Safety Harnesses:
Hunters who don’t wear their safety harness when climbing or when in their deer stand are just being foolish. Every year you hear about someone falling out of their stand and getting hurt (often seriously), but we all think it won’t happen to us. Wear your safety harness. It’s not that difficult. If you won’t do it for yourself, do it for your wife, kids, or parents. Think about how you will feel if they have to care for you for the rest of your life if you fall and become paralyzed.
Wind Direction:
During deer season the wind blows out of the South 22% of the time, North 15%, SE 13% NE 10%, E 10%, SW 10%, NW 8% & W 5%. (Totals don’t add to 100 as when the wind is barely blowing it is not taking into account for the statistics.) So check the wind before picking your hunting spot. However, always remember that the wind changes directions constantly and often so you should be high in your stand and do your best to keep scent-free.
Wind Speed:
I used to believe that deer don’t move as much when the wind gets over 10mph.? However, a recent study showed that unless the wind is really strong, it does not affect deer movement too much.? And studies also show that deer don’t move as much on really calm days.? But this could be because it is usually warmer on really calm days.
Bright Nights:
Deer move more at night during full moons and bright cloudless nights. So they sometimes move less during the day after bright nights. But recent studies may refute this notion.
Oak Trees and Acorns:
All oak trees fall into 2 groups, White Oaks and Red Oaks. White Oak leaves have rounded lobes, while Red Oak leaves have pointed lobes. Generally, Red Oaks have darker smother bark while White Oaks have lighter rougher bark. White Oak acorns have less tannin making them sweeter and more attractive to deer. Red Oak acorns have more tannin,, making them more bitter. Therefore deer tend to target White Oak acorns until they are gone, and then move on to Red Oak acorns. Acorns can comprise more than 30% of a deer’s diet. When acorns are in great supply, this can increase to up to 75%.
When to Call & Rattle:
Per an article by Steve Barteyla, you should only call or rattle if it is close to, during or right after the rut AND you are hunting low to medium pressured bucks. Otherwise, he says you are just training the bucks to ignore the calling/rattling.