whitetails

The Whitetail Hunter's Ultimate IQ Test

fieldandstream-editor — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 05:00:00 -0400

How to Judge a Buck: Can you guess the score of these 10 B&C trophies?

fieldandstream-editor — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 20:00:00 -0400

Still Shots: 17 Tips for Late-Season Stalking

fieldandstream-editor — Fri, 16 Dec 2005 04:05:00 -0500

Everyone who's read a hunting magazine knows the two rules of still-hunting: First, go as slow as possible, and then go slower; and second, always hunt with the wind in your face. A good still-hunter has mastered these concepts but also knows how and when to break them.

It's true that your best hope of defeating a buck's defenses is to go slow. You must walk super quietly, in a way that minimizes the chances a deer will see you. The standard practice of taking a step or two and then stopping to look for 30 seconds works. It makes it harder for deer to detect you, and you also have a better chance of spotting movement-the drop of a head, the flick of an ear, the lift of a hoof-if you are motionless. When you do it properly, you may cover 100 yards in an hour. It's effective, but in reality, you can't spend all day at this pace. Go faster in areas with little deer sign, such as wide open hardwoods. If you start seeing sign-or worse, a whitetail's bounding flag-put on the brakes.

Every still-hunter loves a headwind, but the hunting route that makes the most sense may not provide that. A breeze perpendicular to your direction also works well, especially around bedding areas, as deer often lie down facing the wind. At some point, you may not be able to avoid having the breeze at your back in order to get to a location you want to hunt. The trick is to allow that to happen only when you're in barren areas, and to move along quickly.

17 Still-Hunting Tips

1| A light rain or snow is perfect for still-hunting. The precipitation helps hide your sound, scent, and motion, and deer activity often seems to increase in this kind of weather. Windy days are good too; the swaying branches and howling gusts also disguise your presence, but deer won't be moving as much. Look for them in hollows and on the lee sides of hills.

2| follow deer tracks you come across in the snow during a still-hunt-even if they are old. The idea is not to target that particular buck but simply to let the trail take you to areas where deer travel and feed. I've discovered some of my most productive hunting spots by letting deer lead me to them.

3| Look for water. Creekbottoms are great places to still-hunt. Deer often follow the watercourses, and the trails you find parallel to the creek make ideal routes. The water can hide your sound, and cover and food attract deer.

4| Let yourself get lost. Successful still-hunting takes all your attention-analyzing everything you see, stalking with extreme care. You can't do it if you're constantly worried about where you are. Set your GPS and then lose yourself in the hunt.

5| Still-hunting is one of the best ways to learn a piece of land, because you're covering ground and doing it at a pace and with a level of concentration that forces you to spot tracks, droppings, rubs, and bedding areas. So keep a map with you, and make notes as you go. I carry a digital camera and snap photos of interesting sign and promising spots. It only takes a few seconds, and when I get home the images remind me of what I saw. I've found great bowhunting stands and other still-hunting routes this way.

6| Grouse hunters often hit several productive covers in one morning. You can do the same thing if you have a few places to hunt close to one another. Sneak through the brushy bottom next to a field on one farm. Get in the truck and hit a winding creekbottom nearby. This allows you to focus on the best spots in multiple sites.

7| Maintaining a razor-sharp focus may be the most critical skill in still-hunting. Get distracted and sloppy for a few steps, and you can undo two hours of careful work. If you feel your mind wandering and find yyourself going too quickly, take a stand. Eat a sandwich. In 20 minutes, you'll be ready to start again.

8| Don't avoid dense vegetation. "That's too thick to still-hunt" is something you hear often in deer camp. But if it holds deer, why not give it a shot? You probably just need a different approach. Focus on small cover, just a couple of acres, and really work it over. Spend a lot of time looking, squatting to see under the brush, even crawling. Go very, very slowly.

9| Before you step into the woods, take the sling off your rifle and stick it in your pack. You'll want it when you drag the buck off the mountain, but if you use it before then, you won't be bringing anything home. Shots are quick in still-hunting, and keeping the rifle slung over your shoulder is the best way to miss.

10| Stop next to cover. It's one of still-hunting's golden rules. Having a tree next to you when you're not moving helps hide you from deer, and it also gives you a rest in case you need to shoot offhand.

11| Good binoculars are a still-hunter's best friend. Use them often to pick apart the terrain in front of you. If something seems even slightly off, glass it. Wear them on a harness that holds them snug against your chest so they won't swing when you duck under brush. Bring them to your eyes slowly.

