So You Want To Hunt Whitetail, A Beginners Guide.

Any experienced hunter knows hunting, whitetail especially, is a mental love & hate rollercoaster that has all the flagship features you'd find at your favorite theme park. Huge hills to climb and seemingly never ending valleys, twists and turns, loops and thrills. Though you can't ever see the end of the ride, they most always end the same way with a huge sigh of happiness/relief accompanied with the excitement and anticipation of hopping right onto the next one. But, experiencing and enjoying those rides to their fullest extent takes time, a lot of time. Even when you think you’ve been at your lowest hunting low or highest hunting high, the wild world of whitetail hunting throws you something new. This article aims to shallow out those valleys and make the most of every hill, loop, and barrel roll as they progressively become bigger and more exciting. It is so easy to get lost in the world of social media hunting. Looking for those Boone & Crockett caliber bucks before even understanding and appreciating the difficulty of finding and successfully hunting a Pope & Young, which is certainly an accomplishment in itself. This beginners guide focuses on basic simple archery success in the woods, then allowing you as a new hunter to grow and take the hunting paths that suit you.

Before the pro shops and multi thousand dollar set ups. Before all the inevitable misses and even before that first deer ever hits the ground, why? Why do you want to take on whitetail hunting? I can honestly and whole-heartedly say that I did it because “I thought it sounded cool”. I had hunted small game growing up, but my dad never deer hunted. With a pawn shop compound bow and an incredibly irrational level of determination, I had absolutely no clue what I was doing and lucked my way into more (not that it was a lot) success than I probably deserved. Ultimately, there is no right answer to this. Whether it's a family tradition, you're looking to take on a new challenge, maybe you've always been interested in it but never put effort into trying it, or maybe you want to try and make it a career. Whatever the reason, it is worth thinking about and revisiting. As you grow and mature as a hunter, the answer to this question will change just as much.

Now you need some stuff to hunt with! This part of hunting can be fun, but also somewhat intimidating. There are so many brands, pieces of equipment, styles, and more. The list goes on and on and on. I could tell you that I use x-y-z brands and equipment, that I only trust this bow manufacturer and this broadhead. Ultimately, when it comes down to it, there are soooo many combinations that will bring you success, what you are looking for is comfort and confidence. When it comes to hunting equipment like your bow, arrows, broadheads, release, etc.; go to a pro shop. Pick one, go to a couple, try all of them in your area, just please go to a pro shop. Cabelas, bass pro, “outdoor” retail stores have their place and there's nothing necessarily wrong with them as they can get you set up for success to a degree. There have been some absolutely great bow techs that have worked at these places. The biggest, and what I believe is the most valuable, difference is the culture. You are getting archery people who (normally) are shooting tournaments, have all ages and skills levels, and live and breathe archery. You can develop a relationship with them, they almost 100% of the time have significantly superior shooting lanes and outdoor courses. They can work with every step of the way in greater detail from start to finish. They usually have used bows for a more financially affordable option. Just across the board they are going to provide a better experience, please go visit your local pro shop. Tell them your goals, experience, and budget and If you don't like them that is understandable. But, I would be willing to bet 99 times out of 100 they're going to provide overall greater support in helping you become a truly better archer which obviously is important for archery hunting.

Camo - this part of hunting is simple. Some of the largest bucks ever shot were shot by hunters in blue jeans. That's not to say don't wear camo, that's not to say dont buy camo you like. When it comes down to it, if you are looking for a place to financially cut corners, camo is an easy place to do so. What is most important is comfort. I have worn mismatched 10 year old patterns on top of Walmart long johns because it was what I could afford and what was comfortable. Being comfortable will take you so much further than buying that expensive camo you can't really afford because of the name. Not that it's not comfortable but stay within your budget, dress cool for early season, and warm for late season, just keep it simple. One place that I do prioritize are boots. That is a personal preference, but keeping my feet warm and dry are #1 all day. Wet hands are not a problem, cold ears will go numb, but my feet have to stay warm and dry. Because I know that about myself I adjust my hunting clothes budgeting accordingly and I run calf high rubber boots all season. At the end of the day it comes down to being able to stay in the woods. If you're not in the woods, you can't kill deer.

Next on the list is hunting strategy. Do you hunt out of a treestand, blind, over bait, over scrapes? What do you do!? This part can be made way more complicated than it needs to be. Do what's legal and what will get you on deer. Just starting out, I would strongly suggest your goal be to just go kill deer. If you can use bait, throw that corn out there. Put a ground blind 25 yards away and bring a portable heater if need be. Do what you need to do to just be able to get a shot at some deer. This is not a suggestion for experienced hunters looking to hunt mature whitetail. For new, inexperienced hunters, getting on deer and being able to get a shot off on them will pay huge dividends when/if you do ultimately decide to take your whitetail hunting to that next level. Button bucks, spikes, does, yearlings, you name it, when you are starting off you just need to get on deer. Compound bows, crossbows, or a gun, if you want to hunt whitetail when you start off just do what interests you and you can make changes in the future if you choose. Like before, being comfortable and able to sit for extended periods of time will only increase your chances. Your strategy should really be focused on one thing, gettin on deer and getting a shot off.

