John’s Note: You can do plenty to stack the odds in your favor, if you start planning now for a successful deer hunt. The sooner you can get that buck in your sights, the better.

Longtime deer hunter and deer hunting seminar speaker Ronnie Groom of Panama City, Florida, will average taking many deer a season.

One of Groom’s favorite methods of pre-season scouting is to hunt the edges of agricultural fields. “The best time to scout a field is right after a rain,” Groom explains. “You must remember that deer can come and go to and from the field, from almost any direction. However, there are certain places that the deer usually prefer to use in entering and leaving a field. Obvious spots are corners of fields that butt into the woods, or the backs of fields that funnel into the woods. Deer like to move from thick cover into a field and then back into thick cover to leave a field.

“So, what you’re looking for after a rain are tracks that are both going and coming from the field. Tracks moving in both directions indicate that deer will come into the field along this trail and leave the field along this trail. And, sometimes you may find two or three trails entering and leaving the field.

These are ideal places to set-up ambushes for deer in the early season. By watching the fields in the mornings and afternoons and making sure that the deer are actually utilizing these trails, then you can pretty well bet that you will have a target on the opening morning of deer season.”

To learn more about deer hunting, you can get John E. Phillips’ Kindle eBooks, “How to Hunt and Take Big Buck Deer on Small Properties,” (John’s latest book), “How to Hunt Deer Up Close: With Bows, Rifles, Muzzleloaders and Crossbows,” “PhD Whitetails: How to Hunt and Take the Smartest Deer on Any Property,” “How to Take Monster Bucks,” and “How to Hunt Deer Like a Pro,” or to prepare venison, get “Deer & Fixings.” Click here.

About the Author

John Phillips, winner of the 2012 Homer Circle Fishing Award for outstanding fishing writer by the American Sportfishing Association (ASA) and the Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA), the 2008 Crossbow Communicator of the year and the 2007 Legendary Communicator chosen for induction into the National Fresh Water Hall of Fame, is a freelance writer (over 6,000 magazine articles for about 100 magazines and several thousand newspaper columns published), magazine editor, photographer for print media as well as industry catalogues (over 25,000 photos published), lecturer, outdoor consultant, marketing consultant, book author and daily internet content provider with an overview of the outdoors.

Next: The Nut Hunter and the Also Scouter Bag Their Buck Deer Each Season with Outdoor Writer John E. Phillips