Gun hunting

Wind is number one, then it depends on my mood. If I'm not to mad and just want to relax I may hunt a greenfield. If I'm real mad at them then I may get downwind of a bedding area. Real nice when you can actually smell them.

In the mornings however I will 90% of the time be sitting in a cutover. Just my favorite way to start a morning in the woods.

Bow Hunting

Wind again is the key. Then which ever white oak is dropping

They will choose one tree over another. Snoop around and you will find a tree dropping that they are hitting.

I guess I've always been an ambush hunter. I like to get on a heavily used trail and catch them coming thru.

Thats what I thought I was doing. Maybe I was. I'm going again tomorrow morning, have another trail I want to try.

^^^This

I base mine off weather. Save my best spots for the coldest days. Always want a NW or N wind to me. Havent been smelled yet.

The terrain determines a lot of where I decide to hunt. If it's real hilly like at Choccolocco WMA I like to focus on ridge tops that have ample bedding cover. In my experience, you'll see deer easing around the ridge tops more often than in the open hardwoods.

Up here in NC, if you hunt the Blue Ridge, finding finger ridges off the main mountain ridge and saddles in the main ridge are key to finding the deer. Haven't killed one out there yet but I don't focus a ton of time out there due to the short gun season. Another area I hunt here has a ton of mature pines and not a lot of oaks, which makes for easy hunting if you can get back to them without getting busted.

Finding routes of travel that allow deer to feel safe tends to be my main focus when selecting a stand site. It takes time to learn what areas produce and which ones don't.. One of the things that I've learned to do is to hunt only when conditions are favorable. Makes it more likely you'll catch one by surprise.