Deer Hunting Tips For Experienced Hunters
If you heed these deer hunting tips carefully you will find your hunting success multiply rapidly. If you are an average deer hunter, you have average deer hunting knowledge, put forth average commitment, and only get average results. You might be satisfied with just getting that single deer every couple of years, but if you want better than that for yourself, learn how to get that trophy buck.
The following contains some deer hunting tips that the experts of deer hunting use every day to get the big ones.
1. Scout Your Area In Advance. I’m not talking about where you’re going to sit when you arrive at your hunting spot — I mean be genuinely aware of the area that you are hunting in. The most successful hunters actually start hunting months prior to the first day of the hunting season. I developed the habit of getting permission to check out the lease where I was going to hunt, then I scouted out the surrounding areas. I surveyed all the potential hunting sites and then did a “dry hunt” — went through the motions of hunting but without a gun, so I could get to know the areas that had the most deer movement, the largest bucks, and the best buck-to-doe ratios. You can walk around the lease in the middle of the day, looking for big buck signs that I could see.
2. Know the Signs of Big Bucks. When you know what you’re looking for, you can zero in on the spots where the trophy deer gather. Keep your eyes open for tracks. Be aware of the size, number of, and the direction of the tracks, which will clue you in on the size, number of and movements of the deer. Look for Scrapes. These are the areas where bucks scratch against the ground and urinate to mark their territory and attract does. Usually scrapes are beneath low-hanging tree branches along the edges of heavy brush. Another thing you want to look for are rubs. As a buck attempts to get the velvet off their new antlers thy need to rub on trees and posts. They also do this to mark their territory during rutting season. A “rub line” is a series of a half-dozen or more rubs within a 100-yard area. The rubs are typically on the side of the tree that the buck is traveling form so noting which sides of the trees have rub marks in a rub line gives clues as to the direction of movement. Observe how big the bedding areas are once you find them. No bucks will go through that area without leaving signs!
3. Know Your Firearm and Ammo - You need to know the ballistics of the bullet and cartridge you shoot. Realize and be able to adjust for the distance you are shooting; the rise on short shoots and the fall on longer shoots. Practice judging distance and if all possible walk off the probable sighting areas ahead of time so if you are making a 400 yard shot you know it is 400 yards and you know the drop your bullet will realize at that distance and be able to adjust.
4. Shot Placement - If you master the aim and ballistic characteristics of your deer hunting rifle, you can be more concerned with exact shot placement. Personally, I am a “neck shooter.” While many hunters do not agree with this technique, a properly placed shot anywhere along the neck will drop your deer instantly. If your shot lands lower on the neck you have severed the carotid arteries, high on the neck and the spinal column is breached, hit the center of the neck and you get a combination of these deadly effects. If you’re hitting the dear from a broadside or quarter angle, you’ll hit the neck just as easily as the lower shoulder target area, and you’ll bring it down faster. Don’t ever try a full rear shot, unless it’s the only way to get a fantastic trophy buck; you won’t be nearly as effective at bringing down the buck, and it’ll be very uncomfortable to have to clean a butt-shot deer. Make wise shooting decisions; a quick, efficient kill is the goal of the advanced deer hunter.
5. Attactants, Calls, and Rattling - While we do not have time to go into a lot of detail, it is an important deer hunting tip to use attractants (like natural food plots, salt licks/mineral blocks, feeders, and flavored blocks), deer calls, and rattling methods. Preparation time is necessary for food-based attractants. You’ll have to put in enough time and effort into a food plot as you would a garden. You want the deer to get used to feeding in the area of the food plot weeks or even months prior to hunting season. This is important so you know when and where they will be eating their free meals. Usually calling or rattling will only work occasionally and only during the rut. I have had bucks come to my rattling slowly and cautiously out of curiosity when they were not in rut, but typically when it works well they tend to come rushing. I have almost been run over by bucks when rattling in the field, so if you become proficient at this technique be prepared for quick action. It’ll take a lot of time to get good at this. There is a learning curve associated with being able to actually mimic a call or recreate the sound of two bucks fighting. However, once you learn them, they can prove to be very effective.
While every deer hunter dreams of being able to display a trophy buck at some time in their life, advanced deer hunters are not satisfied unless they get a trophy buck each and every year. If you plan to become an elite hunter, you need to know the advanced deer hunting tips that the finest hunters have mastered.
If you want to learn more about deer hunting and get more deer hunting tips that can help you land the large bucks that get you trophy racks, go to Deer-HuntingTips.com and have a better hunting season than you’ve had in years.
