Whitetail Wizard

Saturday, October 22, 2005

Deer Fights Can Be Deadly

The battle lasted for over 30 minutes. The two bucks were evenly matched, and both of them wanted breeding rights during the rut.

They stood several feet apart, eyeballed each other, and as if at a mutually agreed time, they drove toward each other and the crash of antlers rattled through the hills. They would force each other’s head down near the ground, and then one would gain the upper hand briefly, and then they would break apart with a mighty sound of antlers parting.

Again, the two bucks would huff and puff, and repeat the event leading up to the actual fight. The hard stare, neck hairs standing on end, ears laid back, and a resounding crash and they drove at their opponent. This time the other deer would have a brief advantage.

The dust rose in the air from the trampling hooves, and they would lock antlers, twisting each other’s neck back and forth, separate, and then slam back against each other again.

Some buck fights end like this with no clear winner. Nothing is decided, and a day or two later, they will fight again for supremacy. Eventually one buck or the other will claim breeding rights.

Many years ago, when I first built part of my enclosure, I had two huge bucks in my herd. They both made it through the primary rut, but when December rolled around, the weather was cooler and some ice was forming on a lowland swampy and shallow pothole.

I wasn’t witness to this battle but both bucks were 12-pointers and evenly matched. The fight took place on the thin ice, and those bucks fought until one ran two or three long antler tines through the other’s body. That buck wheeled, headed for shore and died just off the ice from his wounds.

The obvious winner won a hollow victory. He was exhausted, and collapsed on the ice. It broke beneath him, but the winner didn’t have the strength to make it to shore. I found them a day or two later: the one was frozen in the ice and dead and the other was dead on shore.

Bucks spend much of their early autumn waging war on saplings before the rut, and this is for good reason. It helps bucks strengthen their neck muscles, and it’s needed when actual fighting begins. I’ve seen one buck lift another buck almost off its feet with just its neck muscles.

Few deer fights result in death. Discretion is the better part of valor for most bucks, and the weaker of the two animals usually turns tail and runs before any serious injury occurs. I have seen bucks with antler tine holes in their rump, eyes gouged out and long, ragged flaps of skin hanging off their face from the effects of a fight.

There is much more to deer hunting than shooting a buck. Watching a wild buck fight is an interesting way to pass time in the deer woods, and it gives hunters a better appreciation for this frenzied part of the rut.

Most fights don’t last long, but a grudge match between two evenly matched bucks, is something to see. It’s not pretty but it is real.

Friday, October 21, 2005

How Sharp Is Sharp Enough

Most people who shoot a broadhead feel the blade is sharp enough. Little do they know.

For years we manufactured the Patriot broadhead. It was a two-blade, fixed-blade head, and it was sharp when it came off the factory machine that put an edge on them.

As good as that head was, I should make it even sharper. And therein is a lesson for many hunters.

I talked with a guy the other day who told me he shoots a four-blade replaceable broadhead. He thought it was sharp enough to cut hairs off his arm.

We conducted a small experiment. He with his factory edge on the replaceable blades and me with my Patriot. There wasn’t much of a contest.

He tried all four of his blades, and the forearm hair rolled over but the blades, none of them, wouldn’t cut hair. Well, he said, I shoot enough poundage to blow this broadhead through a deer. He maintained it would cut under the force of the arrow passing through.

And, up to a point, he was correct. However, I took my two-blade Patriot and used one edge to shave hairs off my arm with ease. I offered him the other side, and he cut hair from his arm.

“So, why is your head sharper than mine?” he asked. “Why don’t they make these replaceable blades sharper?”

Two good questions. We had to stop making the Patriot because the machining process was too expensive. We had to sell a three-pack of heads for $30, and most people didn’t want to spend that much money.

The other problem was that most people never go the extra distance to make the blades as sharp as possible. Another item we used to make until it became too expensive was a honing system. We used diamond stones placed at the precise angle to rough-sharpen the blade.

Once the rough-sharpening process was done, most people thought they were done. The opposite side of this tool also had a diamond stone designed to remove that tiny burr on the blade that forms while sharpening, and once they ran the blade over the fine diamond stone, they could shave with that head.