12| Get a gillie suit. I used to laugh at hunters who wore them. Then I tried one on the recommendation of a friend who successfully still-hunts with a bow. This leafy camouflage outfit hides the two visual clues that I think are the main things that spook deer: the flat, wide-eyed predator's face, and the upright, two-legged silhouette of a man. The very first time I wore one, I crept within bow range of a feeding doe.

13| To walk quietly, wear boots that fit tightly, with solid support and a thin sole. You need to be able to feel sticks and other debris under your foot before you bring your entire weight down. Put your heel down first, slowly rolling onto the ball of your foot. Gradually increase the pressure, and find another place to step if you feel something underneath.

14| No matter how hard you try not to, you will snap a branch underfoot. When it happens, just wait a full minute before proceeding. Deer will forget about the noise if you give them enough time. If conditions force me to make a ruckus going through a particular spot, I'll blow a series of grunts on my call, hoping to fool deer into thinking the noise was caused by one of them.

15| You'll try to find a rest before you shoot at a deer, of course, but when you're still-hunting, most shots are offhand. There is no shortcut to getting good at this. You must practice before the season. Make it a rule that for every round you fire from a bench or rest, you fire two offhand. Shots will most likely be close, so don't set your variable scope any higher than 4X.

16| There's no need to dress as warmly as you would for a day of late-season stand hunting. You'll perspire in bulky clothes, which also make it harder for you to move quietly. I wear a synthetic base layer under a medium-weight wool jacket and pants. Nothing is quieter than wool.

17| wear a fanny pack to bring lunch, water, a survival kit, and extra clothes. A backpack is too noisy for still-hunting; it always ends up raking across branches or brush. I prefer a fanny pack's lower profile. A model with shoulder straps supports the load better and is more comfortable to wear all day.

How To: Hunt Late-Season Farmland from a Tree Stand

fieldandstream-editor — Wed, 07 Dec 2005 04:30:00 -0500

Stand Setup: Farmland Cropfield
Winter bucks in agricultural country concentrate near any fields that have standing crops or sufficient waste grain. But your ability to kill them depends almost entirely on the weather. When temperatures plummet and snow depths mount, bucks begin feeding early. Under moderate conditions, however, even does and fawns may not eat until nightfall.

Click here for four illustrated tips

Wait for frigid conditions and a north or west or northwest wind, then slip along the creekbottom toward the stand. The timbered river bend serves as a perfect staging area for intercepting a buck.

110 Greatest Tips

fieldandstream-editor — Mon, 24 Oct 2005 12:30:00 -0400

SELF-RELIANCE; TIPS 69-79

098
MAKE YOUR OWN COVER SCENT
Boil a few handfuls of leaves, bark, and coniferous needles gathered from your hunting area in a gallon of water. Let the mixture boil until the water volume is reduced by half. Wet your hunting clothes with the resulting concentrated tea, then let them dry before going hunting. J.B.R., March 2000

099
SHARPEN YOUR KNIFE
For the keenest and longest lasting edge, you need an extremely smooth stone such as an Arkansas oilstone. This is a natural rock of fine, uniform texture which for many years has had a reputation for putting the best edge on a blade. Put a few drops of light oil on it and sharpen with uniform strokes, the edge of the blade facing forward, maintaining the same angle. Don't press hard. Your purpose isn't to remove a lot of metal, but to smooth the edge. Half a dozen strokes each way may be enough. T.T., February 1970

100
MAKE AN EMERGENCY BACKPACK
All you need is a T-shirt and a rifle sling. Remove the sling from the rifle, tie the arms of the shirt to the ends of the sling, and tie off the bottom. The shirt neck can be either tied closed or left open. T.T., september 1974

101
FORECAST THE WEATHER
Smoke rising from a chimney on a calm day provides one of the most reliable of all weather signs. When the smoke rises upward you can bet on fair weather; when it drifts close to the ground that's a sure sign that rain or snow is on the way. H.G.T., July 1973

102
STUFF A STOCKING
Next time you head to hunting camp, drop a bar of soap into the toe of an old full-length nylon stocking. In camp, hang the top of the stocking close to the washbasin. The soap can't get lost or fall to the ground and get dirty, and it suds right through the nylon mesh. H.G.T., September 1964

