I understand wind, food sources, bedding areas, but what factors determine where you are going to sit and when? Do you always pick certain things in mornings vs evenings? Obviously wind is going to determine a lot, but do you put any stock in the lunar phases and feeding times and all that.

Probably over thinking things, but I have the next two days off of work and I want to see some freaking deer.

wind wind wind

Available time and knowing what is in the area for me. I have to hunt when I can.

Wind, food, trials.

Also, sometimes trail cam pics.

No matter what answers you get,someone has experienced the opposite. Go hunt when you can and appreciate it. But when I do climb a tree, I like the shady side and to the right of where I think they will come.

Hunt when you can, hunt the wind, and hunt in between bedding and food or over food.

Can't play the wind where we hunt since it swirls, so I base it off what the food plots look like(how hard they are being hit),if acorns are falling, time of the season(rut or not), and what the trail camera's are showing.

Wind is the biggest factor assuming you can even know what it's going to do. SE wind has been forecast all weekend but it seems like in the terrain I hunt all bets are off and it's going to blow however it wants which often times is in every direction in turn.

Walked out of church this morning and thought "hey, that's a west wind". Went home and checked forecast again. It shows currently W (reality) and forecasts SE coming immediately. Go outside, yep, that's a west wind. Drive to Cahaba, make a last minute change of spots based on W wind and the fact that I was getting there later than I'd hoped. Park the truck, get out, yep that's a west wind. Get all my gear together, get strapped up, I'm about to step off into the woods and the wind starts hitting me in the a$$! No freakin' way! So it went back and forth for the next hour until it finally stopped altogether.

I'm still trying to master figuring out the wind.

All the factors mentioned above determine where i sit, but the moon plays a factor of when. Big, bright moon like we had last night, ive seen more deer moving mid day

Dont forget weather either... cold fronts pushing through bringing big temperature drops and rainy/snowy weather will get them on their feet quick as anything. I save vacation days to hunt a cold front

Fresh sign determines where I sit if I'm on a food source.

Don't overthink it is the best advice. Hunt near food sources with fresh feeding sign. If you're hunting mountainous terrain make sure you pay attention to wind and thermals.

Regardless of moon phase I hunt in the morning and evening with the additional mid-day sit when its bright with no clouds the night before. Don't get too wrapped up in the moon as I have seen and killed plenty of deer just after daylight the morning after a full bright moon with no clouds.

The point is, do what I said in the first paragraph and you'll see deer.

I guess I need to do a better job of finding FRESH sign. I have found lots of Oaks that are dropping, but I guess I haven't really seen much poop or anything around them.

You need to come down one weekend and go deer hunting. I can show you some things I look for. On hard hunted land I like to find something different or somewhere that gets overlooked by others

I'd love to. I thought I WAS doing something different or somewhere that was overlooked by others...but I guess it was overlooked because there aren't deer there!

Also, I understand we are only like 3 days into the season.

Sometimes you can overthink it too. Remember a wild animal doesn't have anywhere to be at any specific time. And deer are nosey sometimes too

Holler at me around thanksgiving I'll try to have you one tied up

lol will do.

I use to want to find a spot I could see a long way in a hardwood bottom and hunt with a Cannon.lol,didnt see many deer at all until I learned to scout.now I find myself in the thickest stuff and could easily shoot them with a shotgun.finf the food source and where they are coming from or going to,and you're going to see your deer sightings go up.but always try to keep the wind in your favor if possible.if you know of a big clear cut you could climb on the edge and just watch how they come and go and eat on just observe them.i find myself doing this often I like to watch them.

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.