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Old March 17, 2013, 09:14 PM   #26
Buzzcook
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Visit your game unit several times before the season starts. Wonder around and make your own map of the area.

Be wery wery quiet.
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Old March 18, 2013, 12:11 PM   #27
buck460XVR
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Visit your game unit several times before the season starts. Wonder around and make your own map of the area.
Since the OP is from Washington State, I suggest he do that walkin' now. I suspect like us here there is still some snow on the ground...old snow, showing major game trails and evidence of where the game spends it's time bedding and traveling from beds to food. It is also a good time to learn the easiest access in and out of an area and is the time to clear shooting lanes if legal and needed. Old snow will also show the lesser used trails that old bucks use as opposed to main trails used by does, fawns and smaller bucks. These trails are almost impossible to find in summer and fall because they are the travel routes of a single deer. Scouting, making blinds and clearing shooting lanes now means one does not have to disturb game come this fall. Many times that old buck only needs to be jumped once or feel the slightest pressure and they change their area and habits for a long period of time. With leaves off the trees, it's also easier to see thru the woods as opposed to when the trees and brush are leaved out. One needs to consider this when picking a stand, but it easier to see what direction the animals may come from or what they use as alternate routes. Trails used for normal movement differ many times from trails used as escape routes, even tho they may only be a short distance apart. A heavy trail in a more open area means normal movement...a slightly used trail thru thick cover close by generally means a escape route. Different stands for different types of hunting. During bow season normal trails work well for smaller bucks and antlerless deer, and may work for large bucks during the rut. But the big bucks will take their own trails early on. Come gun season and the shooting starts, most deer will tend to leave their normal trails and stick to the thicker cover of escape routes. Again, this is just general woodsmanship.
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Old March 18, 2013, 03:18 PM   #28
L_Killkenny
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patience is a virtue would be the #1 tip i would give to any new deer hunter.
Plus 1, what I was gonna say. Without it all other skills are mute.
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Old March 18, 2013, 08:53 PM   #29
Panfisher
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SAFETY. No deer on the planet is worth your life or someone elses life. Safety is an attitude that should never leave your mind.
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Old March 18, 2013, 09:14 PM   #30
Quadpod88
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In addition to all the fantastic tips mine would have to be:
1: If you're camping a game trail, don't sit directly on it, instead have a good line of sight on it(but still out of sight).
2: Know the water holes in the area, especially the popular ones.
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Old March 20, 2013, 12:16 AM   #31
Major Dave (retired)
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When I decided to go on my first deer hunt...

I was almost 30 years old. I had grown up in a part of Texas where there were no deer.

I finished that first hunt with a 16 point, 175 (gross) B&C buck!

The secret to my success was that I spent about a month going through back issues of hunting magazines, writing down "how to" tips on a yellow pad of paper.

Each time I found a tip I had previously read, I would put a little "tick mark" beside it, in the margin of my notes.

When I finished my reading, I had about 2 dozen tips, techniques, and tactics.

Then I went to the woods and put them in practice
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Old March 20, 2013, 11:51 AM   #32
Nim Rod
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Looks like you've had a lot of really good advice given here..and perhaps some not so good advice, but I'm not going to address those as a newbie here and make new enemies right off the bat, lol...neither do I wish to be redundant in stating anything that has already been said.
What I didn't see asked, or stated, is what type of deer you plan to hunt? White Tail, Mule Deer, other? I am only familiar with hinting the first two, and I prefer Mule Deer over White Tail (ok, so I'm not normal, lol) I bring this up because hunting strategies can vary according to which type of deer you hunt.

I can see where stand or still hunting might be good for White Tail, but not so much for Mule Deer....where I hunt in Wyoming anyway...I'm a stalker, not a sitter. So I imagine where you hunt also needs to be considered to determine if stand hunting or stalking will best serve you. And yes, knowledge of your hunt area is a must, for many reasons already stated in previous posts by others.