103
FIX YOUR AXE
If you store your axe at deer camp hanging above the ground, the shaft may dry and shrink, loosening the axe head. To make sure the head is tight, stand the axe in a pail of water to swell for a couple of hours before using it. J.B.R., May 2000

104
STAKE THE DOG DISH
If your dog keeps tipping over his water, use a large angel-food cake pan, which has a hole in the center. Just place the pan over a wooden stake driven securely into the ground. The stake anchors the pan firmly so that even the most excitable dog can't knock it over. H.G.T., June 1974

105
BUILD A BETTER MOUSETRAP
Make a hunting camp trap out of a 10-quart kettle. Hang a bit of bread or cheese from the bail of the kettle, which will lure a mouse out on a sliver of wood extending from one rim and fastened to a wire crosspiece with an ordinary staple. It's balanced with a large nail so that the outer end rests on the rim of the kettle. When the mouse passes center, it'll plunge into 6 inches of water below. The weight of the nail quickly swings the board back down into position for another victim. It should be placed beside a low box, or have a board extending from the ground to the outer end of the pivoting sliver, so as to give the mice every possible opportunity to drown themselves. T.T., May 1942

106
KEEP WARM ON STAND
Metal tree stands sap body heat. Carry two squares of indoor-outdoor carpet, one for under your backside, the second to insulate the soles of your boots from the footrest. K.M., November 2003

107
SCRUB POTS WITH PINE
When you're stuck with the chore of cleaning up after a meal cooked over an outdoor fire, look for help under a pine tree. A dry pinecone makes a surprisingly effective scraper for scouring off food that sticks to the inside of cooking ware. H.G.T., September 1976

108
DON'T FORGET THE GARBAGE
Tuck a couple of plastic trash bags in your pocket when you hunt. Sit on one to keep your tail dry while watching a traail or fashion a poncho to shed rain-and if you must cross a stream, pull them on like hip boots and wade across without getting your feet wet. H.G.T., November 1973

109
MAKE THE PERFECT DOG HOUSE
You can make a comfortable and inexpensive house for your dog out of a 55-gallon plastic barrel laid on its side. Using a saber saw, cut out a rectangular doorway, and then use pop rivets to hang a heavy-duty piece of canvas over the opening. To keep the bugs out, elevate the barrel by placing it on a wooden scaffold. B.T., June 1989

110
IMPROVE YOUR CAMP
You can keep the floor of your tent much cleaner if you make a natural doormat. Gather some fresh boughs of pine, spruce, or hemlock and place them in front of the entrance. By wiping your feet on them before you enter, you will leave mud and woods duff outside. H.G.T., April 1972

110 Greatest Tips

fieldandstream-editor — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 05:05:00 -0400

BIRDS; TIPS 69-79

069
BREAK OUT OF A SLUMP.
The best way to start hitting again is to swing through the birds from tail to head. If you shoot as the gun passes the bird's head, the gun actually fires well in front of it due to the fast swing plus ignition delays from human reaction time and the gun's lock time. B.B., December 1998

070
PUSH PHEASANTS.
The trick to driving cornfields is to position the shooters at one end of the rows without making a sound. They should be all set before the birds in the field know there is a man within miles. Then, and only then, should the beaters start through. And as they go, they should talk-talk to one another, talk to the dogs, talk to themselves. It doesn't matter what they say, just as long as they talk. The human voice is anathema to a pheasant. T.T., October 1961

071
MAKE A WIGEON WHISTLE.
Take two bottlecaps and drill a 3/16-inch hole through their centers so they line up perfectly when the caps are placed lip-to-lip. With the holes perfectly aligned, epoxy the two caps together and you have made a wigeon whistle. It'll work like magic. N.S., November 1989

072
GIVE BIRDS THE FINGER.
Sporting clay pros often point the index finger of the forward hand at targets to get a more precise readout of their speed and angle. Hunters can do that on real birds and gain new trust in the body's incredible, instinctive ability to obtain instant alignment with a moving object. B.B., December 1998

073
SAVE A FEATHER (OR 20).
Can't remember how many gamebirds of each species that you shoot each year? Save a tail feather from each bird as a tally. At season's end, arrange a "bouquet" of them in a small vase half filled with sand, for a souvenir of the hunting season. T.T., November 1972

