7 Tips for Deer Hunting in The South

“Deer are deer. They all look for food and mates.” This broad statement is true and largely unhelpful when deer season is approaching. Yes, deer are deer, and yes, their basic needs and drivers are food and breeding, but their approach to these varies wildly depending upon the region of the country, or even the region of your state. Deer hunting in the South is quite different than deer hunting in the North or even the Midwest. Here are 7 tips to help you prepare to pursue Whitetail below the Mason Dixon line this year.

1 - Scout, then scout some more

This one seems obvious, but it deserves to be said. Scouting has never been more important. Depending on the area of the South you hunt, deer herd sizes or available land to hunt have been shrinking. At the same time, in many areas over the past few years, hunting pressure has risen. Knowing your quarry intimately is crucial. As the fall season progresses and hunting pressure increases, deer change their patterns. Knowing the herds where you hunt better than other hunters is critical. Utilize both e-scouting and boots on the ground scouting to gain this knowledge.

2 - Think like a deer

Yes, this is a cliché saying, but it’s not one you will want to dismiss out of hand. Woodsmanship is a vital component of any consistently successful hunter’s makeup, and it’s in short supply anymore. With all the technological advances and gadgets we have now as hunters, which I love by the way, many of us have moved away from the Woodsmanship knowledge that our forebearers used to survive. Knowing how a deer thinks, where they want to be depending on the time of day or year, what routes they are likely to take in different circumstances, or even which water source in your area they prefer can make all the difference. It’s easy to open your OnX app and see terrain and features, but if you don’t know how a whitetail uses those features, you are at a disadvantage.

3 - Hunt transitional areas

Again, this is another oft repeated piece of advice wherever you hunt whitetails, but I believe in the South it’s an often-overlooked feature to focus on and can pay off big if you focus on it. In the South it’s a bit overlooked because there is a ton of big timber and less green fields than in the Midwest. But there are other kinds of transition areas to hone in on. A great one is where one type of timber meets another. Often where a pine forest meets hardwoods is a great transition area to find deer. The edges of clear cuts and old logging areas can be bonanzas as well and are often a great place to find travel corridors.

4 - FBS… Funnels, Benches, and Saddles!

With the proliferation of large tracts of timber in the South, an important thing to focus on while hunting the timber are saddles and funnels. Deer, unlike toddlers and mountain goats, almost always choose the path of least resistance. They travel a lot and look for the easiest way to get from point A to point B. Saddles in the timber, a low spot in a ridge, are perfect places to set up a treestand to find deer as they travel. Funnels are similar features in that they affect deer travel patterns, but don’t have to be a natural feature. They can be fences, planted wind breaks or hedges, ditches, or even benches or creeks. Anything that causes a deer to travel along it until they get through. If you can find a great funnel with deer sign and find the area they cross through, you’ve got a great place to set up your stand. The great thing is that these are not features that change from year to year or deer to deer. A funnel is something that is used similarly by generations of whitetails.

5 - During the pre-rut and rut, find the does

I know that this one is a no-brainer, but I can’t tell you how many folks I know that give lip service to this concept but tend to overlook the importance. When scouting, pay attention to doe bedding areas and look for areas with large doe concentrations. These areas will pay off during the action-packed rut season. Instead of being disappointed that all you are seeing is doe, realize that you are in an area where the bucks greatest desire in November and December and January is living and therefore where the bucks will be coming.

6 - Look for food sources in BOTH early and late seasons

Most everyone hunts around food sources in early season, whether that be around a green field, or an oak flat with acorns. But later in the year it’s just as vital. In the south the deer’s fall season can be vastly different depending on where you are with the rut in November in the northern part of the South, to late January or early February in the southern zones. Because of this stretched out whitetail social calendar, the phase your deer are in may be vastly different than the phase your buddy’s deer may be in a few hours away. The one common denominator every hunter can rely on are food sources. While the rut is what we live for as whitetail hunters, that period is relatively short and we have much more opportunities to successfully hunt over food during the course of a season, and thanks to the climate in the south (as a general rule) there is often plenty of food throughout the hunting season. From white oak acorns that drive deer crazy in the early fall, to the later dropping water oak acorns of later in the year. These later falling water oak acorns can be a boon for late season, and if you find a location with plenty of them, keep that spot in mind for late season.

7 - Don’t underestimate the importance of the all day sit

Deer hunters fall often into two camps: hunt all morning, take a break for lunch, and hunt the afternoon/evening, and go in to your stand in the dark and don’t come out until it’s dark again. Both have advantages and disadvantages. I’ve done both and when I am hunting with family, I like to take that lunch break at the truck to discuss our morning hunts and plan our afternoon hunts. But when I’m hunting on my own which is more often anymore, I like the dark-to-dark option. The difference for me is because when I am with family not only am I looking forward to sharing stories and time with them, but when everyone is moving to the meeting spot, we are often pushing deer toward each other. But when I am alone, and I have my stand or blind set up in a great travel corridor, the other hunters going in for their mid-day break often push deer toward me. Also, as the rut kicks in the deer are active throughout the day much more often. An all-day sit can give you chances that those who head in at noon will never get.

We hope that you can put these pointers to good use! Happy hunting this fall!

-Heathe Pendergraft, Fall Obsession Field Staff