One thing I love about deer hunting is that you can always, always learn something new. And despite hunting for about 20 years so far, I’ve certainly still learned more than my fair share this season! Now that being said, one thing I’m trying to do a better job of is taking these lessons learned, immediately processing them and then quickly putting my learnings back into action. And just this past weekend, a hunt I went on highlighted what I believe was an important lesson I learned earlier this season, that I quickly turned around and applied on this hunt. So with the hope that my example might help a few of you in the last few days of 2011, here is a brief review of this past Friday’s hunt and the unique steps I took to try and make this night a success.

Mistake Made and Lesson Learned: More than ever, this year I’ve been trying to pay attention to how I get to and from my stands. Specifically doing so in a fashion that won’t spook deer. This became particularly top of mind about two weeks ago, when I spotted four bucks enter one of my corn fields right in front of a stand of mine. One of these bucks looked to be a shooter, and I knew I had to get out to that spot soon. So the next night, I trudged out across the cut corn field towards the Muddy Stand hanging on the edge of the woods. A hill rose up about 50 yards in front of the woods, so I was hidden from view of the woods until I crested this hill. Unfortunately, upon reaching the top of the rise I looked down to the edge of the woods and my treestand, only to be greeted with an explosion of white tails bounding off into the swamp. Literally 15-20 deer had been bedded right on the very edge of the woods and I never had  a chance of getting to my stand undetected. This was the first time this year that these deer had bedded so close to the food, but given the late season patterns changing and the cut corn, I shouldn’t have been too surprised.

A Solution: So fast forward a week and a half later, I finally have the right wind and I wanted to try this field out again. My family had spotted a large group of deer heading out into this corn not a day or two earlier and I thought I could have a good chance if I could just get into position undetected. That being said, I knew a change of strategy was in order. You can see in the map above my old access route in red, which then ended at my tree stand marked by the red X. Essentially the ground to the west of the red X is very tall grass, swamp and thicket and the deer have been bedding in there heavily. This access route and stand worked wonderfully when the corn was standing and the deer weren’t bedded so close to the field, but that certainly wasn’t the case any longer.

After considering the options, I decided I would need to get creative. My solution was to travel along the southern edge of the corn field, by creeping just inside some tall swamp/grassy cover that bordered the crop field and paralleled the nearby creek. You can see my route in yellow on the map. The catch though, was that I would still stick out like a sore thumb if I just walked along the edge of the field or even in the grass. So I decided I would have to instead crawl on all fours just inside the edge of the grass until I reached a suitable location. So I did.

I crawled on hands and knees, through a very muddy sprawl of swampy grass for several hundred yards, while also carrying a muzzle loader, seat cushion, tripod, video camera, and all the other goodies you need to have in the field. Needless to say, it was a true joy…

After a long crawl, I finally reached my desired location, as marked by the yellow X above. This was the point where I finally could see across the field to where my stand hangs , which would allow me a shot if any deer should enter the corn where they had in the past. And upon finally reaching my destination, exhausted, muddy and wet kneed, I set up my camera, kicked back on the ground and settled in.

The Outcome: The rest of the evening was slightly less eventful and ultimately unsuccesful in regards to killing a big buck. BUT all was not lost, as my change in strategy did in fact result in a positive outcome.  Later that evening I did end up seeing a handful of does cruise out in front of me and one deer at last light may have been a buck. If I had stuck to my usual entry strategy, I am confident I would have once again seen nothing but tails bounding away. But by making a quick adjustment and taking the more stealthy, albeit difficult, route I was able to enjoy a better hunt and ultimately could have had a chance at the buck of my dreams.

So while I still didn’t bag my buck, this change in strategy was certainly still one I’m happy I made. Being able to learn from mistakes made throughout the season and quickly act on lessons learned is, in my opinion, the true mark of a growing and improving hunter. And although I certainly can’t claim to be a great hunter, I’ll take “improving” any day.

So here’s the situation. I’m in a bit of a pickle. As many of you saw already, I had a great encounter with a buck I call “Six Shooter” this weekend. Two encounters in fact. To summarize for those that missed it, I watched this buck come in and bed 90 yards from me Sunday morning, and spend about two hours bedded or milling around me. Around noon he left. I snuck back in that afternoon and watched him reappear, and spend that evening hanging around this area for another two hours. He ended up coming in towards my stand, but passed about 10 yards out of range. In addition to these two sightings, I have trail cam pics of this buck in this general area over the course of the last 2 weeks. So all that being said, I feel relatively confident that this is an area he’s spending a lot of time at. With these kind  of early season sightings, part of me says I should get after him a little harder.

