Alsatian

You didn't say anything about WHERE you would be hunting. You will need to have some place to hunt deer. It is preferable that you don't have to share this area with a bunch of other people (some public land areas can be loaded with hunters). On the assumption you have a place that is NOT overloaded with other hunters, you will want to first assure yourself that there are indeed deer living on this ground. Walk around your area and become familiar with it. Where are the trees, where are the open areas, where is the water, where is the food? As you are familiarizing yourself with your area, keep your eyes open for sign of deer -- tracks, hair caught on fences. This is a progressive activity -- you don't figure out and become familiar with an area on one trip. The better you know your area, the better your chances of taking a deer.

Deer are a prey species. They are subject to being eaten by predator species, such as coyotes, wolves, bear. Because of this inherent nature, deer are careful. They tend to lie low and remain hidden during daylight hours. Many conclusions useful to deer hunting stem from understanding that deer are a prey species. Deer will generally eat at dawn and shortly afterwards and then move to bedding areas -- areas where the deer will lie down and rest all day and chew their cud. Likewise, deer will generally leave their beds in late afternoon, move to their feeding area, and eat just before evening twilight. Because of these daily movements, deer hunting is usually best from first hunting light until 2 hours after sun up and from 2 hours before sun down to last hunting light. Where I hunt this corresponds to 6:30 AM to 9 AM and from 4 PM to 6:30 PM.

When deer move, because they are a prey species and fear being eaten, they take routes that are as hidden as possible and preferably route through cover or trees. When moving between two separated blocks of trees, deer will often cross between at a point that minimizes the amount of open ground they have to cross. They will move through small depressions in the land, ravines and cuts.

When you have a found a place to ambush the deer, get there 30 minutes before you want to start hunting -- thus by 6 AM and by 3:30 PM, following the general schedule I set up above. When you are sitting in wait on deer, try to move as little as possible and move slowly. If you turn your head quickly, this can generate a "flash" that is easily visible to deer as your face reflects light. This is true of your hands also. Move slowly. Avoid making noise. This is not a matter of complete non-motion or complete absence of sound . . . just minimize. And again, when you move, move slowly. I like to have my ambush spot be a place where I am in the shadows -- this reduces the chances for the deer to see me. I do my hunting exclusively from the ground. I feel this gives me advantageous freedom to improvise as the situation warrants versus a tree stand where you are committed to 2 or 3 limited spots well in advance of your hunting day. In chosing a spot on the ground, I try to find a place where objects in front of me will hide my lower body and where I am in shadow.

Have several places identified that you think are good to hunt from. Chose which place to use on a given hunting session based on the wind. You will want the wind blowing FROM where you expect to see the deer TO where you are sitting. This keeps your scent away from the deer. If you are hunting with a rifle, scent control is not highly critical, so long as the wind is in your face. If you shoot a deer at 50 yards and the wind is blowing from the deer towards you, the deer will not smell the kind of commercial laundry soap you used to wash your clothes or the kind of deodorant you wear. At 15 yards -- which may be useful for bow hunting -- these scent issues may be more important.

Finding a good place, a good specific spot, to hunt deer from is very valuable. I hunted a 160 acre area for about 7 years. I killed 3 deer from one specific place -- the deer were always shot within about 15 feet of each other. I killed 2 deer from another specific place. The deer would be in the same places every year. If you just learned once where they are . . . the knowledge serves you year after year.

You will want some additional gear that you did not mention. A hunting knife for field dressing your deer if you get one. Learn from on-line sites how to field dress your deer in advance. A couple of flashlights and extra flashlight batteries. I suggest you get a head lamp. If you kill a deer at last light, you will be field dressing that deer in the dark. Using a head lamp allows you to have both hands free for doing the field dressing. I like to wear a face mask while deer hunting. I imagine this reduces the deer's chances of seeing my face. This is a kind of netting that blocks the whiteness of my face skin to some extent. I try to wear gloves on my hands even when it is not cold to keep my hands covered so deer don't see them moving. Sometimes it is useful to have some rope. You can tie the rope around the antlers or head of the deer to assist in pulling the deer out of the woods. You can tie the front feet together and the back feet together and slip a long pole through the legs and carry the deer out of the woods with a partner. This is especially helpful when trying to carry a deer up a steep hill.

Have a tarp for your vehicle. Put the dead deer on top of the tarp so you don't stain the interior of your vehicle. Know what to do with your deer -- take it to a commercial meat processor to be butchered or butcher it yourself? Carry water to drink. Carry food to munch on. Expect that you need to wear a lot of clothes if you are hunting on a cold day. Sitting very still does not help keep you warm. Use layers. Wear a base layer of wicking fabric -- polypropylene, silk, or merino wool -- next to your skin. Have a warm hat for your head. In cold weather, most heat is lost from the head area.

Know your laws. Some places require you to check your deer. Know the rules on when you can start hunting and when you have to stop hunting, relative to sun down and sun up times. Be aware of any antler configuration restrictions. Know the rules for what firearm types are permitted. In most of Illinois you can't use a high power rifle but are restricted to using a shotgun firing a slug. Other states have like restrictions.