Editor’s Note: The first week of deer season in any state usually creates the highest amount of hunting pressure in the deer woods. Thanksgiving, the Christmas holidays and the last week of deer season also are times of the year when the numbers of deer hunters drastically increase – and don’t forget weekends. So, if you hunt at these times of year, longtime, avid deer hunter Terry Drury, who with his brother Mark Drury created Drury Outdoors, offers these suggestions. Drury often has to hunt high-pressured deer and through his experience knows the tactics for taking them.

Other hunters often leave their hunting locations in mid-morning. Instead, Mark and I stay put in our stands when the other hunters get cold or decide to climb out of their stands, stir around or go in to eat lunch. You need to remain in your stand through the afternoons to kill a mature deer because you will see the deer up and moving then.

When that early-morning movement pattern happens between 7:00 – 7:30 am, or as late as 8:00 – 8:30 am, remain alert and on your toes. In that period when the other hunters stir around and come into or leave the woods, suddenly you may see one big buck walking back to his bed or leaving his bedding area and returning to a staging site for feeding that evening. So, you need to remain in your stand in the middle of the day. I believe the most-productive hunting occurs between 9:00 am – 3:00 pm.

To learn more about hunting deer, check out John E. Phillips’ book, available in Kindle, print and Audible versions, “How to Hunt Deer Up Close: With Bows, Rifles, Muzzleloaders and Crossbows” at http://amzn.to/11dJRu8. You may have to copy and paste this link into your browser. (When you click on this book, notice on the left where Amazon says you can read 10% of the book for free, and you can listen to 10% for free). On the right side of the page and below the offer for a free Audible trial, you can click on Buy the Audible book. To see more of John’s bowhunting books, visit www.amazon.com/author/johnephillips.

Tomorrow: Terry Drury – Avoid Using Scents and Lures for Deer