New to hunting. Need some help

[Big Swing]

Hello everyone. I am new to hunting and need a little help. I have always wanted to hunt my whole life but do not have anyone to show me the ropes. I have been reading as much as I can the past year and was getting overwelmed till I heard dan on the wired to hunt podcast and it was a huge relief to hear him talk the way he does. I have been reading this board and Have the hill country bucks and the march bucks dvd. I have been doing alot of scouting but wish I had done alot more when it wasnt so close to the season. My season opens a week from today and I have three areas I want to hunt. Any help with this areas would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

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[Big Swing]

[Big Swing]

[Big Swing]

[hunter_mike]

Welcome! you have come to the right place!

[Lockdown]

I'm new to beast style hunting so I can't give a lot of advice as far as the aerials are concerned. Maybe some of the experienced beast style hunters would disagree with me, but if you are just starting out I would say don't get too carried away trying to find actual buck beds right now. I wouldn't stomp your property in search of them this time of year. Use in the field sign in conjunction with tips from the experienced beast style hunters and make your best guess on how to set up. From the videos, you already know setting up close to bedding is crucial... Dan has talked a about setting up conservatively right away, then moving deeper into the woods on subsequent hunts. I'm becoming a big believer in observation hunts, especially on a new property. Also, don't be afraid to screw up. That's how you learn. I'm not sure if this helps, its just my two cents. GOOD LUCK!!

[headgear]

Since your new to hunting I wouldn't put a lot of pressure on yourself to hunt beds and get after big mature bucks. Just go out and have fun and try to learn as much as you can about deer and the areas you hunt. Setup on the edges of the marsh/swamp and see what shows up, maybe hunt some of the points that jut out into the marsh or venture out to an island or two and setup and see what happens. Make sure your scent doesn't blow into any area you think the deer might be coming from. That 2nd aerial you posted looks like a killer spot, I might focus more of my time there. If I get some time later I will try and mark up some maps.

[Thermals]

Welcome
Keep reading and dive in and take everything you in.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Big Swing]

Thanks guys.
I should have been more clear. I am not looking to kill a giant buck my first year. My goal is to put one deer buck or doe in the freezer. Any thing else is a bonus. I have 3 doe tags and 2 buck tags. Anything to help me use those would be aprecciated. I have done a good amount of scouting in two of those areas in the little time I have had and they are loaded with rubs poop and runs. I have spooked a few off of beds too but could only hear them. I also put out some cameras and got tons of pics of does and two picks of a 3 point and 1 pic of a sweet 8 point.

[justdirtyfun]

A tip for next time is go to the bed if you bumped one. Study the trails in and out, minor or major use etc. I have started writing down details so 2 or 3 years later things will make more sense. We think remembering will be easy but what if its not?

[ Post made via Android ]

[Lockdown]

In September and early/mid October the name of the game is to intercept them on the way from bedding to where they feed. Using trail cameras can be a big help. Look for oak trees that are dropping acorns, or an ag field that they are heading to. What they're feeding on depends on time of year and what part of the country you live in. Their food sources change thru out the season so keep that in mind. When rut comes (the end of Oct-Nov) you will see a big increase in buck movement. They'll be out searching for the first does to come into estrous in late October. For a lot of hunters, 90% of their success comes during this time. When the bucks are rutting, look for travel corridors such as a funnel where the deer trails converge, or where the deer are going around something they can't or don't want to go through (i.e. water). The guys who are really dedicated will sometimes sit on stand all day during the rut. The best days to hunt are days when a cold front hits... if its 55 degrees all week and the temp drops to a high of 38 on Saturday, get your but in the stand. Typically deer movement on windy days is minimal because it limits their ability to hear danger and see danger because everything is moving. For me evening hunts are better than morning hunts both early and late in the year. During rut, anything can happen... hunt a lot. During rut carry a grunt call, doe bleat, and rattling antlers. When you see a buck that is out of range and not going to come past you, try calling. I would also suggest writing things down in a journal for both scouting and hunting. I like to write down all of my stand locations and write what wind I use each stand for. Deer love edges... doesn't matter if its a fence line, field edge, transition of trees to grass or grass to cattails. They like structure. Also, sneak to your hunting locations. Deer know exactly what human footsteps sound like... try and be as quiet as you possibly can. You're going to make tons of mistakes, but that is how you learn. You are definitely on the right sight to learn how to hunt. My biggest piece of advice is with everything you do, do it for a REASON. Don't just pick a random trail just to hunt there. Have a game plan. Also, there's no such thing as a dumb question... I enjoy helping people learn... so ask away!

