How to Actually Improve Your Deer Hunting This Year

However, I have experienced direct success thanks to in-season scouting, consistent time on stand, and a stubborn willingness to hunt places that other folks didn’t give the time of day. The truth is there are no shortcuts or amount of hunting articles that you can read to help you notch your tag. But the good news is that there are plenty of practical habits to get you closer to your deer hunting goals, and most of them will only cost you time and effort.

Keep a Consistent Shooting Routine

Okay, this one will inevitably cost you money, but there’s no way around it. Besides, you’ll eventually have to buy more arrows or bullets anyway. For archers, you don’t have to sling twenty arrows a day to kill a deer, but you do need a consistent routine.

We’re not trying to 12-ring our way to fame, but we do need to hit a deer’s vital area to quickly and ethically kill it. Hopefully, you’ve been practicing in the months leading up to the season, so by the time October 1^st rolls around, you can simply dial the intensity down. Maybe that looks like a solid three- to five-shot group every day or every other day during the season. It’s sort of like sports. The most intense training is done during the off-season, while the in-season looks more like maintenance and recovery.

Rifle hunters can take a similar approach, though the volume and frequency will look different. Once you’ve thoroughly sighted your rifle in, it’s a good idea to periodically check it during the season to make sure it’s still on. And, no, hitting a pie tin at 50 yards isn’t sufficient.

After you’ve taken it out a time or two, especially if you bump your scope or drop your rifle, take it back to the bench and fire a few rounds to check your scope’s zero. It’s better to catch it now than after you miss the buck of a lifetime. Also, don’t just shoot it from the bench. Take a few like you might in the field (kneeling, standing, sitting, etc.).

Stop Hunting the Same Spots

There’s always a temptation to revisit spots where you’ve had prior success. While there are certainly spots that just seem to produce year after year, others can be flukes. Habitat change, urban sprawl, and hunting pressure can all affect these spots. Just because you killed a big buck from your grandpa’s ladder stand one year doesn’t mean you’ll recreate those same results this year. If you’re hanging on to similar hopes and you’ve been stuck in a rut, it’s probably time to make a change.

The same thing goes for spots that look promising or have a ton of deer sign but never a ton of action. I’m a fan of targeting big rubs and community scrapes, but research shows that a lot of that activity is made at night. Unfortunately, this deer sign can be a huge red herring, and by the time you find it, you’ve probably missed that window of opportunity anyway. Instead, look for fresh sign like tracks or droppings where multiple trails converge. Of course, the closer you find this sign to bedding and/or food, the more likely you are to see daytime activity.

Spend More Intentional Time in the Woods

Nothing replaces time in the woods. Well, purposeful time, anyway. You can’t just absorb all the whitetail mysteries by sitting in a stand from dark to dark. But, if you’re intentionally taking note of the details, where the deer come from, why they travel a specific trail, what plants and vegetation they browse on, etc., in relation to the day’s specific conditions, then you’re on the right track.

Sure, it’s helpful to see where deer enter and exit a food plot or where they emerge from bedding, but it’s a lot more useful if you ask why the deer come from here or why they take that trail and not the others. While you might not know those answers definitively, you can make enough educated guesses to help you get in bow or rifle range.

You don’t always have to actually hunt to get the scoop, either. Mid-day, or all-day, scouting sessions can give you way more info than running in for a hang-and-hunt. Truthfully, they’re probably a lot better use of your time. If you look at some of the best hunters who consistently kill mature bucks, the ratio of scouting to time on the stand definitely tips the scales toward scouting. Instead of heaving a Hail Mary on the limited time you have, swap a few of those wishful sits and see what the woods tell you.