Guide for Deer Hunting Season

you have any property around Columbia to hunt?

 

What part of the state are you looking to hunt?


If you want to geek out on a lot of good information, get on thehuntingbeast.com and subscribe on YouTube

If I were keeping it as simple as possible, I’d tell you to try to find what deer are eating. Assume they’re going to a field or oaks in the evening. Then try to figure where they’re bedding. Does could bed anywhere really, but bucks usually bed in thick cover with the wind to their back, while looking from a decent vantage. A lot of times this is on the point of a ridge or a drainage. From there, try to cut them off on their travel route in the evening, or on their way back in the morning.

 

I was anxious the first couple times I field dressed a deer, but really, as long as your carful, you won’t mess it up. Take out its butthole up to its esophagus and everything in between. There are lots of great videos that walk you through it.

Get yourself a sharp knife with a gut hook and you’ll be in business.

 

If you have permission or access to private property you will be in business. Public is a tough deal and it might be a while before you kill a deer, you might find someone that uses the same public area to help you out but they are not likely to want to share the spots they found. If you are asking a hunter to teach you on their own private land you might as well ask to sleep with his wife too. Just getting a place to go is the hardest part. Buying your own land is way to go if you can and keep in mind that its one of the few things you buy that is likely to appreciate rather than depreciate if you get it at a good price.

 

I agree with a lot of what you said. Hunting private land has advantages that public doesn’t, mostly in regard to hunter pressure and the ability to manipulate the land.

Killing a deer on public can be tough sledding, but it’s definitely possible. I try to go where other people aren’t going, which usually requires a 30+ minute walk, usually more. Get there earlier than other hunters. Me personally, if I roll up and see another car in the area, I move on. I don’t want to feel crowded or ruin someone else’s set up.

Look at aerial maps, try to find where habitat types merge together, like field edges to woods, or cedars to hardwoods. Deer like eating a variety of stuff.

Look at wind direction, and try to set up on the leeward side of the ridge, further up closer to the top(if you go low, deer will smell you.)

One reason I really like hunting public is that there are a variety of options. You can travel relatively short distances in state and be able to hunt with a bow. On some larger public tracts, you could almost never run out of areas that could potentially favor your set up.

I think the biggest thing for new hunters is to not get discouraged, and look for small victories. I started bow hunting in 2016, and I remember that just seeing a deer or turkey was a huge boost to my moral. Pretty soon you get a feel for how they like to use an area and then adjust your set ups.

Enjoy the outdoors and use every hunt as a learning experience.

 

Apply for ky river WMA quota hunt. Henry county side around Welch's. If you get it, message me. Ill be happy to help.

Im not sure about "tracking " deer unless they are bleeding. You are not gonna stumble upon tracks and smell droppings and know how far you are away. You are not gonna track a healthy deer down for a kill. Thats Hollywood or luck.

Find a good trail or a few and get up high. Then wait. If you have time you can figure out what times they are traveling.

Tracking a blood trail: i always carry toilet paper. If for some reason the deer does not drop in a pile i will take a square and hang it on a limb above the last blood spot i find. It helps to determine direction if you get disoriented.

 

So, uh, I’ve heard that’s not taboo anymore?

 

How much you pay