Whether it’s before the hunt, during the hunt, or after the hunt, there are always tips and tricks to make your hunting experience more enjoyable and more successful.


Follow these 50 tips and your next hunting trip will be much more of a success.

1. Are you really able to fool the keen smell of the deer?


After washing your cammo with an unscented you still need to protect them from picking up odors from the air. Try this: After washing, pack them in scent proof bags and add in some dirt wafers. When you are ready to use them, take them out and you will smell just like dirt.

2. Stop Sliding Slings


Sew a big button on each shoulder of your hunting coat. Place your gun sling over the button. Sling will not slip off when walking and will free both hands for other uses.



3. Tracking Elk Sex


When tracking elk in the snow, it is often impossible to determine if there are any bulls in the herd.


The most positive way is by visual inspection of where they have bedded.


As elk move in the timber to bed for the day, they usually bed once or twice for short periods before they choose a final bedding place for the remainder of the day. By looking at their beds while tracking you can determine their sec because when elk are bedded they will urinate and the location of the urine spot in the snow indicates the sex. A urination spot at the end of a bed is a cow, while one in the middle of the bed will be a bull.



4. Keep your stock stuck to your shoulder


That favorite old gun with the hard rubber and metal pad on the stock never seems to stay on your shoulder.


Place a piece of Velcro on the pad between the screw holes. This will provide enough rough surface to hold any gun to your shoulder. It can easily be removed.

5. Silence Your Treestand


Having problems transporting and placing your chain-on treestand quietly?


Purchase a can of liquid rubber from your local hardware store. Detach the chain and dip it in. Hang the chain somewhere to dry.


Your chain will now be quiet, yet still very flexible.



6. Three Shot Sight In


Put your rifle in a bench rest configuration. And your target at 50 yards with a spotting scope next to you. Next, be sure of your site picture in the scope. Fire two rounds. Now, still bolding the identical sight picture, click your scope crosshairs so that they line up between the center two holes. At this point your should be able to call the shot to the “10-ring”

7. Mark Your Trails


Hunting or tracking game through unfamiliar deep woods requires a hunter to mark his trail. Paint or stickers on trees is illegal in some area. Using bright, neon-colored chalk is an inexpensive and biodegradable solution. The next rainfall will erase your trail markings. The color or colors used and special markings can also help you communicate with hunting partners.



8. Use Hydrogen Peroxide


Following a blood trail on autumn leaves is made easier by using hydrogen peroxide in a small spray bottle. When sprayed on the red leaves and blood present starts foaming.


This technique becomes especially important and useful when the leaves are wet.



9. Scent your Cammo While Drying


When drying hunting clothes in your home dryer use a cloth bag or a pillow case and put fresh pine boughs in it. Tie the bag shut and toss it in the dryer. This method gives your hunting clothes a fresh pine smell. You can also use sage out west.



10. Fillet Knife for Deer


I have found a knife that will outperform any other knife I have when it comes to butchering deer. If you fish, you already have one. It’s your fillet knife. I started using it just to cut my butterfly steaks from the back straps, but have since found it works great for deboning. With its flexible blade, you can get into places your ordinary butcher knife can’t. And sharpening is a breeze, just a few swipes on your stone or steel and you’re ready to go.



11. Loading Deer Alone


After s successful solo deer hunt the most difficult part is loading the animal on my truck. By using a piece of plywood, the carcass can be easily loaded. The carcass can be dragged or rolled onto the plywood while one end rests on the gate. Then the lower end can be easily lifted and slid into the truck using your leg muscles rather than your back. This reduces the risk of back injury and keeps your clothing cleaner.



12. Give it a Squeeze


Here’s an idea for wind conscious hunters. Instead of buying an expensive container of powder to tell you which direction the wind is blowing your scent, make your own. I’ve found that Johnson’s and Johnson baby powder (sample size) can be easily camouflaged and filled with baking soda to make a perfect companion while stalking or sitting in the stand. It is scent free, small enough to carry, and large enough to last all season.



13. String of Success


Setting up a tree stand in a good location during bow season can be made easier with a little work ahead of time.


First, see if there are deer trails that might be in use, then pick a beginning point on that trail and tie a piece of sewing thread (light color is better) between two trees. Do this two or three times on different trails near the stand site. Tie the thread two or three feet off the ground. If that thread is broken you know deer are still using that trail. Place your stand near the trails that are being used.



14. Washing Leather Gloves


Washing soiled leather gloves in soap and water makes them stiff and uncomfortable. Instead, rub them in hard uncooked oatmeal or cornmeal. The dry cereal absorbs the grease and dirt leaving the gloves soft and clean. Shake the gloves and dispose of the oatmeal.



15. Are you really able to fool the keen smell of the deer?


After washing your cammo with an unscented you still need to protect them from picking up odors from the air. Try this: After washing, pack them in scent proof bags and add in some dirt wafers. When you are ready to use them, take them out and you will smell just like dirt.



16. Stop Sliding Slings


Sew a big button on each shoulder of your hunting coat. Place your gun sling over the button. Sling will not slip off when walking and will free both hands for other uses.



