Ultimate Fall Deer Hunting Guide

As the Fall season creeps up on us, it’s time get to know your hunting grounds and prepare for deer hunting season. Every hunter sits in anticipation and the deer are active, but you gotta take full advantage of this hunting season and prepare for success. Let’s take a look at some of best ways to make this hunting season your best.

Know the Rules of the Game

Be sure to look up the season dates and policies in your specific state. Some states have different regulations on deer hunting. Stay in-the-know and keep updated on all of your state hunting laws. Not only do you have to remain informed on your state laws, but learn about your game too. Any seasoned hunter knows that you must learn about your prey, what they eat, where they are and more to prepare for the hunt. Before hunting season begins, scout out the land and see if you find any natural clearings that might make good spots for blinds and/or feeders.

Soak Up Your Scent

Every hunter knows that deer have a keen sense of smell, and your sweat and other bodily odors will carry in the outdoors.  There are many ways to mask your human scent, including protective clothes, unscented soaps, sprays, gloves, etc. But a quick and easy way to hide your scent, in case your gear isn’t doing the trick, is to take a little briquette of charcoal and swipe it over your hands and face.  Charcoal is odor absorbent and can help eliminate any odors permeating from your body.

Find Deer Patterns

Deer scouting is crucial to having a great hunting season. Not only should you roam your hunting grounds to get the feel of the land, but keep notice of any tracks or deer you might find. Take note of any natural clearings that deer might gather in. If there are none, you can even take this opportunity to create some clearings of your own along natural paths in the woods.

Assemble Deer Feeders & Stands

Once you’ve got the lay of the land and you’ve checked your state laws on hunting and deer feeding, it’s time to find the best spots for your deer feeders and stands. We all know hunting ain’t easy. This is why many hunters use feeders to draw deer into a clearing. Feeding deer can also help maintain does and fawns during the off season. Be sure to look into the specifics of deer feeding in your state. Once you’ve found the best spot for your deer feeders, it’s time the optimum location for your hunting stand or blind. Make sure you know where the feed is dispensing from your automatic deer feeders, as you don’t want anything blocking your field of view from your stand.

Stay Active

In order to keep up very active deer, you gotta stay in shape and practice with your weapon of choice. Get some exercise in before hunting season, you’ll thank yourself later when you’ve snagged your prized buck. Also, if you haven’t done so already, practice shooting with your weapon. Whether a rifle or crossbow, you need to get some practice in, so you can maintain steady aim and a precise mark.

Other Resources

If you’re following the above rules, you should be on your way to a successful deer season; but if you want a sure bet you can also set up game cameras and decoys. Game cameras help hunters observe the behavior and paths that the deer naturally take on their land. Game cameras can also help you find the absolute best spots to set up your deer feeder and stand.  You could also try to fool deer with decoys. Deer are more likely to come out and gather where other deer are. For this reason, having decoy deer can be beneficial for a hunter who’s having a little trouble coaxing deer in.

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