Outdoor Canada’s 50 top tips, tricks and tactics for hunting white-tailed deer

#21  Hunt in bad weather. Wind, rain and snow reduce the effectiveness of a buck’s senses, his primary means of avoiding you. Deer don’t stop being deer in harsh weather, and you’ll have the added bonus of avoiding fair-weather hunters.

#22  Change up your hunting strategies according to the weather, deer movements, the rut stage and your gut instinct. Still-hunting, spotting and stalking, stand hunting, tracking, rattling, calling and deer drives all have their place; don’t get hung up on just one approach.

#23  Hunt where others don’t. This might mean ridiculously small patches of cover, thick timber or the cattail borders of sloughs and lakes. Trophy whitetails learn to avoid people and inhabit areas where most hunters fail—or fear—to tread.

#24   Consider using a muff on the coldest days to keep your fingers warm and ready for action; some even have a pouch to accommodate hand warmer packs. Wear gloves en route to your stand, then stow them and switch to a muff once you arrive.

#25  Hunt multiple stands. Deer patterns change in response to hunting pressure, weather, food availability and the rut. Recognize and anticipate these shifts, and establish your stands and blinds accordingly to provide options throughout the season.

#26  Try tag-team rattling to fool bucks that hang up, posting one hunter 50 to 100 metres from the rattler to intercept bucks on their way in. When selecting where to set up, take into account the prevailing wind, a buck’s instinct to circle downwind, and the location of bedding habitat.

#27  Hunt the big timber. It can be imposing and difficult to figure out, but deer in heavily forested cover will be relatively undisturbed and, as a result, less wary. With good snow cover, you can still-hunt all day and see lots of deer—and no other hunters.

#28  Hunt the bottlenecks, natural constrictions that limit a deer’s choice of travel routes. These include ridgelines, saddles, natural narrow areas within contiguous patches of forested cover, and strips of bush between wetlands.

#29  Limiting your deer-hunting time to the open season is just that, limiting. Scout year round and you’ll learn as much about the deer in the off-season as you do during hunting season. One of the best times is immediately after the season ends.

#30  A strategically placed deer decoy will often get a buck to stop when you’re hunting narrow open corridors, such as fencelines, seismic lines, abandoned roads and rights-of-way. Decoys are also beneficial when hunting large agricultural fields, suggesting to cautious deer that the coast is clear.