I'm open to suggestions on deer hunting strategies. This is my first year hunting and I'll be hunting with my father who used to bow hunt but got tied up in work and unfortunately can't bow hunt anymore. So, since I'm new I have no clue where to start. The deer in the area don't use travel route's whatsoever and they don't seem to interested in the clover and rye planted in the open field either. I really don't know how to hunt them, so if you guys could help me I'd greatly appreciate it. Also, I don't have a tree stand yet and might not cause I'm on a budget and they cost too much.
Country boy, click on this link..... http://mapper.acme.com/ Find your hunting grounds, then send the link back to us on here. We can take a look at the property from an aerial/topographic view and suggest some places for you to hunt. Before you get to that link and all, here are some pointers for you when you are first starting out. 1) You cannot beat the wind. Hunt downwind of any place you predict deer will move. If you are wrong about where they are moving, so be it. At least you tried to hunt the wind. 2) Find thicker areas located on higher ground. A lot of the time, deer like to bed in those areas, then leak out prior to dark to feed. Cut them off and hunt downwind to get a shot. 3) Be realistic in how far you can shoot. If you can shoot accurately out to 30 yards in practice, consider only shooting out to 20 yards when you get a real target. Adjust as necessary when you gain confidence. 4) Think of where the deer will be moving in the morning. If you plan on hunting in the morning and you know the deer are eating out in the rye field, then I would suggest not walking across that field or anywhere upwind of that field when you are trying to set up to hunt. 5) DO NOT worry about getting a tree stand. Find natural cover and conceal yourself. I suggest practicing shooting your bow from behind natural cover. Do it for months leading up to the season. Get comfortable drawing and holding your bow for at least 30 seconds, then shoot. You will notice that you will shoot a little bit different when you have been on draw for a long time. IF you are hunting with a gun, that will not pertain to you. 6) Find thicker cover like I described above. Where open woods and thicker cover meet is a great place to hunt for your first deer. Add in any terrain features such as a draw or a change in elevation near the breakline(where the cover meets) and you will certainly have deer using that spots to travel. 7) Practice shooting your bow a ton, get confident. Shoot shoot and shoot more. 8) Make sure you clean your clothes in baking soda or a product designed to eliminate odors (Hunters Speciality products and the such )and let them hang dry outside. Then store them in something like a plastic tub or even a non-scented trash bag--maybe even through in some pine needles or some dry leaves to give you some natural cover scent. If you can smell your clothes or anything stinky on you, trust me the deer can too. AND above all else, HAVE FUN and explore the woods. And also, if you get stressed out, just forgot everything I told you above and just hunt..... I started hunting by myself and had no idea what I was doing (sometimes I still do not). If you need any help, please PM me or post on here and I will try my best to give you some pointers. Brett
virginiashadow has some good stuff for you, good luck to you this fall. The aerial map idea is good, I am sure people would give you some good stand site suggestions if you post up the area you will be hunting. Besides, many of the folks on here love to tinker with topo/aerial maps anyway
