The average deer hunter who has average skills and an average commitment to the hunt, usually get average results for his efforts. It’s likely that every hunter will manage to bag a small buck every year or two, and maybe will even get lucky and hit his target more often. But it takes a deep understanding of hunting and the dedication to do whatever is required to bag a majestic trophy buck. The advanced deer hunting tips I’m sharing with you here are for the true hunting masters.
1. Do Some Pre-Hunting Scouting – Days, even weeks before you start hunting, find out more about the terrain you’ll be hunting in so that you can know where best to find deer. The most successful hunters actually start hunting months prior to the first day of the hunting season.
Get permission to be on the lease you intend on hunting and scout out all the potential hunting spots. You can investigate all the potential hunting areas by “dry hunting.” This is similar to actual hunting, only you bring a camera instead of a gun. You will focus your attention on determining which areas have the most deer movement, the largest bucks, and the highest buck to doe ratio. It is advisable to scout the lease during midday as well in order to find any signs of big bucks.
2. Learn the Signs of Big Bucks. When you know what you’re looking for, you can zero in on the spots where the trophy deer gather. Spot any tracks. Look at how big the tracks are, where they’re going, and how many there are, and you can see where the deer are moving.
You also want to look for scrapes. These are areas where a buck scratches the ground and sometimes urinates to mark their territory and attract does. Bucks usually do this below low hanging tree branches that are located on the border of heavy brush areas during the rut. Another thing you want to look for are rubs. As a buck attempts to get the velvet off their new antlers thy need to rub on trees and posts. They also do this to mark their territory during rutting season. If you find a “rub line,” you will be able to find six or more rubs in a matter of about 100 yards. Bucks usually rub on the side of the tree or post that he is traveling from. With this in mind, if you pay attention to which side of the trees are being rubbed you can have a clue as to which way the deer is moving.
Observe how big the bedding areas are once you find them. No bucks will go through that area without leaving signs!
3. Become An Expert In The Shooting Characteristics of Your Firearm – Learn more about the ballistics of the caliber and cartridge of your weapon. Figure out how to fire your weapon depending on how far your target is away from you, adjusting for other factors as well. Learn how well you can judge distance, and walk through the sighting areas before you start hunting, so you have a good idea about yardage; you’ll be able to more accurately figure out how far you are from the target and lift or drop your bullet accordingly.
4. Shot Placement; If you master the aim and ballistics of your deer hunting rile, you will be more comfortable with precision shot placement.
Personally, I prefer neck shooting. While many hunters do not agree with this technique, a properly placed shot anywhere along the neck will drop your deer instantly. If you hit the deer lower on the neck the carotid arteries will be severed. If you hit the deer high on the neck you will break the deer’s spinal column. Finally, if you hit the deer in the center of the neck you will get a combination of both of these effects. No matter what angle the deer is at, whether it is broadside, front or rear quarter angle, or head-on, the neck will be as large of a target area as the typical “behind the lower shoulder” targets. The difference is that the neck target is much more effective.
I don’t recommend attempting full rear shots unless you are trying for a trophy buck that you can’t pass up. Cleaning a deer that’s been shot in the rectum is unpleasant, to say the least. Make wise shooting decisions; a quick, efficient kill is the goal of the advanced deer hunter.
5. Rattling, Calls and Attractants – Briefly, our last advanced deer hunting tips involve attractants (food plots, mineral blocks and flavored blocks, and salt licks) deer calls, and techniques for rattling. Preparation time is necessary for food-based attractants. Planting and tending food plots requires as much time and attention as gardening. You should set out food attractants in an area weeks or even months prior to hunting season, so that the deer will become familiar with their feeding times and the location of their meals.
Usually calling or rattling will only work occasionally and only during the rut. Occasionally I have been able to bring a buck in slowly and cautiously by rattling outside of the rutting season, but during the rut, they tend to rush right in. There have been times when I have almost been run over by a buck while I was rattling. With this in mind, if you choose to use this technique you need to be prepared to react quickly. It takes time to learn how to rattle and react proficiently. There is a learning curve associated with being able to actually mimic a call or recreate the sound of two bucks fighting. However, once you learn them, they can prove to be very effective.
No matter how interested in deer hunting you are, anyone with the slightest interest dreams of getting a nice trophy buck; you might also be a deer hunting fiend who wants a trophy rack each year. If you want to learn what it takes to be a master deer hunter, keep these deer hunting tips in mind when your next season comes up.
If you really want to learn what it takes to be a master deer hunter, keep these deer hunting tips in mind when your next season comes up. We hope that you use these techniques during deer hunting season. Please check out Deer-HuntingTips.com if you’d like to learn more secrets and tips to make your hunting more successful than ever before.
