How to Hunt White-tailed Deer When the Heat’s On
Day 5: More Unlikely Hideouts for Deer to Use to Escape from Hunter Pressure
Editor’s Note: Deer do strange and unpredictable things when the hunting pressure builds-up over their range. But you can modify your hunting tactics to adjust to the situation and take deer.
  Hunters may really be surprised at some of the areas that trophy deer will hide-out in during daylight hours to avoid hunting pressure. Dr. Keith Causey, a retired longtime deer researcher and deer hunter at Auburn University in Alabama, explains further, “One of the spots that mature deer will go to avoid hunting pressure is beside a rural residence that has plenty of human activity, many yard dogs and a lot of whooping and hollering happening. An ole smart buck may move to within spitting distance of a rural home and bed-down during daylight hours, because he realizes that this is the area where the fewest hunters are likely to show-up.
“Another unlikely place where the hunter rightfully can expect to find trophy deer during daylight hours when there is a lot of hunting pressure is right beside a major road. The hunters usually will drive past this area to get into the big woods where the deer are. Every day during hunting season, they will drive in their vehicles past that big buck that watches them go into the woods and leave the woods. If you will just apply reason to hunter logic, you’ll soon realize where the big deer have to be. But most hunters will prefer to go to the backside of the property to hunt. Therefore, the fringe areas are virtually not hunted. So, over the years, the mature, knowledgeable animals will learn where the majority of the hunters will be during hunting season. They will avoid these regions and move into the fringe places that the hunters rarely visit.”
  Use the fear factor as a tool to find trophy bucks. You’ll have to pattern the other hunters in your hunting region as well as the game. One of the best ways to do this is to utilize an aerial photo of the region you plan to hunt. Mark the roads in red. Then use paper arrows to point out the directions of movement of the hunters from the roads into the areas that are hunted the most. Once you determine hunter flow on the map, the place the least amount of hunter pressure occurs will begin to become apparent. If you use the same map for several years and plot the movement of hunters during several seasons, you soon will know what the deer understands, and see where the trophy animals have to be to survive. By utilizing your map, you will be able to spend most of your hunting season in the areas with the least amount of hunting pressure. Your likelihood of taking and seeing trophy bucks drastically will increase. By utilizing the fear factor as it relates to deer, you’ll spend more hunting hours in the woods where you are more likely to see the bigger, more mature animals that have learned to flee from fear.
For more deer-hunting tips, get John E. Phillips’ Kindle eBooks “How to Hunt Deer Like a Pro,”
"How to Hunt Deer Up Close: With Bows, Rifles, Muzzleloaders and Crossbows,” and “PhD Whitetails: How to Hunt and Take the Smartest Deer on Any Property,” or to prepare venison, get “Deer & Fixings.” Click here on each, or go to "www.amazon.com/kindle-ebooks, type in the name of the book, and download it to your Kindle, and/or download a Kindle app for your iPad, SmartPhone or computer.
About the Author
John Phillips, winner of the 2012 Homer Circle Fishing Award for outstanding fishing writer by the American Sportfishing Association (ASA) and the Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA), the 2008 Crossbow Communicator of the year and the 2007 Legendary Communicator chosen for induction into the National Fresh Water Hall of Fame, is a freelance writer (over 6,000 magazine articles for about 100 magazines and several thousand newspaper columns published), magazine editor, photographer for print media as well as industry catalogues (over 25,000 photos published), lecturer, outdoor consultant, marketing consultant, book author and daily internet content provider with an overview of the outdoors. Click here for more information and a list of all the books available from John E. Phillips.
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