17. Tracking Elk Sex


When tracking elk in the snow, it is often impossible to determine if there are any bulls in the herd.


The most positive way is by visual inspection of where they have bedded.


As elk move in the timber to bed for the day, they usually bed once or twice for short periods before they choose a final bedding place for the remainder of the day. By looking at their beds while tracking you can determine their sec because when elk are bedded they will urinate and the location of the urine spot in the snow indicates the sex. A urination spot at the end of a bed is a cow, while one in the middle of the bed will be a bull.



18. Keep your stock stuck to your shoulder


That favorite old gun with the hard rubber and metal pad on the stock never seems to stay on your shoulder.


Place a piece of Velcro on the pad between the screw holes. This will provide enough rough surface to hold any gun to your shoulder. It can easily be removed.



19. Tree stand Silencer


Having problems transporting and placing your chain-on tree stand quietly?


Purchase a can of liquid rubber from your local hardware store. Detach the chain and dip it in. Hang the chain somewhere to dry.


Your chain will now be quiet, yet still very flexible.



20. Three Shot Sight In


Put your rifle in a bench rest configuration. And your target at 50 yards with a spotting scope next to you. Next, be sure of your site picture in the scope. Fire two rounds. Now, still bolding the identical sight picture, click your scope crosshairs so that they line up between the center two holes. At this point your should be able to call the shot to the “10-ring”



21. Use Chalk


Hunting or tracking game through unfamiliar deep woods requires a hunter to mark his trail. Paint or stickers on trees is illegal in some area. Using bright, neon-colored chalk is an inexpensive and biodegradable solution. The next rainfall will erase your trail markings. The color or colors used and special markings can also help you communicate with hunting partners.



22. Hydrogen Peroxide for Trailing


Following a blood trail on autumn leaves is made easier by using hydrogen peroxide in a small spray bottle. When sprayed on the red leaves and blood present starts foaming.


This technique becomes especially important and useful when the leaves are wet.



23. Cammo Scenting in the Dryer


When drying hunting clothes in your home dryer use a cloth bag or a pillow case and put fresh pine boughs in it. Tie the bag shut and toss it in the dryer. This method gives your hunting clothes a fresh pine smell. You can also use sage out west.



24. Bag it for Bug Protection


For spring hunting or early fall areas with insects, store your cammo shirt, pants, jacket, and cap in an airtight plastic bag for at least 24 hours after applying insect repellent that contains 100% deet. Keep this plastic bag sealed when not in use. Every night store the clothes back in the bag.



25. Polish for easy arrow removal


I found it hard to get arrows out of foam targets when practicing. I found rubbing the arrows with furniture polish makes them easier to slide out. The also seem to release easier. Be careful not to use scented polish if you’ll use the arrows for hunting.



26. Treat Rubber Boots


Having trouble with your rubber hip boots and waders cracking as they age? Treat them with car tire rubber treatment such as Armor All. By treating them three or four times each season, you will extend their life one or two more years.



27. Hear Like the Animals


To hear animals better while you’re hunting, cup your hands behind your ears and you’ll hear things that you didn’t hear before. It will help you locate animals and determine a strategy to get close.



28. Hot Pockets in the T-shirt


This tip is for the hunter who loves to hunt in cold weather, but gets too cold to stay in the woods. Take a T-shirt and sew pockets from any material on the shirt. I have found it best to sew the pockets in the chest, stomach, and back areas.


When you go out into the cold, place hand warmers in the T-shirt pockets. Sit back and enjoy your hunt in the woods in warmth.



29. Glue Gives Longer Life to Feathers


I have heard many archers swear by plastic vanes because vanes are more durable than feathers. Apply a couple of drops of Elmer’s glue to the new feather. Work the glue into the feather with your thumb and forefinger. This helps to lengthen the life of the feather fletching tremendously. Very little glue is needed on each feather.



30. Low-Cost Deer Lures that Work


To cut down on cost, I make my own deer lure. Everyone probably has the ingredients in the kitchen. I take some Bo-Peep Ammonia, add vanilla extract and mix the two. I use two different mixtures. The one that I put near the scrape I add more ammonia than vanilla extract. But I use more vanilla extract on my clothes. The vanilla extract smells similar to acorns. You can add water to cut the ammonia if too much is added.



31. Use Old Tires


A cheap and efficient deer or turkey blind can be make by stacking two or three old tractor ties on top of one another. The tires can be left in the field so the game will get used to them. The lip inside the tires makes a good shelf to store a first aid kit, thermos, or game calls. Another advantage is this blind provides protection from the wind, rain, and possibly stray bullets. Cover the tires with a tarp when not in use to keep them fry.



32. Protecting Boots With Pine Sap


Tired of applying mink oil over and over again, or silicone sprays to protect your boots? Try something natural. Try pine sap. I cut a small patch of bark from a pine tree and wait a couple of days for the sap to gather. Then take a toothbrush and dab the sap from the tree into the stitches of my boots. It lasts longer than by boots do.