074
SCRATCH LIKE A TURKEY.
A wild turkey scratches once with its left foot, then twice with its right when searching for food beneath leaves and forest litter. These contented feeding sounds are reassuring to approaching turkeys, particularly in autumn when turkeys are motivated by feeding routines rather than breeding. To imitate the sound, brush dry leaves with your hand or a twig in a 1-pause-2-3 rhythm. Combine the sound with contented purrs and clucks from your turkey call. You'll fool even the most suspicious gobbler. J.B.R., September 2001

075
DON'T SHOOT.
Bird dogs become more reliable on point if gunners avoid shooting at birds that flush wild. Saving your shots for birds that the dog has pointed teaches the dog that shooting is a reward for a job well done. J.B.R., April 1995

076
SHOOT INTO THE WIND.
If a duck or goose is traveling into a strong wind (even with wings cupped and seeming to be almost motionless), swing through and give him more forward allowance than seems necessary. This will help compensate for the wind drift of the shot pattern. If the bird is going downwind, lead him as you normally would. He will seem to be going faster, and you'll instinctively give him more lead. Shot drift will be in the same direction as the bird. B.B., June 1974

077
SHARE A DRINK WITH YOUR DOG.
If you're right-handed, pull the dog's lower left lip from his gums at the side of his mouth, make a trough of the lip, and pour water into the trough. Gauge the flow. Pour no more than he can lap. Never try to pour water down his throat, or straight into his mouth. He'll just gag. Bill Tarrant, September 1980

078
GO WHEN IT'S COLD.
For waterfowlers, bitter is better. Cold weather forces ducks to feed more often and for longer periods of time to maintain energy. Bad weather also seals off many freshwater and saltwater feeding grounds with a mantle of ice. The birds are limited to a few special spots that remain open by virtue of warm springs, tides, or river currents, and theconcentrate there, often in unbelievable numbers. N.S., October 1978

079
AMBUSH A GOBBLER.
Wild turkeys usually prefer to walk to destinations rather than fly. Consequently, they are most likely to cross streams on fallen logs or other natural bridges when they can. Make note of these natural bridges, and set up near them whenever you are hunting turkeys in those vicinities. J.B.R., August 2000 [NEXT "BIRDS, CONTINUED; TIPS 80-86"]

BIRDS, CONTINUED; TIPS 80-86

080
USE A SEAGUL.
Your decoys may pull in more sea ducks if you add a gull decoy to them. Gulls often light among live du.cks but never really among decoys, and ducks seem to know this. If you can't find a seagull decoy, one or two Canada goose decoys sometimes help to convince wary ducks. H.G.T., November 1983

081
GIVE DECOYS LIFE.
To rig a dipping decoy, cast a cement anchor in a tin can with an eyebolt in the middle. Screw a smaller eyebolt under the tip of the bill of a decoy. Tie fishing line to the decoy's bill, then run the line through the anchor and to your blind. When you tug on the line, the decoy will dip exactly like a feeding puddle duck, creating ripples and reflections that can be seen from miles away. N.S., July 1986

082
FINISH THE RETRIEVE.
Never pull a bird from the dog's mouth, always push it. That's right. Take the bird in hand, then gently press it forward. This will naturally open the dog's jaws and release his hold on the bird. If he still holds, push with more pressure while at the same time turning the bird in the pup's mouth. This will release the carcass from his teeth, plus gag him. He'll literally cough up the bird. B.T., September 1980

083
HUNT ALL THE WAY.
Always hunt a piece of pheasant cover-swamp, swale, or weedfield-to its very end, even though it seems barren of birds. Ringnecks would rather run than fly, and often stay in cover till the last possible moment, then flush at the extreme edge. H.G.T., October 1973

084
STEP UP IN SIZE.
Use small shot during the early part of the bird season, then switch to larger shot as the cover thins and birds start flushing farther from the gun. In the case of pheasants, for example, start with 71/2s, then change to 6s. H.G.T., October 1973

085
KEEP YOUR PUP COMPANY.
The new puppy's first night in a strange home is a fearsome experience, and he usually lets the world know it by wailing inconsolably from dusk till dawn. Both you and the pup can get a night's sleep if you put a wind-up alarm clock beside his bed or in his kennel. The sound of its loud ticking will reassure him and supply the companionship he longs for. H.G.T., February 1952

086
PUT ON A SHOW.
When dove hunting, always carry one extra box of shells hidden on your person. It doesn't matter if you have to tape them to your body like a drug smuggler or bury them in the field a day or so in advance-you must have more shells available than your audience thinks you have. G.H., August 1984 [NEXT "BIG GAME; TIPS 87-97"]