Archers know that arrows kill deer and other game when the broadhead cuts through the skin, begins to cut arteries, capillaries and veins, and causes massive destruction of internal organs. A less-sharp broadhead may kill but it takes longer.

A buddy of mine shot a very nice 8-point over two weeks ago. That buck ran only 50 yards after being hit with a precisely placed arrow, and from arrow impact to death was less than three seconds.

Sharp broadheads are needed, and when it comes time to shoot a bear, caribou, deer, elk or other animal, an extremely sharp head will do a far better job than a less-than-perfectly sharp head.

We owe it to the game we hunt to shoot arrows tipped with the sharpest broadheads possible. And for me, that means hand-sharpening them until they meet my expectations. Anything else show a lack of respect for the animals we hunt. 

Thursday, October 20, 2005

The Deer Started Moving Late

We are just past the full moon, and I sat in my Mound coop because it gave me a wide-angle view of one mile of rolling hills on my land.

The breeze was light from the north, and one would think the whitetails would have been moving. They were in one place on my land but not everywhere.

All of us are skilled hunters. One sat in a key area of heavy cover, and she didn’t see a thing. Her husband was in another location, and three bucks came to him just before the end of shooting time. They moved out of heavy cover with 15 minutes of shooting time left.

“It was an 8-pointer night,” he said. “They just kept getting larger after the first year-and-a-half 8-pointer walked out in front of me. I took a practice draw on the buck, eased up on the bow and kept waiting.

“The next buck out had a rack an inch outside of his ears. The G-2s were short, and the deer was probably 2 1/2 years old.”

The third buck also was an 8-pointer, but he walked in front of my friend with his ears spread straight out for a moment and his antlers were four inches outside of his ears on each side. The brow points were eight inches long and slightly curved backwards, and the G-2s were 10 inches long.

“That last buck was 3 1/2 or 4 1/2 years old, and one more year of growth on him would produce an outstanding buck, particularly if he grows two more points. I contented myself with drawing on him at 15 yards, easing up and letting the buck live.”

Tonight, I had decided, would be a doe night. There would be no bucks taken this night. Two small bucks came to me tonight, and were allowed to walk on without a shot being taken.

We must take a certain number of antlerless deer every year. A deer herd, even in the size of my enclosure, must be properly managed. If they are improperly managed, the land begins to develop a high browse line and soon looks more like a park than wild hunting land.

My area is a mix of huckleberry marsh, upland hardwoods, lowland cedars and swamps. The deer have enough land here to roam around in, but left to breed as the do on the outside, within two years my deer herd would be lopsided in favor of does and some stunted bucks.

Hunting antlerless deer means taking doe fawns and adult does. We do not shoot button-bucks. My goal is to keep the doe numbers fairly low, allow some of the big does to breed and we donate plenty of venison from smaller does every year.

Donating venison puts food in the kitchens of some of the less fortunate people in our area. The deer is field dressed, thoroughly cleaned out, and given away. We eat venison often, but there is no way we could eat as much venison as is taken under my management policy.

We’d much rather see these animals put to good use. The people who get venison are happy for our help.

Each year our deer management policy is tweaked if necessary. At times we’ve taken scrub bucks with short paddle-horns, misformed antlers, or unbalanced racks. Genetically, we prefer typical bucks although a few nontypical antlers are taken each year.

This night, as happens on occasion, didn’t produce a doe. In fact, only the man who had three bucks within shooting range saw a doe. It came after shooting time ended, passed through and disappeared into the woods.

Every night of bow hunting offers something new and different. Success is measured in many ways, and shooting a buck isn’t always the highlight. It could be seeing a soaring eagle overhead, spotting a coyote at a distance, or catching a glimpse of a ringneck pheasant.

Hunting, for us, means spending time afield in search of deer. We have nights, just like all hunters, where the deer do not move well. But each night spent in a deer stand is a memorable evening.

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Deer Hunters Still Battling The Wind

First it was the east wind. It blew almost every day during the first two weeks of October from the sunrise side.

This morning was very windy. Hard winds came straight out of the west, and the leaves were ripped off the trees by the strong winds last night and early today.

Someone at my archery shop asked if the wind is really that important to deer hunters, and if deer move when the wind is so strong. Both are good questions that require a solid answer.

Nothing in this world is absolute! We’ll take each question separately.

