I asked that question of my friend, Dr. Grant Woods, one of the top deer biologists in the world, one time. He told me: “Whitetails react incredibly quickly to either a positive or a negative stimulus. Most hunters fail to take that into account quickly enough. For example, if a buck sees or hears you in a tree stand near a food plot, he will learn to avoid that spot very fast. He will still go to the plot (the positive stimulus) but he will circle your stand (the negative stimulus) possibly out of sight and range. You might sit there, not see any deer and wonder what is wrong. So hunters need to take into consideration how fast deer, [...]

Five tips for setting safe and effective tree stands: A solid tree about 15 inches to 20 in diameter is great. It is easy and safe to get your arms around as you set steps, climb and hang a perch. Once you’re up, a tree as wide as your body breaks your silhouette, but is thin enough so that you can turn and look around for incoming deer, and twist, draw and shoot if you have to. Once you’ve chosen a tree for a stand, back up 50 yards or so, bend and look up into the top of it from a deer’s perspective to see which height and angle provide the best backdrop and cover. Plan on hanging a [...]

July 4 is the official kickoff to deer-hunting season, the time when you start laying the groundwork to shooting a big deer in 3 or 4 months. Take a few days this month to tuck your pants into knee-high boots, spray down with strong bug dope and go for a power walk across your hunting areas. Look for the food and cover that will be available to deer from September through December. First, start with the easy stuff, noting the lay of corn, soybean, alfalfa and clover fields and clover plots on the land. Then probe deeper into the woods and point your binoculars into the tops of oak trees to see what kind of mast year it will be. [...]