Biggest advantage tool...

[Ol Split ( ) Toes]

Good health/physically fit

[Bonecrusher101]

1) vehicles/boats
2) rifles
3) GPS/ internet mapping
4) quality public land
5) waterproof boots/ hip boots and waders

[Buckslayer#13]

I’m 16 and I have hunted few years before a gps app like On X came out. If it wasn’t for On X I probably wouldn’t be going near as deep. So On X is my number 1.
2. Having a positive mindset
3. Bow technology- even though I’ve screwed up on a monster this year
4. Being healthy
5.XOP climbing stand

[Dewey]

1)Onx is no doubt at the top. Hunters are going to places they normally wouldn’t and are doing it with much more efficiency not only when hunting but also while narrowing down spots when cyberscouting. Seems everybody I know has Onx now and are hunting/scouting spots they never would otherwise. I’m finding boot tracks in places I never saw another person years ago.

2)Cold weather gear. With the clothing available now there is no excuse for not hunting in any weather conditions. Being able to hunt comfortably in sub zero temps or sitting all day in below freezing temps is huge.

3)Trail cams. Let’s face it narrowing down and knowing what bucks are around is huge. Putting yourself in an area that’s loaded with decent bucks really ups your odds versus just hunting and hoping there’s one around.

4)Time to hunt. Lets face it the more you hunt the better your odds are you’ll fill a tag that season. Some with very little time can be very efficient but the vast majority of us just have to put in the time which can be really tough sometimes.

5)Positive attitude. None of the above will be an advantage if you don’t stay positive and enjoy the journey. Good things happen when you keep your head in the game.

[Jrdeerhuntr]

Rifles

Hands down the simplest and most accurate answer. In most states 80% of the hunters are guys who only go for rifle season and the most deer are killed during these seasons. You put all the other advantages together combined together and make a rifle guy hunt with a bow and I would bet a bunch of money he is not getting it done.

[SaddleMaster]

Like mentioned by KRONIIK, I think you have to make the distinction between something that’s used during the physical act of hunting versus a tool that helps with coming up with a game plan.

I’m just picturing myself sitting in a stand hunting and what I do/use while I’m sitting there:
1. By far, I think tree stands must be the #1 tool that offer the biggest advantage. If everybody lost the use of tree stands then success rates would drop big time. They can get you out of the line-of-sight, allow you to shoot over brush, and in some cases if you climb to 30
feet can give you a scent stream advantage.
2. Weapon choice: Scoped rifle, inline muzzleloader, crossbow, high-tech vertical bow, primitive bow, rock, stick
3. Milk weed! Always gotta float some weed! Knowing the wind is a huge advantage for confidence and knowing when to shoot.
4. Staying warm on stand: warm clothes, boot covers, and hot hands!
5. Phone:

a. Maps: I do use OnX now but in the past I used paper maps. OnX is definitely more convenient but basically serves the same purpose as the old paper maps. So it all falls under mapping and knowing where I’m at and where I’m going. I don’t always need this though if
it’s a place I’ve hunted for some time.
b. Weather – cursing the wind forecast because it’s obviously not blowing that direction from where I’m sitting, when is that rain going to get here, when is that rain going to end, hey look a snow shower!
c. Texting your buddies to see what they’re seeing. Texting your wife to see what’s for dinner. Getting pics of guys shooting booners while all I’m seeing are dinkers.

Coming up with a game plan:
1. Mapping tools again –OnX, Google Earth. Again, same result as old paper maps just more convenient. Spend a lot of time looking at maps – predicting bedding, low pressure, etc, etc - and marking maps with what I find during scouting.
2. Snow! Not a man-made tool but a tool nonetheless. I hunt big woods without much AG in the picture. So deciphering patterns can be a challenge sometimes. Where I live in southern Indiana we don’t get much snow. A few ½ to 2 inchers a year which are perfect.
They don’t change deer patterns much. When these happen I spend as much time as possible tracking deer to their beds.
3. Hydration bladder – when I’m scouting I can’t stop going…trying to get as much in as I can with the time I have. So most of the time I don’t stop to take off my pack to get a drink of water which has resulted in headaches a few hours after getting back home. But with a
hydration bladder I can drink and move at the same time. Now I’m drinking like 2 liters of water and the headaches have gotten better.
4. Trail cams – after I find what I think are daytime beds I’ll throw up a few cameras on the entry/exit trails to see if there is any daytime, early morning, early evening movement to confirm.
5. Other tools while actually scouting: good boots, clothes, a pack for adding/removing clothes, maybe for snacks, etc.

[dan3]

IMO every "advantage" we have comes back to the amount of information we have available today. Information on everything from food plots to scouting to what to do after the kill is so easy to find and learn from instead of spending years of trial and error just to be right where you started.

[stash59]

The internet has a lot of info on it. But it's a 2 edged sword! A deer hunter still has to sift out the credable content that would apply to his/her hunting are!!! And though a little harder and a little more time consuming. There is still a boat load of info in printed books, magazines, etc!!!