The first was the importance of wind to deer hunters. It’s not so much of an importance to us as it is to the whitetails we hunt. The wind is very important to whitetails, and because of that, it remains of major importance to us.

Deer have excellent noses, and depending on which study you read, deer researchers have found that deer can small a human a half-mile away during ideal conditions. However, deer don’t mash the panic button is they get a snoot full of human scent from that distance.

However, if deer are 100 yards away and catch a strong whiff of human scent, they try to determine whether it is of imminent danger or if the hunter is moving away from them. They may run, they may not, and sometimes they do nothing at al, which may be the best trick of all.

Hunters have an obligation to themselves to be as scent-free as possible. How they do that is a matter of personal preference.

Being downwind of deer is the most important thing for hunters to learn, and it’s not something we can be lazy about. If I’m in a tree stand, and the wind switches direction and starts blowing my scent to the deer, I get down and hunt elsewhere or chalk the hunt up to bad timing. Humans can beat the wind but it requires some work.

Many sportsmen like the Scent-Lok suit, and I have nothing against it. I don’t use one simply because I’ve learned how to beat the wind without having to wear other clothing or spray myself with scent eliminating spray. All these things work, but I grew up without the modern equipment, and learned how to get downwind.

Wind-direction changes, especially that last 30 minutes of legal shooting time, is what hurts many hunters. I’ve watched the wind turn 180 degrees in just a few minutes, and when that happens, a hunter may just as well head in.

I urge people who hunt my land to stay downwind of deer. Hunters can escape some of the problems of being winded by sitting high in a tree or hunting from an elevated or ground coop. My preference is to be outside, and up in a tree, and there is little sense in spooking deer unnecessarily. Figure out how to beat the wind and you’ll kill deer.

One thing many hunters don’t know is that a strong breeze that hits a high hill or dense stand of evergreens can cause a reverse back draft. The wind hits the wind or trees, curls up into the air, and the continuing breeze forces that breeze to curl back 100 yards into a field. Hunters who have had the wind in their face, were well camouflaged, and sitting motionless and silent have been detected. The breeze curling back in the direction from which it came can cause problems.

Do deer move in strong winds. Of course they do, but not all at once. There is no mass exodus out of the bedding areas. Deer move about a bit, and the dark it gets, the more movement that takes place.

I’d much rather hunt in a light breeze than on a still night. Deer become extra spooky without a wind to help them smell danger. A light wind will rustle the leaves, move tree branches, and deer may move slowly but they will move some during a wind.

Tonight was another decent night. It wasn’t good, it wasn’t bad, but I was out in it and hunting. I also was doing what I love to do: watching deer and their reactions to the wind and what it tells them.

My idea of learning is to learn something new about whitetails every time I hunt. Sixty years of hunting, and if we pay attention, can be a powerful learning tool when used properly.—The Whitetail Wizard

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

The Rut Is Coming & Things Are Happening

One of the most fascinating times of year is coming up, and hunters who spend time in the woods now are seeing the early stages of it.

We are in the pre-rut period right now, and although the primary rut will kick off in 10-12 days, even a casual observer will start to see signs of pent-up hostility in the body actions of bucks.

I was cruising the other day down an isolated trail on my property. I saw the scrape on the ground before I saw the rub on the tree.

The scrape was a big patch of pawed ground. By big, I mean it was six feet long and three feet wide. Every day I check that spot, and the scrape is getting bigger. The rub is on a tree bigger than a large man could reach around, and the buck is digging the bark off it.

My property holds some big deer, and many of the real trophy bucks work over cedar trees. They will smash the overhead limbs, hook the trunk of the tree, and rub their antlers up and down the tree and curl the bark right off it.

My grandson, Will Pollington, also keeps track of some of these big bucks and he knows where some hang out. Each year, at about this time, he locates a dozen or more trees that look like the tree trunk has gone through a mulcher.

Good hunters can follow these rub lines, locate scrapes in conjunction with the rubs, and start planning an ambush site. I’ve seen bucks scrub on tree trunks at all hours of the day, and bucks seem to travel more as the rut comes to a fever pitch.

Big scrapes and big rubs usually mean big bucks. That doesn’t mean a small buck can’t or won’t follow the same path as the big boys, but they usually keep their distance from the large bucks when the rut starts.

