Whitetail Deer Hunting Tips And Tricks

White tailed deer are so called because of the white underside of their broad tails that they stick up in the air while running. The thrill of whitetail deer hunting is addictive. The spirit of adventure during a deer-hunting trip is like heady wine. During the deer hunting season, many hunters spend long days in cold wet conditions inside the woods on a hunting trip and returned empty handed! Still, the urge to return is strong and at the first opportunity, he is back with his hunting equipment. It is all about outwitting the buck on his home ground. Stalking the animal in deep woods, making a kill, getting fresh meat for the freezer and a trophy to hang on the wall; all are irresistible to the avid hunter. 

You can go whitetail deer hunting after obtaining a license granted under a Provincial or State’s Big Game Management Plan. The license lays down when, where and what to hunt. The license for the hunt is subject to Deer Hunting Season dates that  schedule the time/ period during which the license holder is permitted to hunt. The area where the hunt is allowed is specified by the WMUs (Deer Wildlife Management Units) mentioned on the license. WMUs are defined hunting areas created by segregating the Province/State into small geographical units that are depicted on a map and suitably marked for identification. This map can also be viewed by accessing the gaming website. Therefore, when you obtain a whitetail deer hunting license, you can hunt whitetail deer within a particular area of a state during a certain time of the year only using arms specified in your license.

Every State and province designs its own yearly calendar specifying hunting season dates applicable to gaming which includes white tail deer hunting. Where I hunt in BC, bow season opens for deer on Sept 1st and is open in certain areas until Dec 15th.

Here I am pictured with my 1st whitetail buck.

Youth Deer Weekend is a special event for young hunters aged fifteen years or less, allowing them to hone their deer hunting skills under a licensed hunter above eighteen years of age. Looking at the hunting season dates above it would be possible to hunt for white tailed deer in NH right from September 15 to December 15. However, you can use your deer hunting rifle only   from November 14 to December 9.

Deer hunting is a necessary part of a State’s Big Game Management Plan and provides a more humane way to control deer population. Without harvesting, the deer population swells to proportions where the animals starve to death during the winter season. Hunting serves to push deer into areas that provide an overall healthy environment for them. Areas having an overpopulation of deer also suffer serious safety risks by deer collisions with fast moving cars and other vehicles causing damage to life and property.

My 1st  archery deer was this whitetail doe

Here are a few whitetail deer hunting tips for you. The first is to make sure you did your pre season scouting to find out where the deer are moving, sit atop some elevated point such as a hilltop, with good binoculars at dawn and dusk. This way you can observe the movements of the animals without letting them have an inkling of your presence in the area. If you stomp around on foot all over the area, you are sure to scare them away. Just make sure to avoid skylining yourself so the whitetail buck does not see your silhouette. Whenever you put a stalk on a whitetail deer, make sure you are moving upwind to prevent being winded.

During your hunting trips always avoid places frequented by too many hunters. These places are usually near to where a car can go. Try to get deeper into the woods where many hunters do not go, but deer certainly do. If you are on an extended trip which involves camping overnight, being secluded might be tedious. Don’t fret, having some time alone is always a perfect time for reflection.

Find a good deer call, it is an essential part of your deer hunting equipment. The call should sound close to the natural sound produced by deer calling. The bleat from your deer call will make moving deer momentarily stop in their tracks giving you enough time for a good shot. During the rut, you can entice a whitetail buck in by making buck grunts from a grunt tube.

If hunting from a tree stand, hang your tree stand in a tree located in suitable ‘hot spot’ frequented by deer. The best way to find the spot and the tree is by doing some pre-season scouting. The tree should offer you a correct position in relation to the shooting lanes that you intend to target and allow you to leave and reach it without crossing trails, which can ruin your chances of success. In addition, it should be on the downwind side of the area of deer’s movements.

The preferred time for whitetail deer hunting is during the rutting season. It is a good time because it makes the bucks lose caution when they scent a doe in heat. As this encourages the buck to move, big weary bucks are more likely to be sighted and bagged. To make the whitetail bucks expose themselves and offer a shot, rattling antlers or racks to imitate fighting bucks is an excellent ploy to draw them out while hunting during the rut. At this time, the bucks are more aggressive, less cautious and more curious. To avoid scaring the approaching buck with your scent that is unnatural to it you must take care to mask your scent by using any of the numerous scents like doe urine, estrus, and buck in rut scents available in the market. 

Be sure to try some deer hamburgers with your next deer.