Advice for a "casual" hunter?

[MidwestMatthew]

As a newish hunter, I've been reading everything I can about deer hunting in advance of this year's gun season. My main takeaway so far is that just like in anything else, a hunter's level of dedication is predictive of his success.

My problem is that I don't have funds for specialized gear, such as scent-blocking clothes, rubber boots, and so on. More importantly, family responsibilities and a hunting area two hours from home mean I also don't have time to scout and learn the habits of deer on our property. So although I treat hunting as seriously as I can, I simply don't have the opportunity right now to develop my skills the way I'd like.

Obviously I plan to improve my kit and skills as time goes by. But under my current handicaps, what should I be focusing my efforts on in order to increase my chances of success?

 

[Turkey Creek]

Interesting post. We have all been where you are! The biggest thing you can "buy" is more hunting time. I understand the responsibilities of your day to day life. So that means either finding a place closer to home to hunt or finding a way to be able to take your family with you so that it becomes an activity you are all involved with. There is no substitute for woodsmanship (hunting experience) you cant buy that, unless you are on a guided hunt. Makes no sense to spend a pile of money on hunting "stuff" and have no time to use it!

 

[Jeff H]

I had a neighbor that killed a deer every year. Don't think any were trophies but he always brought one home. Jim told me his secret to success on the last year he hunted. "If you sit in one place long enough you'll get your deer" Jim was 87 and has since passed. Good advice, doesn't cost anything any only requires that you are in woods that have deer.
Best of luck to you and prepare your family for your new addiction.

 

[Chestnut Valley Farms]

Midwest Mathew
When it comes to rifle hunting it isn't always reap what you sow! Seen allot of beginners luck to the guy that hasn't stepped foot in the woods all year bag the biggest buck on the meat pole however their are things you can do to stack the odds of success in your favor! I recommend
*Making time for a scouting trip
*Confidence in your spot makes sitting for longs hours much easier.
*Stalk on windy or post rainy days when you can get around without spooking game.
*shoot your weapon of choice prior to the hunt and build confidence with it. Nothing chaps my ass more than the guy who doesn't have enough respect for game to check his equipment!
*gotta put the time in the woods! Seen guys all week posting on various sites an social media about kills between 10 to 2. That's when most guys are back at camp.
*pack some good snacks and a book. Always helps me stay out longer.
*not sure where you are hunting but respect the landowner and whoever is putting in the work around the place. Be helpful
*have fun an don't take this stuff to serious! I have made that mistake. Be wise. Learn from another mans mistakes
*dont forget to thank the Good Lord for the great renewable resources he gave us as well as a healthy body and mind to pursue them!
GOOD LUCK
AIM SMALL MISS SMALL

 

[Doe Shooter]

1. hunt with the wind in your favor.
2. Try to have the sun on your back.
3. Sit still.
4. Have fun.
I've shot deer in bibs and a flannel shirt.
"Sometimes all skill is in vain when an angel pees in the touch hole of your musket"
What the other guys said.

 

[Fish]

Great advice above.
We killed a lot of deer before scent control, trail cams, gland lures, grunt tubes, and on and on.
There is nothing you can buy that will be as effective for you as spending time in the woods with deer. The industry has done a great job convincing us that we cannot be successful without them.
Learning when you can move. Learning where the stand should go. Knowing fresh sign. Understanding why the deer are where they are. Thats the foundation. And then realizing there is no real script for any of it.
Everything you can buy is just a compliment to that.
Lastly, i would recommend keeping a journal and document everything.

 

[Buckly]

I would just look for fresh deer sign and set up within shooting range of it. Preferably on the downwind side. Trails with lots of tracks or where several trails meet is a good place to start and doesn't take much time to find.

 

[dogghr]

Good advice already given. Bet you have more fun than a lot of guys who have all the equipment and hours and land to spend.
At one time I had very little of anything, much less hunting crap. And I always traveled 2+ hours to hunt public land. So you already have a plus, a place to hunt that is your families.
Get aerial and topo maps and study lay of land and think how you would travel across it. When you get to land, try to find edges, such as where conifer meets hardwood, field meets forest, steep hill meets bench, saddle breaks ridge, etc. The more intersections of various edges you can find in a spot, the better the spot tends to be. I've walked in at daylight and found such these type spots and scored. I have let my son hunt one such spot I'v used and he has shot nice bucks for 10 years there. And its on heavily pressured land that we will travel to in a few weeks.
As said, play the wind, even as a rifle hunter. Who cares about hunting clothes. I shot years of my first deer with jeans and sweatshirt. Get a garbage bag and place all your hunting gear in it after washing in scent free soap. Place in bag either open box of baking soda, or some decaying leaves and dirt, or buy scent wafers earth smell and place in bag. I've done all those. Keep your crap in there until you ready to hunt.
Practice practice practice shooting your weapon of choice.
And most of all, just have fun. My money is that you are going to have a blast. Taking game is just the bonus. Good luck.

