finding deer

Grumpy

The Grumpy Grease Monkey mechanical engineer.
Staff member
I was asked by a friend just getting into hunting,
"how do you find deer , there's thousands of acres and only a few deer"
Florida Whitetail Experience
read this link above

anyone who's hunted will tell you you can watch an area and not see deer, and suddenly you see a deer or group of deer appear,
the fact is our eyes detect movement much faster than we can spot a stationary deer.
its simply a skill that takes time and effort to acquire, but its certainly not something a newer person can't rapidly get reasonably good at if he thinks things through and uses a system, rather than blindly wondering around , hoping to run into slow, stupid suicidally stupid deer.
step one
do some research, ask your local game department/ wardens what areas have a reasonably high deer density,
get topo maps and goggle earth photos of the area you'll hunt if you can do so!
if a local area only occasionally has a few deer every few hundred acres your odds of success drop rapidly
step two
learn to shoot accurately and rapidly from field positions, I can't begin to tell you how many guys Ive mentored, who at first could not consistently hit a basket ball size target at 50 yards , shooting off hand at 50 yards if given only 5 seconds to do so,
if their life depended on it.
step three
read as much as you can and watch instructive videos.
many are worthless, but you will pick up tips.
step four
get out and scout your selected area, take notes, try to move slowly, and keep the wind in your face or at least crosswise most of the time. work sparse brush and timber not open fields, work areas 20 yards inside brush on the edge of open fields, try to use cover to make yourself harder to see.
one trick that generally helps, once your in a suspected area that holds deer, take no more than 5-6 steps then scan all 360 degrees, this should take at least 45 seconds, now change directions at least 30 degrees , take no more than 5-6 steps, repeat, about every 100 yards ,totally reverse direction for at least 20 yards, then go back to the original random course, this tends to have deer that hold as you go by flush from cover.
yeah, you'll think this is B.S. until you find it works rather consistently.
your rifle/cartridge choice does not matter much as long as you can use it accurately , consistently and rapidly, but a good 2x7x optic is a big help

the human mind try's to get you to think the goal is to cover territory and see what's in the NEXT MEDOW or FEILD
that's not the goal, your trying to see the game in your immediate area, that's trying to avoid being seen, game that try's to to see and avoid predator's, 90% of the game you'll ever see and shoot will be inside of 200 yards, and the vast majority will be seen at under 120 yards.
 
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If I want to see deer and get close I simply get on my lawnmower or tractor and the deer just don’t care.
 
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