Tribal

Everything mentioned above is good advice. There is no doubt IMO that having a good place to hunt helps. Genetics, food, and habitat are all important factors if you are looking for antlers that will make book "IF" that's what's important to the hunter. If your just looking to be successful in harvesting year after year there is no reason not to be if you work and put the time in.

Ridges, my favorite funnels and food plots are all good bets. Rut? that's easy hunt where the does are. Don't forget edgelines, deer love following edges of things. Weather it be a woodline , fieldline , treeline, fenceline or my scentline
Another tip if you are hunting the same land every year. Keep a map and mark rubs, bedding spots you found trails and everything you can record and "x" them on the map. You will begin to see clear patterns. Its quite remarkable.

I scout year round and pretty much am constantly thinking about new stand sites and where deer are going to travel. Wind and the ability to make the shot when it counts are key without being detected. Be patient and sit when other guys don't. Nobody can put the odds 100% in their favor without a rope around the deers neck. But you can become a skilled and accomplished hunter by just being a student of the sport and absorbing all the info you can and mostly in my experience learning from your mistakes. Every hunt you will learn something. It's just up to you to recognize what that is. Givin time you will begin to recognize things sooner. Its so fun cause we as hunters and students will never know everything and when we think we do, the deer mentor us and do something different. What a fabulous animal!

gamehunter1269

Remember its a proven fact that deer eat every 4 hours. so stay in there as long as possible. And i read somewhere (ill find it in my mag and scan) that almost 98% of the time your deer hunting the deer winds see's or hears you before you even see them. I thought that was pretty intresting

Pa Trophy Man

Patience is your best friend when it comes to bowhunting.

Arthur P

Watch out how you define 'success' too. If putting a deer down is your only measure of success, you'll get frustrated and quit. Guaranteed.

If you go hunting and LEARN something, either about the animals you hunt, the equipment you've chosen or the terrain, then you had a successful hunt whether you killed an animal or not. You can take what you learned and implement the lesson to improve your chances next time you go.

bowhuntinoh

i scout as much as possible and watch the areas i hunt year around i hunt public land but i can tell you about where the deer will be at most times of the day or year of course i learn something every time i go out since i hunt for meet mostly i look for mature does to fill the freezer if yah want deer in the freezer yah have to spend time in the woods i always try to scout a new area every time im out of course ive had a few missed shots this year its my fault for not checking my gear before my hunt i always try to shoot before i head out to make shure my bow is on the money of course i always get excited when a deer starts coming my way i wonder how i even shoot when im that excited but the practice pays off this summer im scouting a new area to hunt with not as much pressure and a lot more land its where i turkey hunt well i have an empty tag i havnt filled yet so im off to the woods for another deer

kevin1

I feel your pain Mobowhunter ,
if they weren't changing their routes every five seconds the warm weather kept them in the cover until dark .

Hey ShadowAce !
You're not that far from me , I just live up 64 from you in Ramsey , In. near Corydon . I'll bet you were wondering what that smell was ...

datamax

And thus there is the problem. I am fairly successful at bowhunting and have improved greatly in the past several years. I am much better now at reading travel patterns, funnels, and edges. I am more patient now than I use to be. I sit in my stand longer. I watch the wind, ignore petty things like camo, deer pee, scnet blocker and such. I shot traditional for a few years and its much differnt and really makes you a better bowhunter I think.

ShadowAce

I thought i smelled Hoosier in here! How's the weather up thar?

Double Creek

Look for guys that are in your immediate area and try to learn from them. An internet forum can be decieving, some places around the country are easy to kill deer, some very hard. Some guys hunt fences, some hunt public. You need to look for successful hunters in your neck of the woods and pick their brain for info. The most successful hunters in my area all have 2 things in common 1) they have hunted the same ground for years and 2) they spend an enormous amount of time in the woods. IMO, those are the most importatant factors to success, 1) know your deer and their habits, 2) spend the time in the most likely ambush spots.

Good luck and keep at it.

dkeener

mobo-
There is some pretty good reading out there that should shave hours to years off the learning curve. One book I would recommed is "Hunting Pressured Whitetails". Can't remember the authors name right off hand but it is a great source. It should be easy enough to find thru an internet search or maybe someone in here can tell you the author or give more book recommendations. Another book that you may want to read is "Trailing Whitetails" by John Trout Jr.