 

[Rickey]

Scent free detergent doesn't have to be the ones made for hunting either. You can get a few different brands like scent free All. A bar of scent free soap is cheap as is deodorant. This will not beat a deer nose always but surely helps. You can make a blind right there in the woods. I killed plenty of deer when I was younger wearing a pair of blue jeans and flannel shirt shooting a 30-30 open sight while sitting on a 5 gallon bucket behind some brush I set up as a blind. If your terrain is hilly then set it on a hillside overlooking a bottom with acorns. Acorns are king when on the ground IMO.

 

[W33kender]

When you get to land, try to find edges, such as where conifer meets hardwood, field meets forest, steep hill meets bench, saddle breaks ridge, etc. The more intersections of various edges you can find in a spot, the better the spot tends to be. .

Very, very good advice.

 

[boot]

My dad and his dad would go deer hunting by throwing on an old pair of jeans on, a flannel jacket, and go walk around in the woods all day, they shot deer. Don't get intimidated by all the expensive scent blocking clothing and gear, find an area to hunt, go out and have fun, walk around, sit over an open area. Hunting is a continual learning experience, no matter how many years one has under their belt

 

[JDunham]

Lost of good advice. Don't worry about fancy gear. Wear what will keep you comfortable, you can add gear if you decide you want something. You certainly don't "need" all the stuff they sell to kill deer. Beyond that, get in the woods as often as you can and keep the wind in your favor. You do those two things and you will get opportunities.

 

[j-bird]

#1 - Deer can't read! You may laugh at that, but it's true. Deer don't read the books we do. They don't read the magazines we do. They don't watch the TV shows, they don't see the advertising. SO - take all that as a suggestion at best. I don't watch the TV shows any more, I don't read the magazines anymore, I don't worry about name brands anymore......and what I do read is fairly selective. The deer don't read or care what you have read. They don't care how expensive your gun is, or that you read "X" magazine or use company "Z" deer pee with "Mr. Y" as it's spokesperson. If deer could read they would cross the interstate where the sign says so!

#2 - Think like a deer. They need food, water and cover and they will move from one to the other along fairly predictable routes. Look for signs of those routes, trails, rubs, scrapes and I love a fresh snow fall to follow tracks. The entire time think ...."Why is the deer doing this here?" You will see how little changes can affect the deer and you will learn how the deer use the property. Keep an eye on terrain and pinch points where the deer are "forced" to a certain area.

#3 - Smell is the biggest defense of a deer. You don't need every scent blocking gadget under the sun. Simply use the wind in your favor. Not just in hunting but in the route you take to and from your hunting site. No point in heading due south with a wind from due north - this blows your scent well ahead of you and alerts every deer along the way. They know you are there well before you know they are there.

#4 - KISS - keep it simple stupid! With all the gadgets and bells and whistles out there it's amazing they sell all that crap! For the most part it's junk that simply gets in the way, weighs you down and generally does nothing more than scare the deer. Most hunters use that stuff and sound like a dying critter 20 feet up in a tree.....don't be that guy. Keep gear to a minimal - keep the extras back at the truck. Have stand locations set-up well in advance - clear trails and shooting lanes and mark travel routes if needed. I see folks every year that can;t find their stand or are carrying their stand and don;t have shooting lanes prepped and the like. Preparation is a big key to success.

With all of that said - read "mapping trophy whitetails" - this book will show you how to "scout" without ever stepping foot on the property by using maps. This alone can save you lots of time and help narrow down locations for you to investigate. The book focuses on pinch points, terrain features and other things that deer tend to relate to in how they use and move across a property.

 

[MidwestMatthew]

Thanks for all the great ideas, everyone. I knew equipment couldn't make me a great hunter any more than having a nice camera makes me a great photographer, so it's nice to have a lot of tips to think about. Honestly, if I had to pick, I'd rather have knowledge and skill than fancy gear anyway.

