Outdoorsmen Adventures.com

Deer hunting has quickly become one of the more popular big game animals.

The reason for this is simple; they can be found almost everywhere. These animals are very adaptable and can live in close proximity to man.

No matter where we’ve went there have always been deer around, both whitetail and mule deer.

One thing that I figured out a long time ago is that deer are like any other critter, including man, as they will take advantage of anything that makes their life easier.

I found this out the first couple of years while hunting near my cabin.  The deer, especially the bucks seemed to always come out in a certain area while avoiding others.

Unfortunately, the area they were using was impossible to hunt unless you sat on the ground as there was no place to conceal a ground blind and no trees big enough for a tree stand.

The next summer and early fall, I spent a lot of time in the woods, trying to figure out why one trail would be used more than others as all of the trails eventually led to their bedding area which were all in the same area.

Let’s look at the difference between these trails so we can understand how to make the deer come out in front of you instead of the other side of the valley.

Trail # 1 where I had a deer house ran along a fence line, through some brushy area down into a heavily wood draw.

Trail # 2 was towards the middle of the ridge, running through heavy cedar trees, this is where I had my two-man deer house.

Trail # 3 ran along a heavily wooded ridge coming out just below the north fence line, this is where I had a brushed in ground blind.

Trail # 4 came from a cornfield, across an open valley then headed up towards the ridge, eventually joining with the trails that came out on the ridge. This is were I had my Cabela’s Tri-Pod Stand set up.

After stumbling around, checking out each trail, it became pretty evident why the deer and especially the bucks where coming out on one main trail.

Trail # 1 was along a new fence line where a lot of trees had been pushed into a pile out of the way of the new fence.  These trees blocked almost all of the trails that had lead to the ridge.

To make this site, more attractive to the deer and easier for them to follow, I’d need to spend a couple of days opening up trails and trimming the low hanging branches.

Trail # 2 had two trails that ran down through the cedars and earlier that year, since this was the trail that seemed to get the most action and was the easiest to work on, I’d trimmed back the cedar trees and low lying branches on the other trees making it easier for both the bucks and does to get through it.

Trail # 3 would need a lot of work in order for it to be one that the deer could easily use as it came out of a cedar lined valley and then along a ridge with numerous other cedars.  I’d opened the area in front of the ground blind and hunted turkeys from this blind in the spring.

Trail # 4 was fairly well open from the gate at the cornfield out about 30 yards when it went into a brush and weed infested bottom.  To make this more attractive and open it up, I used a piece of mechanics or stove pipe wire and pulled the top wire of my gate down 6” to 8” inches, making it easier for the bucks to cross.

Then I used my riding lawn mower and brush whacker to cut a clear trail through the briars and brambles, making a nice easy trail that would lead the deer right to trail # 2.

By doing this, I had two opportunities to take a deer; depending on which direction they were traveling.  In the mornings I could set up in the Tripod stand, catching them when they’d make their move from corn field where they’d fed that night or at night in my two man blind catching them as they went from the heavily wooded ridge down through the valley back into the cornfield to feed.

To eliminate any chance that the deer might use the other trails, I blocked several of them with cedars that I’d cut from the other trails.

This worked extremely well as we knew the deer would take the easiest route and by opening up the area, they’d be there until winter really set in when they moved out and herded up down along the river.

It doesn’t take a whole lot of time to make your hunting area more attractive to deer and other wildlife, just look for their travel areas as they are creatures of habit and make it easier for them to get to where you want them to go.

Enjoy the fall weather and have a productive and safe hunting season!