Whitetail Wizard

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

A Journey Of Discovery

The tingle always begins with a brief mention from one of my scouts. People who hunt my ranch help me keep track of big deer, and there is one thing that really trips my trigger.

It’s the opportunity to hunt a big buck that I’ve never seen before. I just got a report last week from a photographer friend, and he was driving back to my home after a short drive around some of my property when he spotted this buck bedded down in tall marsh grass.

He stopped, stuck the camera lens out the open window, and got ready to shoot photographs. The buck jumped to its feel just after he stopped, and it darted 20 yards through the marsh grass and into the woods.

It stopped near some trees, shifted sideways just a bit, and he clicked off one picture. Just one photo, but it was enough to get me all excited once again about what I call a “new” buck. Old bucks are those I’ve seen time and again, but a “new” buck is one that has managed to live for three, four or five years on my ranch without ever being seen by me or any of the folks hunting my land.

His photo turned out to be a spectacular 10-point buck with an almost perfect 5X5 rack. One brow tine is an inch or two longer than the other side but it’s a buck I’ve never seen before. It is the animal that I now dream about.

There have been countless other dream bucks over many years. One was a three-beam buck that I shot three years ago, and it is now being mounted by a taxidermist. There is another three-beamer on the ranch, and probably the offspring of the last three-beamer I shot. I’ve hunted him several times without success, but a few of my hunters have seen him at a distance.

There was a big 12-point that grabbed my interest several years ago, and it took me a couple of years to catch up with him. I’ve got another big buck with a fairly heavy drop-point that also excited me a few years ago.

It’s the same old story, year after year. A buck will live for several years, and manage to escape my attention and that of other hunters, and these are the bucks of which dreams are made.

Another big buck is roaming my ranch, and he has turned into a rogue. He has become a killer, and in the past 10 days I’ve seen three examples of his ferocious handiwork.

It began with a big doe, and this killer buck disemboweled her. Her stomach and other abdominal organs were ripped right out through the holes this rogue animal had ripped when he repeatedly gored her.

Two bucks have met similar fates, and they were found crumpled up with their guts strewn throughout the woods. We don’t know for sure which buck is causing all of the problems, but we want to locate him before he kills some of the other trophy bucks on my ranch.

It has become an intensive effort. I’ll hunt the buck but on 1,000 acres, this killer buck could be anywhere. The three deer that we know he has killed were found in a fairly good sized area. He could be anywhere inside that area or he may just roam in to cover new locations whenever this mood strikes him.

There are at least two bucks now that I am hunting. Of the two, I’d like to see this big rogue buck with bloody antlers. However, if I meet up with the buck pictured above, I’d be tempted to try for him.

The above buck, photographed by noted wildlife photographer Dennis Buchner of Grawn, is a lovely animal and hopefully we will cross pathes soon. If not, I’ll have to start hunting the rogue killer buck, and that may be an extreme challenge.

Stayed tuned to this weblog, and if I’m successful with either buck, you’ll learn about it here. Have fun hunting and enjoy the outdoors.—The Whitetail Wizard

Friday, August 29, 2008

Do Injured Deer Always Die?

The obvious answer to the title question is “no.” Some deer will die if injured and others will not, and this often depends on the type of injury, where the injury occurred, whether vital organs are involved, and other things.

I’ve encountered numerous injured deer over the years. Some are the result of a doe kicking one of her fawns, others have been gored in a buck fight, and a few have been wounded by a hunter.

A leg injury may put a deer on the mend for a few days, and recovery is possible if the animal can lick the wound and keep it clean.  Deer wounded or injured by another animal may not make it if the injury is in a location where it can’t be licked.

Two decades ago we had a few hunters who couldn’t shoot straight. Me, and a few of my close friends, would hunt those wounded animals. If they looked like it would lead to a fatality, we would shoot the deer to end its suffering.

Some years ago Minnesota conducted tests to prove the fatality of wounded deer, and they found it wasn’t nearly as high as some people thought. Three years ago we had a very nice buck that had been hit high in the shoulder, and several of us saw the buck, but the animal was always too far away. One hunter saw the wound was filled with pus, and I gave the order that anyone who saw that buck within easy shooting range, must shoot it.

This animal looked like a hunchback. Every time the right front leg would go forward, the hump high on the shoulder would raise six or eight inches when it took a step. The wound was where the buck couldn’t lick it.

Two days after I passed down the order to kill that buck, one of my hunters tagged it. The deer had been hit high in the shoulder, and the animal lived long enough to grow the hump. It was never seen eating but was always on the move.

A deer hit in a front leg usually survives. They lick the leg, and keep an infection from forming, and soon the deer is up and moving around without a problem.

Some bucks have been shot, and the arrow zipped through the chest cavity without hitting the heart or lungs, and such bucks often survive. It may lay the deer up for a week or two, but death doesn’t always follow a pass-through shot.

Several years ago I passed up a buck that walked down a trail near my stand, and it appeared to have a slight limp but was moving fine. I let him pass, and noticed some hair was missing from the off-side front shoulder.

The next day found me in the same tree, and here comes the same buck on the same trail. When the buck presented a high quality shot, I drew and shot, killing the buck.

The reason for the limping buck was obvious. Another hunter had shot from a tree stand, and the replaceable-blade broadhead had hit high. It missed the spine, and caught the buck high in the shoulder but near the spine, and the buck couldn’t get to it.

I skinned out around the earlier wound, and it was filled with pus and the shoulder was green with gangrene. It would have eventually died from the wound, but was still moving well when I shot it. Interestingly enough, two of the three replaceable blades broke off and littered the wound area.

A thin blood trail with bright red blood usually means a minor muscle wound that will eventually clot and stop bleeding. Most shots hit the brisket or the inside or outside of a front leg. The chance of recovering such a deer is very slim.

Knowing where an arrow hits can tell hunters whether to wait two or three hours or take the trail immediately. An obvious wound in the paunch, far back from the lungs, can mean a long trailing job unless a vital organ such as the liver is hit.

Leave gut-shot deer alone for several hours and hope the coyotes don’t pick up its blood trail. After a lengthy wait, a deer will travel only 100 yards or less, lay down and stiffen up or die. Push gut-shot deer, and it can travel long distances and may never be found.