BIG GAME; TIPS 87-97

087
SNEAK UP ON PRONGHORNS.
If you're stalking on open terrain, "Frenchwalk." This is an interesting exercise in calisthenics that finds you sinking lower and lower to the ground with each step. It creates the illusion of a profile that's proceeding toward the horizon, and darned if it doesn't calm the suspicions of antelope and other wildlife. N.S., July 1983

088
WATCH THE WIND.
Always tie or tape a piece of light thread near the end of your barrel. The "telltale," as sailors call it, shows how the wind blows, helping you still-hunt or make distant shots. H.G.T., December 1964

089
ESTIMATE RANGE.
The best way to learn how to judge distance is to guess the range to objects like telephone poles and then pace it off. You can practice it any time you take a walk. Whenever you kill an animal, step off the distance afterward. T.T., October 1969

090
HUNT THE EDGES.
Mule deer prefer the edges-the edges of big timber, the edge where brush joins grass or meadow, and all the other places where two kinds of vegetation meet. Food is more abundant here and occurs in a greater variety. Unbroken timber and big brush usually provide no food, yet are good escape cover, and food is plentiful in the lower growth adjoining them. T.T., October 1967

091
TRACK AN ELK.
Don't try to watch the tracks right at your feet. They're easier to see at some distance-possibly 4 or 5 yards. Alternate your glances at the footprints with careful looks ahead. After all, the purpose of following a trail is usually to get a shot at the animal that made it. If you lose the trail, remember that any game will normally pick the easiest, most logical route unless wounded or frightened. Go ahead a few yards in the direction you'd take yourself, and you'll probably pick up the trail again. T.T., October 1958

092
GET OUT OF THE WIND.
On a windy day you'll always find wildlife on the lee side of natural windbreaks, or holed up in quiet crannies in the timber. N.S., March 1991

093
SCOPE THE ANIMAL.
The easiest way to locate game in a scope, particularly in heavy timber or brush, is to keep both eyes open and bring the gun up into position so that the shooting eye is seeing the game through the scope and the other eye is keeping it in view for insurance. With practice, it will become second nature. B.B., December 1972

094
FIND ELK.
You would be far better off to spend all day inspecting 1 square mile of tumbledown terrain where the going is difficult than to cover 10 square miles of easily hiked, easily glassed openings. Along this line of thought, natural barriers to easy access make for a top spot to prospect. N.S., October 1979

095
USE YOUR HAT.
One of the handiest shooting rests for hunting out West is the cowboy hat. The crease in it holds the gun nicely, and the hat has enough "give" to prevent the gun from throwing its bullets upward away from the rest. B.B., December 1972

096
LOOK SOUTH.
Southern exposures that absorb maximum fall and winter sunlight continue to produce food long after shaded plants have become dormant. Once elk are stressed by a few snowstorms, you can always find them on a south-facing slope. N.S., March 1991

097
ACT LIKE A SPIKE.
One of the most common mistakes hunters make is trying to sound like a big bull. Throwing in half a dozen ringing grunts and a lot of chuckling at the end of the bugle might impress your hunting partner, but a herd bull's usual response is to round up his harem and nose tace it off. You can practice it any time you take a walk. Whenever you kill an animal, step off the distance afterward. T.T., October 1969

092
GET OUT OF THE WIND.
On a windy day you'll always find wildlife on the lee side of natural windbreaks, or holed up in quiet crannies in the timber. N.S., March 1991

The Autumn Vigil

fieldandstream-editor — Thu, 20 Oct 2005 05:20:00 -0400

When bucks are on their feet seeking or chasing does, there's no telling when they're going to pass by your stand. It could happen anytime during legal shooting hours. The only thing you can control is whether or not you'll be sitting in that stand when it happens.

The bottom line during the rut is that the longer you can stay put and remain alert, the better your chances of connecting. And while an all-day vigil is more than most hunters can bear, I can personally attest that the five tips below can help you stay on stand long enough to fill your tag.

[BRACKET "1"] SET A GOAL. Don't let boredom dictate the end of your hunt. Set a quitting-time goal and stick to it. I set a high-noon goal for myself on a morning bowhunt last fall. By 11, I was getting fidgety, but I stuck it out. At 11:30, a heavy-beamed 10-pointer trotted in to my rattling antlers and made the long wait more than worth it.

