Help if u can...i need it
 

I dont get to hunt much but im leaving christams day to go to a buddies place in VA and am gunna try my luck at some whitetail. ill only be out there for 3-4 days and need to maximize my chances of harvesting a deer and was wondering if yall had anypointer for me to get on in the bag? I'm open to any suggestions and tips u may have thankx a bunch..

Aus10

loaded post...best advice i can give, hunt the sign, look for bedding area to feeding area transition...it will be later in the year, so this will help...ask locals/your buddy's buddies, they should be willing to help...don't rule out scents and calling...don't know what the ground will be like, or if you are rifle/muzzle/archery hunting...but deer drives help to see numbers...be safe, have fun and hope you have success

What are you using? Rifle? Slug gun? Muzzleloader? Archery? Crossbow? Spear?

Did he say how you were going to be hunting? Stands? Drives? Still hunting? Ground blinds?

Harvesting a deer? Please, no one harvests a deer. They KILL them.

Give a little more info for better feedback on your style of hunting.

iSnipe

This may sound obvious but the biggest thing I have found that leads to success when hunting any game is paitence. A day can go from seemingly busted to an adrenaline rush in a matter of seconds. Find the bedding areas and the trails, get a decenet spot and be patient.

No one iSnipe?......sure I kill them but believe I'm harvesting from the wild. Not making an issue just stating an opinion. Hunt safe.

Yep. The most important thing is just to be in the woods. Patience and persistence are key. That said, if you're hunting "trophy" whitetails, well, all the calls and scents and scent controls and crap might be a little beneficial, but don't get hung up on those things. The commercials will have you think that there is no possible way to kill a deer without their product. The best advise, other than to just be out there where the deer live, is to use the most powerful advantage you have over the deer, your brain. Deer are skittish animals that are pretty aware of abnormalities in their surroundings, but they are still stupid animals.

Pay attention to the wind. The deer will smell you long before they see you. Deer smell almost as well as dogs, so while scent blocking clothes and cover scents MIGHT help (I'm not convinced, but that's a different debate), I believe that there is just no substitute for working the wind. If you're downwind of the deer, they won't smell you even if you just slathered on $5 worth of bathroom cologne.

BE QUIET! Deer have a keen sense of hearing as well. Those big ears can hear things that you can't, and odd sounds will not always send a deer high-tailing away, but it will make them nervous and get them looking for what possible danger made the sound. I mostly still hunt from the ground, and I ALWAYS make it a point to clear away any dry leaves or brush that might make noise when I move into shooting position.

Be as still as possible. Deer have relatively poor vision compared to people. They only see a few colors, and their vision isn't as sharp as ours. However, because their eyes are on the sides of their heads, they see an area of something like 300 degrees around them with their only blind spot being behind their head. On top of that, their vision is very acutely able to pick up movement, and they can also spot your outline if you don't have some concealment to break up your shape. To give you an example, I've had deer within 10 yards of me that had no idea I was there even though I was wearing blaze orange. I was against a tree and I was completely still. But the instant I tried to bring my gun up, they busted me and were off to the races. So, that said, try to wait until the deer can't see you to move if you need to, and use any available cover to mask your outline.

If the deer do detect you they will not always immediately run off. Sometimes they'll detect something that seems wrong but will try to confirm the danger. If you stay quiet and hidden/still long enough, they will usually calm down after a bit and resume their activity. Again, patience is key.

As for finding the deer, hopefully your buddy has somewhat of a feel for where the deer like to be, and has stands or spots picked out to hunt. If not, you can always wing it by looking for deer sign. You probably don't know what a rub or scrape looks like (maybe your friend does and can show you), but you should be able to spot deer tracks and trails. Look for narrow paths of trampled ground. Often these will actually have a rut packed into the ground from so much traffic and will be bare hard packed earth. Deer will often use the same paths repeatedly, and an area with either an obviously heavily used trail, or better yet, several trails that come together in a "funnel", is always a good place to set up. You can also look for bedding areas, which are places where patches of grass and brush have been trampled flat by deer laying down there. Deer will move between bedding areas and feeding areas (stands of mature oaks, clover fields, bean and corn fields, etc...), so setting up near or between either will be a great way to up the chances of seeing deer.

All that said, you just might not get a shot at a deer. Getting skunked is a reality all hunters face from time to time. I've gone entire days without seeing a single deer anywhere, and some days the deer might bust you repeatedly and you won't get a shot. It happens... which is why they call it hunting and not slaughtering.

Good luck and let us know if you have any luck.

Mike

you'll have a pretty good chance of hitting one with your truck.

patience...great point...see no deer all day...all week...and it all changes when you see one

Just what driftrider said

Harvesting from the wild?

LOL!

Whatever.

iSnipe