Best resourse for deer hunting tactics

[Nate]

Hey guys,
I am an amateur deer hunter and I would love to study up on whitetail behavior, hunting tactics, the science of the rut, etc.

Like many of my hobbies, I love to hunt and despite taking 40 or so deer in the last 12 years I'm no expert.

I have read several short articles on hunting but many just repeat the same points without much detail. I'm looking for a comprehensive book or online resourse on the topic of whitetail hunting.

Yall have any advice?
Thx
Nate

 

[GeauxLSU]

If you've killed 40 in the last 12 years you're doing something right and I'm sorry but I believe you are going to have to forego the 'amateur' title.

Are you a member? https://www.qdma.com/ The forums are free and there's a lot of very knowledgeable guys there. Yes it's driven by 'management' but they aren't 'managing' them to take pictures. Several very knowledgeable hunters around.

 

[Nate]

sounds good, I'll look into it.

Yea, I put a lot of time into hunting to get those 40. I suppose I consider myself an amatuer hunter because I really just sit there and wait and don't really understand why deer do what they do.
Here are common questions I ask myself
How is deer movement affected by the phases of the moon?
Am I rattling too loud or too often?
Is it too early/late in the pre rut to rattle.
Should I be hunting with scents? If so which ones for what season?

 

[GeauxLSU]

sounds good, I'll look into it.

Yea, I put a lot of time into hunting to get those 40. I suppose I consider myself an amatuer hunter because I really just sit there and wait and don't really understand why deer do what they do.
Here are common questions I ask myself
How is deer movement affected by the phases of the moon?
Am I rattling too loud or too often?
Is it too early/late in the pre rut to rattle.
Should I be hunting with scents? If so which ones for what season?

Well you've probably already learned if you ask 10 deer hunters 10 questions you'll get 10 different answers.
There are strong theories about moon phases from biological (ala fish) to practical ("They can see better on a full moon) but I've personally never found any meaningful or consistent correlation that has me making a decision either way to hunt (or not).
I've never had any luck rattling. The school of thought is it's only (or at least most) productive where the sex ratio is as close to 1:1 as possible in order to have a 'hard' (i.e. competitive) rut. Doubt there's many places like that in Georgia. I've rattled when they're chasing like crazy and multiple deer in sight, never gotten any response. The biggest buck I ever saw from a stand eventually heard me rattling (looked my way from FAR across a pasture) and he slinked back away as if he knew something was up.
Deer are curious and wary. I try and go for 'invisible' in all things vs 'hoping' they'll like whatever sound/scent I'm putting out.

 

[batoncolle]

sounds good, I'll look into it.

Yea, I put a lot of time into hunting to get those 40. I suppose I consider myself an amatuer hunter because I really just sit there and wait and don't really understand why deer do what they do.
Here are common questions I ask myself
How is deer movement affected by the phases of the moon?
Am I rattling too loud or too often?
Is it too early/late in the pre rut to rattle.
Should I be hunting with scents? If so which ones for what season?

Even "scientific studies" can't agree on the moon - probably because deer will generally do their own thing. I have deer come out by back fence with my dog barking feet away and they ignore her. She took off after a doe today, and that thing shot out of here quick. They will all act differently.

The best thing to do is experiment. I usually get my first deer or two doing absolutely nothing - no scent, no sound, no nothing. And then I try experimenting with the different scents and noise makers to see how they react. About the only thing I have ever seen work fairly consistently is the fawn in distress call because deer tend to be very curious.

As far as resources - asking on the forum is good, QDMA as Geaux mentioned is good, and if you are an NRA member, sign up for the free American Hunter mag. It's decent.

Oh and use trail cams if you can. They tell me more than all the other things combined.

 

[Nate]

Never tried the dawn in distress! Very interesting

 

[batoncolle]

Never tried the dawn in distress! Very interesting

I've walked doe in calling all the way with it. And bucks will sometimes come poking around to investigate. It's not a fool-proof method, but if they are in hearing distance, there is a good chance they will respond to it, if nothing else.

I actually discovered it hunting yotes years ago so I'm always letting the deer walk in the hopes a yote will show up.

 

[Nate]

Very cool, thanks for the tip!

 

[MRH]

I grew up reading North American Whitetail. It was a great source then and a great source now. If you can get your hands on some of the older issues they are full of great articles. I have always been a reader of deer content and no other source as a publication has given me as much info as NAW. I have issues going back to the beginning of the publication and read them regularly. Just last week I was reading an issue from 1986. Good stuff.

There is still tons of information and tactics to be learned from the old timers. I have a nice collection of deer hunting books from the 40's, 50's, 60's and so on. I have a couple of really old ones too. There is an entire world of knowledge out there from the old timers that, unfortunately, is overlooked these days. Those guys knew what they were doing and their contributions should not be neglected. They still have much to offer. And then some.

I have spent countless hours talking and mostly listening to old timers tell deer stories. You can learn much from these stories about behavior, tactics, tracking, and so much more. Anytime I can get an old timer talking, I shut up and listen. I doubt if many of them know more than I do at this point, but they have a lifetime of experience and you never know when you can pick up something new in the way of knowledge. File it away.

Every deer is different. They have many personalities just like other animals. Some behavior is predictable and consistent on a fairly regular basis, but never a sure thing. One deer may walk down to the creek to get a drink while another deer may stand on the other side of the hill 200 yards away and drink from a mud puddle. I've seen it.

We can never know it all. Good luck and have fun.

 

[Nate]

Thanks MRH!