How do you prepare for deer season...

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Dearhunter61

New member
I am curious what steps or processes everyone goes through in preparation for deer season?

Do you scout the area you are going to hunt prior to season? If so how early do you start and how much time do you spend in the woods?

If you do not scout prior to the beginning of the season how successful are you? Also if not why not?

What type of hunting do you do? Tree stand? Ground Blind? Spot and stalk? Still hunt?

Do you use camo? What kind?

Do you use scents? If so what kind and what is its purpose?

If you hunt using a stand do you hunt over food plots/feeders? Do you hunt over crop fields or near them?

Do you use any food substances? Such as Deer Cain? If so what type of activity do you get?

Do you use a Decoy? Do you use horns and rattle? Do you use grunt calls? If you use any of these methods how successful have you been when using them?

Thanks
 
What do I do? I look at what I have, determine what out there costs more, and make excuses to replace perfectly good gear. :D This year I'm getting a Pelican flight case and a fancier tree stand harness. I always do make a tangled mess of the cheapo safety gear when I'm all groggy at zero-4 - bet I'll be on my stand a half hour earlier.

Unfortunately I live a ways away from the family property. No significant scouting for me. But I know the turf, so the routes which a lot of deer travel don't vary much. I've yet to hunt deer locally, but I might this year - on public land I'll be looking for sign leading into nasty brush and swamps, where the deer will be heading when the swarms make for the woods for shotgun season. I've been pretty lucky with turkey on public land, and the only scouting I've ever done is spending a couple days in the woods prior to the season to pick up tracks in the mud and find a couple food sources.

Despite my lack of scouting, I've never been skunked. Freezer's always full. However, I've only seen a few trophy bucks in that time, and only shot at and taken one of them. Better scouting might help if you're really sweating your taxidermist.

I start out in tree stands, and usually end up spooking all the deer off the property trying to still hunt if there's no action. I've still killed more deer from the ground, but that's usually because I spot them from a stand and then try to work to a better angle and rest. I usually try to get my stands up in late summer, clear shooting lanes, and prepare paths to them, clearing the brush and anything that'd make some noise, and digging stairs into steep spots. There will still be leaves, and some years snow, but I'm much better off than if I was just tripping over twigs.

I wear camo, mix of whatever's been on sale in the past few years. I don't think it matters significantly - don't wear something that will stand out or silhouette you, but I don't think deer find themselves tricked by Realtree considerably more often than by Mossy Oak.

No scents, although I'll probably be a lot more curious about this sort of thing if I ever do what I've been saying I will and buy a bow.

I've tried to replace some of the cut-out brush with food-plot-mix-type-seed if I do a good enough job tearing the soil up, early enough in the season. Seems inconsequential, there's plenty of farmland, acorns, etc.

In the past I've thrown some licks around main travel routes near my stands. The ground's usually torn up and the lick's gone by the time I get back. I don't think this affects the hunting by the time I get out there.

No decoys. And my understanding is that most noise is ineffective after the rut. But I still get bored on those really cold days and go against my better judgment. So I can say that, in my few attempts, I have not scared up any activity from rattling/bleating/grunting in late November. :p
 
In order...
No

N/A

S&S and still hunt

Just wear jeans and any ol' greenish shirt or a flannel shirt if it is cool out.. But do smear mud on myself at times... Why wear high dollar camo when I have to wear a flagman vest?

Just my own unless you call the mud a scent cover up.

No plots but will hunt near ag land some times...

No

No


All I did is go to wally world for 20 rounds of cheap .30-30 winchester, 15 00 buck, 15 rounds of slugs both cheap winchester in 12 gauge and 2 five round boxes of 20 gauge slugs... That is 60 rounds so if I get on enuff deer and hit 50% than I could bag 30 animals... Lookin' to fill some freezers...
I just slink into the harshest of the swamp and look for tracks find a spot big enuff to quietly point the gun without rattlin' the scrub and sit tight... If I feel I stick out in my surroundings I may smear some swamp mud on my clothes and face as well as hands/arms.
Brent
 
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My hunting has always been on public land. I both stalk and still hunt. My "blinds" are the brush and rocks. I dont hunt over food plots, use calls, or estrus scents. It may sound a little strange, but I have been very fortunate to have always taken home game within the season.
 
This year I'm hunting new land, and haven't had time to get down there to do much scouting, so I picked an easy access spot to hang my stand, and will "scout" from the sky this year. If I get lucky and get something, it'll be great.

