# Advice for people new to bowhunting whitetails



## TheDogSlayer1 (Dec 15, 2006)

I've been bowhunting for 33 years and thought that it would be nice if I could try and give a little back to the great sport of bowhunting. To all you newcomers to the sport, here's some of the best advice that I give you, from my years of experinence:

1) Always be aware of the wind direction and use it to your advantage. Never assume you can fool a deer's sense of smell.

2) Scout as much as possible (all year long). I believe the more time scouting, the less time you're going to have to spend actually hunting.

3) Don't let someone else determine what's a throphy to you.

4) Don't rule out public land, especially early season.

5) Don't think that the only good time to hunt is near and during the rut. Early is a lot of times better than late.

6) Did I mention, pay attention to the wind.

7) Always gain permission on private land.

8) Don't leave home without a grunt call and don't be afraid to use it.
(Any time of the season) Grunt calls have kill me more bucks then any other tool or gadget you can buy.

9) The best way to get good at killing deer is to kill deer. Don't feel bad about shooting a doe and don't let other people make you feel bad about shooting an antlerless deer.

10) Did I mention, play the wind.

OK, there's a few. Other hunters, jump in and offer some of your advice as well.


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## vtrons (Feb 14, 2008)

11) Practice with your equipment. 
If you hunt from a treestand...practice from one.

12) Don't shoot beyond your abilities. 
If you scout and set up right, you will be able to keep your shots within 30 yards.

13)Oh yeah, watch the wind.

Good post TheDogSlayer1.


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## NDTerminator (Aug 20, 2003)

Get extra doe tags & fill them. bowhunting is an entirely different experience than rifle hunting, and you need to get some kills under your belt so that when you get a crack at a good buck you are able to focus & 10 ring him...


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## Shu (Oct 21, 2003)

Scent control and wind direction! Good luck


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## brdhntr11 (Feb 19, 2008)

-if you're new to the area, go around and pick the surrounding farmers' brains for information afterall who knows the land better

good luck


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## Ande8183 (Sep 18, 2005)

One thing that I have been looking at a lot lately that has helped is Google Earth. The aerial photographs have really given me a different prospective on the areas that I hunt. I have been hunting Elk in the badlands for the last 20 days and there are a lot of oil roads that are not on the Forest Service map that can be found with the aerial photographs. Also, do not overlook a late season bow hunt. Some of the biggest bucks I have seen have been after the rifle season.


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## joshua.jeffreys (Jul 26, 2006)

Even if the land isn't posted find out who owns it and ask permission anyways. This has always worked out the best for me because sometimes the land owner will tell you were the best place to go and what he has been seeing on his land. Return the favor and help them fix fence or help out around the farm. Most of the land owners i have talked to don't bow hunt but they do rifle hunt. I will even go as far as setting up a good rifle stand for them and try to put them on a good deer because we all know that the farmers work around the clock all summer long and they don't always have the time to do those things.

Play the wind and don't over hunt a stand. Try to hang all your stands after the season or early in the spring. If you start hanging stands during the hunting season sometimes that can hurt you. The less your in the woods the better. It doesn't take much pressure before the bucks go nocturnal.

Use trail cameras to find out what you have in the area to hunt. This will do two things for you. First it will let you know if there are any shooter bucks in your area and for me knowing if a good buck is in the area it keeps me in the stand a little longer or all day during the rut.

Don't be afraid to use decoys. So many times i have rattled or grunted in a buck and once they almost got into my shooting range they didn't see a deer making those sounds so they busted out. Since i have used a decoy it solved that problem.

Deer stand placement is very important. In North Dakota it can be hard but try to set up in a tree with back cover. Don't cut away to much brush. All you need is a few shooting lanes.

Don't rush the shot on deer. Aim small miss small. Don't let that nice rack make you rush the shot, just think once you make a great shot on that buck that you will have all the time in the world to look at them antlers.

I will stop now because i could talk about this stuff all night long.


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## Hooligan (Oct 21, 2006)

Awesome information
We need more non greedy hunters that are willing to share some things to success, especially, bowhunting, the experienced helping the inexperienced.


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## pointblankshot (Nov 2, 2005)

Thanks a ton guys! I'm a big bird hunter and have shot a few deer in my day but I'm thinking of getting into bowhunting for the challenge of it. Thanks for the tips and gotta love this site!


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## nesika308 (Oct 23, 2008)

The talk to the land owner advice is great. If you are told that deer enter a field at this point 70 % of the time and it is not a good set-up point you would be surprised how many will place a couple round bales to give you a great walk by shot just for taking there advice that it is an good spot.


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## dakotashooter2 (Oct 31, 2003)

> 2) Scout as much as possible (all year long). I believe the more time scouting,
> 
> 
> > the less time you're going to have to spend actually hunting
> ...


What fun is that ???????????????????????????????????????????????????? :eyeroll:


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