NEWB needs advice from Whitetail pros!!

[NorthernPF]

I'm in need of some help here.

I'm 23 and I've been going moose hunting with my dad since I've been about 8. I've already shot two moose in my young career. I know where moose hang out, I know their tendencies, I know what signs to look for and I can call them in......None of this applies to Deer. I know NOTHING about this. I've never been Deer hunting until this year. Needless to say I didn't fill my tag.

This year my cousin, my father, my uncle and I decided that we would try Deer hunting. None of us have ever hunted whitetail so we didn't have a wealth of experience going into this. We hunted in the Petawawa Research forest for the first three days then we went a little further down the road just before Pembroke.

Now what I need to know from you guys is this.......

If I've never been to an area before, Where do I start to say "Okay this area might be good for deer"?

Where do Deer hang out?
Do they go to or come down from the ridges during the day?
How often do you call?
What Kind of call do I use to bag a buck, grunt or bleat?
Treestand, ground blind or ATV?
Scents to use, scent cover ups?
Do deer like thick pine or open hardwood flatts?

Anything you can help me with would be great!! I'm used to hunting moose and having a pretty good idea of what I'm doing. I'm so overwhelmed with what I don't know it's not even funny!

Thanks for taking the time to read my venting!!

 

[Icon]

The best thing to know about Whitetails is they are very adaptable to the environment they live in. Basically, you can see them in any kind of bush or landscape. Another thing is that they are very smart. You can think "oh a deer will never be in there." and that is exactly where they are because you don't look there.

I think you should share the type of environment you hunt in. That would help produce some better answers of what to look for.

As for the calls and scents, it really depends on the time of year, pre rut, rut, post rut...

 

[bukee]

NorthernPF the adaptablility of deer to live and flurrish in different habitat is the key to their great success in North America. I am sure you will get tons of different views and responses here as there are many knowledgeable hunters on this site.

My advise would be to start off by googling whitetail hunting, get to a few of the prime whitetail hunting sites and start reading as many articles as you can. This should start to give you a good base of knowledge which you can then build on to suit the area you hunt and the different times of the year you hunt.

Good luck and as you can probably can imagine, be prepared to become an addicted whitetailer.

 

[fratri]

If you have agriculture (corn/soybean etc) the adjoining bush with have deer.... Deer hang out where they feel safe, most bush holds deer, looking for sign on the edge of the fields would be a great place to start. You should have snow up there soon eneogh and you can see their travel routes much better.....Deer are lazy just like humans, they can jump a fence no problem but if there is a hole in the fence or an open gate they will use that all the time...Most deer move from the bush (bedding area) into the feeding area just before dark and leave the feeding area just after sunrise...the key is finding what route they are taken to and from the feeding areas and set up before they get there keeping the wind in mind at all times...
hope this helps....good luck...

 

[MagnumPeanut]

Deer and Moose hunting are very different. Moose are easier, really you just need to find them almost. With deer its quite different.

The basic idea is to intercept them. You need to know where they are going and when. Deer are nocturnal for the most part, except in the rut, then its kinda random. Look for trails to food sources. They follow paths and fence lines and things like that. Look for run lines in the trees where bucks are rubbing there antlers. Early in the morning the deer are going back to there beds so you need to get them in the way in. In the evening they are going from the beds to the food sources. In the rut and cold weather they move around a lot more so its a bit more random.

Treestands are good. Always be more concerned about location than anything. Sometimes it hard to find a good tree in a good spot. Blinds are better but then your on ground level and you have to be a bit more cautious. Sometimes its just as good to have a decent camouflage and just sit in the bush or in the field really, really still.

Cover up scents are good but you need to get you human scents down to trace amounts first. Deer olfactory systems are hardwired to the parts of their brain that trigger involuntary movements. Its important to either play the winds and thermals and to wash all your hunting cloths in hunting soap only and shower with hunting soap too. Sometimes I skip the shower as long as my last shower was with hunter soap. 3 scents that are dead giveaways of humans are gas, cig smoke and SOAP. I like to use the spray scent killer with autumn cover scent. Thinks like skunk are too powerful and deer can smell tons of things at the same time and tell what everyone of the are.


Um..all I can think of right now.