I am curious, how do you determine where you are going to hunt ? How do you track down the deer? I ask this because I have been hunting for 15 years, but the little info know about hunting is all self taught and I haven't had anyone else that would ever teach me. I am 30 years old and I want to take my hunting to a new level, not just for me but mostly so I can try to teach my kids more about God, outdoors and hunting for the food God provides us with. Should I look into any sort if wildlife biology courses ? What are your thoughts? I want to learn! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free
I find the deer to be quite tasty:p The world is your oyster. Try looking for books on deer behavior.
In Nebraska our game and parks staff a lot of biologists. They are usually more than happy to sit down or talk over the phone with you about specific areas. They have a wealth of knowlage and a lot of resources avaliable. If I am ever hunting some where new I always contact one to get the skinny on the area.
Learn how to read Topos and read up on some Botany. These two things, IMO, are two things that have improved my success in the recent years.
You should read some hunting articles and books even magazines that can catch you up. Read some of the threads on this forum
This book is an excellent resource to help increase your deer sightings... Amazon.com: Mapping Trophy Bucks (0046081005039): Brad Herndon: Books
I like to start off by looking at fields that they are feeding on from a distance. Find out where they are coming out to feed. I don't really know what the terrain is like in Utah, but if fields are an option start there. other than that i like to scout a lot. Find trails and follow them. See where those trails lead. Look for tracks and deer crap. It's something where you have to take the time and be in the woods. Look for draws and ridges that the trails run along. Trail cameras are a nice thing to have if it's in your budget.
I have found that reading books helped me the most when I first got into hunting. They're are millions of books on deer behavior and patterns that they have. Me personally I like reading more about it and doing my research than talking to someone over the phone.
Learning topos is the way to go. The mapping trophy bucks book recommended is a great read and easy to follow for a beginner. There's a few on here, Gri22ly stands out as the main one, that can look at a topo of your area and draw the travel corridors, hubs and likely bedding areas without ever setting foot on the land.
Have not seen any one mention this yet, keep a journal every year of your hunting trips. Document date, time, temp, places you are seeing deer move, places where you see new scrape or rub lines pop up. Document what you see them eating and when/what time of year. You can really start to learn the deer movement when you compile all that data year after year. It is tedious work but I know some people live by it.
mostly just going out and looking. public land is good for that because you have no worries about trespassing. with private (unless you own it) you need permission. as someone mentioned check out aerials of the area (google earth) and topos if you can get them. best land to hunt obviously is the land you own because you should be familiar with every square foot of your property
