Pay close attention to the areas that bucks use during the early season. After the rut is over many bucks will return to these spots because they feel secure there.

Instead of becoming slightly familiar with a bunch of different areas, concentrate on becoming intimately familiar with just a few areas. The better you know your hunting spots, the greater your chances for success.

You can make a great blind covering from chicken wire and the leaves of standing corn. The leaves fade out to the same color and consistency as cattails, rushes and marsh grass but are much more durable and easy to work with.

Using sexual lures before pre-rut and rut is very unnatural. They can actually scare deer away. During the early seasons whitetails are in a reclusive feeding mode. Any lure used during this period must be a non-sexual attractant.

Remember "Sounds of Silence"? I'm far too young to remember any details about this classic song written and performed in D major by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkle back in September of '72 (Paul played rhythm guitar and Art sang harmony), but if I wasn't too old, there is a hunting lesson to be learned from the lyrics. To whit, let's say you're on stand and the squirrels are chattering, the woodpeckers are pecking and there's even an unseen mouse rustling through the leaves beneath your stand. Then suddenly nothing. No sound; or more accurately, the "sounds of silence." Do yourself a favor and get ready, something's coming. Any large animal, passing through the forest pushes a bow-wave of silence before them, no matter how furtive they may be.

Start with Salt! One of the best places to hunt deer is near natural mineral licks where salt and other minerals seep to the surface from underground springs. Deer love salt and will alter their travel patterns to incorporate salt deposits into their diets. But what if you can’t find any natural licks in your hunting area? Create your own. Buy a 50-pound sack of rock salt, and dump it at a strategic location specifically where you can access the area without spooking resident deer. Before long the deer will discover their new lick and set up shop nearby. The best time to apply the salt is early to mid-summer.

Use larger decoys when possible-it will help in attracting geese that are further away.

If you have a little remote clearing in one of your bowhunting spots, you can turn it into a deer magnet by planting a product like Imperial No Plow, this alfalfa and clover blend seed mix doesn’t require any plowing or heavy equipment to plant.