Opening Day Tactics

Opening day checklist: scouting and permission done early, your weapon sighted in, a hunting plan left with someone, a quiet approach with the wind, the first and last hours, the shot and safety, following state agencies and hunter education courses.

By Fjords Team · Jun 18, 2026 · Updated Oct 28, 2026

Opening day rewards preparation done in the weeks before. This guide is a checklist built from state agency and hunter education advice. Season dates, legal hours, licences, tags and orange requirements are set by your state; read them first.

Before the opener

Scout and get permission: the Alaska Bowhunter Safety Course says the best scouting time is between seasons, and the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) reminds hunters that permission on private land must be asked for every year. See our scouting guide and, for public ground, public land hunting.
Sight in with the ammunition you’ll hunt with: West Virginia DNR notes changing bullet weight or even brand can change the point of impact, and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game makes checking that scope screws are tight the first step. Our sighting-in guide follows both.
Practise in your hunting clothes (Alaska course), and from the position you’ll shoot from.

Gear check

Licence and tags, required fluorescent orange, a knife and game-care kit, a first-aid kit (the Alaska course suggests adding items for serious bleeding, such as a large dressing pad and triangular bandage), water, a light, and a signalling device. For stands: a fall-arrest system and haul line.

Leave a plan

The Alaska course: tell a family member or friend where and with whom you’re hunting, your route and when you’ll be back, and don’t change it without telling them.

Get in quietly

Plan an approach that keeps your scent away from where you expect deer; set up downwind or crosswind (Alaska course). Our reaching your stand before dawn guide covers the walk in, including the course’s advice to use tree stands only in daylight.

Hunt patiently

The Alaska course notes experienced hunters stand “at the ready” in the first hours of daylight and the last hour before dark. Stay still: wildlife reacts more to movement than to shape or colour.

Make the shot count

The course lists the usual causes of bad shots: beyond your range, an alert animal, brush in the way, a moving animal, rushing, and not following through. Take only a shot that reliably reaches the vital area; our shot placement tool and whitetail deer profile show where.

Safety

The Alaska course’s rules apply with any weapon: point only in a safe direction, be sure of your target and what’s in front of and beyond it, never shoot at a skylined animal, and shoot only with a safe backstop. Wear the orange your state requires, and with a firearm follow your hunter education course’s carrying and loading rules.