Scrape lines and rub lines on tree can help pinpoint the route of travel these bucks take. Knowing that, and making it work to your benefit, is obviously another story.

For the next week hunters should keep track of any changes in rub and scrape lines. If necessary, move a stand into the area at mid-day, and be as scent-free as possible. There is no telling when a buck will follow that line of travel, and if a hunter does their homework over the next week or so, it’s possible to lay an ambush that can produce the buck of a lifetime.

That’s my plan for this big buck. I know he is a trophy, and I plan to go after him. I’ve picked out my ambush site, and will get a stand up soon, and keep track of his actions.

All it takes is one mistake on his part, and none on mine, and I may take that buck. If so, you’ll get the story and a pictures sometime over the next two weeks.

Stop by every night, and check my progress. Good hunting!—The Whitetail Wizard

Monday, October 17, 2005

Making Exceptions To The Rule

Those who know me realize that sitting in a tree stand is my favorite deer hunting method. However, there are exceptions to every rule.

Tonight was an exception. There are two reasons to own hunting coops: one is for those people who dislike sitting exposed in a treestand. The other reason is to avoid inclement weather.

Inclement weather today meant a downpouring rain. Me and two friends hunted tonight, and it was a windy and wet day and evening although the rain stopped just before dark.

Was it a great hunting night? Of course. Any night when you can hunt is a good night, but as the old joke goes, some nights are better than others.

Three bucks came to me tonight, sneaking in late through occasional rain showers and they crept through my area walking in an easterly direction to someplace else. They were small bucks, and the largest was a decent six pointer but not an exceptional deer. He was a basic 1 1/2-year-old buck trying to stay out of the way of bigger bucks.
Each buck offered either a broadside or quartering-away shot but my interest level was on a higher scale. It was the type of night when I’ve shot some very nice bucks.

It seems on nights like this that most of the deer stay pretty close to their bedding area in thick cover, but even though it wasn’t a cold rain, some bucks are starting to feel the rise in testosterone levels. Wet ground makes for silent travel, and some of these bucks go for a hike to see that is new and different on their turf.

I don’t hunt every night it rains but I enjoy the stillness of a dry coop 20 feet in the air. It gives me greater visibility, and although the three small bucks weren’t what I had hoped to see, it proved that some deer were on the move ... which is a good reason to sit inside a stand.

My photographer buddy saw two nice bucks but none came any closer than 80 yards, and the high and wide eight-pointer he saw was hugging the tree line. He showed no inclination to cross an open field. The second buck, also an eight-pointer, was traveling with a doe. I suspect he better have some fun before a larger buck takes his girlfriend away.

The other hunter had seven does and fawns come to him right at the end of shooting time, and they moved swiftly on. As he put away his equipment for the hike back to his truck, a small buck moved through about 15 yards away.

Each of us had the same thought tonight. It’s impossible to be a successful deer hunter sitting in the house. That means we were out in the weather tonight, but we all chose to sit in a coop.

We may not be the smartest gents in the world, but we’re smart enough to come in out of the rain.

Sunday, October 16, 2005

Too Much Moon: Not Enough Moon?

The moon was big and bright tonight, and what few deer moved, did so right at the end of legal shooting time.

It brings us to the eternal question. Is hunting during the full moon a waste of time? No type of deer hunting, in my opinion, is a waste of time.

My experience during full moon periods is probably similar to yours. The deer often move late, and not many deer move during legal shooting time, but I’ve seen exactly the opposite on several occasions.

There haven’t been an overabundance of good deer hunting days during the full moon period, but there have been a few spectacular nights that I well remember. I take a different approach to hunting than many do.

I love deer hunting. Shooting a deer every time a person hunted would soon rob this pastime of its enjoyment. For me, being afield with a bow in hand is more important that the time of year or the moon phase.

It’s very obvious that it’s impossible to hunt from inside your home. We have to be out in the field, and each morning and/or evening hunt, is very important. I don’t pay much attention to the moon phases—I just go hunting, day after day.

The rut is still about two weeks away, and I’ll hunt every chance I get during that period but trying to pin down the peak of the rut to a specific day or days is much too scientific for my tastes. I figure if I hunt every day, regardless of the moon phase or rut phase, I’ll have my opportunities. It’s up to me to cash in on them.

