Give Your Deer Hunting Area a Rest
Hunting your chosen deer area day in and day out is not a good idea. You should allow time for things to settle.
Also, hunting an area too hard leaves a footprint (literally) plus lots of human scent if you’re not careful.
Allow 2 full days before hunting the same area again, and only hunt those areas where you are least likely to disturb deer (i.e. watching over a field that lies next to the forest edge rather than walking along the edge of it).
Note the Wind Direction and Your Scent
Let’s say you find a well used deer trail. Now take note of the direction those deer tend to be traveling based on their tracks.
Do you see a pattern? Do they mostly come from a northerly direction? If so, stay downwind of deer approaching from that direction.
Most game animals, deer in particular, have an incredible sense of smell.
You want to get the wind working in your favor or else you’ll never see one – they’ll smell you a mile away!
Of course there are many things you can do to minimize or mask your scent, such as sprays, carbon impregnated clothing, etc. However, the number one rule in hunting is to always be downwind of any game animal, regardless of camo clothing or other technology.
Rain Is Your Friend When Deer Hunting…
Firstly, light rain makes the ground you walk upon on the forest floor quiet and this helps silence your approach to a stand.
Just like snow, rain also pushes your human scent down to the ground, rather than swirl around at the slightest breeze.
If a big storm is approaching its best to focus your deer hunting around known feeding areas because deer really like to feed before a big storm. The same is true after a big storm.