33. Laminate for Long Lasting maps


After ruining several expensive topo maps in foul weather, I took a new map, cut it into two legal paper sized maps for my favorite hunting areas, put them back to back, and had them laminated. The maps are now weatherproof, but they also turned out to be more useful than I expected. With a dry erase marker I use the map to mark rubs, scrapes, bedding areas, wind direction, and countless other things worth remembering. The dry eraser works best for short term marking and the washable marker works better for semi-permanent marking. I have been using the same maps for years now and they work great.



34. Grease Boots – Grease Gloves Too


The next time you need to grease or oil up your leather hunting boots but want to keep your hands clean, try this: Before putting your hands in the grease put on a pair of gloves that need weather proofing as well. After you treat the boots, rub the excess oil/grease into the leather gloves.



35. Seal’em For a Sure Shot


Here’s a cheap ammunition preservation tip. If you want to keep the ammo dry that your leave in your boat, truck, etc., put it in a small vacuum seal bag. I haven’t had a misfire since I started doing this. A few days in damp weather and .22 cartridges won’t work.



36. Sticky Wax Supplies Sure Grip


Take a candle, preferably, or a crayon and rub a thin layer of wax on your rifle butt and hand grip area. That will give you a sure, sticky grip even when wet.



37. Surprising a Squirrel with a String


When hunting gray squirrels, take along a piece of string about 6 feet long and a piece of red felt. When the squirrel goes up the tree and is playing hide-and-seek for one side of the tree to the other, simply tie the felt to a nearby bush along with the string. Then go on the other side and shake the bush by pulling the string. The squirrel will come around to your side of the tree so you can get a shot.



38. Seeds Show the Wind Naturally


For a natural wind detector, try using the milkweed or thistle plan that has dried to the seed. These plants reseed themselves with seed blowing in the wind. What could be better? The seeds are natural, have no strange smell and by using this method, you aren’t doing anything that could harm the habitat.



39. Opening Umbrellas for Canada Geese


For flagging geese, especially Canada’s, simply get a medium or large umbrella. When a flock is in sight, but no closer than 100 yards, open and close the umbrella to simulate the movement or wing beats of geese in or near your decoys. When cover is not available, hide behind the open umbrella.



40. Extra Step Helps Make Tree stand Safe and Secure


When placing a chain-on, fixed position stand, use a tree step to help secure the stand to the tree. The step is screwed into the back side of the tree and the chain is draped over it and then secured on the stand.



41. Renew an Old Stone with Spray Lubricant


Take and old, dirty, clogged wet stone and spray it with WD-40 from top to bottom. This will clean the pores of the stone and make it new.

42. Christmas Cover


To help break up the outline of your ladder stand, use the branches from an old artificial Christmas tree. Just use cable ties to attach the branches to the platform and open them up to fill in any gaps. Don’t forget to add some branches to the ladder as well.



43. Decoy Tool


If you use waterfowl decoys, make a simple “gaff hook” type of tool to help pick them up and move them around in the water.


Take a very long broomstick or extension pole and twist a metal hook in the end. This tool will save you lots of time, energy, and money. It is also a safe way to pick up decoys that are in the water without the risk of falling in or capsizing the boat.



44. Heated Attraction


Warm scent disperses better than cold scent. Here’s a way to warm up your scent.


Fill a thermos full of boiling water. Place a piece of plastic cling wrap over the top and press gently in the center to create an indentation. Secure the edges of the plastic wrap with a rubber band wrapped below the threads of the thermos and then replace the lid.


When you get to your hunting spot, open the lid of the thermos and pour some scent into the indentation of the plastic. The scent will be warmed by the hot water, and will be dispersed easily.



45. Don’t Quack so Much


When hunting local ducks that have been in the area for more than a week, it is best to keep calling to a minimum. Rely on soft quacks and feeding chuckles.



46. Wear Unmatched Camouflage


Consider wearing different a different camouflage pattern for both pants and shirts. This provides a maximum break up for the deer.



47. Realistic Rattling


When rattling in deer, remember to add in sounds such as pushing and shoving with your feet on the ground. Make huffing and puffing sounds with your mouth also. Remember-when bucks are fighting, they are exerting a lot of energy.



48. Using Fawn Calls for Does


If you’ve never used calls before, try going out during the spring and early summer. Use a lost fawn call. Watch how the does react to the call. Not only will the mother does come in, but any doe will. They all have that protective instinct built into them. One of the nice things about lost fawn calls, is there is no certain way to use it. Picture this; if a human baby is in trouble, it’s going to cry as loud and as long as possible. Fawns are no different. So if you make those sounds with the call you will have great success using it.



49. Scent On Decoys


Do you use a decoy? If you use scent along with your decoy don’t spray the scent directly on the decoy, but instead place a sponge in a sealed plastic jar with scent applied to it. When hunting simply pull the sponge out of the jar and place it on the ground under the rear portion of the decoy, and when you are through simply place the sponge back in the bottle. Change of scent and sponge are recommended periodically.



50. Use Natural Scent


Mother earth is the ultimate earth scent. When I take my stand, whether in a tree or on the ground, I churn up the soil underneath me. It really releases a potent, all-natural scent that belongs to that area. If I am hunting from the ground, this also gives me a silent base on which to stand, so I don’t inadvertently crunch a leaf or snap a twig.

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