Whitetail Deer Hunting 101

Whitetail Deer Hunting 101 is an ambitious undertaking for us.
We hope to have helpful deer hunting tips for experienced hunters,
but we are especially writing it for those new to whitetail hunting.

We will be adding new pages, but we'll never be able to cover everything. Most of the information is found on pages which link to this page. All pages will open in a new window to help you keep track of where you are.

If you have some other questions: use the "Contact Me". I've been hunting for more than 50 years and I promise to give you an honest answer; if I know.

If you are truly a new hunter, you have a lot to learn before you
become a good, responsible, safe, and successful hunter.

Learn to look through the brush... Practice looking for the parts of a deer, not the whole animal. Look again, there is a line which is almost horizontal; the other deer's back. In "empty" brush like this you would seldom see a horizontal line.

Deer look through brush! They see your shape or movement. We usually want to get any around obstacles. When we get around for a clear view, and the deer are usually gone. Superman had x-ray vision! Work at these skills, and you'll surprise yourself sometimes.



SAFETY FIRST! Most hunters are very interested in the guns and bows used for hunting. Hunting is a relatively safe sport, but that is because many hunters make safety a priority.

Why teach hunting? Previous generations often grew up on farms, around killing, hunting, knives, and guns. Today's young people often know little about such things. They have watched TV & movies, played games... not real.

Many today have never seen an animal killed. They seldom understand death, pain, suffering... We can no longer expect someone to have knowledge and understanding of properly and safely using deadly tools.

Guns, knives, arrows... are made for killing. A hunter's responsibility is to be thoroughly educated on these tools. No gun, knife, or bow should be in the hands of a novice without extensive, serious, teaching, and training.

You must know safe handling, but also how they work, their capability... a center-fire rifle could shoot through a house, a barn, a car... it can be dangerous at a range measured in miles...

We love bow hunting, but a new hunter probably needs a gun. Bow-hunting is simply too challenging for most new people to have any success.

Check your State Hunting Regulations for the legal firearms where you will hunt. Study our pages on guns, scopes .... You may want to try gun manufactures websites, gun stores, gun books...

You may need or want some other things, accessories: knives, saws, binoculars, food, water, camera, trail camera, bags, packs, compass... You may want to take a look at my hunting list.

Whitetail deer are incredible animals; some hunters get buck fever in one form or another. To hunt them successfully you have to know them. You must become a student, and you will never want to graduate from whitetail school. You also need to know the truth about some whitetail deer myths.

The whitetail deer's sense of smell is his most powerful sense. His sense of sight is different than ours. He can see better in the dark, and in every direction except behind. He can hear very well, and pinpoint most sounds quickly. He is seemingly always alert, and has amazing reflexes. He's smarter than many animals, and after a couple of years of age; makes few mistakes.

You will need to learn scouting, to read deer sign: tracks, trails, droppings, scrapes, rubs... habits, and habitat: How they live, what food they eat, when they eat, when they sleep, when they mate... all of which change depending on the weather, the season...

As you learn about whitetail you will begin to see them more. You will need to choose how you will hunt: stand or blind hunting in the beginning, try stalking or still hunting maybe when you get better, do you want to try calling...

Once you harvest your first whitetail deer along with the excitement, you may be wondering: What do I do now? After a hunting harvest, field dressing, processing, cooking, donating, mounting...

We have many more pages of information.
Find any page easily with our: The Site Map

Whitetail Deer to Score-Your-Hunting.com.