“It’s a whole lot easier to spot them when they’re moving than when they’re bedded down,” Wells said. “And it’s easier to watch them going to bed down than to find them already bedded down.”

9. LATE-SEASON TACTICS
Even in areas with minimal pressure, it’s important not to disturb a bedding area unless it’s your only place to get a shot. Once their areas are disturbed, the deer will break their pattern and move to a new area.

Likewise, gunshots and hunters walking through bedding areas will push blacktails to new areas.

But late in the season, Portocarrero will try to drive deer away from their bedding areas.

As the rut approaches, bucks will also respond to noises in the woods. Hunters wearing camouflage can walk slowly through the woods, stopping frequently, changing the pace of their walk and taking only a few steps at a time -- to mimic the movement of a deer. Bucks will sometimes respond, to check to see if a doe is approaching or to drive off another buck in their territory.

10. DECIDE WHERE TO HUNT
When Wells is hunting a new area, he compares a topo map with a BLM or Forest Service map.

“The first thing I do,” Wells said, “is look at the topographical map, trying to find areas where logging roads don’t take over an entire hillside. When they go over the face of a hillside, but not clear over the top, I will find two hills side by side, with a deep draw into a drainage.”

When he gets to the top of one of the hills, he’ll glass the other hillside and pattern the deer.

Wells will scout for a few days and see where the deer move. Then he’ll use the map and GPS to get closer to the trails the deer are using while it’s still dark.

“A lot of times, I don’t glass and hunt the same day,” Wells said. “I glass to find them, then the next day after I’ve patterned them, I’ll set up where they are.”

In selecting the area, Wells said that it’s important to be able to hunt close enough to a road to get a buck out after you shoot it. Sometimes hunters will have to cut up the buck in the field and pack the meat out.