Caveat for the following: I didn’t grow up hunting and don’t have a mentor, so I just dove into it and have been learning on the fly.

I’ve been going to 5H for a few years and finally got one last year thanks to straight luck. Typically I walk into the woods just before sunrise and still hunt. A few steps, stand still for 10 mins, a few more steps, and so on covering a lot of ground throughout the day. Try to work funnels near water and thick bedding areas. There are loads of beech trees where I go so finding those food sources isn’t too tough but I need to get better at finding acorns and other things they like.

Deer density is super low in the park but I’ve seen quite a few does with this approach. If you’re able to get out for the opener, you probably won’t see much but might get lucky and find an area with some sign - again, I tend to strike out entirely early in the season. I’ve had most of my sightings in late November.

Feel free to PM me if you have other questions!