scout midday..
scent free.practice is a must.
spot light for bucks usually the ones you spot are in the gen areas..
try to stay out of suspected bedding areas..dont want to spook that trophy..
locate feeding and bedding areas to determine treestand setups..
find the water source..set your stand betwween these areas..
determine what foods are abundant and locate apple/crabapple orchards..
talk to landowners about sightings of big bucks or deer seen
talk to some of the local police and talk at the bars/restraunts about big bucks.
try to get your permission over the summer months/that way your not last minute.
trail cameras are a very good scouting tool ive learned and its a very fun side hobby..see what deer/bucks are in the areas and what times they are coming through..
check out the new areas that youve gained permissions to hunt.
the deer change their patterns between summer and fall months so you cant rely solely on what youve seen over the summer.
get in shape for hunting so your ready physically.
climb your treestand and have your stand all quiet and ready to hunt with..
practice ,practice with you compund or bow aor crossbow year round if ya can..moment of truth only comes around once..
have several spots and locations planned out for hunting.
always have a backup plan in case one fails..
i always atleast try to have 3-4 bucks spotted out that i want to hunt and concentrate solely on those bucks once again have a backup buck planned in case it gets hit by a car or another hunter gets him..
look for track sizes and rub sizes that can determine the size of the buck..big tracks and big rubs are good signs of big deer.
determine your daytime and evening stands change it up a lil.
i never hunt the same tree more than 2-3 days in a row they will pinpoint you as a hunter.learned this the hard way.
naturally later find the scrapes in pre rut the bucks will visit them from downwind.
try to setup your spots from downwind loacations hunt with wind to your face..
if you shed hunt you can determine if the buck you didnt get made it through the season..
go out on snowy days like today to termine deer travel paths that you might want to set up on..deer are creatures of habit..
during late season or winter find the food find the deer..
during the rut hunt the does to hunt the bucks..