Gun Season Opens Saturday!! (Tactics??)

[bayrat]

Ok, so this is my forth gun season since I took a Haidas from hunting in my early twenties. My question is for you guys what tactics will you try for this opening day I know I have varied tactics from year to year depending on how the rut fell on opening day.

My thinking this year is opening day will fall on the down turn of the rut so there are many variables to ponder do I use a call, which kind, do I use some tinks 69 or will this keep the does away, drippers, draggers, locations, tree stand, still hunting etc...... it is enough to make you really lose your mind!!!!  That is why I think this year I am not gonna over think it, I will go to my old faithful tree stand that is located in the woods a few hundred yard in from a field and put the time in and let the deer dictate to me their behavior and adjust my tactics from there.

What tactics are some of you experts using out there?

[wztirem]

I hope the State Land I hunt is not crowded ??? .

[Stretchhunts]

I hope for no snow. Then I sit and wait for the yahoo's on the land around us to start doing drives at first light. This usually gets the deer to move to us and the drivers still haven't figured out they help us every year.

[16. ga hunter]

state land i hunt will have a few other hunters that i know thier routines stay out all day and let them move the deer to me going to and coming from lunch

[5.9cummins]

First off the rut should be really heating up at that point (I am sold on Charlies moon phase theory after reviewing my journal and comparing it to past moon phases).

Second the rest of the pumpkins will screw with you.

Do what has been stated before get as far away from everyone else as you can and sit all day waiting for the other guys to move.

Last year i hunted a heavily pressured farm opening day. Had two bozos come in and one sits on each end of the clear cut funnel i was staking out. One guy didn't last as long as my 4.5 yr old and started his walk after half an hour. The second guy almost made it till noon before he got up but i have a feeling the constant coughing and candy wrapper noises would have told the deer something was up. Half an hour after he meandered off I had a two doe work in which both fell to the .257 bob.

Good luck boys.

I am taking my wife out for her first deer hunt. Shes been with me successful thunder chicken hunts so i hope something in the four leg-ed community decides to cooperate.

[Bleitten04]

I'm going to sit down in my stand and wait for the deer to be pushed to me.  I maybe put out some kind of deer scent and make sure I'm as scent free as possible.  When the deer get pushed to me I want them to feel as safe as possible after already getting spooked.  The weather looks pretty good.  Hopefully it will stay that way cause if the pushers don't come through the deer should still be moving!!!!

[myke123]

i hunt by stateland also so ill let the tards drive em to me and hopefully the big guy i been seein isnt spooked and comes out early enough for me to pop and go home b4 the sound shooters start war

[Cabin Fever]

If you're in pressured areas, hunt near the thickets or travel routes heading to the thickets.

[Cappy]

I have a nice spot on a funnel where the deer when pushed by hunters on the next property pass thru, I have scored on opening day the last few years and try to stay in the stand all day, last year he didnt come by till after 1:30 PM. I had seen several hunters and my neighbor who rode by on his quad so dont get too upset if you see other guys just make sure you set up on an escape route GOOD LUCK!!!!

[Mr VJP]

Two of my friends and I will be hunting on my land in stands overlooking trails.  This tactic has worked every year and we often get two deer by noon.  I think we would get three deer every opener if my one buddy's eyes were better.

I also have a doe permit, so I can keep hunting after opening day and look for that trophy doe.  That would be the biggest, meatiest doe I can take.

[UpStateRedNeck]

Supposed to be a nice dry sunny day, I'm going to get in my high stand that covers 2.5 fields and SIT, all day long.  Bring a book, don't move, don't grunt, don't put out scent, just let the yahoos on the stateland push them all my way.

[gundeck]

My hunting area is a choke point between two larger sections of woods.  The main traffic area is about a hundred yards across and two hundred yards long.  On the first morning, the family that hunts the land next to me will light up the woods like a war zone.  The deer will stampede through my property and head for the state park.  That will be the last I will see them for a couple weeks, so I hope my aim is good in the morning. 

[bushnell]

I hunt all day long. I normally see some guys in the morning but they are normally gone by noon. The only thing I hate about opening day is the fact that I have no idea where the other guys are going to be standing. I just make sure that I get out there before they do that way if they are walking in I can use my flashlight to hopefully wave them off into another direction.

[VenaticOutdoors]

Walk in a long way away from everybody and hunt known escape routes or travel corridors.  As the bullets start flying and people begin pushing land, the deer will come your way.  Thick cover is always nice too.

[First-light]

Everybody is in the woods pushing deer. Stay all day, High alert times are first light, 10 am, noon, 2 pm and last hour of light. Hear shots face in that direction and look for fleeing deer. Bring some food and beverage, hopefully you'll be back at camp with your deer by 9am.

[gundeck]

Regardless of your tactics, good luck to everyone and PLEASE be safe!

[Isles323]

Does anyone else feel like the deer know a lot of hunters go in for lunch? That seems like the time that i see most of the action on our property.

[First-light]

They push the deer coming and going and this time of year the deer will get up and mill about around noon after they have bedded for a while. Opening weekend it's the guys pushing the deer, they will settle into normal patterns later in the season when all is quiet.

[nycoyotehounds..BUB]

I will sit and wait

[fasteddie]

I'll be hunting my sister in laws property in Geneseo Saturday am . She said she would be in her stand also . Once I park , I only have a 1/4 mile walk to the stand that I will be using . I think I will take the ML instead of the shotgun . Curious to see how many gun hunters will be out and about .....

[Paulie]

Burt, I am with you on that!!

[Mr VJP]

Ditto!

Good Luck everyone!

[Doc]

Opening day, I will become a stationary part of the woods for the whole day. After that I will be using a special kind of still hunting technique that utilizes a combination of a super-slow-w-w-w still hunting pace with a lot of glassing of every stick and log, mixed in with 10 or 15 minute stands. It takes forever to get anywhere, but I have targeted areas to go through that really aren't all that big. There are a lot of places where I can almost guarantee that there will be some deer. It's all a question of moving through these places in a way that can't be detected.

Doc

[Hidehunter12]

the bug just hit me this am when i left work. :P

my plan is to make the 2+mile hike from the truck and sit all day in hopes i catch something moving thru.there will be atleast 4 of us on a 3thousand acre plot of state land,and im sure more but not to sure there willing to make the hike to the area im hunting.i'll spray some scent around when i first plop down next to a tree and leave the bottle about 15-20 yards infront of me.im using a diffrent gun this year so who knows my uncle has killed 99%of the deer he's gotten with it so lets see if it works for me.good luck every one.hopefully my father and i come home on the 219 with the tailgate down on my f-150 with atleast 1 deer with horns.Ps i have NMA decals on my truck if ya see it give a toot of the horn.