Please help me, What I should know about deer.

[freedomhunter]

Okay so unfortunately for me I do not have prime hunting where I live in FL.  No huge tracks of land and only 2 public land locations worth driving to.  I found this year to be one of my best even though I did not harvest a deer with my bow.  I dropped one small 6 point on Thanksgiving day with my .308 which was luck.  I was walking the main trail to my truck and was 10 feet away when I saw him on the main trail at 210 yards. 2 days before that I was hunting a rub line and the buck walked out and I missed at 10 yards with a Mossberg 590a1, I shot right over his back.  Hate buck fever.  I have not seen him since. Before this year my last deer was years ago.  Both deer were on a track of land that everyone shoots at and rides dirt bikes and 4 wheelers, because of this my days are limited by people being there.

Okay now for the help part.  I am really going to hit the public land hard next season for archery and I will have this other place to go here and there as well, but I got to thinking.  What am I looking for?  Food sources in FL, Yeah Oak trees but what else?  Bedding areas?  I kid you not spot and stalk is out of the question here, you cant see 10 feet in front of you in most places due to the palmettos.  Are they just bedding in think stuff or am I looking for something more out of the ordinary? Trail cams are nice but heck, being prior Law enforcement seems like a quick five finger discount on public land. So with that in mind, how do I go about finding out their direction of travel?  Its not like I have a huge food source and can hunt trails between that and their bedding areas.  How far do deer travel?  I keep reading the rut in FL is so different compared to the rest of the country.  How do I know if the rut is in full swing if I am not seeing any deer?

I really want to learn and have been putting things together on my own, which has been okay, but I want to be more successful and that to me is just seeing deer not taking something home.  If anyone has any tips or things to look for please let me know.

[Stephengiles]

This is my first year strictly bow, so I may not be qualified but heres what I've been doing. First get topo maps of the areas you plan to hunt. Then do some walking. I would think food sources are limitless in places that don't get at least several killing frosts. So you have to find something else. Hunt every chance you get not just deer season.any excuse to be in the woods. Knowing the lay of the land helps a lot. Another thing would be just commit to put the gun away for a year. You can't think like a gun hunter if your hunting with a bow. Tree stands are helpful although I hunt from the ground. But I think the best thing you could do is contact a man on this site by the name of RC, he's from south Georgia so habitat is similar. He's also a machine when it comes to bringing down game. Good luck.

[Sam McMichael]

There are a lot of guys who can give you much more complete information than I can, but I will try to get you started. First of all, you have a lot of homework and off-season scouting/exploration to do.

Obviously, since you are a successful gun hunter, you know something about deer and deer hunting, but study deer and their habits in depth. Just keep in mind that trad hunting is a very close in adventure, so thick foliage is not as much of a disadvantage as you might think.  During the off season find a location that has good deer sign without too many good trails for off road vehicles, if that is possible.

Find trails, feeding, and bedding areas. This is where the off season work begins. Learn the lay of the land, and study up on the types of food available, as well as when these food types ripen. This involves learning to use the topo maps as well as familiarity gleaned from time in the woods. Scout as often as you can and locate numerous stands sites. My understanding is that a square mile is about what a deer normally ranges, with more during the rut, so cover some ground. Deer will commonly have preferred travel routes that you need to find.

Once you locate a suitable ambush area, try to select multiple stand sites for a given trail or feeding area so you can adequately hunt the wind whatever direction it comes from.

As you can see, I have said a lot of stuff, all of which you have heard before. No magic secrets, just a bit of work and study. Let me repeat that trad archery is close in. Practice diligently, and try become proficient out to about 20 yards or so. Some guys do well at ranges longer than that, but as you read stories on this site, you will see than many very successful hunters keep ranges closer than that. Did I mention this is a short range affair? Be patient, and remember you will need to pattern the humans as well as the deer, especially if there is a lot of human traffic in your area. However, you may note that certain days or times of day seem to have less interference than other times.

Last word, and this is important. Use Permanone or Duranon on your clothes to protect you from ticks, and WEAR SNAKE BOOTS! Again, I apologize for talking so much without saying anything new and revealing.
Good luck, and I hope to hear of great future success with traditional equipment. Many things will show up on this site that will be useful to you.

[BOWMARKS]

I think Sam forgot one thing Traditional Archery's secret is get them shot's as "CLOSE" to you as possible !!!!

[swampdrummer]

Public land hunting in Fl is HARD. It helps to pattern the people just as much as you pattern the deer. Look for places with good cover and food that other people either overlook or won't work hard enough to get to. Doesn't neccesarily have to be miles back in either. Alot of times you will find that water is a great barrier from people. You'll still get some hard core folks that will wade a deep swamp in the dark to get to a spot but it for sure will weed out the weekend warriors.

The rut down here is pretty crazy for sure. Down here where I'm at they are rutting in the middle of August. 3 hours North and they will be rutting now on into January.
Good luck!

[LB_hntr]

Here would be my approach based on what you said.
1: go to bing maps aerial or Google earth of the area witch ever is more up to date.
Then print out a picture of the area and have it in front of you to marks stuff on. Still keep it up on screen so you can zoom etc and see finer detail.
2. Mark every place that gets a lot of human activity in red...quad trails, shooting ranges, hiking trails, etc.
3: find out what the deer are eating...acorns, browse, etc. If you can't figure out what they are eating Google deer food in Florida then see what stuff from that list is in the area.
Mark major food sources on map in green line oak flats, clear cuts etc.
4: find the most likely bedding areas if you can and mark those on map in green. These will most likely be the thickest stuff farthest away from people pressure.
 5: now look at your map and you have a big area that narrows down to use able area because you red out place not to go, greened places deer use. Now you figured out most likely places to begin ground work.
Go to that area and start finding trails and sign that lead from bedding to feeding and expand your leg work and scouting to paint a bigger picture of what deer are doing and how they use the land.
6: micro manage and start looking for funnels, edges, and other terrain features that narrow movement even more. Then find the one tree that more deer walk by than any other tree....set stand.

That's my every day every time way of hitting new areas.

[freedomhunter]

Thanks guys, great advise.  The land where I got my 6 point is very close to the highway so much so at night I can see the headlight through the trees.  Between the highway and the main trail is maybe half a mile wide but travels for miles both north and south directions.  I feel as if the more I hunt the spot the less chances of seeing deer in that area due to me being there so much.  How often should I hunt a stand location?  If I spook a deer, gun shot or being scented how long until they might be back.  I really think the deer are turning nocturnal on me and I believe since they might be going out at night along the highway to graze they do not have very far to move.  Should I move further south past my area for a new location or keep hunting the same rub line?  If I do go further south will I be hurting my chances due to scenting the area up looking for a new spot?

[freedomhunter]

I forgot to mention that I have no intentions to use the gun for the rest of the season.  I stated spooking the deer with a gun because that is what I did and I have not seen that deer since.  Maybe nocturnal or maybe got the heck out of dodge.

I have been shooting my trad bow every single day since I got it and I am loving every second.  Shot a few stumps walking to my Dads location and that in itself was a blast.

[jrchambers]

If you can move quiet enough and slow enough to where you look at every angle than really thick is good. I don't have a lot of white tail experience but I have moved in on bedding areas and been with in ten yards without them busting.
same thing for blacktails.  thick and close means slow and pick the bushes apart.  at least with blacktails I know that they rely on camo in cover a lot and wont jump until the notice you notice them I have walked right by does that I knew were there by walking slow zig zags and not looking directly at them.