The one thing I do know is that during the rut the bucks seem to move more during that period from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and hunters who can be afield then often find bucks moving. I’ve seen days during the full moon when bucks move fairly well during the middle part of the day.

Hunting deer is my life. So why should I concern myself with counting days after the second full moon during the fall, or picking an arbitrary day to pinpoint when the rut starts.

Hunters who are in the woods will know when the rut starts. Those same hunters who are afield at various times from sun-up to sundown during the full moon will also see bucks. It’s persistence, patience and practice that puts bucks at risk around me.

And ... I suspect it’s the same thing for most hunters. The more time we spend hunting normally means the more successful we will be. It certainly works for me.

Saturday, October 15, 2005

There Is More To See Than Deer

I’ve been blessed with good vision during my life, and take precautions to keep my vision up to par. And seeing things is what I do well.

All of you who have patiently read my blogs so far these past two weeks know that I hunt deer. It’s my way of life, and I’m proud of it.

However, having said that, I use my eyes constantly. I look far back into heavy cover for that first glimpse of an approaching buck or doe. Looking for a flicking ear, the wag of a tail or sunlight glinting off antlers is a major part of my hunt.

It’s my habit to look close and far away. I scan the trees for squirrels and birds, the sky for hawks and eagles, the ground for a chattering blue jay, and watching for game—all types of game—is a major part of my hunt when the deer aren’t moving. It was blowing up a storm earlier today, and sometimes that causes deer to move and sometimes they hole up in heavy cover.

Pheasant season opens next week, and if there is anything I enjoy watching, it’s ringneck pheasants. I sat in a ground blind two or three nights ago, and saw something moving slowly in a weed field just 20 yards away. It looked gray, and I’m thinking a stray cat or a coyote.

I was wrong on both counts. It was the mottled brown and gray of a rooster pheasant’s back. It stayed in thick cover, scanned the sky for hawks which have depleted many of our native ringneck population, and then the bird stepped out.

It was dazzling in its loveliness. The sunlight bounced off his feathers and he seemed to light up like a Christmas tree, and then his head came up and the ring around his neck was as white as newly fallen snow. He fed in the weeds, and then the deer started to move about and the pheasant headed for thicker cover.

My first hint of an approaching buck came when the animal was 50 yards east of me in thick cover. He turned his head several times to spot the other deer, and the late afternoon sun glinted off his antlers. I caught two flashes of light, and then the buck lowered his head, and walked out into the field. Another buck, unseen until he stepped out, walked out of cover and stopped to study each other.

They eyeballed the other while I watched, and then I began checking other spots nearby. My gaze out a side window produced the sighting of an 8-point buck moving slowly toward the other two animals.

All three stopped, looked at each other, and quietly walked closer. I suspect it was a threesome of bucks seen earlier in the fall, and they would be bachelor buddies until the rut begins.

Hunting is much more than just shooting a deer. I watch all kinds of wildlife, and there’s no telling what I will see from day to day. It’’s this wonder of vision, and the ability to see well that makes a day spent in a ground blind or tree stand a worthwhile passage of time.

Friday, October 14, 2005

Up In The Air Or Down On The Ground?

It’s an eternal question that is always being asked by many bow hunters. They want to know whether I prefer hunting on the ground or up in a tree stand.

A tree stand wins me over every time. I like the increased visibility that hunting from a tree provides, and I am never bothered by height. I used to hunt from nose-bleed elevations, but after acquiring a few more years of experience, my preference is for a stand at about 15 feet.

Many hunters prefer hunting from a cedar or pine tree, and if I have a choice, it’s one of them for me. However, I often hunt from maple trees. There are a lot of maples on my property, and my first decision is not the type of tree to hunt from but where is the best stand location?

If a cedar or pine offers the best spot to ambush a buck, that’s where I will hunt. However, if the key area to ambush a whitetail is from a maple tree, you’ll find me up one of them. Trees make little difference to me but location, as with real estate, is everything.

Some of my stands are permanent wood platforms and others are more confined. Some are ladder stands, and others are fixed-position stands that I reach by going up limbs or tree steps. It makes little difference to me: I go where the deer want to go.

