What’s the secret to deer hunting success?

There’s a difference between what I would say is the secret of success for me and how it is that the consistently successful WMA hunters are so.

I think it mostly has to to do with the time put in. Buck hunting isn’t like going bream fishing where you ought to be fill your bucket quick if you picked the right spot, the right bait, and the right time. People who kill a lot hunt a lot. Up until I quit putting a lot of stand time in when my daughter came, I’d get one shot a year at a truly mature buck. But it took hours of stand time. You’re trying to catch that needle in the haystack deciding to show itself at the edge of the stack when you’re there to see it.

Now for me specifically, I believe a key is beating their noses. But I also think that not all humans smell the same to them and some humans naturally have a less disturbing presence in the woods than others. Those people that repel deer more easily have to take extra effort to negate their odor. But even then, if you aren’t in a high deer density area, you still got to put the time in.

Pretty much if you do the opposite of what I do youll kill Deer....I suck at Deer hunting....

Being mobile and not hunting the same tree every time has helped me get on them. Hunt where they are not where you want them to be.

I’m just starting to get better at FL deer hunting.

Last year was like dumb luck but it was a funnel that had hot sign leading into it a week earlier - saw 4 does on the other side the day before… stayed along the edge and climbed the first good tree - didnt explore instead minimized my presence, couple hours later buck came thru and ended my season.

Bottom line is that the guys who always succeed refuse to accept less. They scout before and during the hunts, remember previous lessons, and only hunt hot sign or places they know the deer will be.

1. Time spent in the woods. (actually, scouting and hunting, not just walking around)
2. Understanding the animal (habits, preferences etc.)
3. Planning (but be flexible)
4. Dumb luck

Of course, time in the woods is #1.
Enjoyment of the sunrise, the bobcat or even the pileated that is screaming in your ear. If you enjoy those things, then you spend more time in the woods.
Learning to scout from a distance is very important in my opinion. Only go in when you feel it’s time to chance a harvest. Deer don’t like us “ all up in their shit”.

I think the main thing is scout. Scout scout scout. Getting out there as much as possible. Or even looking at google earth to find other areas. Don’t just stick to one spot because you got a buck on camera one time. Find where he is so that you get him every other day if not everyday. And playing the wind I believe is HUGE down here. You’ll never be able to get rid of your scent completely here in the south. At least for me I start sweating the second I step out of my car so scent control is a myth imo. So playing the wind is very key and as well as entering an area in a way the deer don’t. I’ve noticed several times that I had success it was because I entered the area from a different way because I had a suspicion that they were using my path and sure enough the first day I came in the other way I shot that buck

You need to be able to bend the rules. Take that shot at a deer just across the fence line. I like to set up on game trails that go to feeders, on public land when you dump corn cover it up with palmettos. Deer and pigs will still find it but the man won't.

When I kept 1500 acres on the edge of a WMA, the WMA hunters would crowd my border. I’d crowd theirs. They were waiting for the deer to come off of my side. I was waiting for the deer to walk by them and come onto my side. Most of the time, the latter is what would happen. Many a morning a buck would maneuver through the palmettos in the WMA and cross into my side without the WMA hunter seeing. Then it would get shot on my side.

I learned a lot about how deer can creep through chest high cover without being seen, and how often they’ll stick close to parked trucks to avoid hunters.

A good hunter should be able to walk onto almost any quota hunt in florida, especially with a bow and kill a deer in one or two days as long as he covers enough ground to find fresh sign.

A damn good pack of dogs, that's the secret.

yep

I’ve never even seen 25 wild quail in a day. I think I’ve never seen a covey much bigger than 5-6 and never more than a handful of times a year.

It would be a dream to take my 14 year old to hunt wild birds behind Art's dogs.