Share your opening day tactics?

[bayrat]

Ok, so I am chomping at the bit to get in my stand for opening day of gun. I will be in my stand all day along a heavily used deer trail containing a few scrapes that I found last week. I am not one for calls and scents but I will use a drag on the way up.

It has been 3 years since I filled my freezer so as you can imagine I am pretty hungry.

Btw I am hunting 7p new Berlin.

[nybuckboy]

I look at opening day a little different. Throw out all you've learned from bow season and preseason scouting. Set up in a funnel where you know deer will be pushed by other hunters and just sit there all day. Bring your lunch.

[BizCT]

never hunted in a tree stand. I am completely not-scented and dont use scents/attractants/etc.

For opening day of shotgun (3N), I will get to my spot around 545am, this way if anyone comes close to me i can flash them away with my flashlight. I usually see deer opening day before light. Its always frustrating watching deer before its light enough to see if they are bucks or does.

[DEADDEER1]

HUNT!!!!!!!!! get there early and being in a funnel isnt a bad idea. no your target good luck boys and girls!!!!!!

[mbucks27]

SIt sit and sit some more in a place where you know the deer will go once the pressure starts.

John

[G-Man]

In the morning I hunt a pressure funnel that connects to a 60 acre sancutary. The sm camps south of me push the deer here consistantly i've seen up to 37 buck and over 60 doe come thru in a few hours on some great opening days..best part is it all happens before 10 am! so a nice lunch back in camp is in order. If i didn't see what i wanted in the am to shoot i hunt a trail to food coming from the sanctuary..

[BizCT]

In the morning I hunt a pressure funnel that connects to a 60 acre sancutary. The sm camps south of me push the deer here consistantly i've seen up to 37 buck and over 60 doe come thru in a few hours on some great opening days..best part is it all happens before 10 am! so a nice lunch back in camp is in order. If i didn't see what i wanted in the am to shoot i hunt a trail to food coming from the sanctuary..

Lucky you! I'm not sure if I have seen 37 bucks in my life while hunting.

[First-light]

Sit all day! I hunt an escape rout and can see deer at any time. One thing I have learned from opening day is Expect the unexpected!

[ny hunter]

Be the first one in the woods sit all day and hope to get a shot at the big boy.

[RifleSharpShot]

Good luck everyone ill be in the stand bright n early looking for a nice 8 me and my buddys have seen close by!

[the blur]

^{I am going to smell like car exhaust. I am convinced deer love the smell of exhaust and are attracted to it. I will put all my camo over the exhaust pipe until they stink real bad, and then go out in the woods.}

[Elmo]

^{I am going to smell like car exhaust. I am convinced deer love the smell of exhaust and are attracted to it. I will put all my camo over the exhaust pipe until they stink real bad, and then go out in the woods.}

No wonder they keep running into highways!

[tughillhunter]

i always thought about parking a red truck in a cornfield.... every red truck ive owned ive hit deer with.

[rong]

gonna be sitting next to my son for his first try at stand hunting ,should be fun,have a buddy stand in a nice hardwoods overlookig a big thicket that the bucks always circle crusing for does,hope he gets a crack at one of the big boys that we didnt get during archery

[5.9cummins]

I look at opening day a little different. Throw out all you've learned from bow season and preseason scouting. Set up in a funnel where you know deer will be pushed by other hunters and just sit there all day. Bring your lunch.

I pretty much do some variation of this. Figure out what the other pumpkins are doing and set up according to that.

[Nomad]

Start off In a Timothy field I've watched a good buck cross mornings in bow. If he's a no show I'll walk 1/2 mile or so to my main spot,where I got 2 friends placed. Our woods/brush is surrounded by 100,s of acres of crops ( all down but clover) so the nearest other hunters are 1/2 mile away for the most part.

The ones I know will all be sitting as well,thats how the farm does it no drives,walking etc. it seems to be catching on all around as well , so not to many running escape routes except ones that start from far away . Kinda like bow season in gun.....

Edited November 16, 2011 by Larry302

[Deerthug]

Going to be doing all day sits Friday with my bow in my ground blind and Saturday with my 30-06 in my stand along the edge of a corn field. Deer trail coming into the field from my right and they meander along the corn. Hoping to fill my freezer this weekend.

[NYBowhunter]

I'll be sitting all day high up on a ridge in my ladder stand overlooking several travel coridors and apple trees....Also hoping to get one last bow hunt in on Friday morning and then relax the rest of the day and hang out with my two ole timer buddies, I also have a good friend of mine that will be joining us as well.....Good luck to all.

[Pygmy]

Escape routes are the key on high pressure days like opening day..

Prime time is between 11:00 am and 1:00 PM..

Bottlenecks are great, if you have access to one..The thicker the cover the better..

[SteveNY]

i always thought about parking a red truck in a cornfield.... every red truck ive owned ive hit deer with.

I have a red truck...

[Chrishunter]

For saturday I will not be where I hunted the property for bow season, gonna move about 200 yards away to extremely thick cover. I have always hunted the thickest cover during the first few days of gun season and had some pretty good results.

[wdswtr]

I will be sitting all day with the .06 in a pinch point at the bottom of 2 good size hills. I will be in a foul mood the hole time listening to 500 gunshots going off and knowing bow season is over for another year. Although it was a great bowseason. I wonder with this economy if people will start taking aim instead of winging lead seeing how expensive it is now. Yeah your right porbably not.

Edited November 17, 2011 by wdswtr

[growalot]

my browning and I will be sitting in an area they run through ...hoping not to get shot out of the stand....

going out now looking for one last bow doe....saw ...NOTHING yesterday....not even a fawn.....

[WNYBuckHunter]

I try to sit in escape routes near or in thick cover if Im hunting somewhere where there will be a bunch of others hunting. If its a low pressure area, I do the normal funnel and food source hunting.

[Red]

ill be hunting on state land my stand is placed in between 3 very nice funnles and in between a bedding area also above me are a couple of very arge farms that get a lot of pressure and on of my funnles runs from one of the farms down into my stand. ill try and sit as long as i can but usually late morning a big group of us set up a river bottom drive it we usualy do really well with this drive it takes usually a little over an hr its a 2 part drive. a few years ago 11 deer were taken on this drive and 2 years ago i took a really nice 11 pointer on it. then ill climb back into my stand.

Edited November 17, 2011 by shawn