It doesn’t take much room to shoot a deer from a tree providing that stand is properly positioned and downwind of the deer travel route. The trees on my land are there to provide possible stand locations, and although it’s not legal on state or federal land, I nail or use sturdy screws to hold my permanent stands in place.

As time goes on, some of my stands will be featured on this weblog. I have a few places where a big stand isn’t feasible, and some of them are no more than two halves of a sheet of marine plywood painted brown. A narrow platform just big enough to sit down on is nailed to the tree, the two side panels are nailed or screwed into place and a piece of plywood serves as a roof. These stands are narrow at the end where people enter the stand and slightly wider where they will shoot.

Deer never pay attention to them, and they are very productive. They are not made for a claustrophobic person.

Other stands have plenty of room, and carry names like the North Pine stand or the South Pine stand. Some are coops on stilts with steps and railings, and deer come to all of them. All are strategically placed, and some designs are unlike any I’ve seen before. Some stand outside in the rain and snow, and we check them two or three times each year to determine if they are safe.

Any stand that is no long safe is torn down. I’m a bit of a risk-taker, and if I won’t hunt from a oiir stand, no one else will hunt there. Such stands are slated for demolition.

Hunting from a tree stand of one type or another appeals to me. It’s possible to see deer come from many different routes, and it allows hunters to study the animals as they approach the area. Some deer dash right in, some come cautiously and slowly, and a few wise old does and big bucks always try to slip in on the downwind side to check for potential danger.

Some hunters dislike shooting down at an angle toward a deer. It is a part of hunting that must be practiced, and years ago, my son Matt and I would take turns on the ground. One would position a target at varying distances and angles, and the person in the tree would shoot a dozen arrows. He would climb down and we would change jobs. Continual shooting from a tree stand makes handling these shots as routine as ground-level shots.

Tell your friends, neighbors and relatives about my weblog. I plan to do this for a long time, and am willing to share my knowledge of what works and why it works. Do them a favor and give them my weblog address.

Once I start writing about tree stands and ground blinds, and the advantages and disadvantages of each one, I can promise you that a wealth of knowledge will be produced that can help make your coming hunts more productive. You’ll see some stands on my daily blog that you’ve never seen before, and in the process, learn why they are so productive.—The Whitetail Wizard

Thursday, October 13, 2005

Nontypical Whitetails Are Awesome Animals

A nontypical whitetail deer isn’t necessarily a freak of nature. Many different reasons can cause a whitetail buck to have deformed or nontypical antlers.

Genetics, to a certain extent, can lead to malformed antlers. Many years ago I had quite a few paddle-horn bucks running around on my land. None grew terribly big, and there seemed to be lots of them.

Once I enclosed my land we started thinning out the paddle-horns. They would have a normal rack on one side, and a paddle on the other. A few would carry a paddle and a point or two, but most of those bucks were taken a long time ago although one occasionally still shows up.

The real nontypical is an entirely different story. Some bucks seem to follow a genetic trait that produces one or more drop points, and these deer occasionally will have one or two sticker points as well.

Another common nontypical features double brow points on one or both sides. Another common nontypical has a typical rack on one side, and just a spike or a spike and one or two small points on the other side.

My outdoor writer buddy Dave Richey took a photo of a nontypical taken here in Michigan that had part of the antler on one side grow downward into its eye and blinded the animal. It is a rather grotesque looking buck, but it made a very impressive mount. That photo is shown here, courtesy of Dave’s camera.

I shot an odd nontypical buck with my bow last year. It was a basic mainframe 8-point with a symmetrical typical rack. What made it an oddity of nature was it had a third main beam that curved around. It created quite a stir when people first saw it, and I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of the mount.

That three-beam buck had spread his seed elsewhere in my deer herd because another three-beamer roams my land. I’ve seen him several times this season but haven’t shot. Another two years of growing would make him a truly wondrous buck.

What causes some of these oddities? Genetics, as mentioned above, can cause a change. Another cause is the animal running into a tree limb when the antlers are still soft and in the velvet, and the result can be an weirdly shaped rack.

Another cause is an injury to a testicle. Often, if the right testicle is injured, the antler oddity will form on the left side. The reverse also is true, and there are other oddities where a buck may have a great mass of tiny points sticking out all over or small acorn-shaped points.

