14 Expert Whitetail Deer Hunting Tips – How to Hunt Deer 2023

With the ever-changing deer hunting landscape, it’s important to be aware of how changes in technology and equipment can affect your success. We’ve compiled some helpful deer hunting tips for this year’s season that will bring you closer than ever before to a Whitetail Deer Hunt!

Deer Hunting Pro Tips Everyone Should Follow

• First and foremost, it is important to have a solid plan. Know where you will be hunting, what time of day, and what equipment you will need. This will help to ensure that you are as prepared as possible when the time comes to take your shot.
• It is also important to pay attention to the wind. The scent is one of the deer’s most important means of detection, and even the slightest breeze can carry your scent right to their nose. Be sure to position yourself downwind of where you think the deer will appear.
• When it comes time to take your shot, be patient and wait for a clear opening. Deer are fast and agile, and they will often move just as you are about to pull the trigger. If you rush your shot, you are likely to miss or only wound the animal.
• Finally, remember to dress for success. Wear clothing that blends in with your surroundings and helps you stay hidden from the deer’s sharp eyesight. In addition, be sure to wear comfortable shoes so that you can remain silent and still while waiting for that perfect moment to take your shot.

How to Hunt Deer 2022 – 14 Steps to follow!

Deer hunting is a sport that requires constant learning and adapting. The best strategies are constantly being refined through discussion among peers, while new techniques come from experts who have had experience in the field. Hunters like me discuss the successes and failures from previous hunting trips over dinner, constantly analyzing what works best for me in order not to be caught off guard next time around!

Deer hunting season is upon us, and for many of us, that means heading out into the woods in search of that trophy buck. But if you’re new to deer hunting, or if you’re looking to up your game, here are a few tips to help you get the most out of your hunt.

1. Whitetail Deer Hunting Tips

When it comes to whitetail deer hunting tips, the most important factor to consider would be where to hunt and how to find deer. They are more likely to be found in agricultural lands, forests, and urban areas. Places that have different habitats are productive for deers as they have food and water in abundance and enough to last throughout the year.

It is necessary to consider deer signs, but sometimes you have to dig deeper rather than just relying on signs. You need to know where a deer is going or has gone and when will it return. Did you just think this stupidly and thought it was not possible? You can get all this information by looking at deer tracks and studying them.

2. Whitetail Deer Signs

As a deer hunter, you must have the knowledge to understand deer signs, as they tell us a lot about the deer. Whenever on-field try to look for soft grounds such as mud and snow because when deers walk through them, their hooves sink in it and leave tracks behind. These tracks tell you which way the deer went and how big is its size. If you are an experienced hunter, you can even tell whether the deer is a stag or a doe.

Deer scat is also a beneficial sign for deer hunters. Fresh scat is wet and looks shiny for a few days. After a couple of days, it gets dry and later decomposes if left for a month. If you come by an area that has many deer tracks and scats including the fresh and dry, it will indicate that the area is rich with deer and they spend a lot of time there.

However, if the place you go to only has either wet or decomposed scat, it shows that it is seasonal. Deer scat also indicates what food the deer ate, depending on its color.

3. Get Rid of Your Smell

You might be very hygienic and think that you don’t stink. But deers can still smell you and to them, you are a foul odor. This has nothing to do with your hygiene, rather it’s just that the deers sense the smell differently.

The market has a lot of products to offer that helps you get clean without smelling. Change your bath products and try to use scent-free soaps when taking a shower. This is an important step in whitetail deer hunting tips.

4. Be quiet

Deers have a better hearing sense than humans can ever have. Because of this, it is easy for them to recognize different sounds and differentiate between the ones made by humans and those made by animals. Therefore not to let the deer take notice of you, try walking on your heels in order to deaden the sound made by your movements.

Besides, try avoiding a cough but if it is uncontrollable then try to muffle its sound. Make sure you have parked your stand at a decent distance and you move steadily. It is likely to make accidental sounds when you are trying hard not to. In such conditions, simply stop and wait enough long to let the deer be calm again.

5. Learn the Deer Body Language

It is common that like all humans, deers also communicate with each other using a specific language. There are different calls that attract different deer at various times. It is important for you to learn these calls so that you use them to your advantage when hunting down a deer. This might seem a difficult task but is easy and can be learned from different videos online.

6. Coverage – Important Deer Hunting Tip

It is totally up to you whether you go for a climbing stand or a lock-on stand, but what matters is where you place your tree stand. It is important to place it somewhere that has a couple of trees beside or behind it, in order to serve as a cover for you. Our line of sight differs from animals or to be specific from deer.

