Here it is, mid June, and I’m already thinking about this fall’s upcoming deer season!
I blame my younger cousin for initiating these thoughts. He came to me to ask advice and wanted to know some tips to help him increase his odds of getting a trophy buck this fall.
Here are 3 tips that I shared with my cousin that hopefully you apply, especially if you’re more of a beginner deer hunter!
Also, keep in mind when reading tips like these, that hunting strategies are different all over the country and other parts of the world. Knowing the terrain and the “lay of the land” is vital in strategizing for your hunt. Every state and area is different with its topography. For the 3 tips mentioned below, they are effective and work best if you are hunting woodlots butting up to agricultural fields. We are in Indiana and these tips work well throughout most of the midwest.
Tip # 1 – ALWAYS Focus on the Wind.
For the avid or advanced hunter this seems like a “no brainer” but it amazes me how many newer hunters don’t focus on this enough. So many deer hunters spook deer they never even see and push the big bucks onto the neighbors ground! Deer, especially a 3 yr old buck or older, DON’T HAVE ANY TOLERANCE FOR HUMAN SCENT! Keep the wind to your face and away from blowing towards a bedding area or feeding location.
Tip # 2 – Get Comfortable.
When I’m with a youth or newbie hunter, I want them to have a comfortable hunt, especially if we’re doing an all day sit. If you can afford it, we highly recommend Shadow Hunter Blinds. Not only are they insulated, they are spacious enough to have a couple office chairs on swivels that are extremely comfortable. We have been using lil’ “Buddy Heaters” with propane tanks that heat up the blind in just a few short minutes. It’s great to stay warm and be confident that you’re scent is minimized in the tightly sealed blind. Now, these blinds are great for the use of crossbows and firearms but are more difficult for compound bows to get a clean shot off through the window openings. One key thing to remember is “nothing is completely scent free”. It’s common sense that the windows of the blind will be down for the shot and other times during the hunt so remember to still focus on the WIND…TIP # 1!
Tip # 3 – Let the neighbors HELP YOU!!! 🙂
What do I mean by this? Well, remember it’s easy to spook deer and send them to the neighbors. It’s just as easy for your neighbors to be idiots and push deer onto you! Outsmart your competition (your neighbors)! During deer season we hardly ever go into the woods if possible. Especially during firearm season when the chaos level is up and the hunter pressure is high, we have our blinds set up in agricultural fields. We place the blinds in these fields usually 75 to 100 yrds from the woods where we know the deer want to go to feed. The point is, we let the deer come to us instead of us going into the woods and “blowing” everything out. Let the deer get comfortable hitting these fields without feeling pressured.
As a side note, if you have the resources to get a good food plot planted in the early spring, it will help get the “wintered” deer to stay on your property as well as maybe pull some shooter bucks off the neighbors.
Once we started hunting smarter than the competitors, we were shooting bigger trophy bucks and was seeing tons of deer late into the season when other hunters weren’t seeing any. (That’s because they push the deer to us! 🙂
Hunt smart my friends,
Landon Miller – A.K.A. “Lando Commando