Whitetail tactics last week of hunting season

[JIL_24/7]

Hello all,
I have found an area that appears to be frequented by whitetail. Last time out I tried rattling with no success. Just wondering if it is best to simply hide and wait. Doe bleet? Buck grunt? Rattle? From those more experienced I would love to hear how you hunt at this point in the season for whitetail. Thanks

[Ron.C]

in my humble opinion if you have an area with good deer activity near a food source, get into a stand before daylight and sit quietly from dawn till dusk and wait em out. Make sure you play the wind.

[RyoTHC]

in my humble opinion if you have an area with good deer activity near a food source, get into a stand before daylight and sit quietly from dawn till dusk and wait em out. Make sure you play the wind.

props to anyone who can accomplish this god awful boring style of hunting.

ive bagged 2 WT a year since I started hunting with the exception of this season only 1 because a moose filled the freezer and it’s always spot and stalk, even in the snow.. I have never once for any animal sat in one spot and waited for them to come to me and tag continue to get filled ...Don’t be discouraged... you may not get the biggest buck but there are plenty of them out there and the young ones aren’t so smart !!also don’t let everyone make you believe you have to sit around twiddling your thumbs waiting for these deer.. that *might* be how you’re more likely to shoot the resident granddaddy but he doesn’t taste as good anyways.. if you’re hunting for horns throw up a stand if you’re hunting for meat hunt however you enjoy the most and to me sitting still is wasting time !

carry a doe bleat or similar with you. Walk sporadically not like a human traditionally does and cover your sounds with familiar sounds and you’ll be shocked what you can sneak up on.

[Seeker]

You can always still hunt a whitetail, and if your really good or just plain lucky you will shoot some. If you want to consistently shoot a whitetail, you sit. I have hunted them for years off and on and I have only still hunted one and the reason I killed that one was because he was sitting on a hot doe with two other bucks competing for her. You best chance to kill a whitetail, without a doubt, is to find a good place with lots of sign and conceal yourself in a blind, tree stand, etc with the wind in your favour and wait them out. Better yet in the rut. There is a reason why the vast majority of whitetail hunters kill deer this way. It plain and simply works. If you struggle sitting still, try the still hunt method as RyoTHC does.

[RyoTHC]

You can always still hunt a whitetail, and if your really good or just plain lucky you will shoot some. If you want to consistently shoot a whitetail, you sit. I have hunted them for years off and on and I have only still hunted one and the reason I killed that one was because he was sitting on a hot doe with two other bucks competing for her. You best chance to kill a whitetail, without a doubt, is to find a good place with lots of sign and conceal yourself in a blind, tree stand, etc with the wind in your favour and wait them out. Better yet in the rut. There is a reason why the vast majority of whitetail hunters kill deer this way. It plain and simply works. If you struggle sitting still, try the still hunt method as RyoTHC does.

You are absolute right and I think it’s the number one reason more white tail aren’t taken in BC, this isn’t a popular hunting style out here for what ever reason.

I’ll be the first to agree though I’d likely harvest much more mature bucks if I spent my time in a tree in the same spots I already hunt but to me, personally that ruins the hunt...

even for moose this year, every single other camp was sitting and calling some finding good success and my impatient ass was hiking dozens and dozens of KMs all over hells half acre to spot and stalk one.. alas the hard work was fruitful in the alpine but many people filled their tags much easier than I did that hunt.. but I wouldn’t change it for the world ! Some people just can’t sit still and I can relate so as mentioned if ups aren’t one of them, you can and will still fill tags it may just take longer and be more work but it’ll be even more satisfying !

[Firstblood]

Whitetails are different than Muleys, they like the thicker bush and are more hesitant to get out in the open until the rut. Every big region 3 white tail Ive seen has been in December and they have been at first and last light chasing does. In the last week Ive seen a big 5x5 and a decent 4x4, both in fields less than 500yds from where I hunt. They are chasing does right now so get out and walk slow, I use a doe bleat any time I have to make noise walking and you will see deer but they will know you're coming so keep your gun at the ready. The guys that say sit tight and wait are right but you cant sit in a random spot, a big ol WT buck will have a pattern, a route they know is safe from food to water to bed, you need cameras out all year to figure them out and know where they will be at a given time and it might take a week of sitting all day just waiting for that one chance, I used to hunt back in Ontario and its boring as hell but its the only way to get them in the thick stuff.

[joshbazz]

props to anyone who can accomplish this god awful boring style of hunting.

ive bagged 2 WT a year since I started hunting with the exception of this season only 1 because a moose filled the freezer and it’s always spot and stalk, even in the snow.. I have never once for any animal sat in one spot and waited for them to come to me and tag continue to get filled ...Don’t be discouraged... you may not get the biggest buck but there are plenty of them out there and the young ones aren’t so smart !!also don’t let everyone make you believe you have to sit around twiddling your thumbs waiting for these deer.. that *might* be how you’re more likely to shoot the resident granddaddy but he doesn’t taste as good anyways.. if you’re hunting for horns throw up a stand if you’re hunting for meat hunt however you enjoy the most and to me sitting still is wasting time !

carry a doe bleat or similar with you. Walk sporadically not like a human traditionally does and cover your sounds with familiar sounds and you’ll be shocked what you can sneak up on.