This points to one reason why a hunter should know how his bow shoots, where the animal was hit, and with some experience, most wounded deer can be found. Those with a minor nick on the leg or brisket will live to become a much wiser buck in the future. â?? The Whitetail Wizard

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Cause & Effect: Action & Reaction

It’s a topic first learned in school. It may not have been devised with whitetail deer in mind, but it does apply.

It states that for every action, there is an opposite reaction. We’ve all heard this before, and it applies in many and varied ways while deer hunting.

Take an ill-advised shot at a buck or doe and miss, and the action of shooting causes an opposing reaction. The deer runs off, alarmed but unharmed. It also alerts other deer in the area to hunter presence.

This action-reaction plays out on a daily basis in the deer woods. Set up in the wrong place, place yourself upwind of the deer, and once they catch your scent, off they go without a bow-shot being taken.

The same action-reaction could be called cause-and-effect. Your ill-advised hunting actions cause you to take a shot and miss, and the deer runs off, allowing for an escape.

Many bow hunters fail to heed the good advice of credible hunters. They seem to think they are invisible because they are dressed in camo. Well-worn camo can be ruined by wearing clothing washed in detergent with whitening agents. The deer spook from whitened clothing that doesn’t look natural.

Thousands of hunters believe they are quiet and motionless. They should have a buddy sit 50 yards away with a video camera to tape all the movements that are made.

We’ve all seen television hunting shows where the cameraman tapes the host pointing and loudly whispering “there is a buck.” These are called “cutaways,” and are usually taken long after the buck has walked into range and caught an arrow through the heart and lungs.

Hunters who try such nonsense merely are seen, heard or both by the deer, and the animals run off snorting. Cause and effect or action and reaction.

Television hunting shows are expensive to produce, and the competition for advertising dollars is fierce as people graduate from fishing shows to hunting shows. If they make noise at the wrong time, and the buck vamooses, the chance of getting future advertising dollars from that company are down the tube. Again, a classic case of action and reaction.

Most things we do while bow hunting involves action and reaction. Forget to use a safety harness while leaning out to shoot at a buck, and go tumbling out of a stand, and you’ll soon be on the receiving end of an object lesson about action and reaction. Live through the fall, and the hunter will have ample time to reflect on cause and effect.

Forget to check tree stands or permanent elevated stands on a regular basis, and if an accident should happen, the hunter who lives through the fall may reflect on their sanity.

Bow hunters are well advised to consider cause and effect, action and reaction, every time they go hunting. For every possible action, there is a possible reaction, and they may be damaging to your body or harmful to your hunting efforts.

Hang stands early. Insure that everything is safe. Wear a safety harness. Learn how to sit still and don’t make noise. There are countless things to think about, but consider every action in advance and think about the possible reactions.

Deer live in the fields, swamps and woods. We live there a few hours a day or a week. Give deer credit for being instinctive, savvy and alert to changes within their home range.

One way to consider your actions while deer hunting is to consider your bed. If the head of your bed faces west, and you prepare to retire for the night and find the head of your bed facing east, you will notice it. Deer always notice changes in their world.

Consider every change made while hunting, and give serious consideration to the reactions. This is such a basic concept that any bow hunter should be aware of it.

Just remember: for ever action, there is an opposite reaction. Anything you do can and will backfire if you don’t think the problem through long before committing to it.

Conquer this basic thought, engage the brain before the body, think things through, and it’s very possible that your hunting success ratio with climb.—The Whitetail Wizard

Friday, August 22, 2008

Are Long-Range Bow Shots Necessary?

I know a few people who brag about taking long shots at whitetails. Some even brag about taking 80-yard Hail Mary shots.

Most long shots are a waste of time and effort, not to mention the possible loss of a perfectly good arrow and broadhead. I can consistently shoot killing shots at 60 yards, but seldom do so when hunting Michigan whitetails.

Very few opportunities exist in this state for long-range bow shots. If truth be told, most of my whitetails are shot at 20 yards.

I killed a Quebec-Labrador caribou at 60 yards a number of years ago while hunting in northern Quebec. The caribou came out of the woods, trotting slowly, and I drew and shot. The caribou went down from a clean shot through the heart and lungs.

Every year I hunt Colorado for elk, and I’ve killed some bulls at 25 yards at a water hole and I taken a few elk at 50 to 60 yards when they wouldn’t come any closer.

Caribou and elk are larger than whitetail deer, and represent a much larger kill zone, but with careful planning, both species can be shot at much closer distances. Dave Richey, the retired outdoor writer for The Detroit News and now the publisher of his personal website and weblog < http://www.daverichey.com >, has killed more caribou with a bow than anyone I know.

“I’ve never shot a caribou with a bow at more than 20 yards,” he said. “Most of the ‘bou I’ve taken have been at distances of five or 10 yards. I always position myself near a major crossing, hide behind whatever cover is nearby, and wait until the caribou swim ashore. They always stand on dry ground, shake off excess water, and begin walking down the trail that leads away from the river crossing site.

“I take my shots as they walk past. The shots are close, and the possibility for a clean shot is there. The hardest part is being at that crossing when caribou are using it.”

Stealth, good planning, and careful attention to the wind are key items to consider when hunting whitetail deer. For the most part, long shots are not needed in Michigan although the skills needed to be effective with a bow in western terrain is normal. Some bow hunters in Idaho, Kansas, Montana and Nebraska may need to take longer shots at deer in those areas.

I shoot with the red-dot device that I first put on the market over 20 years ago. Over years of trial and error on hay bale and 3-D targets, I’ve learned how to “gap” my aiming point.

Hunters must know where their arrows will go at 40, 50 or 60 yards. That can only be learned through continual practice. It should be stated that the faster the arrow speed, the less deviation there will be at different ranges.

I know where to hold at 20 yards. I know that my hold will be slightly higher at 30 yards, and once I extend my range to 40 yards or more, I know what is necessary at the longer distances. This is gapping, knowing just how much higher one must hold to make an accurate hit.

We have a 3-D course here that we shoot all summer. 3-D targets such as bear, coyote, deer, elk, turkey and others are scattered around at various distances. Hunters must first determine the distance, and then determine their aiming point. The aiming point at 40 yards will be different on an elk target than a deer target.