[BRACKET "2"] CALL. Grunting and rattling can pull in a cruising buck-and they give you something to do. Space your calling sessions at about every half hour or so, and they'll help break up the wait.

[BRACKET "3"] PACK ENTERTAINMENT. My hunting buddy Kent totes a novel and a radio with an earbud into the woods. The radio is for Cornhusker football games; the book is for halftime. And he kills a nice buck every fall.

Sure, these distract you from your surroundings, but if they keep you on stand longer during the rut, use them.

[BRACKET "4"] GET DOWN. When you feel you can't take it for another second, instead of ending the hunt altogether, climb down from your stand and still-hunt for a while or take a nap at the base of the tree. A short break is often all you need to sit for another hour or two, and that can make all the difference.

[BRACKET "5"] EAT WELL. Pack some indulgent treats and a lunch you'll savor if you're planning to stay through the noon hour. Use snacks as a reward for staying longer. Yes, you may gain a few pounds on stand. But you may well burn them off dragging out your buck.

The Rut Rub

fieldandstream-editor — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 11:25:00 -0400

It was the heart of the breeding season one fall when I shot a nice buck in the act of rubbing a tree. I didn't pay much attention to this at first. But when it happened a second time, I realized that I was onto something.

Since that time, I've discovered that searching for "rut rubs" and hitting them with a lightning-quick hunt on the same day or the next can be the key to some terrific action at a time when other hunters completely ignore this sign.

Pre-rut vs. Rut Rubs During the early season, a buck regularly revisits most of his rubs on routes between bedding and feeding areas within his home range. Once the rut gets going, however, bucks largely abandon those locations and pre-rut rubs.

Consequently, hunters will key on rubs and rub lines prior to the rut and stop hunting them altogether once peak breeding begins. Bucks do, however, continue making and revisiting rubs throughout the rut-but less predictably, and in distinctly different places.

Having left their core territory to search for does, bucks now make comparatively few rubs in the areas where they expect to find mates: namely, doe feeding and bedding areas (see "In Bed With Does," page WH14) and especially the travel corridors that connect them. Smart whitetail hunters know to concentrate on these spots during the rut, but very few even bother to look for rubs. You should. Here's why.

Instant Ambush When a buck finds an estrous doe, it may display its dominance to other bucks vying for the same female by raking nearby trees and bushes to a pulp, leaving a cluster of rubs. Because rutting bucks tend to roam widely and can be hard to pin down, these rut rubs contain a critical piece of information for a hunter setting up an ambush: They tell you the buck is here, now.

Of course, the sign has to be fresh. So pull on a pair of rubber gloves and scrape some bark off a rubbed tree with the back of a knife blade. If your mark is the same color as the buck's, set up a stand or ground blind immediately. The key is to hunt the area while the buck is still occupied with a nearby estrous doe or others in her group.

You'll know very quickly if you're in a hot rut-rub location. As you wait in your stand or blind, does may dance in and out of nearby thickets, while bucks bird-dog ready females and chase off other males with bluff charges and brief but intense sparring matches. If you hit it right, you'll have one of the most exciting hunts of your life.

Keep in mind, however, that this is a run-and-gun tactic. If there's little action after two hunts, move to a different area and look for another cluster of fresh rut rubs. Then wait for a trophy to hook his horns onto the sapling in front of you. >

Insta-Scouting

fieldandstream-editor — Fri, 14 Oct 2005 11:35:00 -0400

Sure, You had every intention of scouting before the hunting season but somehow didn't. Or you're hunting an unfamiliar area just for a weekend. You have only a day or less to look over your hunting grounds and find productive stand sites. This is when you need to speed scout. Here's how to do it right:

(1) Go scent-free, just as you would when hunting. Don't touch anything with bare hands, especially around potential stand locations. Your scent will linger and may spook deer.

(2) Walk casually, as though you are just passing through. Deer can tell the difference between a human on a stroll and the stalking, measured pace of a hunter.

(3) Bring a map, notepad, compass, and handheld GPS, if you have one. Mark anything of interest on the map, or as a GPS waypoint.

(4) Jot down details about each spot you mark. You'll never remember all the sign that you come across, and which places have the greatest potential.

(5) Use a compass to determine the prevailing wind directions. You'll want to set up your tree stand accordingly.

(6) Study your notes at home and connect the dots on your map. This should reveal buck routes that, in turn, can tell you exactly where to score in the morning.