But on the other hand, my original plan for my property this fall was to keep it as low pressure as possible. I only have 90 acres, and I wanted to hunt it very lightly until the rut. So my dilemma is this…Do I go in hard to try to capitalize on this buck now, or stick to my plan of not over hunting the area, and hunt it sparingly til the rut? The next question I asked myself after that, was do I stick with my current stand or do I make a move to get closer to the area that I’m seeing this buck?

I asked myself these questions over and over again, and then I decided to pick a few more brains as well. Specifically the brains of some of the top whitetail hunters on this piece of rock. No surprise, these folks were generous enough with their time to provide some advice into how they would handle a situation like this. So take a look below for expert opinions on my situation from Todd Pringnitz (Founder of White Knuckle Productions & Whitetails Inc), Bill Winke (Creator of Midwest Whitetail), and Dan Schmidt (Editor-in-Chief of Deer & Deer Hunting Magazine)

Todd Pringnitz:

“First, he was there then, if you know he’s still there, I’d be hunting him.  They don’t stay in one area and bed for the season.  They are cyclical like we are as habit forming humans, but they rotate through a pattern that revolves around food, cover, water, and a basic instinct to not stay in one place for too long (unless they don’t have a choice for lack of cover).

I’d move right back in for a couple hunts, and then pull back out.  If you keep seeing him, stay on him and make adjustments until you either blow it, or kill him.  I learned that from some really good hunters years ago.  The common theme was “if you blow it you blow it, but if you don’t try, you may never get a crack at that buck again.  Once the rut starts, it’s anyone’s guess where that buck will be”.”

Dan Schmidt:

Bill Winke: 

“It is rare to ever have a mature buck pinned down.  When that happens you need to do everything in your power to get him right away before he changes his patterns. I think it is fair to say he may not always bed in the same exact spot nor leave the field via the same trail, so before moving, I think I would hunt the existing stand at least one or two more times.  If you see the same behavior, then it is worth moving.  I would not make the move based on just that one sighting – like I said, he may do slightly different things each day.  But be ready to act once you see the pattern narrow down. I think at that point, if you can move in closer without the buck realizing you are doing it, that is the best strategy.”

Great insights there for sure, and one thing to note, is that no two people completely agreed on the same strategy. And isn’t that beauty of chasing mature whitetails? There is no one right way to go about it. So with that in mind, I’ll be taking all of this advice in mind, as well as the great tips I’ve gotten from you the readers and put together a game plan of my own!

• As an update, I did end up going back in to this stand tonight (Wednesday) and had another encounter with Six Shooter, nearly identical to the experience Sunday night. Thats three sits in a row now. So with that in mind, I’m planning on adjusting slightly, only hunting the area on the right wind and still being very careful. But I am going to go in after him.

Any more thoughts from you, the Wired To Hunt Nation, are always appreciated as well!

As we all know, there are a million different strategies, tips and tricks that can help you bag the buck of your dreams. But on the other hand, there are just as many, if not more ways to screw it all up. Hunting mature whitetails is an exercise in walking the thin line between success and failure. You can use all the latest and greatest gear, spend months preparing and devising a fool proof strategy, yet still throw it all away with one careless mistake. So today, rather than looking at strategies to get that big ole buck you’ve got your eye on, lets take a minute to discuss four ways you can ruin your season right now. (Spoiler alert: These are things you DON’T want to do)

Hunt Your Best Spots Now: Early season success can be had, thats for sure. But you don’t want to sacrifice possible success during the rut  (AKA whitetail superbowl), if you’re just hunting blindly early in the year. Plan to hunt a couple of your good spots once or twice in the very beginning if you must, but then leave those spots alone til that rut period. Hot rut spots include funnels between bedding areas, bedding areas themselves and primary scrape areas. Although they may look enticing now, hold off and then hit them hard the when the gettin is good. If you over-hunt them early, you’ll most likely blow them out before you ever get to capitalize on that awesome early November timeframe.

