50 Fall Hunting Tips

Enlarge Image Image Gallery #131. The Ultimate Local Food. If you’re into organic, local health food, killing a deer yourself is the way to eat. Photo By Fotolia/Bruce MacQueen

1001 Hunting Tips (Skyhorse Publishing, 2010) by Lamar Underwood and Nate Matthews is an all-encompassing and easy-to-read guide based on what these two outdoorsmen have learned after years of experience. Learn the best tactics, times to hunt, gear to bring and what to do once game has been taken with these nuggets of hunting wisdom, secrets and techniques. The following 50 hunting tips have been excerpted from the book. 

Deer hunting tips

#37. Hunt All Three Phases of the Rut 

A good deer hunter knows that there is not just one rut, but three. The first, called the pre-rut, occurs in early October, when mature, four- and five-year-old does first come into estrus. The second, known as the peak or primary rut, runs from late October to the last week of November, and is when the majority of female deer come into heat. The third, called the post-rut or late rut, takes place twenty-eight days after the end of the primary rut, as does that were not bred during October and November come back into estrus. These pre- and post-rut phases do not last long. Look for a sudden explosion of fresh buck sign, then hunt hard for several days using techniques, such as rattling, that take advantage of the increased aggression triggered by competition for a limited number of willing does.

#49. Let Blood Color Tell You How Fast to Follow a Wounded Buck 

Blood trails don’t just tell you the direction a wounded deer is moving. They can also provide good information about where on its body you shot the animal, and how quickly you should follow its trail. Bright red blood is full of oxygen and often means you’ve hit your deer in the lungs. Deer hit this way don’t go far, so you can pursue them quickly. Dark red or purple blood may indicate a gut shot. If you find such blood, particularly in conjunction with bits of intestinal fat, and there’s no precipitation forecast that could wash away or obscure the trail, consider giving the animal time to bed down and stiffen up before looking for a follow-up shot. Gut-shot deer often run long distances if they’re chased immediately after being wounded.

#72. Set up Multiple Stands to Beat the Wind 

A good way to compensate for changing wind directions is to have multiple stands set up over a single site. If the wind shifts while you’re sitting in one of them, simply change stands so that you’re sitting downwind of where you think deer will appear.

#74. Moon Up, Whitetails Moving