Simple rules to bag deer

Jack Fisher with a doe he killed.

To be successful killing a deer, a hunter has to follow the simple rules of deer hunting.

Last weekend Jack Fisher, David Harrison and I each harvested a doe on family property. On this family property, there are no food plots on 200 acres.

"We hunt deer and not food plots." Fisher said. "We locate the oak ridges and find signs along the creek bottoms. Many deer travel the creek bottom to reach food sources and bedding areas. It’s easy after that."

In the middle of the property, 40 acres had been clear cut and was replanted two years ago. Browse, such as briars and honey suckle (along with an over-abundant crop of acorns this year) have given deer plenty of forage to feed from.

On the eve of gun season, Fisher harvested a nice doe using a .444 during primitive arms season. He had been hunting along the edge of the clear cut.

"I found a deer trail leading from the clear cut into a bottom and set up on the trail," Fisher said.

Reaching my stand around 3 p.m., I went to the stand from an upwind direction. Around 4:15 p.m., three doe walked out and I had a chance to get a shot off. The .444 primitive weapon found its mark and dropped the 110-pound doe.

David Harrison followed the same downwind to upwind approach to reach his stand. Arriving at his stand around 6 a.m., he had plenty of time to setup. At 7:48 a.m. a good 120-pound doe walked out and Harrison found his mark with his 30-06.

Hunting on the edge of a clear cut the next day, I hunted from a lock-on over looking a ridge top. Getting to my stand from a downwind to upwind direction, I settled in around 6:15 a.m. and waited for sunrise.

On this morning, there was a big frost, so I knew it was going to be good.

At 7:48 a.m. I heard Harrison shoot and sent him a text to sit tight. Sure enough, at 8:15 a.m. a good doe tried to sneak by my stand 10 yards inside the tree line. I waited for a good shot and squeezed off a tight shot in the trees with my 270. The 130-grain found its mark and dropped the doe.

 

Follow these simple rules to get that deer:

Find local food sources, white oak acorn bottoms, briars and honey suckle

Locate deer trail

Always approach deer stand from a down to upwind position

Get to the stand early enough to setup

Make sure to have your gun sighted before the season starts

When making a shot, identify your target, take a medium breath, hold it and squeeze the trigger till the weapon fires

Use scent covers to kill human orders

Hunt off the ground and high enough to have your scent disperse

Use rubber sole boots

Scout the land to find rubs and scrapes

Use tree climber and lock-ons

Keep yearly records to predict the rut