Hunting Tips

Tips for Hunting White Tail Deer

For a dedicated whitetail hunter, nothing hits home quite like rut season. After spending all year gearing up in anticipation of the season’s new mature bucks, early to mid-November is finally here. The rut season is a time when male whitetail deer are traveling further distances in search of a mate. They are less aware of their surroundings during the rut, making them easier targets for hunters. However, that does not mean that hunting during the rut means a guaranteed trophy. We asked the top deer hunting experts for their tips and tricks on hunting during the rut and here are the top 7 words of wisdom they had to share.

  1. Golden Scrapings- When tracking deer prior to your hunt, pay attention to their scrapings. The ideal hunting period is within 5 days of Halloween, so tracking their habits now will give you a better understanding of their behavior come peak rut.
  1. Wireless Wilderness- Attach trail cams around active sights sooner rather than later. This enables you to monitor whitetail activity in an area you know they visit, without missing any action while you are gone.
  1. Utilize rope- Attach rope above a hot scraping, fray the ends, and apply gel buck lure. Do this within shooting range of your stand and watch as mature whitetail bucks revisit your site again and again.
  1. Prey on their circumstances- When starting your hunt, consider employing all matters of interaction with whitetail deer. Rattles, grunts, bleats, snort-wheezing, and sent bombs can be most effective when attracting male white tail during the rut because they are desperate to mate.
  1. Hide your scent- Rising thermals are a great way to overcome the task of hiding your scent. Set up early in the morning with rising thermals and never worry about your scent scaring off the perfect buck.
  1. Log activity- Using hunting apps such as OutdoorMetrix enable hunters to take note of deer sightings, trail pictures, and snaps. This gives a hunter the upper hand during the rut because they will be able to make more informed decisions on where to hunt based on the data they have collected.
  1. Scrape Grabber- Look for scrapings on trees or branches that are small enough to relocate. Move them within the shooting range of your stand to attract male whitetail in search of that precious scent.

We aim to educate the new hunters that come out to our ranch for a first time hunting experience. You can visit Squaw Mountain Ranch to learn more about Whitetail deer hunts. They offer exotic animal hunts in Texas and have one of the best ranches in the region. Not only do they offer hunting but they also have a range and lodging so you can bring out the family or your clients for a weekend trip. They aim to provide you with educational hunting trips as well as the best hunting experience you will find anywhere. They take care of everything on your hunt from the clean up to shipping.

Tips for Buying Deer Hunting Land

Herein we will explore the most important considerations when it comes to buying deer hunting land for sale.

#1. Location

For the most part, this point is straightforward and simple enough to understand without much explanation. The land you purchase should some distance away from the city, but not too far that you need to take a flight or spend the whole day on the road. Consider travel costs when making your purchase.

Our recommendation is to look for land that us about 3 hours from your home. With such distance, you can leave early in the morning before daybreak and set out for hunting before sunrise. Importantly, you can comfortably get back home after the hunt. Being able to get back home is important if you have not yet built a cabin on the land.

In the same light, you should ensure there are accommodation facilities such motel and hotels in close proximity to your land, should circumstances forces you to stay overnight. For instance, when you have to track a wounded animal. Take a look at this surplus database for hunting land for sale

#2. Land Layout

On the land layout front, you should consider the traffic pattern of humans using the land as well as the traffic pattern of deer. If you plan to add a cabin on the property, ensure you have a level spot that is dry as well to build the structure.

A good location for your cabin is on the roadside of the property. Such a location will negate spooking deer as you drive into and out of your property. It makes little sense to build your cabin in the middle of your property unless your priority is beyond hunting.

Additionally, you should think of adding food plots in your property. As such, ensure machinery can access parts of the property you want to add the food plots.

#3. Food

Deer need a supply of food and water all year to not only survive but also thrive. For deer food, you should know that it is much easier to work with what you got rather than trying to add such resources after purchasing the land. Planting these food resources will cost you extra.

Individuals interested in whitetail deer hunting should look for perennial wood plants, leafy vines, low hanging trees, brushy shrubs and other types of bush-style vegetation. These food resources form the largest percentage of the deer’s diet.

For fruits, you should look for hickory that produces nuts, oaks for their acorns, berries and other fruits that grow across the U.S. Thereafter, look for plants that farmers consider as herbaceous and weeds. Such plants have broadleaf’s and produce flowers. The food resources the land should have is grass and grass-like foods. Finally, there should be foods farm fields or food from food plots.

Photo Credit: Mossy Oak

#4. Water

Water is crucial to have in your deer hunting land. However, it might be a necessity if your neighboring property has water. Nonetheless, you can dig wells and set up ponds in your land if you want to provide deer with access to water within your land. Keep in mind that you will incur the cost of hauling the water to the pond. If that is the case, you must factor in such costs while purchasing the land.

#5. Cover

Deer take cover during the daytime. Thick swamps, tall grasses, and heavy bushes offer excellent cover. However, if the property lack such resources, you can hinge cut small trees. Hinge cutting is the process of cutting a tree 4 feet above the ground and leaving the felled tree attached to the stump. This will create a cover for deer if the property consists of a lot of open fields.

That said, you should note that deer love the pine-needle bedding and low-lying branches. Swampy sections of land with tall grass will also attract deer as they love to lie down on such environments.

#6. Game Sign

Finally, you should look for signs that deer do come to the property. Droppings, trails, and buck scrapes are good signs of deer presence. Keep in mind that deer might only be traveling through the property. They might be feeding in one property during daytime, moving through the property during nighttime, and lying in another property the following day.

If you can set up trail cameras before buying the property, you get a better idea of the deer movement during the day and at night.