In the past, my stand was behind my parents' house, in the woods that I grew up running around. I knew it pretty well, and set up my stand. Always saw deer right around the same time, and didn't require much work.
 
How do you prepare for deer season...

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I am curious what steps or processes everyone goes through in preparation for deer season?

Do you scout the area you are going to hunt prior to season? If so how early do you start and how much time do you spend in the woods?
I do not scout much beacause we have leased the same property since 2000 and we know most of the deer activity areas.
If you do not scout prior to the beginning of the season how successful are you? Also if not why not?
Some scouting around 2 months before the season opens and for the past 3 or 4 seasons I have seen more than 70 deer during the season.
What type of hunting do you do? Tree stand? Ground Blind? Spot and stalk? Still hunt?
I mostly hunt from ladder stands but do hunt on the ground, behind a blind atleast twice a week.
Do you use camo? What kind?
Real Tree all purpose, mossy oak, woodland camo ETC., I don't think it matters much at all.
Do you use scents? If so what kind and what is its purpose?
Cover scents to try and keep my scent down
If you hunt using a stand do you hunt over food plots/feeders? Do you hunt over crop fields or near them?
I have stands near feeders and food plots.
Do you use any food substances? Such as Deer Cain? If so what type of activity do you get?
I have used the mineral blocks and the trophy rocks. Deer will walk up and lick them from time to time. One place where I have had the trophy rock, deer have dug a hole in the ground, going after the minerals.
Do you use a Decoy? Do you use horns and rattle? Do you use grunt calls? If you use any of these methods how successful have you been when using them?
I have used grunt calls and the bleet cans before. One year I called a 11 point in while I was using the bleet can.
 
For shotgun in Illinois we hunt a wooded creek bed surrounded by several hundred acres of usually chisel-plowed ag fields - its a pinch-point because deer in the area travel along the edge of the creek. the creek has steep sides so they dont cross. We get real innovative with the use of deadfall ground blinds, corn/grass ground blinds, hang-on stands, ladder stands and one tripod stand. In the 8 years we have been hunting this, its always been a cat and mouse game- we win a few,they win a few- but we always end up with meat in the freezer. They bunch up in groups late in the season when it gets cold so its not uncommon to see 20 deer jump out of a bushy fence-row when we do a push!
 
I have two "hunts" planned. One is really a doe management hunt hence the quotation marks.

For the management hunt we hunt a corn feeder at the intection of a hardwood and a pasture and creek nearby. We set up a ground blind.

For the public land hunt I didn't have the time or gas money to scout on the ground, so I topo'ed the area and looked at arial shots and found a spot where I would have 4 shooting lanes (2 depending on the wind direction) cut for transmission lines. A pond is nearby. We will be hunting during the weekend and the 3 day work week before Thanksgiving. I anticipate problems because of no scouting, so we will probably do a 3 man push into the wind if we don't have any luck sitting. We all applied for US Forest Service doe tags, so our odd should increase drastically IF we are selected.

I already put a pig in the freezer on the same day we hung the feeder for the management hunt. I've never been skunked during a deer season, and I doubt that will change this year. My buddies on the other hand only have the state land hunt and that's a coin toss.
 
Hopefully, I can answer some of your question. Keep in mind this is MY routine. I scout year round on the property I hunt. Starting first of August, I have a feeder that I fill up with "deer corn", will keep it filled up until about a week or two before season. ( In Georgia, you can not hunt over bait.) By the time season starts the feeder is empty. Also first of August, (rifle season starts mid October here), I clear firing lanes around the three tree stands that are place on the property and also clear around areas that I will place my ground blind. So I hunt from both tree stands and blinds.
As for Camo. I buy what ever is on sale at the end of season from Walmart. Have a couple pants and a couple shirts. I do have one set of Mossy oak pants and jacket. When hunting I do use scents (Tinks 69 gel), however, it is used more as a cover scent. Also I have used different call. I use a deer grunt call, rattle bag and Doe bleet. I like to think that I have called in a couple deer, deer showed up within 30 minutes of the call.
I hope this helped I have been fairly succesful over the last few years.
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Here are some of what I do...

I am curious what steps or processes everyone goes through in preparation for deer season?

Do you scout the area you are going to hunt prior to season?
I do scout but it is really minimum.

