Deer hunting is deeply ingrained in Maine’s outdoor heritage, and many sportsmen undertake fall outings to bag a buck as a challenge as much as a sport. Each whitetail enthusiast develops certain ideas, philosophies, tactics, techniques, and guidelines concerning the most dependable and effective way to fill this year’s tag, and the freezer, with fresh venison.

Some sports just have to be afield to greet the dawn, while others are convinced that deer are more active before dusk. Do you hunt the dark growth and cedar swamp or cruise the hardwood ridges each day, or perhaps you favor tote roads and skidder trails? Of course, every whitetail enthusiast has made up his own mind to either still hunt or stalk, use a tree stand, track and trail, or sit and wait in a ground blind. Let’s not even get into the hornet’s nest of best all-around rifle caliber and let’s avoid the slippery slope of best scents and their proper use. Things have sure changed from 60 years ago when your father or grandfather would get the old “thuty-thuty” from the closet, visit the woodlot on the back 40 before breakfast or after chores and drag home a deer for winter meat.

Open country

One major change throughout the state over the last several decades, especially central and northern territories, is the expansion of industry, growth of commercial enterprise, and increase of agricultural land. Each of these steps forward in technology and modernization, along with improved and increased lumbering practices, have led to less forested ground and more cleared land.

Deer are taking full advantage of these pastures, second-growth fields, croplands, meadows, and ranchland as feeding sites. For a state with so much woodland, a lot of deer are being shot in fields. Maine’s first youth deer hunting day was held on Oct. 26 for 10- to 15-year-olds. In the tiny community of Bridgewater, I know of at least five youngsters who tagged deer – all bucks, and all shot in various fields around the outskirts of the area.

More and more deer hunters are paying heed to this trend. Many who were exclusively deep woods stalkers are now spending some time field hunting. Perhaps your whitetail gunning practices could stand an adjustment, especially since the deer seem to be spending more time in the open country.

Scout about

Preseason scouting is crucial to all methods of deer hunting, but it’s particularly essential for a successful field hunt. Deer develop habits during the summer, and these specific travel and feeding regimes can be very beneficial to a smart outdoorsman. Just like you and I have a favorite spot for morning coffee, or a restaurant that we frequent for its savory seafood, deer zero in on a certain area, even a special field, that pleases their palate. And just like humans are set in their ways about driving specific roads from point A to point B, whitetails have regular travel routes as well.

Summer scouting will help hunters pinpoint feeding fields and the most-used trails to enter and exit these clover, grass, and grain buffets.

Carry a map or atlas in your vehicle so each sighting location can be pinpointed with a marker, and jot down notes regarding time of day and weather. It’s amazing how many game animals an outdoorsman will spot in the run of a spring and summer of fishing, camping, canoeing, hiking, and just plain scouting.

Talk to farmers, woodcutters, truck drivers, wardens, and biologists in your region and perhaps they will share information regarding certain fields where deer are spotted regularly. You can even ask other hunters, but don’t expect full disclosure since many will be trying to plan for their own success.

Don’t settle for just one promising field. Other hunters may be scouting the same piece of ground, so have a backup or two checked out as well. It would be very discouraging to arrive at a favorite spot one morning only to find someone else set up there, and no other alternatives for yourself. Make sure to ask landowner permission even if the area isn’t posted. It’s a good idea to have some rapport with the folks that own land you want to hunt. They may be able to advise you about deer they are seeing, tell you about other fields they own, and even fill you in about any other hunters with permission and land access.

Field setups

For each field selected to hunt, it’s important to note what portion of the meadow the deer seem to prefer. Sometimes feeding is confined to one small spot. During other visits this same deer or different whitetails may prowl and picnic all over the width and breadth of a particular pasture. Another very important detail to make note of is from which points the deer generally enter and exit. Whitetail travel habits and repetition of feeding behavior can work in the hunter’s favor only when time has been spent scouting and learning.

Shooting location is the next selection a field hunter must make. Archers, handgunners, and traditional black powder shooters will require fairly close range shots, so setting up on or near entry and exit trails will bring the deer by the shooter’s position. Although ground blinds will work for trail hunting, a tree stand will allow a far better vantage point, hide motion, and disperse any human scent better due to its height.

Well-traveled deer trails to and from fields will be easy to spot by walking and inspecting the field edges. Once a location for a tree stand is selected, the stand should be put in place at least a week before it is to be used. The hunter’s approach route to the tree stand should be as far from the game trail as possible.

Rifle shooters will need long-range, flat-shooting calibers topped with quality optics because some fields to be hunted could be used to land small airplanes. Popular open-country calibers that reach out accurately over long range with plenty of knockdown power include a 7 mm-08Remington, a .243 Winchester, 6 mm Remington, .270 Winchester, .308 Winchester, and .30-06.

The first three have only moderate recoil and are great choices for small-framed women and youth hunters. Rifles specifically for field use should be fitted with no less than a nine-power scope, and variable magnification models, say a 3X to 12X, would be even more practical. An attached bipod or a separate telescoping monopod will help assure a steady rest for long range shots when no tree or stump is nearby to stabilize the rifle.

If deer are feeding at random locations each visit, then a shooter must set up at a mid-point in the field which allows a reasonable length shot no matter where the whitetails appear. If one end or corner of the meadow seems to get regular attention, then the hunter can select a site close to the hot spot. It’s vital to make sure no houses, farm buildings, machinery, roads, or fields being worked are in the planned shooting lane.

A tree stand set up along a field edge offers an effective shooting site, and the advantages of height have been covered. Utilizing a makeshift ground blind, however, gives the advantage of easily changing surveillance locations with each visit. Select a large rock or tree trunk as a backdrop to lean against and break up your shape. Cut and position a few pieces of brush in front and on the sides to hide motion and partially obscure form and orange outerwear. Dark gloves and a camo facemask will aid obscurity, and a foam seat pad and backrest help comfort, immobility, and patience.

Timely outings

Often there are active deer feeding fields close to a hunter’s home, making a prework outing for a couple of hours far more feasible than a trip to the deep woods. A Saturday outing to the heavy growth can now be supplemented with two or three morning hunts each week, expanding the season’s opportunities considerably. Whitetail enthusiasts who have jobs with flexible hours can often fit in an hour or so afield in the late afternoon as well. Although deer visit fields randomly throughout the day, especially in cold weather, early morning and just before dusk are the prime feeding times.

The first two weeks of the season offer the best opportunity to take advantage of these ingrained open-country feeding habits. If heavy snow cover holds off, deer will visit favorite fields all month long. Deep snow cover, the rut, and hunting pressure are variables that can turn an active deer field barren overnight.

Don’t give up woods hunting, but be a bit more aware of the open country opportunities. Take advantage of these whitetail feeding habits whenever possible, because a sport needs every edge available during deer season. Field hunters can easily spot antlers, the first shot is generally at a standing target, and there are no trees or brush to stop or deflect a bullet. Perhaps it’s time for you to give more attention to the open country this deer season. When I was growing up, my Dad always told me to play the field. I was never sure if he meant baseball or girls, but now I understand what he really meant.

Outdoor feature writer Bill Graves can be reached at graves@umpi.maine.edu