This is where the knowledge of where to hold becomes so important. I believe a good 3-D target range is fine practice for taking those longer (and shorter) shots. Learning how to gap for longer shots is important once the average person gets to 25 or 30 yards and farther.

Gapping, and learning to judge distance accurately, are necessary. Of course, a flat-shooting bow with fast arrow speed is needed for longer shots. Someone shooting an arrow at 150 fps will have an arrow trajectory like a rainbow. There are ways to develop accuracy at long range, but it requires a great deal of practice.

A thorough knowledge of your bow and arrow set-up, and the distance, will tell you how much gap (hold over) is required on targets out farther than normal. Each person is different, and if you are in the Marion area, stop by my Buck Pole Archery Shop and I’ll be happy to discuss gapping with you.

It’s an offer that is hard to turn down. - The Whitetail Wizard

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Learn About Bucks From The Does

The doe was acting a bit shaky last fall. She would stop, start, and move a bit, but from my elevated stand, my attention was riveted on the late-October whitetail doe.

Her actions were keeping me informed on where the buck was located. I couldn’t see the antlered buck from my vantage point downwind of the doe and buck, but the antlerless deer was some agitated. The buck was nearby, of that there was little doubt, and her sides were heaving.

The buck had apparently bird-dogged the doe across the field and through the woods, but this was the chasing stage. She was close to estrus, but she wasn’t quite ready for breeding.

The buck knew that, and there seems to be a direct correlation between the chasing phase and the beginning of the rut. Biologists feel a buck chasing the doe gets both animals ready for the breeding period.

My bow was ready, and although I suspected a big buck was chasing this doe, I had yet to see the animal. The doe, by her actions, told me where the buck was, and whether he was standing still or moving.

She kept peering back into the heavy brush, and try as I may, the buck was impossible to see although there was no doubt in my mind that he wasn’t there. The doe was twitchy; moving, stopping, switching her tail, and turning to face the brush before turning and facing her body away from the buck but looking back over her shoulder.

She was sending body language messages to the buck, and he was moving slightly. Her ears would twitch up, swivel toward some sound unheard by me, and then the buck would apparently stop. I was beginning to think these two deer would carry on like this for hours.

In reality, as the sun headed toward the western horizon, the doe moved slightly toward the buck, and then wheeled and ran off 20 yards before stopping to look back. She was getting this old boy fired up, and her message apparently was getting through to the buck.

Her head movements pinpointed the bucks location, and it took 10 minutes of probing the alder brush before my binoculars picked out the white bone of an antler tine. The buck was standing stock still, not moving, and contently letting the doe lead the show.

I knew this wouldn’t last forever, and sooner or later the buck would make his move. The doe would let me know when that happened.

Her ears perked up again, her head changed positions, and I knew the buck had moved again. The binoculars scanned the area where the buck had stood, and sure enough, he was gone. I followed the direction of her head, and after five minutes of looking, found the buck again.

He was getting closer to the edge of cover, and by now, the sun had set. There was less than 30 minutes of shooting time left, and I knew he would soon take up the chase again. The big question was whether he would offer a shot or choose to circle the doe, and force her into running off with him in hot pursuit.

Ten minutes of shooting time remained when the action started. The doe whirled at the sound of his first tending grunt, and she cut a lick for the open field, running hard. The buck was patient, and he slowly moved toward the edge of cover on a wooded ridge, and watched her go. He knew he could track her down.

He had only to move 10 yards in my direction, and it would be possible for a shot. He moved half that distance, stopped, and my bow was up and ready. When he moved, he exploded from cover like a ruffed grouse taking wing, and was at an instant gallop.

He offered me no opportunity for a shot, even though I was ready, and as he began moving, it was easy to tell he was a high and wide 10-point with good mass. He crashed off through the brush, and there is no doubt that he caught and bred that doe that night.

The lesson behind this anecdote is to study does during the pre-rut and rut seasons. They can, by their head and body language, tell the hunter where the buck is and what he is doing.

There are many times when this leads to a shot, and there are times when luck is riding along with the buck. However, study this body language as often as possible, and learn more about hunting bucks. The does can teach hunters this important lesson, and bow hunters who don’t spook does but study their actions will often take a nice buck.

You can bet on it.—The Whitetail Wizard

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Pick One: Hunt Dawn Or Dusk.

Here is a loaded question. A guy like me could make a few enemies by taking a stand, one way or the other. It truly could be a no-win situation.

It’s a potentially troubling issue because there are excellent points in favor of either choice. Taking the easy and honest way out, I can categorically state that both time periods produce super bow hunting. The choice is yours to make, and what follows are key points for early or late hunting.

I’m in my mid-70s, and personally do not care to get up long before dawn, crawl into a cold stand and wait for daylight to appear. That’s just my personal feeling, but to be equally frank, I do hunt the mornings several times each season, and doing so often pays off.

There are some good reasons for hunting the morning hours providing you can get in front of the deer without spooking the animals. Morning deer, providing the wind is in your favor, means the animals may walk right past you because they seem to realize that more hunting pressure occurs in the late afternoon and early evening than in the morning.

Another factor in favor of a morning hunt is the light continues to get brighter by the minute, even if the sky is overcast. There is a great truth to the fact that between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. deer often move well, and this is especially true during the rut when bucks get up to check estrus does.

If my land has a problem, it isn’t very easy to reach an early hunting spot without spooking deer. The animals are everywhere on their return to bedding areas from feeding spots, and it is easy to bump a deer. If the deer is badly frightened, and runs off blowing and snorting, it may spell a quick end to your hunt.

However, in all fairness, there have been many deer that I’ve spooked, and they run about snorting but soon settle down. Many things can frighten deer, and if whatever bothered the deer disappears, they often calm down and the hunter may still have a chance to shoot a morning deer.

Deer on my land have always moved from west to east in the evening and from east to west in the morning, regardless of wind direction. Our normal prevailing wind is from the southwest, west or northwest, although in the past five or six years, we have seen more east winds.

Morning hunts can be the ideal situation for those who work the second or third shifts, and need their mid-day rest. I know many who would prefer to hunt the evening hours but must hunt in the morning because of their job.

