1. As for scent, make sure your scent cone (the path your scent will take in the wind) will not cross any major trails the deer will be using. Also a 3 dollar spray bottle of red fox urine, or skunk scent works pretty well. I wash my clothes and all that and have noticed a little difference but I also bow hunt from the ground. Either way you are going to bust some deer and some deer will walk straight to you from down wind and never notice, its just the nature of the beast.
2. Be silent when you are moving to the spot you will be hunting. The deer are listening and will know where you are if you go blazing a trail through the brush.
3. Walk around well before the season and find their bedding area, you will notice laid down grass around tress, and deer poop all over the ground. For the love of everything holy don't pee when you find this spot. For some reason everyone wants to pee when they find what they are looking for. It looks like slightly over sized black beans. Then find a water source, deer are just like people when they wake up they poop then go get something to drink. Set yourself up on a trail between these two spots and you should be alright. Just be sure to set up far enough off the trail so you wont spook them but close enough so one wont get past you without you noticing. Depending on how tall the grass is 75-100 yrds. Dont walk on the trail you are hunting!
4. Rattling during the rut pays off. You just get some sheds or a rattle bag and knock them together for about 30 sec on and off then take a ten min break and repeat. The deer will circle you and try to get down wind to check out the situation with their nose. Try to have a few open lanes where you can see about 100 yrds on either side of your scent cone. The point is to take them before they get down wind.
5. Don't rush your shot, ideally before shooting get a landmark (tree or weird bush) so that you will know where to look for the starting point of the blood trail. The amateur mistake is to pull up and shoot and watch the deer run off. If you do not have time to get a landmark before you shoot, after you squeeze the shot off keep your scope on the spot and get a landmark before you watch the deer run off. With a 7mm it should go down like a pile of bricks but weird stuff happens in the woods. Mark the blood trail with tissues so that you can get back on the trail quickly if you loose it. Wounded game will run down hill most of the time.
This is a VERY quick summary of just a FEW aspects of hunting. I also hunt my families private ranch so things could be different on public land. I took my first deer with a rifle when I was 7 and I am 24 now. I took my first deer with a bow when I was 12 and have been lucky enough to take one every year. I come from a family that everyone has hunted since childhood and we all learn that we know next to nothing about deer. If you meet someone that claims they know a lot about deer nicely listen, but take their advice with a grain of salt. As soon as you think you have the upper hand a deer will make you look like a fool.
I hear you about being a poor college student I am graduating from OU in dec.
2. Be silent when you are moving to the spot you will be hunting. The deer are listening and will know where you are if you go blazing a trail through the brush.
3. Walk around well before the season and find their bedding area, you will notice laid down grass around tress, and deer poop all over the ground. For the love of everything holy don't pee when you find this spot. For some reason everyone wants to pee when they find what they are looking for. It looks like slightly over sized black beans. Then find a water source, deer are just like people when they wake up they poop then go get something to drink. Set yourself up on a trail between these two spots and you should be alright. Just be sure to set up far enough off the trail so you wont spook them but close enough so one wont get past you without you noticing. Depending on how tall the grass is 75-100 yrds. Dont walk on the trail you are hunting!
4. Rattling during the rut pays off. You just get some sheds or a rattle bag and knock them together for about 30 sec on and off then take a ten min break and repeat. The deer will circle you and try to get down wind to check out the situation with their nose. Try to have a few open lanes where you can see about 100 yrds on either side of your scent cone. The point is to take them before they get down wind.
5. Don't rush your shot, ideally before shooting get a landmark (tree or weird bush) so that you will know where to look for the starting point of the blood trail. The amateur mistake is to pull up and shoot and watch the deer run off. If you do not have time to get a landmark before you shoot, after you squeeze the shot off keep your scope on the spot and get a landmark before you watch the deer run off. With a 7mm it should go down like a pile of bricks but weird stuff happens in the woods. Mark the blood trail with tissues so that you can get back on the trail quickly if you loose it. Wounded game will run down hill most of the time.
This is a VERY quick summary of just a FEW aspects of hunting. I also hunt my families private ranch so things could be different on public land. I took my first deer with a rifle when I was 7 and I am 24 now. I took my first deer with a bow when I was 12 and have been lucky enough to take one every year. I come from a family that everyone has hunted since childhood and we all learn that we know next to nothing about deer. If you meet someone that claims they know a lot about deer nicely listen, but take their advice with a grain of salt. As soon as you think you have the upper hand a deer will make you look like a fool.
I hear you about being a poor college student I am graduating from OU in dec.
