NEWBIE-HARDWOOD TATICS

[mbecnel]

My two sons (9)(15) & I are going to give deer hunting a try. We join a hunting club in Central Louisiana which has about 4500 acres. The tract we will be hunting is about 2000 acres, mostly pine, cutovers and some mixed hardwood. The site we selected to place our stand is mixed hardwoods surrounded by mostly pine. We are putting out a couple of mineral licks, planting a small food plot and putting up a couple of PVC pipe feeders. Any suggestions to increase our chance of seeing/killing deer ?

[Empty Quiver]

Don't rely on the mineral licks come hunting season. Deer just lose interest in late summer. I'm more of a farm country hunter so can't help much in the piney woods.

[Land_Owner]

Get out NOW and scout the area.  Spend some time there now.  Don;t rely on food plots either.  They may just eat them up and leave.  I like the edge of cutovers.  Deer love cutovers, especially new ones.  There is a lot of deer food that grows in a cutover and they get to look over a wider area for their buddies and deer dates.  Your chances of seeing deer improve near a cutover. 

What are the "restrictions" of the club?  Can your boys shoot does there?  Then the cutover is for them.  Sitting on stand is difficult enough as an adult and doubly difficult as a kid with the fidgets.  Sitting in a hard wood forest with little to watch, except the trees and leaves, is tough.  A cut over gives a lot of edge to watch.  It will keep the kids interest a little better, IMO.

Don' be discouraged though Dad.  Hunting with your boys is not about killing a deer.  It is ALL about being together.  If the deer participate, and more often than not they do, then the experience is just that much better.

[Roy D]

As said above, scout it now. If you are hunting hardwoods, make sure they are oaks. Take your binoculars and look to see which ones are going to have a crop this fall. You should be able to see the trails the deer take through the area. Find a spot where you have a tree producing acorns ( red or white oaks are where I have the best luck) that is near a trail close to the thick pines.

That is the strategy I use. The deer use the same trails every year. They stay in the short pines for cover. Find where food, cover and travel corridors are in the same area, add a good dose of patience, and you have a good spot.

[squirrellluck]

I hunt claiborne parish and have found the deer tend to bed in the pine thickets and feed along the edges where the cutovers meet the hardwoods

[Travis Morgan]

Spend all your spare time out there; the deer will get used to you being there, and you'll learn to be aware of your surroundings. THEN, burn all your corn feeders and treestands. You really CAN be a deer hunter without 99% of the crap Cabelas sells. That stuff just allows blowhards to score without bothering to aquire any skills. You know the quiet guys that score on a big one every year? They're the ones at the banquets smiling at the fat car dealers and lawyers bragging about the deer they brought home after their guide shot one for them because they were too hungover.

[hillbill]

i agree to spend some time there and get to know the deer and what they are dooing. food plots and such work in the fact that thye keep resident does around. resident does attract rutting bucks in the rut.however, git yur ass out of there at least a month before season,deer dont like yu beeing around and will change their habits to avoid yu.git them comeing then leave then alone. then surprise them on opening day by shooting them.also look for the corners, areas in where they pass from one type of habitat to another.good luk.

[rebAL]

My two sons (9)(15) & I are going to give deer hunting a try...  place our stand ...   mineral licks,... planting a small food plot  PVC pipe feeders. Any suggestions to increase our chance of seeing/killing deer ?

  My suggestion would be to actually get out there and scout prior to the season and then just hunt.  By "Hunt" I mean still hunt the area stopping at pre determined vantage points to try setting for a while and occasional soft calling.  The methods you suggest are used by tv producers and most often tree stand shooters.  Tree stands are OK for those who can't walk with stealth or when conditions dictate but nothing beats the sense of accomplishment than to hunt on foot and locate the deer before they locate you.  Most new hunters who have not grown up with hunting use your ideas from watching tv as they have no better source.  I have found the best way to learn how to hunt is to get out there on foot and observe crossings, escape routes, bedding areas, feeding areas, etc. and then figure out a route  of travel depending on wind conditions, time of day, weather conditions, noise level of leaves/snow crust, etc.  to take advantage of what you observed while scouting.   Good luck!

[mcwoodduck]

With kids that young i would build a stand that allows the kids to hide.  the kids tend to move a lot and movement is what the deer see and it scares them off.  Small movement in harwoods will look like a tree rat.  Also give the kids good chairs to sit in.  make them comfortale and able to sit and see the area even if it is a ground pop up blind.
the deer will come to the food and all you have to do is sit be quiet and wait.
I now call deer hunting a good nap in the woods.  I take a nap and when I wake up there are usually deer near by.

[mbecnel]

mcwoodduck................That's what we did. We have a 4'x8' box stand about 6' off the ground and windows all around. Plan on putting some real comfy chairs.

[mcwoodduck]

Good luck.