 

[SIWhitetail]

Lots of good advice here. A couple of things that I'll add...
1. Someone said find a way to bring the hunting closer to home. If that's possible at all, that's a great piece of advice. Knock on doors for permission or find some public ground. Good public ground can really educate a guy about how deer move and how to find them.
2. Find an inexpensive bow. It doesn't have to be the newest, fastest, smoothest. Just find something you can afford. Grab a cheap target, arrows, broad heads and expand your hunting time to include 3 or 4+ months. Bowhunting is frustrating at times, but it's so much fun. This will increase your opportunities to hunt, learn, and have success. If you need help figuring this stuff out, the guys here will walk you through anything, and youtube is a beautiful thing.

 

[ChrisPBrown]

I learned to deer hunt from a family that lived off of the deer they killed. They killed some nice bucks over the years but the most important thing to them were numbers. This is still how I hunt. Scouting is important. You have to get out there and walk the property and see where the deer are moving. Don't worry about scrape lines or rubs look for trails that are beat down. Look for prints in soft ground....and I mean not one or two....look for the spot that has the most prints. Don't worry about all the high dollar gear. Hunting anything these days is really expensive if you let it be. Don't worry about sitka gear or underarmor or any other high dollar name brand stuff. Polypropylene long underwear can be found cheap (if you have a Rural King near you you can buy a complete set for 10 bucks) and they are worlds better than the old waffle thermal underwear. Wool socks...highest wool count you can find. I buy nothing under 85% wool socks. They will keep you warm and wick sweat away from your skin. Any warm coat will do for hunting. During rifle season, camo is generally not necessary since blaze orange is usually required (as it should be). I prefer rubber boots these days but I hunted for years with a regular old pair of insulated leather work boots. Most of the time scent control is not as important during rifle season....at least in my experience. Most people (in the Eastern U.S. at least) hunt within at least a few miles of a house, so human scent is all around the deer year round. If you are concerned about scent then buy some baking soda and use it to wash your hunting clothes....best scent eliminating thing in the world. After washing put the clothes in a trash bag and tape it shut with a little baking soda in the bag. Know your rifle and where it hits. Be confident you can make a good shot at the ranges you will see shots at.
In reality, killing a deer consistently (now this is my opinion, others will probably disagree) is this simple......Know your gun.....be where the deer want to be....sit still....be quiet.....and be patient. Oh and one last thing....enjoy every second of it!

 

[MidwestMatthew]

Lots of good advice here. A couple of things that I'll add...
1. Someone said find a way to bring the hunting closer to home. If that's possible at all, that's a great piece of advice. Knock on doors for permission or find some public ground. Good public ground can really educate a guy about how deer move and how to find them.
2. Find an inexpensive bow. It doesn't have to be the newest, fastest, smoothest. Just find something you can afford. Grab a cheap target, arrows, broad heads and expand your hunting time to include 3 or 4+ months. Bowhunting is frustrating at times, but it's so much fun. This will increase your opportunities to hunt, learn, and have success. If you need help figuring this stuff out, the guys here will walk you through anything, and youtube is a beautiful thing.

I'm not stepping foot on public ground around here during deer season. But I do know some people with property that I could probably get permission to hunt. Good thought, I'll give that a try.

Bowhunting is on my radar for next year. I know a guy who's always upgrading his equipment and probably would let me borrow some of his older stuff. And my folks' yard is big enough to practice in. I also like the idea of being able to hunt while the crops are still out, I feel like that would give me quite an edge up at the family farm. Deer are always out feasting away on the corn and the beans in the early bow season.

 

[SIWhitetail]

I don't know where you are, but even in heavily hunted areas, my experience has been that public lands are pretty calm in bow season. Private is typically better, but not always. I hunt some out of state public that I would put up against most of the private ground in that area.

As for bow hunting, I think stuff like you're saying about the crops is the beauty of it. There are so many different phases of the season to work through and you just keep learning about the animal that you're hunting. According to the Drurys there are 13 phases. I don't quite break it down that much, but easily 6.


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[ChrisPBrown]

The key with public land is to get away from the road . Where I grew up we were blessed with big tracts of public land and the average hunter didn't go more than a couple hundred yards from where they parked . Get in early ahead of the idiots and wait for them to put the deer in your lap .

 

[W33kender]

The key with public land is to get away from the road . Where I grew up we were blessed with big tracts of public land and the average hunter didn't go more than a couple hundred yards from where they parked . Get in early ahead of the idiots and wait for them to put the deer in your lap .

And sometimes....getting away from the road isn't really that hard of a walk and doesn't spook any deer on your way there. LOL.

What I like to do is find good spots near the road but far from parking areas. LOL. I park and walk the road, sometimes a great distance, and then cut in when no one is passing by. There are usually great spots galore seldom hunted but within 200 yards of the road. Easier drag to the edge of the road for any deer you might harvest, too.