What kind of deer hunter are you? If you’re new to the game, then your answer might well be, ”enthusiastic and looking to learn.” Which is just fine — a world of fascination awaits. Conversely, those who have been at this awhile tend to develop a style that we’ve taken several or even many years to refine. And if you’ve experienced some solid success, that style and its accompanying strategies are not only proven, but inspire confidence.
And so the tip this week, in a nutshell, when you’re faced with new challenges or adversity this season, is to go with what you know. Lean back on your strengths as a whitetail hunter. As opposed to, say, reaching for quick fixes that many think are the answer. Maybe the thing that’s tempting you is a new scent or lure. Or a newer hot technique such as saddle hunting. Maybe you’re obsessed with creating a small food plot on land you’ve hunted for years, thinking that plot will be your key to mature-buck heaven. But it might be time to pump the brakes.
Learning new techniques and strategies is great, as long as your hunting goals mesh with your desire for new knowledge. New techniques don’t often pay off immediately, as there can be a learning curve many don’t consider. And the same holds true for hunting new areas. The more you know about a particular property, the better your chances for success — and accumulating knowledge like that can take a few years.
An example of going with what you know would be one of my first experiences with an out-of-state outfitted adventure. It was the peak of the rut and I was hanging in an outfitter-set ladder stand at the edge of a recently harvested sunflower field, and I watched a trio of good bucks run around some hot does. But they were 200 yards away and never came much closer. A repeat performance came the very next day. Fun, but no shot opportunity. But then came an opportunity.
Later during that same hunt, a buddy shot a good buck that we trailed into a wooded creek bottom area on the same farm. As we entered the spot, the hackles rose on my neck. Laced with fresh trails, the spot reminded me of several productive public-land areas I had hunted in the past, many states away. I could literally smell the potential for success. Luckily my buddy and I were on a semi-guided hunt which meant we could make use of the outfitter’s stands or set some ourselves. That evening, back at camp, the outfitter gave me the thumbs up to set my stand in that new area. And the rest, as they say, is history.
The very first evening I sat my new stand I saw a parade of bucks, including a 170s class monster that came to 30 yards but never offered a shot. The next morning, my hunt’s last day, I watched two different record-book bucks square off to fight in front of my stand. I arrowed the larger of the two, a mid-150s brute, and in the years that followed shot two more similar-sized bucks from that same small area, far off any field edge and hidden quaintly back in the woods.
Years of hunting wide-ranging public land across several states had given me the know-how to identify that area as a good one, where three different wooded creek drainages converged like the spokes on a wheel.
What are your deer hunting strengths? Maybe you’ve figured out how to consistently set killer ground blind locations in swampy low-lying areas. Maybe you’re adept at “seeing” productive stand locations in big-woods areas. Or perhaps your thing is tapping into the very best farmland funnels situated in hilly terrain.
This season, when you’re faced with figuring out a new property, whether it be locally or a few states away, your first move should be to tap into what’s familiar. And that’s because whitetails behave mostly like whitetails wherever they are found. If you’ve been playing this game awhile, your own memory banks will likely hold the keys to success — no matter where your next adventure unfolds.