John's Journal...

How to Detect Deer Movement

Day 5: Pay Strict Attention to Detail to Bag an End-of-Season Buck

Click for Larger ViewAt the end of the season, strict attention must be paid to every detail. The deer are alerted and looking for danger. Although the wind is a key factor for keeping the hunter's scent out of his hunting area, equally as important is the sportsman's approach to the stand. When gun season is on, I take a rake into the woods with me and rake a path from my treestand back 150-yards toward where I enter the woods. Then on the day I hunt I can walk to my stand without making any noise on the morning I plan to hunt. Click for Larger ViewWhereas I normally take 15 minutes to get to my stand during the first part of the season, I may spend an hour covering the same distance to reach my stand in the late part of the season to keep from spooking the deer.

I also try and use permanent stands or ladder stands in the late season. Then I make little or no noise when I climb into my tree stand. The most-difficult deer to pattern and to hunt is a deer that has spent all season long learning what hunters do and when they do it. Click for Larger ViewBy investing more time scouting and studying deer and their movement patterns and learning where they feed, where they wait to feed, and where they hold when hunting pressure is on, you will be better able to predict at what point in the woods to place your treestand or ground blind for an effective ambush. If you spend more time learning about deer than you do hunting, then you will take more deer than even those who hunt the most.


Check back each day this week for more about "How to Detect Deer Movement "

Day 1: Understanding Deer
Day 2: Learning Deer Movement Before the Season Starts
Day 3: Learning about Deer Movement During the Season
Day 4: Scouting for Deer Movement at the End of the Season
Day 5: Pay Strict Attention to Detail to Bag an End-of-Season Buck

 

Entry 590, Day 5