Walk Through Food Sources Before Your Morning Hunt or After Your Evening: Want a sure fire way to alert your local deer herd that you’d like to stick an arrow in em? Go ahead and walk across that alfalfa field the first morning when you go into your stand. Then when you leave at night, climb on out and hike back across to your truck. Those snorts, stomps and flagging white tails? Don’t worry about em. Thats just your 2011 hunting dreams flitting away. No big deal, right? Wrong. When you’re heading to or leaving your stand, you MUST have an access route that avoids deer activity. If you consistently blow out food sources, these deer will become more nocturnal or avoid the area altogether. Don’t let that happen. In the mornings, access your stand in a way that keeps you downwind of food sources and out of eyesight. In the evenings, try to have a easy access route that you can get to without walking the edge of any nearby fields. If you have to  hunt a field edge, at least try busting the deer out of there before you climb down and say “Hey, I’m a human! Been sitting here all night!”. One option is to have a buddy drive a truck or four wheeler near the field to clear it after dark, so that you can then sneak out with them gone.

Hunt The Same Stand Over and Over Again: You found a good spot, right? And I’m assuming you’d want to be there as often as possible, because it’s so good, correct? Well unfortunately this line of thinking is popular, but as they say, too much of a good thing isn’t very good. I’m very guilty of doing this in the past, as I’d sometimes get stuck on a certain area or spot. But you really need to space out your hunts in certain stands. The most succesful sits in a given stand are almost always within the first three. After that, you’ve left enough scent and caused enough commotion that any nearby mature buck is probably on to you. Plan as many different stand locations as possible, and rotate so that you don’t over hunt one spot too early and too often.

Don’t Worry About The Wind Because Of Your Carbon Clothing Or Scent Eliminators: A popular hunting clothing company once used a slogan of “Forget the wind, just hunt” to promote their clothes and boy did that backfire. Not only is that a bunch of bull, but they also got sued. Unfortunately the real travesty was the fact that lots of hunters believed it. And if you’d like to blow your chances on Mr Mossy Horns this fall, go ahead and do the same. But if you’re like me, and you’d rather eat venison than a tag, I’d recommend you keep wind top of mind. I use every scent eliminating tool in the book, but wind is still a key factor. No matter how much scent you eliminate, it can never takes care of 100% and even that little itty bit of human scent blowing down the draw can ruin your season. So practice all the scent control you can, but at the end of the day, make sure you’re playing the wind right too.

So please, if you’re looking to let your bucks grow another year older, follow these four tips to the “T”. I don’t think I’ve ever been more confident with a recommendation, so if you’d like to ruin your season, this is the recipe for success.

But if not. If you’d rather follow a few drops of blood on a frosty November morning with a tall tined rack at the end of the trail, I’d say you ought to avoid these four mistakes like the plague!

I do it every year. I tell myself I’m going to be better prepared, I’m going to be ready earlier, I’m not going to wait til the last minute. But every year I still do the same thing. I get busy, I lose track of time and before you know it the season is almost here and I’m running around like a chicken with my head cut off. So that being said, you can probably imagine what I’m doing right now. The headless chicken dance. But not all is lost. I’ve still got a solid idea of what I need to get done and a few weeks to get moving on it. With an October 1 archery opener in Michigan, I like to have all of my in-field prep done ,at the absolute latest, by end of August. That way the woods has a full month to calm down with no pressure. So with that in mind, my to-do list for the end of August is pretty long. To help you all make sure you’re completely on top of the game, I thought I’d share a few of my top priority items to complete before the end of August.

Make A Game Plan: Now is a great time to do any last minute scouting neccessary to help you devise your game plan for the early season. Make sure your aware of what food sources deer are using now and what food you think they’ll be using come the opener. They can definitely be different between now and then. Plan out your stands based on this information and make sure you consider prevailing winds come Fall. Now is the last best chance to confirm bedding areas, double check travel routes and confirm any other suspicions about deer movement on your property before the season is upon you. Lastly, I like to tentatively map out my initial hunts in regards to what stand locations I want to hunt (if wind cooperates) throughout the early weeks of the season. From early season, to the October lull, to the early pre-rut things can change a lot. So having a game plan in place for this constantly changing situation can be helpful.

Entry and Exit Routes: This is also a great time to nail down stealthy entry and exit routes to your stands. This is an area I’m still learning about, but it’s something I’ve finally realized is a big deal. If possible, find creeks, ditches or anything else that can help you get in and out of your stands without being seen by deer. Some folks, like Bill Winke, go so far as to pick stand locations just because of great access routes.

