else you do don't compromise on wind direction ever..there is no magic scent spray By now your stands should be up,lanes cleared and let it be until the day you hunt.because every time in you enter the woods you just educated more deer to your scent and route to your stands.
Fertilizer. I get several big bags of fertilizer and spread it around certain stand sites right before a rain in mid-late August. It causes a burst of new growth which attracts deer during early season hunts. Works better in places that the sun reaches the ground, out in the middle of the woods it just feeds the trees.
I believe that slow is smooth and smooth is fast. Also, know your distances and be able to figure them out on foot.
Deer hunters rely to much on gimmicks. Browse these forums after the ATA show it's comical. If some people put as much work into becoming better hunters as they do messing with bait piles, minerals etc etc they could get on better deer. Big bucks spend the vast majority of their time in their core bedding area. The farther you are away from his bed the more it decreases your chances of a trip to the taxidermist. There is a ton of knowledge on these forums but people rarely reach out and take advantage of it. A major one that never gets discussed on the fourms... Big bucks are much more susceptible to moving from their beds before dark during incoming and out going weather fronts. Scrapes near bedding areas following those fronts (whether it be high winds passing or rain) are much more likely to see day light action. Having a pre shot thought process to calm myself before shooting at an animal helps me immense. Write it on your bow if you need to as a reminder. I use the acronym G.Y.S.T. as mine. (Get your **** together) reminds me to hit my anchors, pick my spot and follow through after I release the arrow. I started doing this after I lost a buck in 2010 and have been lights out using it.
Don't walk through the woods on the deer trail. Believe it or not, humans are really stinky. And you are just ruining a pathway.
