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I have hunted for over 25 yrs, bow, shotgun and muzzeloader. This is what I typically do...
I SCOUT. I find a good area, normally in the spring, get landowners permission, then I look for sign, game trails,rubs scrapes..and tracks. Try and figure out where the deer are entering and leaving. Try and figure out why they are there..food? Bedding? or just passing thru. Trail cams are nice but not necessary, while they do show the quality of animal in the vicinity, they are sometimes mis-leading.
I SET UP, after I scout the area and decide it's good, I set up a ground blind, tree stand, or normally I make my own blind of brush, logs or downed trees. I make it early in the spring or early summer, I do this to ensure the deer will get used to the changes I've made in their area.
I make sure I hunt with my face in the wind, so I face my blind accordingly. I try and set up near a bedding area or a feeding area.. about 30-60 yrds, again facing the wind... as to not get winded. I normally cock my T/C Hawkens when I first spot a shooter deer.I hope to see it 200-300 yrds away..if not I do it SLOW and as quietly as possible.
PREPARATION, I keep all my hunting clothes and such In the garage in a sealed container. I toss an earth scent wafer in the container to help mask smells. It's NOT necessary but it DOES help!
Deer have remarkable noses and have an almost 6th sense about them. All that and the fact they can run around 40mph,turn on a dime AND have a vertical leap of around 6-8ft makes them a VERY formidable prey. ANYTHING you do to make them think your NOT there is a great help in your effort.
AFTER THE KILL, I normally field dress the deer where it lays. I do this for a number of reasons; It helps in reducing weight for the drag to the truck, the faster your able to gut the animal the less chance of the meat spoiling or having a funny taste. Also..where else ya gonna gut the animal? I DO NOT butcher the deer in the woods..I do that in the comfort of my own garage. It keeps the meat cleaner and just makes more sense to me.The only reason I would quarter a deer in the woods is IF I am hunting/camping about 200 miles from home on a 55-60 degree day..I would do it to keep my meat cool and to stop spoilage.
I hunt in Ohio, BIG deer around my area are far and few between, I hunt fence rows, large wooded areas and scrub land. Everything I've told you in this has helped me to become a succesful hunter.. Hope it helps you as well!
 
Well, I still hunt, and that's been covered pretty good already, so I threw in a little humor. :idunno:
 
well.. ya got a chuckle outa me..BUT I do know ppl around my area that do just what you described! I am a ODNR Hunters Ed Instructor... we always try and keep the kiddies from "truck hunting". Hey..did anyone here suggest and imply that we all do our best while hunting, to keep our TRIPLE SEVEN dry?... :blah:
 
just mark said:
...my hunt basically boiled down to a walk in the woods....
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That's a heck of a good start. You've received useful advice here, but woods time is hard to trump. I'd get out walking in the woods as often as you can starting now. Learn to move and watch, and especially how to be still. Pay attention to the animals you start to see, and notice how they react to you.

By the time hunting season rolls around, you'll feel comfortable in the woods and have an inkling how to be around the animals. In the meantime I can forecast you're going to have a whole lot of fun before you ever get around to hunting.

Once you get a little woods time under your belt, all the other stuff can come into play. But if you don't know how to be out and about, you're unlikely to need the other stuff! :rotf:
 
just mark said:
many years ago, i tried deer hunting a couple of times, but i didn't know what i was doing, my hunt basically boiled down to a walk in the woods, i have never harvested a deer. other things in life kept me from hunting til now.

i am going to hunt this fall and there's some things i need to know:

do you generally gut the deer at or near the place you dropped it?

when hunting with a flintlock, it seems to me the sound of pulling the hammer back is going to send the deer running- how do you deal with that? i know that it would not be safe to sit there with a cocked rifle.

i really don't like tree stands. i am sort of clumsy and just do not trust myself to sit in one for hours without falling out. it IS possible to hunt deer on the ground, behind a blind, right?

i have read about "boning" meat in the field, do any of you guys have any experience with this? it seems like an easy way to get your deer out of the field.

and please, whatever obvious things i should know, feel free to point out. i'm a 52 yr old taking up deer hunting, help me not look like such a dork.
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1. There is a 99.9% chance you will not kill a deer this fall, to mitigate this, you will not give up and quit.

2. If I have a long walk, I will gut it there and then. It is best whether long or short walk to gut quickly. However, if I am in a bad area, say close to a farmers field, I will move it as quickly as possible and gut it elsewhere, so the gut pile does not draw in things the farmer doesn't need. If you can gut it where you find it do so. Meat will be better.

3. I use my whole hand to set the hammer. If its cold I have gloves that will muffle the clack. Also, I do nothing unless the deer is moving. If he is moving he is less likely listening. If he is feeding his ears are all he has.

4. I only hunt from ground blinds. I buid them myself out of available cover like deadfalls, cut brush myself etc. You can buy blinds but you still have to work just as hard to fill it in. The deadfall has been passed by the deer a hundred times, while the new store bought blind lump just showed up.

5. I only bone meat at home. I just haul out the gutted deer. Thats a decision I can't help you with. However, if you are up in those beautiful Kentucky knobs it may help you out.