High powered rifles capabilities haven't changed that much in the last 75 to 100 years. But the introduction of good quality affordable scopes to place on these weapons. To allow a much more accurate aim. At longer ranges! Was a big game changer!

More towards the bowhunting side of things. But has helped with greater success on the gun hunting side of things too is!!!!! Being allowed to hunt from an elevated position. Here in my home state of WI. And in several neighboring states. It was illegal to hunt from a tree for years. Then it became legal, but no treestands were allowed. Then removeable treestands were okay. And finally permanent treestands/elevated blinds were made legal, at least on private lands!!! I truly believe this has contributed most dramatically. To hunter kill success rates. Especially since modern bowhunting seasons were started. Then any other "tool". We hunters have at our disposal!!!!

I'm 62yo and started bowhunting at age 13 (1972)! The use of portable treestands was only just allowed a few years before I started hunting! And in the neighboring state of MN. The state's law was. You couldn't place an elevated stand's platform. Higher then 6 feet off of the ground!!!! This changed a few years after I started.

Now I'll admit the "game" was different back then. Any bowkilled deer was a huge accomplishment. Regarded as a "trophy"! Today's consistently successful mature buck killers. Will hunt however the sign shows they need to. High up a tree to at ground level!!! And things like GoogleEarth and Onyx make finding and remembering that sign, easier!!!

But the huge jump in the sale of archery tags. The biggest input of new bowhunters. Occurred right after the use of elevated hunting stands were allowed! Why!!! Because hunters were having greater success. Because of elevated stands!!

[Drich]

All this talk about cell cams being an unfair advantage got me thinking... Lots of other things give hunters a far bigger advantage, heck, a good pair of binoculars has put more bone on my walls than my trail cams, but anywho, I would like to know what you think the biggest advantages are and why. Name the top 5 tools you think give deer hunters the biggest advantage...

1) Ranged weapon. Not hunting with knives is a huge advantage. The longer the range, the more the advantage.
2) Clothing. Naked hunting is tough hunting.
3) Time afield.
4) e-scouting.
5) stands.

I wish fellow hunters and doing drives was on my list. Just don't get the opportunities.

[MichiganMike]

Ill keep it on more of a macro level but my 5 are (and pardon the nerdiness):

Brain (analyze, interpret, process information, focus, prioritize etc)
Technology (Onx, GPS/Mapping, advances in all weapons, treestands, cameras etc.)
Clothing (cold weather, warm weather, rain gear, camo patterns, scent reducing clothing)
Transportation (ATVs, Boats, vehicles)
Physical makeup/versatility (Climb, Crouch, kneel, lay flat, stand straight to tree etc.)

[Bowhunting Brian]

Huntingbeast dvd's

[Coalcracker]

"unfair" advantage?

I can think of two: Long range optics, and scent eliminating products that actually work (I'm not sold on that one)

Advantages compared to other hunters are numerous and already mentioned but when it comes to matching up one on one with a whitetail, they have the advantage unless.....
They can't see you, they can't hear you and if they (scent killer) actually work can't smell you. Just about every time we kill a deer, they don't see, hear or smell us but its not necessarily because we used tools to get it done.
Strike that...(LOL) Ok, you do need a weapon.

That's why we hunt!!!

[Moose]

This is more difficult then I thought to only name 5 . So many things help hunters be more effective.
1. Cell phone for weather, onx, fourms, pictures, etc
2.range finder
3. Bh209 powder
4. Clothing
5. Mobile hunting

[DaveT1963]

1. Smart phones. The internet really didn't do a whole lot until the invention of smartphone technology. Now people can take the internet out in the field for all sorts of reasons. There were many places that I hunted Montana that people were too afraid to go without GPS. A few years before they would have never ventured into it. Now that most smartphones have GPS there really isn't a whole lot of ground that can't be covered safely. Sadly most sportsmen today could not use a 7.5 quad map and a compass to navigate their way through a large section of wilderness..... Heck a lot probably couldn't find their way out of a one square mile track of southern swamp land..... LOL.

There has been so many advances in technology and gear it's hard to nail down any one that is a clear winner, but if I had to pick I would say the smartphone has been the most advantageous one that I can think of.

[1STRANGEWILDERNESS]

Their is a certain mindset, a way certain people breakdown everything in front of them that I cannot articulate.. but that’s is the number 1. And you can’t teach it. You can put out content for others but there are always ifs and buts and nobody can possibly cover all the situations one might encounter in varying terrains. As stash said that info is a double edge sword. Your hill country may not play out like another regions (as an example) there’s a lot of info out there that would lead me astray for the environment I hunt. There is a lot of great info but figuring out how to incorporate it into your area can be challenging and could completely derail a novice.

Like the guy that outfishes nearly everyone on any body of water he goes to. Or the guy that looks at the weather report and tells you we will duck hunt here tomorrow and it will be a slow morning but we will hammer some flight ducks if we stick it out. And sure enough migrating ducks show up early afternoon and it’s volley after volley

The people that just pick up on the details and interpret it all. Don’t know what to call it..

suppose I’ll just call #1

Memory
Time afield
OnX- in vast remote areas- its huge
Trail cameras
Warm gear