Finish Your Fall Plots: Here’s an area where I’ve got a lot to work on. I just started spraying some areas for my fall food plots and I want to plant in the next couple weeks. Make sure you’re aware of the ideal plant dates for whatever forage your planting and don’t be late! Lastly, even if you’re in a rush, don’t forget that soil test. Taking the little extra time to send in a soil sample can save you a lot of hassle and disappointment in the long run.

Practice: For me and many of you, this is year round. But practicing with your bow or gun should go into over drive here in late August and September. I’ve written about this before, but this time of year I like to throw a curve ball into my practice regimen. Run a couple sprints and then shoot. Shoot lying down, kneeling, leaning back against a tree, leaning around a tree. Practicing in these strange positions now will help you better prepare for the real deal. And you just never know what can happen when a deer is in front of you.

Check Gear: Now is good time to start checking all of your gear for “quality assurance”. Some people wait til the night or two before the season, but I’ve found that if you do this and find something broke or needing replacement, it doesn’t give you much time to take care of it! Check everything now and you’ll be much less stressed in the final days leading up to the season.

Set Up Cameras for New Bucks: It’s a lot of fun getting trail camera pictures of bucks during the summer. But for most of us with small properties, the majority of the bucks pictured won’t even be on our property come hunting season! When velvet starts shedding in early September, bucks will break up their bachelor groups and move to new areas. This means there will be some new bucks on your property come September, and they’ll most likely be the bucks that are on your property for the rest of the hunting season. Get your cameras out in late August, put an attractant out (if legal) and get ready to meet your new bucks. This is really when you can build out a legitimate hit list. Just be careful not to check your cameras too often in September! Keeping pressure low is key, so I’ll probably only check my cameras once in September and then not come back til I’m hunting in early October.

If you can check these six items off your to-do list now in August, I’d say you’ll be sitting pretty come the opening day of the season. Preparation is the ticket to success in the whitetail world, so don’t let time pass you by. Get working now, because before you know it,  we’ll be hunting!

If you’re following W2H on Facebook or Twitter, you may have seen last week that we discovered that the buck we called Backyard 12 is actually a 13! Upon reviewing my footage of him on the big screen, we noticed a short sticker point coming off of his right G3. Needless to say, this buck is a stud. Big frame, split brows and now a sticker point to boot! In addition to the revelation of the 13th point, I also got a couple trailcam pics of this Michigan giant, as you can seen above.

So as exciting as it is to have a buck like this on my farm, it’s a little bittersweet. I say this because I’m actually going to be moving to a new farm this week! But that’s a story for another day. That being said, I’m still looking to keep hunting rights on this property. I’m just going to have to hunt it before or after work, since it’s close to work but far from my new home. So with that in mind, I’ve developed a revised gameplan for hunting this buck come bow season.

Now it’s all well and good that I’ve got video and trailcam pics of this buck in my field now, but we all know that things change come hunting season. Actually they change in September! As many of you are aware, a large number of bucks travel away from their summer ranges once velvet comes off in late August or early September. So with that in mind, I’m guessing that there is probably an 80% chance that this buck will not be living on my farm come October 1. And even if he is, he’ll most likely not be on the same pattern, because the soybeans he’s eating now will likely have turned by then. In all honesty I’m assuming he’ll be long gone, but at the same time I just can’t throw in the towel either.

So my gameplan is this. I’m going to be working on a variety of different properties over the coming months, and won’t be hitting this farm up for awhile. But a week or two before the season opens, I plan to sneak back on the farm and place a few cameras after work. If the buck is still in the general area, he’ll likely be in or around the corn field next door, so I’ll place my cameras and BB2 near the field and hope to catch him on my TrophyCam.

My best shot, if he’s still there, will be to hunt that part of the farm during the first couple days of the season. So I’ll hunt a few evenings during the beginning of the season and check those cameras on my way to my stands. If he’s on there, I’ll know that we beat the odds and that he’s around. But if not, I’ll probably back out and not hunt this farm again until maybe the rut. This farm has been heavy on does and yearlings but nothing more, so if the Backyard 13 has moved on, I’ll prioritize other areas. But if by some twist of fate he decides to stick around, I’ll be doing my best to stick him.

Getting to hunt a buck like this is a rare opportunity in Michigan and one that I’m very excited and privileged to have. Hopefully with a little luck and good timing, I’ll get to put my eyes on him one more time. And maybe, just maybe my hands on his rack too.

