Approach your deer hunting differently this season

deer

A change in your approach will lead to success

Summer deer stand prep begins soon so I’m asking you to consider a different approach to your deer hunting this year. Read more to see how your approach this season could make you a better deer hunter.

The approach

I don’t think I am exaggerating when I state that the approach to your deer stand may be the most important part of your deer hunt.

Imagine a beautiful food plot that has been manicured to perfection. A loaded oak ridge dropping the sweetest tasting white oaks in the area. Or even a loaded feeder with golden kernels that deer cannot resist.

Now imagine a bad approach to your stand location that alerts deer in the area that a predator is near. It is as simple as that, the perfect deer hunting location can be ruined by the wrong approach to the stand. 

Consider some of the following factors in your approach to deer hunting this upcoming season.

The hunter’s pattern

Yes, you can be patterned by the deer. It can be as simple as driving your ATV too close to the stand each time you hunt, or as complicated as you walking near an unknown bedding area near a food source that alerts your presence to a deer. 

The former is obvious. The latter I found out when I began using thermal imaging devices as I approached my stands. I had a highly productive stand one year that turned into a dead zone the following year. And I soon realized why. 

Walking to my stand I began to scan an open field across the property boundaries with thermal equipment and found multiple deer bedding close to my approach to a previously producing blind. I would literally watch the deer’s head move as I snuck to my blind over a fence and through an over-grown field. 

Had I not had thermal equipment I would have never known those deer were on to my approach and did not show on days they saw me hunting. On days I was not in the blind, my cameras would text me mature whitetails in the area. I was busted and did not even know it.

Plan your approach

Planning your approach to a stand is just as important as planning where your stand is located. Taking the long way around, away from food sources and bedding areas is the key here. 

When scouting those food sources and travel corridors, find areas well away from these areas to approach your stand. Look for other access points to put you the furthest away from where deer currently are to find the best approach. 

Take the time to plan the best approach in areas you find little or no sign. Young deer can be fooled with a few mistakes on your approach. But mature animals will not tolerate an intrusion. Change your approach to your deer stands this year and see if it makes a difference in the number and quality of deer you see. Now is the time to search out those better approaches to your best areas.

–Click here for more hunting tips from Gene Wisnewski

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