Many big game species struggle to survive in close proximity to humans, but white-tailed deer are an exception. In fact, the whitetail’s incredible population recovery over the past century is, at least in part, the result of its ability to thrive on the edge of urban environments. Perhaps more than any other big game animal in North America, whitetails have responded to a burgeoning human population by making the most of their new neighbors. The way that these deer live has changed, but the way we hunt them, in many cases, has not.
Slowly, however, hunters are changing their tactics. They have to. Why? Simply put, the opportunity to hunt big tracts of land is decreasing. As a kid growing up in Ohio, it took no more than a knock…