Things u wish u would have known when you first started hunting!

[Boogieman1]

Just like to hear some of the funny stuff we all did our first years in the field. I personally wish someone would have told me deer know how to smell..

[Outdoor814]

Shooting a deer is the easy part. The real work begins after you recover it.

[JoeRE]

There are plenty of specific details for sure, but if there was just one thing - I wish I knew from the start just to enjoy the ride. Everything else is secondary.

[mainebowhunter]

Wish I knew how to hunt Back then the urban hunting had just started and deer were plentiful. But had no idea what I was doing. I always think ..."man I wish I knew then what I know now!"

[Hawthorne]

Wish I would of utilized public land more starting in the mid90s when I started bowhunting. Mostly always thought it was a waste of time and so did the people around me that got me into hunting. Wish I would of started with a lone wolf and sticks in the beginning and been more mobile. I did use a climber some and was somewhat mobile but nothing like a lone wolf and sticks can get you in.

[DeerDylan]

Understanding how important a deers sense of smell is.

[Tufrthnails]

I wish I knew to ignore sign made during the night. And second to that would be to understand the importance of being mobile.

[Droptine]

I wish I would have slowed down, scouted more, and had confidence in my set ups. When I first started hunting mobile I think I'd get to where I thought was good and bumble around looking for a perfect tree. It's Like whats been said on here before, never give that Deer an inch of your scent and if you do, always be able to shoot to the spot you walked. Pre chosen kill trees are awesome and confidence as a hunter when hunting ground you've never been too is too.

[Jdw]

I wish I would have spent more time figuring out my access to the stand. And got my nerves under control when it came time to seal the deal.

[justdirtyfun]

Wind based bedding.

[Grasshopper]

There's a lot of deer that haunt me from the early years that I believe could be hanging on the wall with today's knowledge. My very first time bow hunting I was full draw on a spike buck at 15 yrs on the ground and I was afraid to shoot, because I didn't want to cripple one. The very next Saturday I was full draw on a big split brow tined stud that will forever haunt me, and I just froze. I was a little immature 12 year old, but I admire that I already respected life enough to not want to waste it. There are so many things and I hope I never stop having those moments to learn from.

[Wlog]

Hunt clubs aren't for me. Wasted money and time fooling around with leases thinking I had to go in with a group of guys for private land to be successful.

[moondoondude]

If I would have started using trail cameras as soon as they came out, I would have been amazed. The quality of bucks is nothing like it was those first 5-6 years after cameras were available. I would have also tried to implement more food plots and supplemental feedings in the past as well, but $ was probably too tight for it then anyways.

I think I was a little bit late to the avid shedhunting game too. Along with the # of quality bucks being much higher than it is now, the # of shedhunters were certainly a fraction of what they are now. A lot of huge antlers out there that I could have picked up that are now fertilizer.

The list of regrets and should have, could have, and would haves is far too massive to detail here.

[Jhand]

I wish someone told me about moving around and not hunting the same stand over and over again. Luckily I found this site after my first full year of deer hunting and it opened my eyes to a whole different world. I thought hunting was just having a few stands out over bait piles. I got started at a later age then most guys, didn't start hunting until I was 25.

[Kraftd]

The simple idea that big bucks only move a very small amount during daylight, and thusly how critical it is to be in that zone. So simple and logical when you hear it, but spent a lot of time where young deer and does and fawns was retrospectively the best I could hope for, thinking a bigger buck may wander by.

Also, which I would have realized just how much free time you actually have when you're younger and focused more of it on deer hunting.