Take me through a day...

[M4A1]

...of normal whitetail hunting in Tennessee.
Some things are fairly universal. Waterfowl, quail, dove, turkey, squirrel, rabbit. I've hunted mule deer in Arizona, and elk in Colorado. But I've never hunted whitetail.
Can someone just run me through a "normal" whitetail hunt. (I've seen YouTube videos, but there isn't anything better than a personalized experience with local knowledge)

 

[fairchaser]

A lot of sitting and waiting. Finding the right spot is the hunting part.

 

[PickettSFHunter]

Most people sit in a tree stand and wait it out. There are some who have the right set up/conditions to still hunt slowly through the woods. As our deer population continues to drop in my area, I have started to still hunt a lot more just to find deer, at least here.

 

[M4A1]

Are the tactics similar for archery vs rifle?

 

[rem270]

I have several stands hung in different places. Some over food plots and some in woods around yearly producing acorns and travel routes. I have stands to sit in for different wind directions. Most of the time I'm sitting in one thinking I probably should've went to the other. But I like getting in early and getting settled in and just enjoying the peace and quiet while everything is waking up.

 

[Ski]

Are the tactics similar for archery vs rifle?

Yes and no. With rifle you don't have to be close, so a lot of set ups are designed for longer shots. The farther away the deer are, the less chance of them spooking or catching your scent.

Archery is different. You have to be close, close enough that they can hear and smell and see you. That makes it difficult.

Otherwise the premise is the same. Figure best you can where and when a deer will be, and set up to ambush them. If you're correct then you'll get a shot. If not then you won't. You have to learn the deer you're hunting and how they use the landscape you're hunting. The easy part is the killing. The hard part is getting one in front of you to kill.

 

[Lost Lake]

Private land, or post Covid YouTube public land hunt…….??

On private family land….

My buddies and I do a lot of post season scouting each year on our family farm in west Tennessee. In late Winter, we chop or clear trails, take down stands, and contemplate new stand sites.

In mid summer, we hang a lot of stands, reposition or place new ladder stands as needed, and clear shooting lanes. We also clear paths to early season food sources for using climbers during early to mid archery season. It saves a lot of time and commotion when acorns are dropping and we need to be in the trees.

We normally hunt 4 hours in the mornings, and three hours in the evenings when archery starts. Mid day is used for napping or butchering deer if we're successful. We try to stay out of the woods if not hunting at this time unless we really need to find hot oak trees.

Pretty much the same routine during muzzleloader and rifle seasons. We might do a few all day sits during peak rut movement, but usually somebody is hollering that they need help with a deer, so that idea usually gets rurnt.

Public land for us has turned into quite the uhh, entertainment so to speak, in the last few years. I'll bowhunt it, but rarely visit during any firearms seasons unless it's a draw hunt. Even then, you pays yer money and you takes yer chances. I know others have zero problems and are quite adept at the game and enjoy the process.

 

[Ski]

Private land, or post Covid YouTube public land hunt…….??

Saw several fancy trucks and 8 hunters standing around them next to a chunk of public land here in Ohio yesterday. Didn't see any dead deer. Never seen so many hunters in bow season, and during the week nonetheless.

 

[M4A1]

I have several stands hung in different places. Some over food plots and some in woods around yearly producing acorns and travel routes. I have stands to sit in for different wind directions. Most of the time I'm sitting in one thinking I probably should've went to the other. But I like getting in early and getting settled in and just enjoying the peace and quiet while everything is waking up.

Alot of glassing out west. I've heard of some guys in the mtns of Northern California using tree stands as well though.

 

[M4A1]

Saw several fancy trucks and 8 hunters standing around them next to a chunk of public land here in Ohio yesterday. Didn't see any dead deer. Never seen so many hunters in bow season, and during the week nonetheless.

There are people who do drives out here. I'm assuming most of the public land near cities out there is the same here, tons of people.
The Southern California zones are consistently single digit harvest rates. Ths guys who are successful year after year really work for it.

 

[Lost Lake]

Saw several fancy trucks and 8 hunters standing around them next to a chunk of public land here in Ohio yesterday. Didn't see any dead deer. Never seen so many hunters in bow season, and during the week nonetheless.

It's really something to behold I tell ya…

Hope you get a good one up there. From the looks of your pics, you have some dang good ones if you can keep 'em from getting busted up too bad.

 

[Bushape]

A lot of sitting and waiting. Finding the right spot is the hunting part.

Thisx1000. Don't mean to sound like a jerk but anybody can set an alarm for 4 A.M., go crawl into a shooting house with snacks and heaters, and use their cannon to shoot anything within 300 yards in an open field. The "hunting" comes from putting boots on the ground and acquiring as much knowledge as possible to outsmart one of these amazing creatures. Your kill next season starts as soon as this season ends. Get a topo map of where you want to hunt and start looking at vegetative species and how they coincide with the terrain. Woods should be littered with deer sign post rut so note scrapes, rubs, trails, bedding, etc. Go buy you a bow and a climber and get good with it. Come back next summer and start putting together a plan to get yourself into an area of sign and take great joy in the year long hunt. Not the pursuit of a Boone and Crockett buck, but the hunt of what your land provides.