The chance of spooking deer in the morning is one sound reason in favor of hunting the late afternoon and early evening. The deer are usually bedded down in the afternoon when hunters head for the ground blinds or tree stands, and fewer animals are spooked by hunters.

On the ranch my deer are accustomed to vehicles moving during daylight hours. We tend to stands, fill feeders, check the ranch roads, and deer are accustomed to a vehicle driving by and stopping periodically.

We often drive people to their stand. We stop long enough for them to climb into an elevated coop or tree stand, or a ground blind, and then we drive off. The animals pay more attention to the vehicle than the people unless they make a great deal of noise or other commotion.

An advantage of hunting the evening hours is hunters also can walk into a stand, and arrive an hour before deer start to move, and the wearing of clean rubber boots is a must. So too is to avoid touching bushes, tree limbs or brush to leave human scent behind.

Another factor in favor of evening hunts is that darkness is approaching, and this is when deer normally move. They usually begin moving an hour before the end of shooting time, and this puts the hunter in the best possible position for a shot.

There is never a guarantee with morning or evening hunts, and for many of us, it is a matter of preference. I prefer hunting the evening hours after I finish work at the archery shop, but many prefer to do their hunting in the morning.

It’s one of the things I enjoy about bow hunting. There are choices we can make to suit our individual needs. Isn’t that great?—The Whitetail Wizard

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Shoot Targets Of Opportunity?

There is one thing I’ve noticed over the years. The bow hunter who shoots at coyotes, fox, grouse, porcupines, rabbits and squirrels seldom bag many deer. Oh, there are exceptions but not many.

Years before I fenced in my land, and before we could hunt from tree stands, I had a man come to hunt three or four times a year. One time out he shot a coyote, and the next time while hunting from a stand in front of a big pine tree, he shot a porcupine.

Year after year he would complain. The other hunters, he’d gripe, shoot deer but I never see them. How about sticking me in a different stand where there are some deer?

My answer was fairly blunt and to the point. I told him that hunters who are constantly shooting at chipmunks, rabbits, squirrels and other game and non-game animals, very seldom shoot deer.

His argument was that I didn’t want him shooting the varmints and small game, and that wasn’t true at all. I wanted the man to shoot a nice buck, but he was his own worst enemy. He just wanted to kill something.

Look at it this way. There you are, perched now in a tree stand or in a ground blind, and along comes a coyote. You draw back and shoot, and it makes little difference whether you hit or miss. The sound of the bow releasing the arrow, and all the commotion that follows, is what shies deer away from the stand.

Or think about it this way. Our wanders a quill pig, and you are relatively open in a tree stand. The porkie waddles along the ground, making his little pig-like sounds, and you come to full draw and shoot.

Fifty or 100 yards away stands a buck or doe about to step out to walk in your direction. They see movement in the tree (you), movement on the ground (the porcupine), and then hear the bow go off and the arrow striking the porkie and the ground.

The porkie waddles off, leaking blood, thrashes around in the brush and dies. Those deer have seen enough to settle the case for them; they hightail it in the opposite direction.

I know a man that shot a coyote from a tree. It was a good hit, and the ‘yote ran 100 yards before dropping. A deer that was back in thick cover and could see the hunter, hears the shot and the frantic fast-paced dash of the wounded coyote.

Curious, he steps to the edge of cover, and watches as you climb down from the tree stand and walk over to the dead animal. You’ll take it out to show your buddies later, but walk off a good distance and put the carcass down, walk back and climb into your stand.

How many deer do you think you’ll see that evening? Not many.

A buddy of mine believed in object lessons. He put a young man in a ground blind, and told him not to leave the stand until he came in on a four-wheeler to pick him up. Stay in the stand, and don’t open the door.

The man returned that evening after shooting time had ended, took the four-wheeler a half-mile back to the stand to pick up the dude, and there was the blind door banging back and forth in the wind. He said he’d shot a big doe right behind the front shoulder.

They looked, gave up for the night, and the young man was chewed out for leaving the stand before the four-wheeler came to pick him up, for not latching the door, and for being somewhat stupid. They found the doe fawn that weighed perhaps 30 pounds (ground shrinkage), and the kid was razed good.

My buddy said he’d give the kid another chance, and he could sit in the same blind the next night. The kid was again warned not to leave the coop or to open the door, and he didn’t. He also didn’t see any deer that night, and my friend said “it serves you right for not listening the first time.” The kid knew he’d been had, and paid for his stupidity by spending an evening looking for deer that would never show up that night.

Shooting a game animal or bird is fine if you don’t want to shoot a deer, and fine if the animal or bird is still in season and you have a small-game license. It’s never a good idea if you want to shoot deer.

Shooting at game other than deer tips whitetails off to your presence. You may be the only hunter in your party with a porcupine kill, but the others may shoot deer. Take your choice.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

When The Deer Donâ??t Move

It’s always been a perplexing time. There comes a period about two weeks after the Oct. 1 bow opener, when the deer seem to stop moving around very much.

The woods get still. There are few if any sign of does and fawns moving about or feeding, and the bucks have taken an apparent siesta. There is nothing much to be done for it.

Some call it the doldrums, although that applies more to the hot summer months. Many feel the deer are slowly becoming more accustomed to humans in the woods.

Some hunters feel this is the time when deer begin shifting to their fall mode or travel as they begin preparing for the upcoming rut that will start the end of October. Still others believe the deer are just starting to settle into their autumn routine.

It makes little difference what causes this slowdown of whitetail deer activity. It’s enough to realize it happens, and there is little that can be done to change things.

Over the years I’ve learned that if a savvy hunter can move in close to the bedding area without making noise, or being winded, that they often can get a better chance at the deer as they move out. Those hunters who are set up along field edges will see few if any deer. Most of the action, such as it is, will happen in heavy cover.

Knowing that this annual phenomenon does occur, and that making slight changes in hunting techniques can turn this two-week period around, is important to bow hunters. The month of October begins with deer still following their summer mode of travel, and it is followed by 10 days to two weeks of inactivity, and then the rut kicks in during late October.

Several things can work, and all can fail unless the hunter recognizes the need to be scent-free, and to approach hunting areas with the wind in your face.

