Here is a rule I hunt by. I never walk if I can drive and I never drive if I can use the binoculars.
Stomping around on foot all over your hunting area is a sure way to let all the game know that you are after them. The best way I have found to check out an area is to sit for a few hours, preferably at dawn and dusk, at an elevated point, such as a hilltop. From there I have a good view over the area. With a pair of high powered binoculars in the range of 10 x 40 or 10x 50, I can observe from far away what the animals are doing without ever letting them know that I am in the area.

If this is not possible I drive around in the car. Cruising the country lanes and back roads spooks game very little, they are more used to see vehicles than people on foot.

To upon your hunting success and make it a lot more fun, take this advice to heart. First you got to hunt on some place where there are deer. Some hunters I know of hunt on places where there are no deer or very few and far in between. Second I always hunt places where there aren’t many hunters. This to me is the most important aspect. I know most of us hunt on public land, where it seems at times that there are more hunters than game. But even these places have pockets where other hunters do not venture to, for various reasons, mostly because these places are to far away from the car. Over the years I have become somewhat an expert on public land hunting and I always look for the places that other hunters don’t go to and that is where the deer go too. My very first Buck was killed on such a place. Right next to the parking lot in a thick dangle of undergrowth where no sane human being ever would think of going.

Bring a few bow hunters together and get a conversation started about tree stand height and soon you have a very heated debate going. There are those that advocate 20ft. of the ground and even higher tree stand placement. While others are of the opinion that 12ft. to 15 is enough. Well the truth is that the most important aspect to tree stand placement is background cover and being able to get a clean shot at the deer. It is an irrefutable fact that the higher you climb up a tree the more likely you are to run out of both, the background cover and being able to make a good killing shot. That is just plain common sense.

Check your equipment when you get in the stand not when a buck walks out. Is your scope clear, will your bow draw back properly, shell in the chamber, etc. etc.

Ever sat in a, oh so carefully, scouted stand and wondered why the deer move past your stand hundred yards out and not by your stand where they should? There are many reasons deer avoid your stand or simply have changed their travel patterns. Some hunters keep hunting the same stand day after day in the hope the deer will come closer. The smart hunter changes the stand location to where the deer are moving. A successful hunter is adaptabs to deer movement!

A good friend of mine has gone hunting for many years, but failed to shoot at anything. He asked me why that might be. In a brief conversation I found out that he does every year the same thing, even placed his tree stand in the same tree.
The only thing that constitutes insanity is to do the same things over and over again but expecting each time a different result. If it is not working what you have been doing then perhaps it is time to change what you are doing and if that means you have to get out of your comfort zone then so be it. It is often not what you do that spells the difference but what you are not doing but should do.

When I talk to hunters about deer calling then many complain that calling does not work for them. As I have often discovered in such conversations. The reasons are.

1. Calling where there are no deer. The deer need to hear your call to be able to respond to it. Deer are not like elk and turkey which react to prospective calling.
2. The wrong call at the wrong time of the season. Make sure you use the right call, i.e. A Doe-in-oestrus-bleat won’t work in the early season. A dominant buck grunt in an area where there are no big dominant bucks will scare all the deer out of the area. The same is true for very aggressive antler rattling.
3. The most common mistake hunters make is simply to call to LOUD. Deer don’t SHOUT at each other, they whisper. A deer hears about 500 times better than a human what sounds quiet to you is deafening to a deer.
4. And finally use a quality deer call, such as those from Modern Call Products. LLC. These calls come so close to the natural sound that you and more importantly the deer won’t know the difference. But not only are these calls top quality sound and material wise. They are also so small that they fit in the palm of you hand or you can keep them in your mouth with the bowstring pulled for that bleat to stop the buck just long enough to get the arrow into him.

Don't leave before the legal shooting time is over. Probably the best time of the day to kill a buck is the last minute of shooting light. Don't leave your stand like me and most hunters tend to do, 10 minutes to early.

Many bow hunters have their bow poundage set too high. Not too high for the bow but to high for their arms. Its one thing to be able to pull it in practice and quite another to be able to hold it steady for 30 seconds waiting for the deer to step out from behind that bush.

Elk have very sensitive ears regardless of what other hunters say about Elk.  I have experienced it far too many times to be proven wrong.   Their hearing is just as good as their eyes, and they can see Orange... GO WITH CAMO at all times and keep that red and hunter orange in the pack!

Unless you have an emergency, it is always best to never talk in the woods, and then only in whispers.  Shut up and see Elk.   PERIOD! - Forget cell phones and radios, these are for EMERGENCIES!!!!!

If you are afraid of the dark, you are going to have a problem getting your Elk.  Pros aren't afraid of the dark.

Most Elk movement occurs during the first hour after dawn and before dark.  To take the most advantage of your time Elk Hunting, you will need to hike to and from your stand by flashlight.  Be prepared to sit quietly from 4:30AM to 10:00AM and then begin moving around, taking in the view, take some pictures or eat a snack and drink some water.

Around noon, slowly proceed back to camp or move to another location being sure to glass each meadow at the tree lines and dark shadow areas.  If you are going back to base camp for a bite to eat, do so slowly.    Proceed back out at around 1:30PM or 2:30PM and plan on staying out until dark.   Enjoy the time to also have fun, eat well and take care of yourself physically and mentally.  If you do this, your chances of obtaining Elk are dramatically improved.

ABOUT GLASSING When the amateurs have packed up and left, the professional and patient Elk Hunters are continuing to glass the site.  When searching for Elk, the best hunters look meticulously before they give up on a large chunk of real estate.   The amateurs are too consumed looking for Elk at extreme long distances that they most likely have no business looking for in the first place due to their inexperience of shooting at long distances and their small low-powered weapons.  

The experienced hunter is looking for dark areas at tree lines where they are looking for that one moving antler tine, a leg, or a rump patch in a shaded, brushy tangle....  THIS IS HOW YOU FIND ELK!

Modern life does not lend itself to silent walking.  Always walk heel-to-toe, softly placing each foot down, and taking care not to kick rocks and sticks, snap twigs, or crunch gravel.  Do not rub up against brush.  Be sure to take all the squeaks and clangs out of your pack, clothing, rifle slings and boots.   Silence is golden when moving to find Elk.

Walk always with your head up!  No one wants to trip and fall, which is why so many hunters have a tendency to hike with head down.   DON'T!!!  When was the last time you ever shot at an Elk at the end of your boot tip?

If you are planning on hunting a new area, or the area you hunted before has changed dramatically, you simply can not afford to go there blind.  Spend some money on long-distance phone calls, speaking to anyone or everyone you can to give you insight into the local topography, game populations, and hunter pressure.  

Begin creating a file on your computer for later history and study material as you approach your hunt date.  It sometimes is a good idea (if you can) to take a pre-season trip, maybe take the family camping and get a "feel" for the area... it is not necessary for you to scout the area for Elk, only to get the general feel and gut-feel for the area.  This is also an excellent way to bond with your family while you are having the time of your life in Late October/November.  Give them time too and enjoy your family.