 

[deerhunter10]

For us 100 percent private ground for deer now days. We have a lot of stands, we have food plots, we have woods and we have crops fields. We hunt them all. And we have stands set up for different winds different scenarios and some stands haven't been hunted in a few years. Every year is the same but different hot spots tend to be hot spots year in and year out. We have a shooters list and we try to pick out deer we want to shoot off that list on different properties. Sit and wait is the only way we hunt, no real opportunities on our places for spot and stalk. And we would never ever do any kind of drives. Everyone is different but pretty much the same as well. For us we actually don't bow hunt a ton but our places are set up pretty good for bow hunting. We have a few places that are exceptions but most places shots are within 100 yards. Thickets are what we key into the most especially during the rut. We play the wind the best we can ( that can be a learning curve with our terrian) and we do our best to keep pressure down as low as possible. Our scouting is done mainly in January after season when you can still see scrapes and trails easily. Lucky us we have hunted a lot of our places for years and lucky for us with a lot of hard work we own some of our ground. The best thing to do is to do it. Trail and error will teach someone faster then anything.

 

[huvrman]

Get up at 4am. Climb a mountain. Climb a tree. Sit for a while. Shoot a deer. Trail it into the deepest ravine in the area. Find it at the bottom. Spend rest of day trying to get it out. Slide back into ravine a couple of times. Finally get out of the woods at dark. Collapse. Get up at 4am, climb mountain...

 

[Henry]

Get up at 4am. Climb a mountain. Climb a tree. Sit for a while. Shoot a deer. Trail it into the deepest ravine in the area. Find it at the bottom. Spend rest of day trying to get it out. Slide back into ravine a couple of times. Finally get out of the woods at dark. Collapse. Get up at 4am, climb mountain...

lol, I just wrote it up the same way and then looked up and saw yours. Nicely played. I liked yours better, but I'm guessing you're in much better shape then me.
About 2pm I tell my wife I'm going hunting. Change clothes, grab the weapon, get on the 4wheeler, drive 600 yards just below the field, walk 600 yards up the rest of the hill and across the field, open up blind, go inside, get comfy, read a book or the phone while waiting 45 minutes to 75 minutes for the deer to show up, decide whether to shoot it, and go from there.

 

[XCR-2]

Starts with excitement and anticipation. That quickly turns into boredom and depression. Then after that you decide to go eat breakfast, tell your buddy you're over it and selling all your stuff, only for him to pep talk you into going back. Then just repeat cycle.

 

[M4A1]

For us 100 percent private ground for deer now days. We have a lot of stands, we have food plots, we have woods and we have crops fields. We hunt them all. And we have stands set up for different winds different scenarios and some stands haven't been hunted in a few years. Every year is the same but different hot spots tend to be hot spots year in and year out. We have a shooters list and we try to pick out deer we want to shoot off that list on different properties. Sit and wait is the only way we hunt, no real opportunities on our places for spot and stalk. And we would never ever do any kind of drives. Everyone is different but pretty much the same as well. For us we actually don't bow hunt a ton but our places are set up pretty good for bow hunting. We have a few places that are exceptions but most places shots are within 100 yards. Thickets are what we key into the most especially during the rut. We play the wind the best we can ( that can be a learning curve with our terrian) and we do our best to keep pressure down as low as possible. Our scouting is done mainly in January after season when you can still see scrapes and trails easily. Lucky us we have hunted a lot of our places for years and lucky for us with a lot of hard work we own some of our ground. The best thing to do is to do it. Trail and error will teach someone faster then anything.

Thanks. Very informative

 

[Dennis]

As with any animal, your best odds of bagging whitetail start with understanding their habits. Knowing where they like to be at certain times and why. These habits will change depending on availability of preferred food sources, hunting pressure, and time of year. Hunting during the rut is a bit different from hunting outside the rut.

The best place to start is learning preferred food sources and preferred bedding areas. Remember that deer are crepuscular, but during the rut bucks are active round the clock.

 

[DEDDY]

I have several stands hung in different places. Some over food plots and some in woods around yearly producing acorns and travel routes. I have stands to sit in for different wind directions. Most of the time I'm sitting in one thinking I probably should've went to the other. But I like getting in early and getting settled in and just enjoying the peace and quiet while everything is waking up.

Enjoying the peace and quiet, while everything is waking up is absolutely a blessing, and the most peace I ever experienced in my life

 

[kaizen leader]

Find a place where deer travel, stay down wind, sit still for hours, enjoy nature, and go home.