Hunting is something people have been doing since the dawn of time. Hunting was a way to survive, but over time it has changed. Hunting is now more of a sport. You can still collect the rewards of the meat, and hide, but for a lot of people, they are going for the antlers. With hunting changing more into a sport than just a way of living, people are a lot pickier about the deer they shoot. There are many strategies for diving deeper into what people do to maximize their chances of harvesting a mature white-tailed deer.
With no experience, killing a mature buck is a lot harder. “Yes, you can [get a buck] with a lot of luck. [You have a] way better chance with experience to help,” said Doug Hubert, who is the President of Harrison Hunt Club. This is where things like hanging tree stands, watching hunting videos, and learning other hunter techniques come into play in killing mature white-tailed deer. “Deer are way smarter than they are given credit for they can pick up your scent, and they also will see you before you will ever see them. It would be pure luck for someone with no experience to go and kill a mature buck,” said Joe Vogelsberg, an avid bow hunter and Potosi alum.
Preparation is key for harvesting a mature white-tailed deer. Getting things like a scent killer or leaving your clothes outside so the deer won't pick up your smell can help a lot. Putting food plots in can increase your odds a lot. Hunting is a sport where preparation is huge when it comes to getting deer on your land and increasing your odds of killing a mature buck.
What are some things that you have to do before the hunting season to ensure your best chances at a deer during the season? Hunting is a sport in which you can put hours into the preseason and preparation to have it all come down to one place, one time, one moment, and that is never guaranteed. “To be prepared for the hunting season you need to be spending a lot of time shooting your bow to ensure an ethical kill shot,” Joe Vogelsberg expressed. This is so that when everything comes down to that one moment, you can take the deer down ethically.
It is also not just killing the deer that you need to get prepared for. You need to prepare so you can get yourself into that moment of killing the deer. “You need to spend time hanging stands, setting up trail cameras, and getting decent equipment,” said Doug Hubert. Setting up trail cameras is a great way to pattern a deer. Patterning deer is to find out when the deer is moving, and where they are going. At the same time, you need to hang stands where you have already been patterning the deer.
Hunting is a very fun activity that has changed over time into more of a sport. There is a lot more that goes into hunting for mature white-tailed deer than people think. Hunting is a sport that has no limits; you can put a lot into it to increase your odds, but there are no guarantees. I hope this gives more people the desire to start getting into hunting.