Peroxide hasn't been mentioned yet...that I noticed anyway...as part of my hunt pack, I always carry a bottle of peroxide in a spray bottle..if you ever loose a blood trail, it can be used sparingly to locate small specks of blood as it will bubble and foam on contact....but one needs to have at least an inkling of which way your game was headed else you just waste your peroxide. I've never had to use it deer hunting as my kills rarely go more than a few feet before going down and staying down...but for elk or antelope, that can cover a lot of ground on adrenaline even with lung or heart shot out, the peroxide can be invaluable.

But my best advice is for you to go with a seasoned experienced hunter your first few hunts....nothing beats hands on education and experience. Good luck
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Old March 21, 2013, 03:17 PM   #33
reynolds357
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Skill #
1. Planting Soybeans.
2. Planting Corn
3. Planting Clover
4. Planting Oats
5. Hanging around you hunting grounds so regularly that the deer pay you absolutely no attention.
6. Disregard all the traditional things always thought necessary to kill deer.

Last edited by reynolds357; March 21, 2013 at 08:25 PM.
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Old March 21, 2013, 03:20 PM   #34
ChasingWhitetail91
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^ that sounds more like a petting zoo then a hunt.
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Old March 21, 2013, 08:16 PM   #35
reynolds357
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Thats the idea. Watch the small ones and only shoot a big one every year or two. Meat hunt away from the trophy hunting land.
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Old March 22, 2013, 08:47 AM   #36
buck460XVR
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Quote:
Skill #
1. Planting Soybeans.
2. Planting Corn
3. Planting Clover
4. Planting Oats
5. Hanging around you hunting grounds so regularly that the deer pay you absolutely no attention.
6. Disregard all the traditional things always thought necessary to kill deer.

Watch the small ones and only shoot a big one every year or two. Meat hunt away from the trophy hunting land.


Most folk call that "shooting" as opposed to "hunting".

You forgot to include the erection of a high fence. You know.....just to keep the other animals out.
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Old March 22, 2013, 09:24 PM   #37
reynolds357
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No fences. Its fair chase as long as its open range. With my work schedule, I dont have an exceptional amount of time to be in the woods at dawn and dusk. I do have time in the middle of the day to go over to the hunting land several times a week for a few hours and plant some food plots. I look at the time invested in agriculture as part of the hunting.
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Old March 23, 2013, 07:01 AM   #38
Sure Shot Mc Gee
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Priority #1 >BUY YOUR OWN LAND!!< Then hone what hunting skills one claims they possess.To say there is none available or I can't. "Than one hasn't tried hard enough. As there is a way.> Always."

S/S
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Old March 23, 2013, 10:28 AM   #39
Art Eatman
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Let's not go wandering off topic. The deal is about the skills needed to find some particular game animal.

HOW one hunts is controlled by terrain and vegetation, which has a whole bunch of variation for success. What works in the Wyoming grasslands won't work in the south Texas brasada--and that is different from the bottomland swamps of the Appalachicola River.
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Old March 23, 2013, 07:01 PM   #40
shortwave
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HOW one hunts is controlled by terrain and vegetation, which has a whole bunch of variation for success. What works in the Wyoming grasslands won't work in the south Texas brasada--and that is different from the bottomland swamps of the Appalachicola River.
Now that's worth repeating.
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Old March 23, 2013, 07:28 PM   #41
jmr40
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Priority #1 >BUY YOUR OWN LAND!!<
I cannot afford enough land to hunt the way I want to hunt. I've spent my entire life hunting public land where I can roam for miles in every direction. Even a 1000 acre tract of land seems like hunting on a postage stamp to me. That is the way I prefer to do it. It is harder, with far less success, but far more enjoyable to me than this.

Quote:
Skill #
1. Planting Soybeans.
2. Planting Corn
3. Planting Clover
4. Planting Oats
5. Hanging around you hunting grounds so regularly that the deer pay you absolutely no attention.
6. Disregard all the traditional things always thought necessary to kill deer.

Watch the small ones and only shoot a big one every year or two. Meat hunt away from the trophy hunting land.
I'd prefer the game I kill to have never seen a human before if possible. I'm not overly critical of those who prefer this, in some places it is about the best option, but it is as exciting as shopping at Kroger to me.
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