Bucks love cover. The bigger they are the more cover they like and the more careful they are about how they use it. After a bit of hunting pressure, bucks cling to their cover and seldom venture out into the open during daylight, regardless of the temptations.

At this time of year, the temptations are both does and food. Fields and even the open stands of mature acorn-producing oaks are too exposed for a mature buck's liking until after dark.

While waiting for nightfall, the bucks tend to hang back in the woods. If you find a spot of good cover near a field or open oak stand with rubs and perhaps some scrapes, (and particularly if several trails converge there) you may have found a buck's "staging area."

Watching the fields until sunset usually brings lots of sightings of does and perhaps a small buck. If you want Mr. Big, move off the field and back into the woods to find his happy hour hangout.

Rubs are the first form of true buck sign to appear and many hunters consider them the most important. It used to be thought bucks rubbed trees to rid themselves of velvet and to strengthen neck muscles for breeding battles. Bucks may do some "recreational" rubbing but this activity's more important focus is sign posting.

The buck's forehead contains subcutaneous glands that leave his personal signature on rubbed trees. What the buck is doing is posting his core area, general territory and travel corridors with his unique odor.
A buck's rubs are mostly intended for other bucks but does will also investigate them. The size of the rub is of limited value in determining his size. Small bucks seldom rub large trees, but bigger bucks will rub anything. Don't be fooled by a big rub on a really large tree. These are usually found where the territories of two or three bucks overlap and every buck in the area will drop by and rub.

There are a lot of arguments about how the phase of the moon affects deer movement. Many deer hunters feel that a full moon allows more nocturnal activity and depresses deer movement the following day. The "dark" or new moon's lack of light forces deer to move less at night and more in the daylight hours.
Several scientific researchers who have studied this have no found conclusive proof that this is the case. However, from the hunters' point of view, a full moon may depress the normal early morning and late afternoon movement periods when most hunters are afield. It may provoke more midday deer movement when the hunters are loafing around camp and not out in the woods to observe the increased movement.
The greater light of the full moon can stimulate rutting activity. Serious hunters who stay out all day advise that when the peak of the rut and a full moon come at the same time, midday activity is considerably increased.

The proper use of deer-scent products can greatly help your hunting, but poor use leads to poor results. The first thing to do is to get rid of your own scent. Use unscented soaps and the various human scent-depressing products and cover scents on yourself.
Your clothes should not carry strange odors. Wash your hunting clothes regularly in unscented soap. New garments have a "new" smell and should be washed before going hunting. Keep yourself and your hunting clothes away from smoky areas (either tobacco or campfires). Keeping your hunting clothes in airtight plastic bags is a good idea. Some hunters also put native vegetation or a cover scent product in the bag with the clothes.
When using the lure scents - either food scents or sex scents - don't place them on you or too near your stand so that the deer's attention is drawn to you. Place them out around your hunting area, particularly in areas where you hope a buck will pause for a shot.

Motion adds much to your decoy spread. Always an asset, movement is a near necessity on still days when wary ducks flare from still decoy spreads.
For years we have relied on various "jerk string" tactics to liven up our spreads. "Jumpers" consist of a regular decoy with the string running through a pulley on a heavy anchor and back to the blind. Pulling the string pulls the decoy under water and releasing the string allows it to pop up. Another idea uses the heavy anchor and a bungee cord. One or more decoys may be tied to a string running back to the blind. Pulling the string makes the decoys "swim" toward the blind. Release the string and the bungee cord pulls them back.
These days we have flying kite decoys that soar in the wind. There also are a number of battery-operated decoys that vibrate, wobble, swim about and flap their wings. These add a lot of movement and greatly enhance the decoy spread.