Get out in the woods and hang a trail camera or two. Even if they're cheap and take crappy pictures, the worst trail cameras of today are leaps and bounds better than trial cameras 10 years ago. Getting out in the woods, actively looking for deer sign and just seeing what you capture on camera can provide so much educational information. As an inexperienced hunter, empty SD cards can be disappointing. But even that tells you something, there's not deer in that area at that time of year. Get out in the woods, learn about tracks, droppings, scrapes, rubs, all of the sign. Learn about deer and that will help you significantly increase your chances in getting that chance on a deer. That’s not to say you should be stomping around the woods every week, you don't want to pressure the deer and push them out. At the same time, you can’t learn what you can and can’t get away with if youre not out there experiencing it.

After following all of the advice I've talked about up to this point, it can still be very difficult. You may have done everything listed above and you still are not getting on deer. There are a few more things that can bump that entry level hunter to the next level without having to incorporate advanced analysis or tactics. The first on that list is to simply ask for help. Find someone who is willing to take you out, let you hunt the woods on the back of their property, whatever it may be just ask for help. There is a reason this isn't higher up on the list though. Unfortunately, there are unsuccessful “hunters” who want to tell you how to do everything though they havent successfully taken one for a very long time. They lack the capability to analyze their own strategy and make the necessary changes to truly become a better hunter. For example, I had someone once trying to “help” me on a new property I had permission on. They complained about the lack of deer on the property and the issues they had in recent years successfully taking deer. When I scouted the property for the first time alone I immediately figured out why. They had, without exaggeration; every kind of bait, mock scrapes, drip bags, 4 trail cameras, and a ladder stand sticking out plain as day all within a 40 yard circle. It didn't take deer long to figure out to just completely stay away from that area, it didn't take me long either. I ended up finding some decent sign on the other side of the property that provided me the opportunity to get on some does and small bucks while the other hunter was texting me letting me know there were no deer anywhere within sight. So this piece of advice comes with an asterisk, maybe look them up on facebook and instagram before taking their advice.

Another piece of advice that could be considered one of the most important but also could be one of the biggest learning/effort obstacles is scent control. I preface this with saying I shot plenty of young does and a young buck with little to minimum scent control. But, if you want to efficiently accelerate your hunting to that next level, scent control would be something I would immediately advise getting a grasp on. The basics look something like this. Wash your hunting clothes in scent free/scent eliminating detergent. This could be anything from ALL or Tide scent free detergent to specialized scent eliminating detergent (any really will work if the goal is just to kill a deer). Once they're dry, put them in a sealed tote or unscented garbage bag and leave them in your garage or outside (where they wont get wet). The morning/evening of your hunt eat and drink your coffee then take your scent elimination shower with either scent free soap, or again, specialized scent eliminating wash. Get dressed and go out for your hunt. Like I said, I have killed deer with effectively little to no scent control. The best I did was sprayed myself down with field scent eliminating spray, which in hindsight did effectively nothing, but I still managed to kill deer. When you are out there hunting, you don't know what deer you are spooking off with your scent because usually they avoid you before they're in range of you seeing them. If they are in range of you seeing them, there is almost nothing more devastating than seeing a deer nose you in the wind, stomp and blow to let all the other deer around know, throw that tail up and take off. The sooner you get scent control under control, the better. There are certainly greater measures that can be taken, but this is more than enough for just the start.

Finally, what I would consider the most important aspect of preparing to enter the world of whitetail hunting is expectations and mindset. The most likely scenario will be that you probably won't even see deer for a while. If you do, they likely won't be in range. You'll probably be second guessing yourself, wanting to move your stand, and getting discouraged. Hang in there and keep hunting. Understand that getting a deer your first year out, unless you are getting help from an experienced successful hunter, will be very difficult. Observe, take notes, make calculated changes. It could be something as simple as every evening you have deer coming to your corn pile, but they're always there 5 minutes after legal shooting light. Try moving your blind or set up so you catch them coming into the corn instead of hunting on top of it. I can say from experience maybe you're hunting a spot where you have deer on camera but every time you go out the only place you see deer is coming out of the same corner across the field. Move your stuff over there and shoot one! When the goal is getting on any deer, the changes that you will need are often relatively simple, but easy to overlook. Don't let your mindset be the reason you hang the bow up if hunting whitetail is something you really want to do. It is not easy, but when success does come it is unlike any other success I have experienced in my life.

Wrapping it all back up, the key points to increasing success for a beginner are as follows:

-Utilize a pro shop.

-Consume hunting educational resources like podcasts, blogs, and youtube. They can be great but you have to be selective. Don't let them fool you with “the one thing you need to do to kill big bucks” style of content.

-Practice and maintain confidence.

-Keep it simple, there's plenty of time and opportunity to make it more difficult.

-Control what you can (like scent) and be prepared for those things you can't (like weather).

-Have a loose plan that you are confident in but aren't afraid to change it if need be.

-Keep your expectations and mindset in check, it can be very easy to get discouraged and frustrated. It will happen if you keep at it.

-Shoot deer when you have the opportunity. You can practice every day and be the best target archer in the world. If your goal is to be a consistently successful whitetail hunter, you only get good at shooting deer by shooting deer.