One thing that has worked for many hunters is to get in as close to the bedding area as possible without spooking deer. Make one mistake with this hunting method, and all the deer will head for exits in other parts of the area and you won’t see a deer.

Another thing that can produce is to mix a little rattling with a little grunting. Keep it low-pitched, soft and quiet, and make it sound as if two deer are testing each other without either one wanting to get hurt. This often occurs if an early doe is close to entering estrus. Nearby bucks will push and shove, grunt softly, but neither buck wants to get gored in the eye or become seriously injured if she isn’t ready and willing.

Keep the calls soft, and the antler rattling gentle without the violent clashes of bone against bone. Remember that the best response to antler rattling and grunting will come during the pre-rut. Set up shop near travel routes that lead to food sites, and keep the rattling and grunting short, not too violent and make certain you are downwind of the bedding area.

There are times when this grunt and rattle routine will draw deer out a bit earlier than normal. Play the weather as well. If a storm is due to move into the area, make certain that you are in a key location to intercept deer as they dash out for a quick feed before the storm arrives.

Another major problem during this period is that the wind direction often shifts and brings in an east wind. Such wind shifts have become all too common in the past several years, and few deer move on an east wind. One can try to establish a blind set up for an east wind, but deer often try to cut the corners on an east wind, and come in from a cross-wind position, and they can and will pick up your scent.

Many hunters give up during this in-between period, and sit out the east wind days and do household chores so they can hunt the rut. It’s OK to do so, but it robs the hunter of several days when trying different techniques may work.

It’s my belief that shooting deer is impossible from the house, and especially from a couch in front of a television set. My thought is to get out in the weather, regardless of what it is, and try to puzzle out a workable hunting strategy.

It doesn’t always work, and in truth, it seldom works but hunting during bad conditions makes people hunt harder. Those who put in their time, and try different tactics, will occasionally shoot a good buck.—The Whitetail Wizard

Saturday, August 09, 2008

Dumb Things Hunters Do In Deer Stands

Over the years, I’ve seen people commit some of the dumbest errors while sitting in an elevated coop or a tree stand or while hunting from a ground blind. Most are funny but some could have been dangerous.

The reason I write about some of these is there are things that can be learned. Benefit now from the mistakes of others.

One time I had a new hunter sitting in a ground blind. It had a sliding Plexiglas window in that coop, and when I dropped him off, I suggested he keep the window closed until a deer got close, and then silently slide it open, draw, aim and shoot.

He did some of it right and failed on other parts. He saw a small 8-point walking toward him, and he waited until the deer stopped, quartering-away at 12 yards, and he drew back and shot.

Cr-a-c-k! He’d forgotten to slide the Plexiglas window open, and shattered it. The buck obviously disappeared, and probably never walked past that blind again.

Another time, another guy was sitting in a ground blind with a sliding wooden window. He saw a buck and doe coming, and when the doe walked past the window, and the buck entered the window, and he shot. His arrow struck the sliding portion of the wood window, glanced off it, missed the buck entirely but the ricochet nailed the doe in the heart. It was a great shot, but it was a killing hit on the wrong deer.

Then there was a time when another hunter drew down on a doe, studied the animal as it walked in front of him and stopped. He held his draw until she started to turn, and he aimed for the heart and lung area. He made a great hit, but again, on the wrong deer.

A doe fawn, standing out of sight, darted in next to its mother, and saved her mother’s life. This mistake has often happened, and it is the result to tunnel vision on the target animal and not watching to see what other nearby deer are doing. The venison was really tender, I heard.

Once, during the December bow season, a bow hunter was sitting in a pine tree near an alder run. He’d shot several bucks over the years from that tree, and sat out in hopes of seeing another one. The air temperature was about 10 above, and a strong north wind was blowing.

He toughed it out until shooting time ended. He lowered his bow to the ground, shrugged his shoulders several times to restore circulation, and rubbed his hands together. He’d lost most of the feeling in his hands and feet, and tried to get warm and limbered up before starting down.

He took the first two steps, and then one of his feet slipped on a snow-covered ladder step. He had three contact points—two hands and one foot—but all were too cold to respond when his foot slipped. He knew he was going down, and pushed himself away from the tree and tumbled eight feet off tree limbs and into the snow. He wasn’t hurt from the fall but was a bit disoriented for a moment until he figured out what had happened to him. Anytime a hunter can walk away from a fall is indeed fortunate.

Another time a hunter was in that same tree, and it was a cold day, and suddenly a nice buck appeared. He normally had a 60-pound draw weight, but had forgotten to crank it down a bit to compensate for cold, still muscles and bulky clothing.

A buck came walking slowly by. Our hero started his draw, and the arrow fell off the rest. He was shooting with fingers, and the extra effort to draw the weight when cold and over-dressed, caused him to roll the bow string. It flipped the arrow off the rest and it fell, tinkling, to the ground as the buck looked up at the first sound.

The buck stared upward, and he didn’t move, and eventually it went back to its business of checking an old scrape. He nocked another arrow, tried drawing on the buck again, and again the arrow rolled off the rest and tumbled off branches to the ground.

The hunter, sat and stared at the curious buck, but finally common sense apparently set in and the deer raced off through the snow as the hunter looked down at the red nock standing upright in the snow.

I’ve got one ground blind with a low doorway made to accommodate a friend who hunts from a wheelchair. A sign tells people to watch their heads, but one person managed to smack his head going into the blind. And, to add insult to injury, banged his head when he left. He no longer likes to sit in that stand.

Deer hunting is mighty serious business for most of us, but some of these things are a bit too funny to ignore. And it’s a wise hunter who can laugh and benefit from his mistakes.—The Whitetail Wizard

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Thereâ??s An Itch That Needs Scratching

A few of my friends have bet me with a friendly verbal wager that they would shoot a buck that night. I’d prod them a bit, and ask just how certain they are that a good buck would fall to their well-placed arrow.

Those that were staunch in their opinion said they could feel it in their bones. Now me, feeling something in my bones usually means a touch of arthritis is acting up.

They continued to plunge on saying the wind was right, they were planning to hunt such and such a ground blind or tree stand. They had this dream formed in their mind, and I wasn’t about to try swaying their thoughts.

