Where the deer are

A lot of unsuccessful hunters we talk to have the philosophy of setting up out in the woods and hoping a deer goes by. Or just as bad, they set up by a rub and expect that monster buck to stroll up to their stand during legal hunting time. That may be fine for gun hunters with center fire rifles that can reach out and touch a deer at 300 yards but for the bowhunter who must be within 20 or 30 yards at just the right moment and be able to draw, those techniques just won't work.

Mongo and Tard prefer to increase our odds. That means having an educated guess about where the deer are going to be. The first question those guys who go hunting but aren't hunters yet can't answer is where are the deer bedded? The time to find out is spring and summer when you won't change travel patterns you're counting on to fill your freezer. Get back in the roughest, ugliest, thickest cover. I'm talkin' about swamps, sticker bushes, overgrown CRP (Crop Reserve Program), or any where else it looks impossible to get to and find those beds. You won't have trouble spotting them when you get there. The beds will be mashed down areas that look darn cozy.

Now that you know your herd's bedding areas - remember that your hunting grounds will almost surely have multiple bedding areas - mark them down on your satellite picture or topo map. Continue marking up your map with old rubs, current or disused trails and likely food sources. All these will be clues to what is going on with your herd. If the season is already started you might consider taking it easy on the bedding area hunt and just figure the thickest cover probably does have deer.

Once you have all the sign marked down, take a hard look at that map. Can you tell which direction the deer move in the evening? Do they do a loop and return to the same bedding area or go to a different area for the morning activity time? If you have that figured out then you are very close to understanding where to set up. See the article on stand placement for the final pieces of the puzzle. An important thing to take note of when you see tracks is the direction of travel. Does the trail contain back and forth tracks or one way? Mark it down!

One note about the difference between male and female deer movement. Females tend to move in groups with a lead female showing the way. They are more predictable than bucks who, depending on the stage of the rut, vary their travel patterns more than the does and use trails less overall.