[backstraps]

In September and early/mid October the name of the game is to intercept them on the way from bedding to where they feed. Using trail cameras can be a big help. Look for oak trees that are dropping acorns, or an ag field that they are heading to. What they're feeding on depends on time of year and what part of the country you live in. Their food sources change thru out the season so keep that in mind. When rut comes (the end of Oct-Nov) you will see a big increase in buck movement. They'll be out searching for the first does to come into estrous in late October. For a lot of hunters, 90% of their success comes during this time. When the bucks are rutting, look for travel corridors such as a funnel where the deer trails converge, or where the deer are going around something they can't or don't want to go through (i.e. water). The guys who are really dedicated will sometimes sit on stand all day during the rut. The best days to hunt are days when a cold front hits... if its 55 degrees all week and the temp drops to a high of 38 on Saturday, get your but in the stand. Typically deer movement on windy days is minimal because it limits their ability to hear danger and see danger because everything is moving. For me evening hunts are better than morning hunts both early and late in the year. During rut, anything can happen... hunt a lot. During rut carry a grunt call, doe bleat, and rattling antlers. When you see a buck that is out of range and not going to come past you, try calling. I would also suggest writing things down in a journal for both scouting and hunting. I like to write down all of my stand locations and write what wind I use each stand for. Deer love edges... doesn't matter if its a fence line, field edge, transition of trees to grass or grass to cattails. They like structure. Also, sneak to your hunting locations. Deer know exactly what human footsteps sound like... try and be as quiet as you possibly can. You're going to make tons of mistakes, but that is how you learn. You are definitely on the right sight to learn how to hunt. My biggest piece of advice is with everything you do, do it for a REASON. Don't just pick a random trail just to hunt there. Have a game plan. Also, there's no such thing as a dumb question... I enjoy helping people learn... so ask away!

Really some solid advice

[PK_]

If you are new, I wouldn't push the limits on bedding areas. Play the odds. Early season hunt the cooler days, the deer movement will absolutely be better on these days and you should be able to kill a deer at the food source in the evening.

For rut hunting I would recommend you read Brad Herndon's - Mapping Trophy Bucks. It does the best job of laying out how to effectively capitalize on the increased buck movement using terrain features. Bobby Worthington's - Bowhunting Trophy Whitetails is right up there with it.

The biggest piece of advice I can give you is until you really grasp how deer use certain areas and terrain is to simply be mobile and play the wind. These two things alone will lead you to more dead deer than anything else IMHO.

Best of luck.

[phishy]

My biggest piece of advice is with everything you do, do it for a REASON. Don't just pick a random trail just to hunt there. Have a game plan.

if the plan doesn't work out, if you can, try to figure out why..... did you play the wind wrong? is the location traveled at night? etc, etc, have to conversations with yourself, bounce them off others....

and last scout ... A LOT!! particularly in the off season, in the mean time, don't be afraid to move into a new aware and screw it up, but as stated by Lockdown, have a plan. how else you going to learn,

by no means am i the caliber of a hunters that i see on this forum, but i'll bet my paycheck on the guy that's in the woods screwing things up vs the guy that's sits on the couch wishing he was a better hunter.

i honestly believe the reason i got my first kill was cause i got out as much as possible.....every time i felt like throwing in the towel, i kept telling myself I'm not going to shoot them in bed or sitting at home...

its worth the disappointment w/ lack of success when you finally connect, then a light bulb goes turns on in the head...... nothing breeds insight like success

[Lockdown]

i honestly believe the reason i got my first kill was cause i got out as much as possible.....every time i felt like throwing in the towel, i kept telling myself I'm not going to shoot them in bed or sitting at home...

Very true... expect to feel down and out or defeated at times. Its part of hunting. If you keep at it and don't give up, that's half the battle.



One thing I thought of was how I used to scout and pick stand locations before I learned about beast tactics. What I used to do is scout the entire property and find the best and heaviest trails. (Like I said before don't kick all the deer off your property... its best to do it out of season.) I always kept bedding in mind but at that point in my life I wanted to find a crisscrossing of trails or a good funnel. So scout the property, then walk the best trails that you can find. Sooner or later another trail will cross it. Bingo. Set up there. Now you aren't watching one trail, one edge or fence line, now you're watching two and doubling your odds. Even if its a fairly faint trail, you're still upping your odds. Simply put, why watch one trail when you can be in range of two. Don't be married to tree stands either. I wrote an article for Wired To Hunt that covers this topic. The article was about making a set work when it seems like there's no way to hunt that spot. Hunt where you SHOULD be... not where its EASY to be. I'm by no means trying to toot my own horn (its the only one I've ever had published) but being new to hunting, it would be a really good article for you to read.

http://wiredtohunt.com/2013/11/21/findi ... -you-cant/

Also, a whitetail's nose is his #1 defense mechanism. In areas with grass tall enough to rub on your legs, a deer will smell where you cross the trail. Sometimes your set will require you to cross a trail you're hunting. Picking where to cross is SUPER important. I always cross in a spot where I can shoot. Be ready and know EXACTLY where you crossed. A big buck will whirl and run at the slightest amount of human scent but normally does and smaller bucks will stop and sniff for a couple seconds before it bolts. Its your job to either stop them before they hit your trail, or be ready for them to stop and light them up before they take off. okay I'm done rambling! I hope this helps and I'm rooting for ya man... Keep at it and you'll be successful