Off they would go, a big grin of anticipation on their face. Over many years of hunting whitetail bucks, more often than not, a hunter with a no-fail plan will be the first to fold his tent when the deer go elsewhere.

It’s my nature to let them natter on and on, and if they ask for my opinion, I offer it for what it is worth. Some pay attention, and others just fritter away an evening of hunting without ever being within 100 yards of a buck.

Deer operate on instincts, and getting too hyped up in advance can make a hunter careless.  In their rush to get settled into the stand, something falls out of their pocket and is left laying on the ground where every nearby deer will see or smell it.

Their giddy mood often makes them a bit antsy. The beat goes on, running through their brain, and in breathless anticipation of the shot they know is coming, their toes are tapping the stand in time with the music paying in their head.

A buck stands back in the brush, hears a faint sound, and eventually the animal locates it high in a cedar, pine or oak, and heads off to visit his girlfriend 300 yards away.

Or, our hero sits in the tree, looking a bit southwest with binoculars to his eyes, scanning the terrain for a buck. Every so often, sunlight will glint off the lens and sent a flash of light on its way. A deer that looks up just in time to see the flash of light will be suspicious and approach that area with extreme caution, if at all.

Sometimes the buck does show, and after hours of dreaming of a close and deadly shot, the bow hunter becomes all fumble-fingered, and creates too much movement as he prepares for a shot. Or, he turns slightly in the stand for a close shot, and something falls out of his pocket and goes clattering across the stand.

It could be a wallet or anything. The bow limb could rub against the tree, and some bark or pine needles could go drifting to the ground. A sharp-eyed buck will spot the falling stuff, wonder why he’d never seen it happen in that spot before, and before we know it, the buck is two fields away and still running, scared plumb out of his wits.

These things happen. I’ve learned never to predict a buck at the end of my hunting day. First of all, I’d have to see one I wanted to shoot, and that never happens on a daily basis.

I do believe in being optimistic. Feeling confident is much different than almost bragging about a buck that may not come within two miles of the hunter.

Respect for the animals we hunt is important. It’s far more important than bragging about an animal that as yet has not been shot. It may be time for some hunters to critically analyze the reasons why they hunt, and those who have true convictions, hunt for the sake of hunting.

Killing a buck proves very little other than the hunter was in the right place at the right time, and made a good shot.—The Whitetail Wizard

Sunday, August 03, 2008

Defining What A Bow Hunter Is

The above title is a question that has often been asked of me, and it’s always a very difficult one to answer. A true bow hunter is a combination of many things, all of which are outstanding, uplifting and good.

A bow hunter is ...

*A person who revels in nature, loves the outdoors, seeks a difficult challenge, equals the odds between hunted and hunter as much as possible, and who is finely tuned to the ways of the game we seek.

*One who seeks his or her game on a one-on-one basis, and who strives to get close enough to deliver a quick and certain death from a well-placed arrow.

*A person who masters accurate arrow placement, and one who spends long hours testing personal mettle against a whitetail buck that is more attuned to its surroundings than we are. This person shrugs off rain, forgets about windy weather, and laughs at a snow storm. Deer hunters hunt deer, and weather conditions are meaningless. We become one with the weather, and use it whenever possible, to our advantage.

*A hunter who thrills to the small things, and takes brief moments each day to savor the wildness of the animal being hunted and the land where such game lives. We don’t live for the kill; we live to have had the opportunity in this free society to hunt in a well regulated and legal manner.

*Someone who knows that getting close to game means knowing and playing the wind, studying the habits of deer, knowing how and when to move, and being one with his bow and the land. He or she finds more love in the act of hunting than in the act of killing although the two are ever-entwined and a respect for the game we hunt is most important.

*One who enjoys the fine feel of a smooth bow, the effortless drawing of the string, the smooth feel of a carbon arrow, and the “whisst” of a arrow leaving the bow. It’s the silent but straight flight of an arrow, and seeing the broadhead hit where we aim.

*Having the knowledge of deer habits that allow us to defeat the most important protections that deer possess: the sense of a deer hearing the faint whisper of clothing against rough bark; a flicker of movement as a hunter comes to full draw prior to a shot; or the deer’s sense of smell that allow them to pinpoint a careless human presence.

*More than just someone who takes but gives nothing back to nature. A bow hunter is more than a person dressed in camo clothing with a hunting license in his pocket. We are caring, giving folks, who pursue deer with a passion. We are superb hunters because we must be to get close shots at 15 to 20 yards. We are the supreme hunting predator, and we take pride in our accomplishments without having to brag.

*It is teaching our children, and our grandchildren, this ancient art of bow hunting. What we do is a time-honored tradition, and it is a way of life for us and for others who will follow the bow hunter’s creed.

*We, as avid bow hunters, are above-average in our hunting skills. We rely less on luck, and work hard to elevate those hunting skills that allow us to succeed. We hunt, not because our friends do, but because we must. We need to hunt and we must hunt in order to achieve these skills, and it is through long hours of practice that we become proficient.

We are bow hunters, and we are very proud of it. â?? The Whitetail Wizard

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Developing The Right Hunting Attitude

It’s difficult to do many things that require skill unless one has the proper attitude. One thing I find about some hunters is they lack drive or motivation, and this usually comes from not having an attitude.

There are good attitudes and bad ‘tudes, and a bad one isn’t conducive to being an effective deer hunter. Hunters with a bad ‘tude are constantly griping about the weather, the lack of deer, too many does, too many hunters, and on and on.

Can’t remember the name of the guy but years ago he held classes that praised the power of positive thinking. He believed that thinking in a positive way made a major difference, and I completely agree.

Think of deer hunting the same way. You climb into a tree stand or ground blind, feeling good about yourself and your ability to sit still and shoot straight. You know you can shoot that buck if it comes your way, and offers a high percentage shot.

This positive thinking attitude doesn’t work every time. If it did, we would all soon tire of deer hunting, rolling a 300 game while bowling, or clobbering two home runs in the local softball game.

What this positive thinking does do is allow a hunter to do everything else right. A buck starts heading your way, and you spot it immediately. You sit still and don’t wiggle around, and you’ve got the wind in your favor at all times.

