Mead also uses trail cameras. He typically hunts with his father and a friend, and they run more than 50 cameras at multiple areas — including about 17 in the Adirondacks — to find areas where bucks move during daylight.
The images they compile reveal up-to-the-minute information, making it easier to stay abreast of deer movement and patterns at many locations. Mead traces much of his success to hard work and dogged persistence.
And he rarely takes a day off of hunting, knowing that dedication and time on stand ultimately result in success. If I want to kill a big buck, I want to be able to go after him. And that, he says, requires substantial effort to find areas where public-land deer feel safe and he can avoid competition from other hunters. I hunt some pretty secure travel routes for deer that not a lot of other people will hunt. I target places where deer still move during daylight and where they feel safe, and those are not always easy places to get to.
Pottenger says his primary strategies differ from those used by most hunters. Like many hunters, he runs multiple trail cameras during the season and off-season. But while hunting, he focuses on finding large community scrapes, often deep in the woods, where deer feel safe enough to check them during daylight. Typically, he finds those areas near security cover, off the beaten path along large timbered ridges where several doe travel areas intersect.
Soon, several bucks usually start marking and checking the area. Pottenger says his stand sites are typically very close to security cover where big deer bed. He pays close attention to the wind patterns—especially thermals in hilly or mountainous areas. And any buck you drag from public land will be a special trophy. Here are some places to try.
Varied opportunities abound at state wildlife areas, including properties in coastal marshes or upland forest areas. Some areas are bowhunting only, some have mandatory antler restrictions, and others require hunters to hunt from established stands.
Obviously you want to search your hunting area to find out which bucks survived hunting season, but if your goal is simply to find a shed, areas where hunting is not allowed can be even better choices. Find the Food: In winter, finding food can be more challenging after crops are harvested and after snowfall covers the ground.
Find areas where deer concentrate to feed. Often one field will draw all the deer while other fields are left untouched. In wooded areas, learn to identify which plants deer prefer to browse on in winter. Check Beds: Deer spend a large amount of time in their beds to conserve energy in winter. Coniferous forests are prime bedding spots because the dense cover blocks the wind and the branches catch the snow before it hits the ground, making travel easier.
Check Southern Exposures: Deer soak up the winter sun like a cat sitting in a windowsill. In winter, the southern exposure receives the most direct sunlight, so check the south face of a hill or the south edge of a forest.
Cookie Settings. Learn why people trust wikiHow. Download Article Explore this Article methods. Tips and Warnings. Related Articles. Article Summary. Method 1. Choose your area. Walk into legal hunting grounds where there are woods. If you're hunting or tracking deer on someone else's property, ask where deer tend to bed and where the most common place to see deer is.
This will help you decide where to start. Typically, deer prefer covered areas to make their beds in. Look for ditches and hollows with dense cover or thickets crowded with brush. They often bed along stream bottoms or on southward-facing slopes to keep warm in the sunlight. Choose your time. Deer are mostly nocturnal, but they can also be seen out in the daytime.
However, since they usually sleep during the day and it is hard to see them at night , the best times to search for deer are early in the morning or at dusk when the sun is going down. These are their normal feeding times and the time you will be most likely to catch a glimpse of them. Search for visible signs of deer. There is often evidence of deer all around you if you know where to look for it. Keep an eye out for indicators that deer have been in the area like tracks or droppings.
Deer droppings are usually small, jellybean shaped pellets that are dark brown in color. Make sure you are moving through the woods as quietly as possible to avoid spooking any deer that might be nearby. Look for places deer would be attracted to. Deer usually bed in areas of thick brush; these are good places to begin your search.
You can also search for edible vegetation that deer feed on like wild grasses, greenbriar, dandelions, or acorns. Be as quiet as possible. Deer have very keen senses of sight and sound. Try to be as silent as you can while you are tracking through the woods.
If you are too noisy, they will hear you long before you notice them and you will miss your chance. Continue searching. Follow the tracks and keep searching for signs of deer until you encounter the animals. This takes patience, but is worth it in the end.
Method 2. Find deer tracks. If there is moisture or snow on the ground, this will make it easier to locate tracks. Look at the features of the tracks. When you find deer tracks, you can use them as evidence to help you determine how many deer were present and how big they were. Deer have cloven hooves which means they're split down the middle. Deer tracks normally look like the image below.
That might indicate an edge created by pines merging with hardwoods. At some point you must walk potential hunting areas to assess deer activity, but try to do so the winter or spring before. Once bow season nears, excessive scouting can disturb deer and possibly disrupt their patterns. Also, recent fires or logging activity can create edges that bowhunters should never ignore.
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