Your bowhunting strategy/philosophy?
 

Management aspects aside, (I don’t care what or how many you choose to shoot), how do you approach your bowhunting?

Are you very passive, sit & wait, hunt low impact?

Are you more aggressive? Risk taking even? Hunt tight to beds, use lots of calls, stalk up on deer if needed?

Do you use as many tools as you can to get the deer you want, or are you more of a method person? You want a deer under your conditions.

As for me, I’d say I am very much on the passive side. This season I plan to try and step that up some. Cautious aggression. Sneak into some deeper stands earlier than normal, maybe use calling a little more. I have a little less time than usual this year, so I am going to try and make better use of it.

RE: Your bowhunting strategy/philosophy?
 

I am more passive, I always try to be patient and have faith in my stand placement....I am definitely going to try to call more this year though...

RE: Your bowhunting strategy/philosophy?
 

I start out by erring on the side of caution. The end result is that I do what I gotta do to get 'er done.

RE: Your bowhunting strategy/philosophy?
 

I just run 'em down with my truck. [&:]

RE: Your bowhunting strategy/philosophy?
 

depends on how often i hunt the spot. if i hunt it regularly i'm more passive then if i'm on state land. i'm dang aggressive in a spot that i don't plan to hunt again for the rest of the season.

I'm especially aggressive on those morning hunts right before i get out of the stand. the rattle bag really gets a workout then. it paid off 2 years ago. I rattled and growled like a mad man and ended up shootinga doe that was being chased by a small 4 point.
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RE: Your bowhunting strategy/philosophy?
 

Usually on a normal year I don't hunt till mid to late October and when I do this I'm usually a sit and wait deer hunter. What I mean is I'll put long hours into an area that I know the big boy's are traveling through some time or another and sit them out instead of going closer to there bedding areas and possibly screwing that up.

This however is what I want to do this year. (Early season, last few weeks of September) This year I want to hunt much, much closer to there bedding areas and try catching them in there staging areas just outside of there beds. I will be trying to hunt one specific big boy instead of a few different ones like I previously stated how I hunt in Late October. So one could say I'll be a bit on the aggressive side this year in the early season.


Early season- Aggressive.

Late season- Patient sitter.

RE: Your bowhunting strategy/philosophy?
 

Cautious (low impact). Aggressive only sometimes..

RE: Your bowhunting strategy/philosophy?
 

Patient and calm most of the time...at specific times I have found it to be beneficial to get aggressive. I want to be more aggressive this year, more of the hunting of the hunting season. I am going to hit my best spots with a rotation, saving the best for the pre-rut. Of course, I love to stalk hunt a few times in mid-October on new spots just to learn the land and get the kinks out before the long sits of the pre-rut/rut.

RE: Your bowhunting strategy/philosophy?
 

I'm more on the aggressive side - but the reason is that I have more hunting area than I could ever begin to know what to do with, and less time than I need. When I have a day off, I put myself in the best possible situation to arrow a buck. It doesn't matter whether it's October 7th or November 4th.

So, I can totally blow a spot out and never lose a wink of sleep. I've got 20 more fresh stand sites waiting.

Then, by the time I'm starting to feel like I'm burning out my better stands, I'm either tagged-out, or the rut hits, which is like hitting RESET on your nintendo and starting fresh.

**Edit** When I say "aggressive" that doesn't mean that I'm out there clashing antlers and slathering myself in doe piss. I don't use any calls at all, and I only use scents in a very limited capacity. I'm "aggressive" only in the sense that I hunt tight on the beds and try to get myself "on deer" in every hunt.

RE: Your bowhunting strategy/philosophy?
 

It all depends on my area I am hunting and the time of the year. In my archery spots behind the house, I am in a funnel so I know that they will make there way thru. In early season, I will mostly just hang out and enjoy the scenery. Come Halloween, I get a little more aggressive and start rattling combined with some blind calling. But I have a very good buck to doe ratio here and I know they fight so it works. I am also hunting close to some bedding so if they do happen to be close by, they may come to investigate.

RE: Your bowhunting strategy/philosophy?
 

I find one of 4 trees that are safe to put a stand in and ope deer walk by, I dont play the wind much, But will now that I have two stands.

RE: Your bowhunting strategy/philosophy?
 

Personally I look for the 3 things a whitetail needs.. food.. cover.. water. (I've stated this before.) I don't bother with the does til its time.
From those 3 things I look into the details of what I know.. and then what I want to know.
Use the terrain as my guide to put answers to my questions.

Hang based on highest probability of a success.. whether through bino's or a peep.

Stay very low key.. with low education to the deer.. and a low profile.

Keeping good common sense.. and a vivid imagination are vital for me personally. I see the hunt before it happens.. and execute when its time.

I don't go into the woods thinking about which tree to hunt.. rather which area (be it ground or tree) will put me into position to be successful.. TODAY.

The moment I exit my vehicle I begin the hunt.. not when I reach my destination.

Hang to kill.

Take my time. Don't rush.

The element of surprise is my greatest weapon. Use it wisely and use it often.

Don't look at what was.. look at what is now.

Hunting an area with not a lot of deer is okay. Because I'm only looking for one.

A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow.

Know your query.. know it well.


This is my philosophy.

RE: Your bowhunting strategy/philosophy?
 

I scout aggressively, i walk in and check everything out and make sure i got the bases covered. Then i hang a stand, make sure i have a good path in, and wait to see what the wind is doing that day to choose which one.

While in the stand im pretty passive, i keep my eyes peeled and don't do too much calling or rattling. I always stay concentrated to where i think the deer is coming from.

RE: Your bowhunting strategy/philosophy?
 

i dont have too many hunting spots...theres 4 of us in the group that bow hunt...the other 3 are family...but im the REAL serious hunter of the group...the others just wanna kill a deer..dont care how or anything...kinda stinks on my part...i got good spots...but my number is limited(they are all related to the farmer...he kinda "runs" our group...i may as well be related though...im that close) and, i have a feeling if the MONSTER keeps hanging out in MY spot, that they will sneak in any chance they get...

because of the limited number of stands, and small woodlots to start out with, im kinda forced into hunting too close...hunting with bad winds...over hunting etc....last year i got as smart as possible...found trees to climb for less than ideal wind conditions...rotated stands as much as possible and kept the honey hole as fresh as possible...im trying to be as smart as i can and keep my areas as good as possible...

so i guess you could say im aggressive...but its more of a forced aggression lol...i try to be as smart as possible and only hunt at home on weekends soooo its not as bad as it may seem...

i never called until last year.....now i may be absolutely hooked on using calls for deer...im going to start off low key with just a grunt or 2 here and there this year then step it up to some light tickling of the tips and once the seeking and chasing phases kick in, heck, i might try playing songs with my calls lol...just seen the results and LOVED calling in deer last year...im hooked on it...

RE: Your bowhunting strategy/philosophy?
 

I would say I am more aggressive. I prefer to hunt close to, if notinto their beds, andI will definitely stalk up on them. Honestly I prefer to stalk up on them in their beds. I don't really use any calls...occasionally I call with my mouth.

RE: Your bowhunting strategy/philosophy?
 

I reckon I'm just gonna hunt under some persimmon trees and white oaks and shoot whatever critter thatlooks the tastiest. Aint plannin on gettin a trophy, just wanna make somethin bleed, stab it with a fork,and dipit in some heinz 57.