This positive attitude allows hunters to scout more efficiently, pinpoint key buck areas, and to be in the right spot at the right time. This occurs because they believe in themselves.

Hunting means you must believe in yourself, your abilities and hunting skills. If you think negatively, chance are good you’ll be daydreaming about the boss you intensely dislike, and a buck will sneak past and be out of range or back in thick cover before it is seen. You’ve blown perhaps the best chance of the season!

Daydream long enough, and a buck will slip in behind you, squire a doe, and she will lead him past your stand too fast for a shot. You won’t shoot because your bow was not in your hands where it should have been, and you were ill prepared to take a shot.

Turn this whole scenario around, and you head into the woods with hope in your heart, and a good feeling about hunting. There is a feeling that you sense more than feel, that today will be a day when a nice buck will offer a shot. You can sense that buck, and you sit tight with bow in hand, and when he shows up, you are fully capable and prepared to shoot it.

The power of positive thinking is something that many people rarely think about. They might be thinking about a beer after the hunt, and be thinking of that brew when they should be thinking about a buck.

This is a mental concept that is very difficult to explain, and in all honesty, hunters must have a few bucks under their belt to make it work. They must know their way around the deer woods, and must learn to think like a deer. If I was a deer, where would I enter this area from and why? You study the terrain, figure it out, and sure enough, on many occasions the deer will travel the trails you’ve puzzled out.

Hunters with a positive attitude have their game face on whenever they enter a stand. They are out there to hunt, not just spend time outdoors, and they are constantly running the angles through their brain. They are, without knowing it, trying to will a buck to them.

That is a bit of a stretch, and although I’m not saying a person can will a deer to them, I believe the hunter with the right attitude will do more things right than hunters with an indifferent mind-set.

Hunters often refer to those people who always shoot a nice buck as being “lucky.” They are not lucky in the normal sense of the word; instead, by having the proper attitude, and the willingness to think things through and do everything right, they make their own luck.

I can’t teach you or anyone else how to develop the proper deer-hunting attitude. You either have it or you don’t, and those that do, know what I’m talking about.

Those that don’t will never know unless they put this column aside and read it every day before they go hunting. Then, maybe with a tiny bit of common sense and the right attitude, a buck may walk within range of a hunter who is mentally and physically prepared to shoot it. â??â?? The Whitetail Wizard

Monday, July 28, 2008

Spotting Deer In The Tag Alders

If there is any type of growth in Michigan that rivals the laurel hells of the southern states, it would be tag alders. They don’t grow very high, but the trunks grow in every direction.

They remind me of a maze, but fortunately, most tag alder thickets aren’t too long or wide. A guy could get exhausted if they spent very much time trying to unravel the secrets of an alder thicket.

Let’s face it: whitetails love tag alders. They can walk through a thicket, and run through them at a fast clip. Of course, deer are much more nimble and sure-footed than 99 percent of the human population.

There are a few small alder patches on my land with stands that overlook them. It’s possible to watch a whitetail buck walk into a thicket, bed down, and then leave an hour or so before sun down.

You’d think that a deer in a small alder thicket would be easily seen. That’s not so. Oh, on occasion, if a buck stands, turns around a couple of times, they can occasionally be spotted.

They can be very difficult to see. Their hair blends in with the color of the bark, and a buck with white or darkened antlers will look just like an alder branch. Alders are perfect bedding areas for deer.

Trying to work inside the alders is a lesson in frustration. Deer will hear, see or smell you before you’ve traveled 20 feet. There is little cover tall enough to get up into on the inside of a tag alder thicket, and that pretty much rules out trying it and spooking the animals.

The trick to hunting these animals that bide their daylight hours in the alders is to spend copious amounts of time studying the area from a good distance. Obviously, it pays to be downwind of the thicket, but most important is knowing the deer are inside.

If your viewing area allows watching all sides of the thicket, and noting when bucks and does move out, the next step is to determine where they go next. Often, they will take the shortest route to other heavy cover en-route to their evening feeding areas.

It may be necessary to move the stand two or three times to zero in on their normal route of travel. Once you’ve pinned it down with 100 percent accuracy, it’s time to determine how they travel through the next patch of cover, which on my land, may be another tag alder thicket.

Their next stop may be at the food site or it may involve even more travel. Deer following a consistent pattern in late September will be vulnerable to an October hunter who plans his hunting area wisely.

Most deer, however, bed within 200 or 300 yards of where they will feed, and it may involve only one move to lock in on their exact travel pattern. But know this: when deer leave a tag alder thicket, they often follow curves or rolls in the terrain for some distance before they come up for a brief look-around. Sometimes a doe will pop up on the closest rise in land, stand and sniff the air while looking around, until she leads the others off on what they consider a safe travel route.

Another thing to keep in mind is that deer will often stand 10-15 feet back in the tag alders, and study the landscape and the trees in the general direction of where they will travel. An old dry doe may stand for 30 minutes without moving, and study the land ahead for danger.

The hunter must be aware of this study period before deer move. It’s important to realize that you may be 300 yards away, but if the terrain favors the deer more than you, they will have areas where they stop to study everything in front of them.

One movement, one stray whiff of human odor, may spoil a week of preseason scouting. This scouting period, in many cases, is every bit as important as the actual hunt. Stay as far away as possible but try to pick an area where other deer won’t wind you.

Who wants to spend hours in preseason scouting only to have a deer sneak up behind you, blow and snort, and frighten off the deer you’d planned to hunt. That would be the final insult.—The Whitetail Wizard

Friday, July 25, 2008

Why I Sell Red-Dot Sights

Hunters often stop by, ask me to adjust their bow, and state they are having trouble hitting a buck during the last 15 minutes before shooting time ends. Almost always they are hunting in heavy cover with very little available light.

What’s my problem, they ask. I look over the bow, and spot a peep sight, and point to it.

They insist they’ve always hunted with a peep sight, and that isn’t the problem. I can reduce or cut the light to my archery range, and it proves effective when determining what people can or can’t see through their peep sight.

If it is a dark and overcast day outside, and I turn off the inside lights, the archery shop gets pretty dark. I ask them to shoot with the lights on, and then again with the lights off.