If so how early do you start and how much time do you spend in the woods?
I started this year in March when I looked for a place to put up my stands and spent probably 5-6 hours scounting. I was limited because most of the areas were already being hunted on the lease I am on so I had to scout the areas that were left.

If you do not scout prior to the beginning of the season how successful are you? Also if not why not?
Since in the past I hunted on Public land most of the time I did not have consistent success. The times when I spent a lot of time in the field scouting I usually had a lot better success. Now that I am on a lease in W TX I anticipate having GREAT success. This past weekend on Sunday morning I had 3 does and 2 bucks come to my feeder.

What type of hunting do you do? Tree stand? Ground Blind? Spot and stalk? Still hunt?
Mainly I stand hunt, Box Stand, but I enjoy all of the above and given the opportunity this year will try them all.

Do you use camo?
Yes, I also have a gilley and it is incredible. I literally had an owl last year fly up to the tree I had climbed in and it landed about 4 feet from me and sat there for 2-3 minutes. Simply amazing. That was worth everything last year to simply experience that.

What kind?
As to the kind...what ever is cheapest when I buy it.

Do you use scents?
I have used them occasionally but I have never seen anything that would lead me to believe they actually work.

If so what kind and what is its purpose?
Most of the time it is about covering my scent.

If you hunt using a stand do you hunt over food plots/feeders?
I am hunting over feeders this year. I actually bought a second one this past weekend and set it up. Did not understand why the other guys were doing this until this weekend...but after experiencing the wind direction I decided to use another one...it was that or put up another stand in the opposite direction and I figured the feeder was cheaper.

Do you hunt over crop fields or near them?
No simply because there are not any...the land is really to poor to support crops.

Do you use any food substances? Such as Deer Cain?
No, but I intend to try some this year. First Deer Cain and then perhaps Cmere Deer.

If so what type of activity do you get?
None yet.

Do you use a Decoy?
No

Do you use horns and rattle?
Yes with occasional success but not often.


Do you use grunt calls?
I have tried them but with no success.
 
my procedure,
hit alarm,

get pumpkin suit on

Open door of trailer,

walk the 63 steps to my stand,

settle in, have cuppa cocoa.

as dawn lights the field in front of me,

examine the herd for the cull.

One older doe, one young buck

two shots

have a cuppa cocoa.

read book,

climb down,

hang pumpkin suit on a fence post,

field dress deer

flag the deer and get back in tree stand

wait an hour, shoot two more on management tags.

repeat.

Its gotten less and less like hunting, as the numbers have skyrocketed

also shooting coyote and other canines over winter has helped numbers jump.
 
Do you scout the area you are going to hunt prior to season? If so how early do you start and how much time do you spend in the woods?
Yes, but not always deliberately. The land I hunt on is family owned farm where year-round I'm always active doing non-hunting chores/activities.

If you do not scout prior to the beginning of the season how successful are you? Also if not why not?

What type of hunting do you do? Tree stand? Ground Blind? Spot and stalk? Still hunt?
Tree stand, spot&stalk, and still hunt

Do you use camo? What kind?
Combination of different ones, also depends on what type of hunting I'm doing. Right now I'm a fan of APG though, so that's what I'm wearing

Do you use scents? If so what kind and what is its purpose?
Tinks #69, Buckbomb, and various others. I don't use them too much though, always had the same luck hunting without them as I have with them

If you hunt using a stand do you hunt over food plots/feeders? Do you hunt over crop fields or near them?
yes, and yes

Do you use any food substances? Such as Deer Cain? If so what type of activity do you get?
I don't, but others who use the property do. I've never seen them work very well though IMO.

Do you use a Decoy? Do you use horns and rattle? Do you use grunt calls? If you use any of these methods how successful have you been when using them?
No, rarely, and sometimes. Biggest thing about grunting is not over-doing it.
 
guntotin_fool

Where in the heck do you hunt? We are allowed to take 5 deer where I am hunting...2 bucks and 3 does...

Which means 1 "trophy", 8 point or better with an 18 inch spread.
1 spike (cull) buck. If it is a real bad rack but not a spike we need to take a photo and show the owner for his approval.

and 3 does.
 
Deerhunter... You would love the florida bag limit... We can take 2 per day possess 4 but can give away all we want. I intend to fill my freezer, then give away/store more at other folks houses so as to have enuff for the year while also helpin' others offset food bills in return for lettin' me use their freezer.
Brent
 
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