I agree, it's so hard to sit still... I'm gonna have to find a doe bleat... I've tried to mimic the sound as doe bleat makes, but not sure if it's convincing enough lol.

[todbartell]

All day sit might be ok if you've got a treestand next to a bedding area. I think you'd be best off to hunt a food source in the afternoon

[HarryToolips]

You can always still hunt a whitetail, and if your really good or just plain lucky you will shoot some. If you want to consistently shoot a whitetail, you sit. I have hunted them for years off and on and I have only still hunted one and the reason I killed that one was because he was sitting on a hot doe with two other bucks competing for her. You best chance to kill a whitetail, without a doubt, is to find a good place with lots of sign and conceal yourself in a blind, tree stand, etc with the wind in your favour and wait them out. Better yet in the rut. There is a reason why the vast majority of whitetail hunters kill deer this way. It plain and simply works. If you struggle sitting still, try the still hunt method as RyoTHC does.

Bang on....I have killed quite a few WT doing both sitting and still hunting...I prefer to still hunt, but the odds of killing them on a more regular basis, especially with big bucks, get better if you sit...

[jac]

We pack an old sleeping bag and pull it up right over your boots and it can help keep you warm. You can get them hiking or sitting. We used to think morning and night was prime time but lots of them get killed mid day

[Sitkaspruce]

I was a still hunter for most of my 40 year hunting career; grew up chasing blacktails, then switched to muleys and now concentrate on whitetails. And that means changing my tactics. I still still hunt the odd time, but I chase WT's with a crossbow and still hunting with that thing is a challenge in it's self, never mind the whitetails. So I now scout the hell out of an area, figure out the feeding and bedding area and set up closer to the bedding area, I set up ground blinds in positions that give me the best advantage to the prevailing winds depending weather. Then I sit. It took me a long time to learn to sit, a long time. But now I look forward to it. I have a small tablet that I use to play games or review trail cam photos and I love to read, so a book is always with me. I read, play games and watch, lots of watching. But it is successful as I have killed 6 bucks in 7 years. But I don't see a lot. This year I sat for around 40 hours and saw 5 deer; two fawns, a doe and two bucks. But the freezer is full!

I do rattle and use the can call/grunt tube and this years buck came to the can call. Have not rattled in a buck yet that I know of, but the can call and grunt tube have had lots of action.

Sitting or still hunting both work and each application has it's pros and cons. No matter what method you use, play the wind, always be vigilant and be ready to make a decision and act on it because they don't give you many chances .

Good Luck

Cheers

SS

[Stillhunting]

I rattled in a big guy this morning, and he surprised me by sneaking in from behind through timber that I had just moved through. I stillhunt a thick, dark draw that goes up to a saddle on a ridge. The does like to bed on the ridge and the edges of the gully. I stop and rattle/call for 45 mins to an hour in a few places where there are some sightlines on my way up. Usually I hear the bucks come running down the gully, and I just hope they end up in a shooting lane before I get busted. I've taken 5 bucks out of there in the last 5 years, and watched 3 times that many that never offered a shot.

[jimzuk]

Do you use a grunt call or doe bleat.

[jac]

I have had far more success with the bleat vs the grunt

[Stillhunting]

Do you use a grunt call or doe bleat

Both. Grunt for more aggresive bucks, and bleat for ones that are more cautious.

[Nimrod]

I've done well during the rut calling while still hunting especially when the ground noisy. Obviously walk at a pace that's more like an animal with frequent pauses not trudging along like a hunter.
Glass more than you walk, you can never glass to much. Even in the thick stuff your gaze penetrates remarkably deep, when you see an ear or eye ball your going at the right pace.
My best WT was a no wind day with dry leaves that were very loud, making short steps with pauses that sound was carrying far and for sure he could hear that, a couple bleats every 10 min with the occasional grunt, that one came in on a rope and was keen on kicking my ass. Have caught smaller buck with the glasses cautiously skirting at a right angle to get the wind.
Still hard to get a shot, even doing it this way they often sneak in undetected and bust when they see you move, that happens to often, I just don't have the patients to sit for more than an hour at a time.

[valleycowboy]

for me personally....i love hunting the rut!! you never know what to expect,lol.
i sometimes drive around and hope to get lucky but i usually walk and still hunt....but my favorite is sitting in a stand.....yesssss,it can be boring but if you are in an area with good deer movement...it can be damn exciting.
i shot a good whitetail this year from a stand and it was infront and below me for 10 minutes at 8 yards. i had deer all around me.....talk about heart pounding,lol
best advice to give.....try it all and find what you like. sounds like you found a spot.....build a blind or tree stand....sit ,wait.