6."whatever obvious things i should know, feel free to point out. i'm a 52 yr old taking up deer hunting, help me not look like such a dork. "

Just practice with your iron, know it, use it safely, don't worry about expensive doodads or scents, always hunt into the wind, get an experienced hunter to help and read, there are many great books on the sublect, not magazines as they are trying to sell you something. Look for books by reputable authors. I could give you suggestions, but I don't know if it is allowed. As for being a dork, your past that, dorks are the only people who don't deer hunt. :rotf: Just have fun and good luck. :hatsoff:
 
I was bow hunting elk one day a few years ago. I was in my "magic meadow", had built a new blind, and was all camo'd up. I heard a twig snap, and looked in that direction, there was another hunter, in the trees, all in camo, and what I could mostly see was his face. It was like a spotlight in all that camo. Find a way to darken your face, whether it be with ashes from your campfire, or face paint, or netting of some sort, a handkerchief of natural color over your face, any of those will work. Like Paul says, if the animal looks at you, don't let him see your eyes.
 
Great point Mike, I did not even mention that. That line of thought has got me many funny looks from other hunters. I believe animals can sense predators man or beast. Its the same feeling you get when you are in a restaurant and someone is looking at you from across the room. I know its not a predator, but it would make since that the awareness/vibe from a predator would be stronger. I mean the deer do live where a homicidal maniac is around every turn year round. As for the face during hunting, I use my shemagh also called a kefiyeh, I brought back. I have two, one black and one tan. It works great, does not suffocate me like a face mask, and I have never enjoyed the face paint.

I would like to add that you need niether blind natural or built nor a tree stand. Just use what cover you have around you. Just act like every tree or bush has thorns so you are not prone to brush against them. Its not really the sound, its the movement that will get deer to pay attention. Deer know what moves the trees up in the canopy and they know what moves them on the ground. Put us some pictures on here when you get your first.
 
Skylinewatcher said:
Great point Mike, I did not even mention that. That line of thought has got me many funny looks from other hunters. I believe animals can sense predators man or beast. Its the same feeling you get when you are in a restaurant and someone is looking at you from across the room. I know its not a predator, but it would make since that the awareness/vibe from a predator would be stronger. I mean the deer do live where a homicidal maniac is around every turn year round. As for the face during hunting, I use my shemagh also called a kefiyeh, I brought back. I have two, one black and one tan. It works great, does not suffocate me like a face mask, and I have never enjoyed the face paint.

I would like to add that you need niether blind natural or built nor a tree stand. Just use what cover you have around you. Just act like every tree or bush has thorns so you are not prone to brush against them. Its not really the sound, its the movement that will get deer to pay attention. Deer know what moves the trees up in the canopy and they know what moves them on the ground. Put us some pictures on here when you get your first.
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Yet, i've done this many times.

I see a deer about the same time it see's me. It's ears are up, and it staring at me. (muley) I stand frozen, but i'm staring back at it. With my hands at my side I slowly start to walk towards it. Deer have lousy depth perception, and have a hard time figuring how far away you are. I continue to slowly walk towards it. Never taken my eyes off their eyes. They almost seem hypnotized.

I've walked from 100 yds up to 40 yds from them. It usually takes about 15 minutes to do it. So, not real slow or fast.

I've done this so many times I can't count them. I will say it works better when there's just one deer. More than one will take off much sooner.

So, i'm not putting much faith in not letting them see your eyes.

Maybe with whitetails, but not muleys.
 
This where most people look at me funny and here comes my reasoning. Think real hard to the times you were hunting and were well concealed. I would bet that each time the deer looked directly at you at least once. Especially, if you were thinking hard on when to make a shot, focusing real hard. They have done it to me many times. They will look directly at you, not some degrees to each side, but directly. I have watched them through curtains inside my house. My house has 27 windows across the backside. Guess what window the deer stopped feeding and looked at. I don't know so much about the eyes, its the focus of the mind and the deers incredible sense of danger that I attribute it to. I just cover my face for concealment. I have never been able to walk up to deer like you have, I mean, if you could see what I looked like, you'd run to. :rotf:
 
Don't you have mostly whitetails where you hunt? They seem to spook more than muleys. Muleys are curious. Even when they sense danger they will start to take off, and then stop to see if your chasing them.

I remember one time when I walked up on one I got about 40-50 yds away and then sat down in kind of a ball. In other words I made myself as small as I could. The deer hadn't taken it's eyes off me for 20 minutes. It looked at me for another 5 minutes after I sat down. Then it started to circle me slowly. As it went around me I turned slowly with it as I starred back. It circled and made smaller circles moving closer. I was surprised it wasn't catching my scent, because at one point in the circle I was downwind. It finally trotted off, but it shows how curious they are.

I hike everyday, and I love interacting like this with the animals.

Maybe that's why I like elk hunting. I could never do this with an elk.
 
Yep whitetails only. They scare themselves. Turkeys even bully them around if they are feeding close to each other.
 
Yea, in the seasons when the leaves are still on I wear a camo facemask while hunting. You can buy them for about $4 at your local hunting store. But in the November gun seasons or anything beyond that I never wear anything over my face and it's never hurt me before :idunno:.
 

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