They nail the bulls-eye when the lights are on, and it’s like hunting on a sunny day on my shooting range. Once the lights go off, and they try to shoot, some arrows won’t even hit the target.

I make and sell red-dot sights, and I don’t like to speak ill of the products of other people’s products, because what goes around, comes around. The archery industry is a great place to make friends and enemies, and I’d much rather make friends.

I have them shoot under low-light conditions, and often their shots are a long way from the bulls-eye. I look over their peep site, and with a small adjustment I can help them out. In other cases, I can’t help them at all.

Some peep sights have a very tiny hole and it admist very little light. As the sun goes down, and when hunting in thick, heavy cover, the tiny hole in the peep sight doesn’t allow enough light to enter. The result is it is difficult to see where to aim.

Some hunters compound the problem by closing their off-eye. The master eye looks through the peep but the other eye is closed. It gives them one-eye vision, and it isn’t very good in dim light.

One thing people can do is remove the insert from the peep sight, and that leaves a larger hole to look through. It’s easier for the hunter to gain eye contact with the pin and the animal.

However, some peep sights do not allow this removal. There are peep sights on the market with larger holes, and these will help the sportsman. So too will the use of a red-dot sight.

Another problem with some peep sights is they are incorrectly installed, and this means the peep doesn’t line up properly with the eye when the bow comes back to full draw. There is a good bit of tinkering involved with trying to get the peep sight correctly lined up with the eye when at full draw. If it is off just a tiny bit, what that eye sees is but a fraction of what it should see.

Another problem with using a peep sight is that the sight pins often are much too large. Constricting what the eye sees through a small hole, and trying to place a fat sight pin in the middle of the peep sight hole while placing this combination on the heart and lung area of a deer accounts for many missed shots.

If I were to use a sight pin and a peep sight I would buy the finest, thinnest fiber optic pin made, use a larger than normal hole in the peep sight, and hope for the best.

Many hunters use and believe in peep sights, and I wish them good success. I’ve tried peep sights before, and it just doesn’t work for me. I’d rather go back to instinctive shooting.

For them that like peep sights, shoot them and good luck. I have noticed that once a person gains some age, and must wear glasses, that many hunters find it more difficult using this type of aiming device.

That’s why I manufacture red-dot sights. The peep sight manufacturers can claim the younger market where hunters have great vision and can see well through a peep sight.

I’ll continue to market my red-dot sight to the older hunters, and those with visual problems, and everyone gets what they want: an aiming device that allows them to make clean killing shots, time after time, under all types of legal shooting-light condition while maintaining their share of the market.

This line of thinking is why there are dozens of bow makers, many car and truck makers, and everything else. People in this country do have a choice, and that is what makes America so great. We can decide what we wish to hunt with, and that suits everyone just fine.—The Whitetail Wizard

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Take a Kid Hunting With You

Spending time with someone else, and watching them take a shot at a buck, is just as exciting for the watcher as for the shooter.

It’s long been said that turkey hunting is a one-man game, and that, for the most part, is true. Hunts can be shared by people who hunt alone but share the trip with someone else.

More families than ever before have come to share their hunts. My friendâ??s wife, Kay Richey, once shared a successful bow hunt with three grandchildren. The youngest was still sucking on a bottle, and Kay had the kids all seated in an elevated coop.

“Look,” she whispered, “there is a nice buck. Sit still, don’t move around and don’t make a sound. Grandma will see if she can shoot it.”

She eased the elevated coop window open, made sure all the kids could see without moving around, and waited for the buck to walk in. It stepped into her shooting area, and was slightly quartering-away, and she waited for the near-side front leg to move forward before drawing and shooting.

The buck ran off, and Eric who has eyes like an eagle said: “You got him, Gram, you shot him right in the heart. Let’s go find him.”

She got all three kids safely to the ground, went back up, lowered her bow and quiver of arrows to the ground, and began following the Game Tracker string. She had to rein in the kids to keep them from running ahead and getting tangled in the line.

It was starting to get dark in the woods, and she took the kids back to the car. She knew the deer was dead, and soon her daughter Nancy, and son-in-law Roger, and I, arrived.

The kids were right into it. We quickly found the dead buck, and set about field-dressing it. The girls stood and watched as the entrails came out, and when Dave held up the heart, Eric blurted: “I told you, Gram, right through the heart.”

The youngest of these kids was about two years old at the time, and it didn’t gross them out. They probably would have helped with the field dressing but we didn’t want them to get bloody for fear some well-meaning person might have thought we’d been beating them. They probably wouldn’t have understood taking the kids out hunting either.

Children must learn to have patience, and it is a necessary part of a bow hunt. Most kids, especially those who do not hunt, have a patience level of seven or eight minutes—the time between television commercials. That type of patience won’t work in a deer stand.

Kids must learn to sit still, and to remain silent. They can learn what an adrenalin rush feels like when Dad, Mom or Gram takes a shot. They learn, first-hand, that hunters always try to kill cleanly and quickly, and utilize the flesh of this animal for the nourishment of their bodies.

Adults can get their children into shooting. Never give a kid a hand-me-down adult bow that is too long for them. Shop around to find a short-draw bow that will work fine for two or three years.

Teach them to shoot, and teach them how to read deer sign in the sand, snow or mud. Show then how to determine wind direction, and why it is so important to be downwind of deer.

Show children what a broadside and quartering-away shot looks like and coach them that these are high-percentage shots. Show them which shots should not be taken and why they seldom produce a killing shot.

Teach them respect for these animals we hunt. Allow them to learn to read the body language of a deer, and how the animals will react when danger threatens.

Take them out when preseason scouting, and take them out once the season opens. Teach them tree stand safety, how to use a safety harness, and how to stay safe in an elevated stand or tree stand.

Most of all, talk to them afterward. Listen to their stories, and share yours with them, and give up your time to sit with them if they are not 17 years of age. Be supportive of their efforts, and install a sense of needing to practice to avoid having to make a long trailing job on a poorly hit deer.

Take them out hunting. Show them. Teach them, laugh with them and be proud of them if they cry over their first deer kill. Give of yourself, and that giving will be returned ten-fold in the years to come.—The Whitetail Wizard