RE: If you could give just ONE tip...??
 

Follow shed33 around until you find his hunting spot, then sit in his stand when he isn't looking![:-]

RE: If you could give just ONE tip...??
 

The way I see it is no matter where you are hunting or the amount of land you are on if you are confident in yourself and your setup you will spend more QUALITYtime in stand.

There is a difference between sitting in stand and spending quality time on stand.

Sometimes you have no option but to hunt small parcels where even if one does hunt deer sign it would be irrelevant because of the limited amount of land they are on.

This would be my "universal" tip.....
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RE: If you could give just ONE tip...??
 

Scout at the season's end. Doing this will eliminate the need to be as careful while scouting and will let you see what is happening in the woods while the leaves are down. Scouting in the summer is fun, but the best time to do is is February/March.

RE: If you could give just ONE tip...??
 

My tip is get your cousin to do all the leg work for you then shoot a buck fromthe stand he put up;)

RE: If you could give just ONE tip...??
 

pick a spot! Don't shoot at the whole deer. When the opportunity comes, you don't want to risk missing, or wounding that buck.

RE: If you could give just ONE tip...??
 

I believe the most important thing you can do, is practice enough with your bow, that you are confident with it.

Practice shooting long range shots.Practice at 40-50-60 yards. Practicing at long range makes closer shots a piece of cake.

Shoot 3-D's. Shoot a league. Or just spend as much time in the backyard with your bow. Shoot as much as possible, especially right before the season.

Get to the point that you can judge yardage accurately.I often just go and sit at my backyard range. I will sit at the various yardage markers and stare at my McKenzie target. I try to burn into my brain, what a deer looks like at the various yardages. This helps me greatly in the field.

I guess I could take a short cut and take a range finder but I like to travel light.

To me, being accurate with your bow is most important. If you only get one shot all year, make it count.

All others tips are put into practice too, but hitting what you shoot at is #1.

You can be in the best tree stand in the country opening day, but it won't matter if you can't make that shot count.

There are many great tips on this thread. I just stress practicing with your bow to become confident with it.When you get your chance, you'll make it count.

RE: If you could give just ONE tip...??
 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's not that you're missing bucks... it's that you never see them, correct? (all the shooting tips are still extremely good and valid...)

I would bet you're hunting field edges and food sources too much, and that's why you're seeing more than your share of antlerless deer. Follow those travel trails back tosome of the nastiest, thickest stuff you can find... Now would be a good time to do it; if you bust something off its bed, he'll have forgotten in a couple months. You need to be closer to that type stuff. Then, I would look for "edges" within that type cover, and -- to Rob's point -- focus on geographic changes that form funnels or pinch-points around that.

I'm betting if you can find something like the above -- and preferably more than a mile from your entry point -- you'll start seeing more antlers.

RE: If you could give just ONE tip...??
 

To expound on Greg's and Rob's post (GREAT POINTS, guys)....I'd also do this SLOWLY. I started out deer hunting thinking I knew where the deer were. I was SO WRONG ....I was able to not mess up a good thing when I finally DID find them.

I gradually moved closer and closer to where they were.....thinking I was "On them" with each move. What this did was....it allowed me to OBSERVE them from a safe distance with each hunt.....moving closer and closer each time....without alerting them as to my presence (or minimally doing so).

My ignorance turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me as far as deer hunting is concerned.

THIS YEAR.....I'll gradually move to where they'll be chasing.....by rut time. I hope to create a minimal intrusion......but I'm also doe hunting, hard. I just hope a doe doesn't take me back into the sanctuary for a recovery. THAT is why i think I'll either get a buck, early.....or I may not get a chance at one.

I'm fine with that.

RE: If you could give just ONE tip...??
 

Greg, you are close......I don't hunt field edges, hardly ever actually, but I do hunt food sources. As I've mentioned before, I am a self taught deer hunter and food sources have always been good to me. In fact, shooting does is becoming.......easy, if that's possible.

Last fall was one of my best ever. I saw more bucks last fall than I have the previous 3 combined....One of which was actually a 3 1/2 y/o 8 point....I see quite a few lesser bucks and I was quite amazed by my self control....I passed them, though since they weren't legal in one county I hunt in, those were a bit easier to watch. Overall, I was pretty proud of myself last fall, but I fell short, which I was kind of bummed about. Oh well, that will change.

I actually started this thread not entirely thinking of myself. I just thought it would be interesting to see when pinned down to just ONE thing, what that one thing people would pick as being most important. I wasn't too clear on that in my original post though...

I read Don Higgins book and the biggest thing I got out of that is that I am doing it backwards. I already hunt very low impact, take extreme scent control measures and try not to overhunt my stands, but I focus too much on feeding areas, not bedding areas. I am working this year on looking for, and recognizing those bedding areas. I am also fairly limited on where I can hunt and I'm working on that as well, having already secured 2 places I didn't have last year. Thanks for all the great replies, I would like to see how many we can come up with.

RE: If you could give just ONE tip...??
 

This will sound stupid but it is the best advice that I can give..

If you are going to do something, then do it right. Repeat these words in your head each time you get lazy in the deer woods (AND YOU WILL). If you are going to do something than Do It Right!!!!