Across America, whitetails are accustomed to seeing and living around houses, roads and people, but they’re still wary animals. Say you’re hunting a small area and catch a buck crossing a trail or gas line between two thickets. If you walk away from the deer, he’ll often continue on his way, watching you out of the corner of his eye. But the second you stop and move toward the buck, he’ll spook and flag away. Car exhaust, barbecue smoke, barking dogs… Deer that live under our noses put up with all sorts of nasty smells and sounds. But when you step into a small patch of woods to scout or hunt, you’d better be quiet and clean and play the [...]

When bowhunting large cut corn or alfalfa fields, I often have a buddy drive a truck or ATV through the field and drop me off and pick me up after dark as close as possible to my tree stand. If deer are out in the field or close by in the surrounding woods, they obviously run off, just as they would any normal day when a rancher or farmer drives by. They are used to farm vehicles. I have my driver park and idle right there until I slip out and climb up into my stand. When he drives off, deer will eventually pop back out into or near the field like nothing ever happened. With some setups hard on [...]