Bow Hunting Texas Whitetail. What Have You Learned?

[jt400]

I hear a lot of people talk poorly of our style of hunting in Texas. I.E. over a feeder. I explain to them that when it comes to archery, its still not an easy task to close the deal on a mature buck at 20 yards. I've seen a lot of guys try and try for years and but with little to no success. Doe and small bucks all day but can't get the bruisers to come in even though they're in the area.

What are some of the things you've learned that work or major mistakes you see people repeat over and over with the same lack of results?

I try to keep it simple. Don't announce your presence. If a mountain lion went to check his game cameras before he hunted an area he probably wouldn't be too successful.

[Evolver]

Mistakes:

1. Hunting the wrong wind. Happens over and over due to lack of options, or sticking to the original plan even though conditions are wrong, or because that is the setup the target animal was coming in to, false belief in whatever scent locking/destroying mystery gadgets and gear we bought, etc.

2. Arriving too late on stand and/or leaving the stand too early

[Arrowthreat]

This is how I approach the conversation with people who are from out of state. You can't group "Texas whitetail hunting" into one category. It really depends on what part of the state you're hunting in. Generally speaking, if you're east of I45, mature bucks won't get close to a deer feeder. You have to hunt trails or food sources. Hunting the Midwest over a corn field is easier than hunting a timber thicket in ETX, no question. But to be honest, hunting in central, south, or west Texas is probably the easiest whitetail hunting I've done. Mature bucks generally still hit feeders. There is always exceptions, but this has been my experience.

As far as strategies, it completely depends on where I'm hunting. A place that is very secluded with little to no people present is a different ball game compared to hunting a ranch where someone is feeding cows out of a truck everyday. Don't break routine.

[Krautzy]

Pictures of mature bucks hitting a scrape in the middle of the night do you ZERO good. Bucks do move in daylight, but you have to find where...

Don't hunt over the sign because more then likely its made at night.

[KactusKiller]

In my experience Texas as a whole has many different hunting styles because of the diversity of the regions. As a general rule of thumb Texas is mainly a feeder hunting state but even hunting feeders is different for different areas. In west & south Texas without feeders it would be near impossible to kill a deer much less a mature animal because there is no way to find pinch points, feeding areas and bedding areas. All of that is mixed together.
In central and especially east Texas feeder hunting isn’t as important as there is move abundance of crops and mast producing trees. Farther east you go the more feeders are less important and your options of hunting style becomes more abundant. I like hunting all parts of Texas to get a taste of different hunting styles. I like hunting west Texas because of the quality of animals but no can I just hunt a feeder all yr and feel satisfied as a true hunter. To me that style is more about “harvesting” a particular deer than searching and “hunting” for deer.
Listing what I have learned would take way too much time. But what I will say is do yourself a favor, hunt different areas of Texas whether it’s thru day leases or tpwd drawn hunts. It’s a real eye opener and you will learn a ton more than only hunting a box blind over a feeder.

[Drycreek3189]

During the rut all bets are off. If you have a doe in estrus the bucks following her will break all the rules, that’s how many of them get famous.

[diamond10x]

-No amount of scent blocker/cover can fool a deers nose no matter what lengths you go through. Wind is king.
-get creative, think outside the box

[txtrophy85]

Wind direction is paramount.

Also, a feeding deer is spooky. Watch your draw

[txoutdoorsman24]

One thing that I think is a problem is hunting only on weekends. Yes I know people have to work and can’t make it whenever they feel but I firmly believe the animals learn you and when you are present as opposed to not out in the woods. I’ve always been a random time hunter and go on different days and such throughout the season.

[jt400]

If the deer are already going there don't get excited and change things. Slide in and kill them.

[jt400]

Wind direction is paramount.

Also, a feeding deer is spooky. Watch your draw

Watch the other deer too. They'll pick you off just the same.

[BernieH]

1. pick a very small spot on the deer to shoot at.
2. aim low

[Capt.Bryan]

Sometimes we hope we are doing everything great. A few of my archery kills everything was wrong and still killed a ince buck.

Once I had just gotten call from work that I had to take and buck walks by pop up at 5 yards while I am talking on the phone

The other I had gotten off nights at the refinery (knowing my clothes had to still have gas/oil smell and buck walked right under tripod.

[jt400]

If the deer is on your camera regular but he's NEVER there when you are he has you pegged. It amazes me how little some people are willing to put that together. You have to change your entrance sometimes. The deer don't just drop in from the sky when the feeder goes off. They're close.

[Loneaggie]

Never mistake them not caring for them not knowing. I've observed up through about 3 years old, and some bucks even later they'll let you make mistakes and still be regulars, but don't mistake its not that they don't know you're there, its that they don't care you're there. Then that switch flips, and they start caring, and the game changes. The problem is you may have unintentionally educated them for 2-3 years without knowing it because... heck they kept showing up. Then around 4 or 5 they ghost you every sit.... well they probably know the clues of you being there better than you do. I had to learn this the hard way. Ironically pigs taught me the lesson. I would have pigs like clockwork... I would go sit... no pigs. Day after, pigs again. This is when I stopped sitting for pigs, and just stalk them after they arrive. They had become experts on checking my set. I can't quite do that with deer, but I use the lesson learned. Deer frequenting sets learn to check them, and monitor them. So I try to think of curveballs or miscues to throw them off. Sometimes its taking a different road in, getting their earlier or even later. I think most 4-5 year old bucks have the hunters patterned better than the other way around. So don't assume just because you have 6 2-3 year olds in front of you that your target mature buck "just didn't show up this morning"... its likely the 6 know you're there, they're just too dumb to care