Therefore always try to put yourself in their place and visualize how do you look to deers. Any sort of trees, branches, or leaves that can break up your silhouette without disturbing your shot would be very beneficial for keeping you hidden. Moreover, you can try wearing camouflage, which will keep you in disguise, and very effortlessly you can get an ethical kill.

7. Be Prepared – Tips for Deer Hunting

Whenever going hunting, make sure to check all your stuff and take the necessary items such as your license. Besides, it is very significant to check the weather before leaving and to let someone know that you are going hunting. Pack and check the following before going hunting:

Land permission, best deer hunting binoculars, check your batteries, camo and safety vest, food and water, cell phone, map, flashlight, first-aid kit, deer drag, bow and accessories, rangefinder, and arm guard.

8. Observing the field

As a hunter, it is possible that you often hunt in the same area. But you might have to go to a new piece of land for hunting. A few days before you go hunting, you should go out and inspect the place.

You should try to find out where to place your stand, where to hike, and most importantly look for deer signs. But if it isn’t possible for you to go twice, you can simply check out the place using satellite images.

9. Stand Placement

When it comes to placing the stand, there are some good options available. You can go for ridges as they give you a good sight, and wide view, and keep your scent from reaching nearby deers.

Deers often enter farms through the corners in order to eat. Therefore you can place your stand a bit off the corner and can see the deer getting in. If you want to hunt down a deer with a bow, then keep a distance of 12-20 yards from the deer, because if you get closer they’ll catch your scent.

10. Put your Stand Sooner – Deer Hunting Tips

Deers are mature and wise, and they notice any changes made to their surroundings. If you place a stand and they notice it, they’ll abandon that place and move somewhere else. Therefore place the stand in a perfect spot before the season starts or in its beginning. When time passes the deers become used to its presence and there are fewer chances of you being noticed.

11. Practice Getting into Your Stand

Once you have placed the stand, practice getting into and coming out of it. Make sure you do this practice before the days of hunting. When the time comes, you’ll be able to get into the stand and out of it even if it’s dark, without being noticed.

Moreover, like most hunters, it would be less likely for you to get injured, which happens when they fall from the stand while ascending or descending.

12. Deer Drag Scents – Deer Hunting Tips

Deer scents are great for attracting them to you, but most hunters use them wrong. You have to start dragging the scent from your stand and then move out to another point. The deer will follow the scent and will try to get to the point where the scent is strongest. Once the deer gets there, you’ll be waiting for it and will hunt it down.

13. Dont Chase a Wounded Deer

When you make your first shot and hit the deer, don’t just jump out of your stand and follow it. This way the deer will run faster and may end up dying far away, in which case you might lose it.

Instead, wait for 20 to 30 minutes and follow the blood trail to get to the deer. If the deer was shot fatally, it will bed down to die only a few hundred yards away.

14. Don’t Approach a Dead Animal Immediately

Lastly, the most important point from deer hunting tips is when you have killed your prey, don’t go immediately towards it. Because it is possible that the animal might not be completely dead and then it’ll be too late for you to do something. Instead, throw a rock at it from a distance or make a noise. Once you have waited long enough and are sure, it is safe to go there.

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Additional Common Questions

What is the most optimal time of the day to hunt a buck?

Though hunting is often a question of personal preference or local environmental factors, many experienced hunters swear by the “golden hours” of morning and evening during rut season when bucks are most active. However, bucks can also act in unexpected ways during this time, often distracted by pursuing does. Take my word for it, I’ve seen a buck wandering around in broad daylight searching for a doe. Even without a doe in sight, their drive to mate keeps them on the move. This is why I advise novices not to discount midday hunting, as it can yield surprising results.

What actions should I take during my inaugural deer hunt?

If you’re participating in your first deer hunt, mastering aim and distance is crucial. You can start with stationary targets at a close range, let’s say 25 yards, and try to consistently land your shots in the same rough area. Once you feel confident in your shot placement, gradually increase the distance using 25-yard increments until you reach between 100 to 150 yards. This is from my experience, a respectable range to aim for as a beginner. Take it slow and steady. Remember, we all start small in the world of hunting.

Why am I not spotting deer during my hunts?

One possibility is that your scent is warning the deer of your presence before you even have a chance to see them. Deer have an acute sense of smell. This is something I learned very early in my hunting career when I realized I was consistently failing to spot deer. I understood then the paramount importance of taking wind direction into account. Staying downwind of the deer is critical. If you plan to hunt near feeding grounds, always check the wind isn’t blowing your scent toward the incoming deer. As the wind shifts, it’s time for you to relocate as well! The game of hunting is about more than just the shots, it’s an art of blending yourself into the environment.