To see more pics of and hear the story of how I got some up close film of the Backyard 13, click here.

Today while perusing the local grocery store, I made my weekly pilgrimage to the magazine rack. I’m always on the prowl for the newest issue of Deer & Deer Hunting, North American Whitetail or one of the other great hunting publications that grace the shelves. Well I came upon an interesting article on hunting early season whitetails by Bill Winke in Petersen’s Bowhunting (if my memory serves me correctly). And in this article, Bill made an interesting point that I wanted to share with you. Here’s what he said, in regards to how he uses his trailcams in the early season.

“You need to know what bucks are nocturnal, which ones are mostly nocturnal and which ones often travel by day. Obviously, the daytime travelers are the ones we want to see. Don’t be duped into thinking you can hunt an area where a strictly nocturnal buck is living and somehow he will move during daylight just to oblige you. I have fallen for that temptation too many times. I won’t let it happen again. All I did in those cases was needlessly over-hunt the buck’s core area at a time when he was not vulnerable. The risk of educating him was much higher than the possible reward of shooting him.

So like I said. Very interesting thought, and one that I hadn’t really considered myself. I think it makes plenty of sense, but it also makes me ask a few questions as well. For instance, if I only get trailcam pics of a buck at night, could this possibly be more because of my camera placement and not really his tendency of moving in day or night? The average Joe probably can only afford to put out a few cameras on a property, so does this limit your ability to make a quality judgement of whether this buck is nocturnal or not? I definitely think Bill brings up a good point, but I imagine you need to take it with a grain of salt and not make a rash judgement call on a buck’s nocturnalness or not, based on one trailcam pic or location. But that being said, I’m definitely going to keep this in mind come October.

What are your guys’ thoughts on this? Do you think you should wait to move in on a buck until he shows daytime movement on trailcam? Or are you missing out on a chance to fill your tag by waiting?

Todd Pringnitz of White Knuckle Productions shared with us his answer this past weekend and luckily we had the video camera to capture it. I honestly believe that playing the wind in this fashion is one of the single most important strategies to understand when taking the plunge into chasing mature whitetails. Be sure to check out Todd’s tips and if you leverage this strategy this fall, I can promise you’ll begin seeing results. Here at Wired To Hunt we are all about trying to help you become better deer hunters, and the strategies discussed in this video will do just that. Don’t miss this.

Do you have any more tips or insights into hunting bucks with the wind in their favor? Please share it with us in the comments! Have questions about this strategy? Leave those in the comments too and Todd, me or another member of the Nation will help you out!

For those of you that aren’t familiar, Archery Talk is one of the most popular and highly visited bow hunting forums on all of the internet. There are thousands and thousands of hunters that hit this site every day to share their stories and ask new questions. With deer hunting season upon us, I thought we could all use a general refresher on some good deer hunting tips, so I posed a question to the masses on Archery Talk. I asked them for their #1 deer hunting tip. From that question we had 90 people share their best deer hunting advice and from that I was able to pick the Top 10 to share with the Wired To Hunt Nation. So read on for 10 great deer hunting tips that any hunter, new or expert, should keep in mind this season…

• Pick your battles, it’s better to hunt once with the correct wind than to hunt 10 times with the wind not in your favor. – Maximus
• Doesn’t matter how good your stand location is, if you can’t get in and out undetected. – FlinginCarbon
• Hunt 10-2 and during rain/snow. And remember,  the morning you want to sleep in, is the morning the biggest buck in the county walks by your stand. - Weegee
• Your best chance at taking a mature whitetail is the first time you hunt a location. – sgspencer
• In order to kill a deer you have to be hunting where deer are. Doesn’t matter the size of the deer, you have to be where they live.  - Jellio
• Look for areas to hunt which other people overlook or simply will not go. Some of my best stands are in places where people wouldn’t even think to look. If its big enough for a buck to lay down and feel secure, thats where one will be. – jlh42581
• Be determined-I’ll take will over skill anyday. – Timber Hawk
• Aim small, miss small. – scissorhands
• Early season find the FOOD, WATER, and COVER and you’ll find the deer. -mdnabors
• A Positive attitude and/or belief in yourself and your hunting abilities….even when the going gets tough…..is the best ally a hunter can have. – Split G3

To see the rest of the tips shared on Archery Talk, view the entire thread here.

In the most recent issue of “Quality Whitetails” from the QDMA, Don Higgins wrote an article titled “6 Mistakes You Can’t Afford To Make”, in which he discusses several of the biggest mistakes you can’t make if you want to hold and kill mature bucks on small properties. It’s a great article and he made a few really important points that I thought I should share with the Wired To Hunt Nation. In addition, I’d also like to add my 2 cents on four more mistakes you can’t afford to make if you want to effectively hunt mature bucks on a small piece of land. Lets first examine Don’s six points.

1. Too Much Hunting Pressure: Having too many people hunting on your parcel of land is obviously going to make it more difficult to harvest an old timer buck. Pressure, or rather the lack of it,  may be the single most important criteria in holding and hunting mature bucks in a location. You absolutely have to minimize it in any way possible. Don recommends limiting the number of family and friends that hunt your land. If you’re goal is fun times with your fam and friends, then invite them all out. But just manage your expectations accordingly. You won’t be consistently killing mature bucks on a 40 acre parcel with 8 other people hunting it.
2. No Sanctuary: Mature bucks need thick, untouched cover to feel safe and move in the daylight. If you want these mature bucks to be moving around on your land, you need to provide that safety zone. Delegate a large piece of land to be a sanctuary and leave it alone.
3. Sanctuaries That Are Too Small: Having a sanctuary is great, but it also has to be substantial in size. You want a piece of land where deer can retreat to and not be bothered by people traveling around the outskirts. The bigger the better. Also keep in mind the quality of your sanctuary. The thicker and nastier you can get it, the safer a mature buck will feel.
4. Food Plot Issues: When it comes to food plots, you have to think strategically. Don points at errors in both crop choices and size as being the most detrimental to your success.
5. Too Many Trails: Having a property laced with frequently traveled atv trails and two tracks is not going to be conducive to holding mature bucks. This is just one more example of putting too much pressure on deer. You want to stay out of their hair, so they will feel safe and hang out on your land. Driving your atv all over tarnation is not going to make your bucks happy.
6. Failing to See the Big Picture: Look at the larger area surrounding your land and figure out where your land fits in. Is there significant agriculture on the adjoining properties, but no cover? You can develop your land as the top destination for bedding and great cover. Figure out what is lacking around your area and provide that for your herd.

So obviously those are all important issues to consider, but I thought I would throw in a few more for consideration.

1. Too Much Pressure On One Stand Location: So many hunter’s hunt the same stand over and over again. No matter where you hunt, this is going to significantly  hurt your chances of ever seeing a mature whitetail deer. If you’re hunting a small piece of land, your mistake will be that much more detrimental. There is very little room for error. Rotate your stand locations as best as you can and leave your hunting areas as unpressured as possible.
2. Not Thinking About How You’re Getting To and From Your Stand: It’s important when planning out your land or stand locations to consider how you will get to and from your hunting area. You need to be able to travel to and from your stand without spooking deer, so think through your travel plan strategically. Keep in mind wind direction and where deer will be at that time of day, whether that is bedding or feeding areas.
3. Not Considering Pressure on Surrounding Property: In addition to managing the pressure on your own land, you will need to consider what pressure there might be surrounding it. If you hunt a small piece of land, this issue is even more relevant. Consider where the hunting pressure might be coming from outside your borders and develop your hunting plan accordingly.
4. Hunting Your Stands At The Wrong Times: This ties back to over hunting a particular stand location, when you’re hunting a small piece of land or in a pressured area you just can’t afford to put too much pressure in one location. That being said, it is ideal if you have certain stands that are designated for specific times of the year. For instance if you have a great set up that is over a primary scrape area in a travel corridor, you may want to hold off on hunting this spot until the rut. Keep it free of human intrusion and hunt it only during the very best circumstances. Too many people find a great spot, but then hunt it over and over throughout the whole season. Save your best spots for the rut and hunt them strategically.

Remember these 10 “mistakes” when you are planning your hunting strategy on your small property and you will have much more success. A small piece of property can still be a great place to hunt mature deer, but every mistake you make is magnified. Play it smart and plan strategically. Your hard work will pay dividends down the road, hopefully in the form of giant racked bucks and bloody arrow shafts.

Do you have any other big mistakes that you’d like to add to the list? Please share them with the Wired To Hunt Nation!

Visit the QDMA website to download your own copy of Don Higgin’s original article.