Some bucks develop extremely wide racks with short points. Other have tighter and more compact racks that grow more up than out. Every antler is somewhat like fingerprints: no two look exactly alike, although with certain bucks, it’s easy to trace the lineage of one buck to his daddy by the basic antler configuration.

Some hunters prefer to hunt nontypical bucks but it’s a difficult chore. Others favor the symmetry of a typical rack. There is nothing more awesome that a wide and tall typical, but there is a lot to be said for nontypical racks.

They may be odd and weird shaped, but even the most grotesque nontypical is a piece of nature’s art.

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Deer Hunting Is Best With Quality Equipment

I have been up and down trees for many years. On occasion, I have done what every other longtime bow hunter has done.

I’ve dropped my bow, had a haul rope break or dropped my release. I try to make certain these things don’t happen, but there have been a few times when things did go wrong.

If a bow is dropped, it normally must be taken into the shop for repair. If, a string breaks, the hunting night ends right then. If my release is dropped, I dig into my pack and bring out another. If I take a shot, which has never happened to me, and the bottom limb of my C.P. Oneida bow hits a limb, that also means a necessary repair job.

Many hunters use baling twine as a haul rope. It’s hard on the hands, and if the twine get wet, it breaks. My solution is to use a good solid rope secured at one end of my stand and knotted securely to my bow. Game Tracker makes a haul rope in camo color, and it is 20 feet long.

Don’t make the mistake of tying off the haul rope near your feet. Bending over in a tree stand can result in a fall. Secure the rope to your seat or a nearby limb.

My recommendation is to change bow strings every year. I know people who do not practice much, and a string may last several years. I shoot every day, 365 days out of the year, and I replace my bow string every year and more often if necessary.

Look at it this way: Once deer season ends, it’s nine months until a new season opens. What no one needs is to be on stand, watch a big buck move closer, you patiently wait for it to offer a broadside or quartering-away shot, and you come to full draw. On the release, the string breaks and the deer disappears without being hit.

A new string is cheap insurance against such problems. I wax my strings periodically, and change them on a regular basis.

My red-dot sight has a long battery life but how often do people carry a replacement battery? Not often, I promise you. Buy a spare battery, wrap it up tightly, and test the sight once or twice while on stand. If it is turned on but the red dot is absent, changing it at the time is usually much easier than trying to change batteries with a deer nearby.

My archery shop caters to hunters, and you’d be surprised how many hunters carry two or three different sizes of arrows in their quiver. Each one is bound to fly to a different point of impact, so why not buy a dozen arrows and keep six for target practice and six to hunt with.

It had been my practice to shoot aluminum arrows exclusively but I’ve found that the Eastman Outdoors Maxima carbon arrow is the finest carbon arrow shaft on the market today. It is strong, made to extremely close tolerances, and as long as nothing on your bow or broadhead changes, the arrows will fly to the same point of impact.

Hunters can insure that constant arrow placement will be available by using a release. My GatorJaw release holds the string above and below the nock, thus avoiding the problem of putting undue pressure above or below the arrow nock. This release gives accurate shots every time.

Big bucks don’t grow on trees, and hunters who choose their equipment wisely and take care of it, are always prepared for a shot. Those who are prepared, and are intimately familiar with their gear, are the ones that shoot the big bucks. 

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

More East Wind & Less Deer Movement

It’s hard to understand wind directions. Years ago, during October, most of our prevailing winds blew from the south, southwest and west.

Three or four years ago things began to change. It seems that October, at least the first half of it, comes whistling out of the east with a certain amount of vengeance. I’m beginning to think that our yearly punishment is to cope with an east wind in October.

It may seem that I’m constantly bemoaning our luck by drawing an east or northeast wind every night. but we’ve had about eight of our 11 days so far this month dealing with these winds.

We’ve discussed what to do about it, what works on occasion, and how we can compensate for it. Nothing seems to be working now.

Some deer are moving, and when they do, it is to areas where they can get in the lee of the wind, and often it’s a place where there are no hunting stands. Most of the deer seem to settle into areas 300 yards from any stand, and just move about a little bit to feed.

Five people went out again tonight. The score was: deer—5, hunters—0. I saw a small buck and a couple of skittish does. One man tried again for photos without success. A husband and wife team sat together, and saw two bucks: one small spike close enough to shoot but they passed on it, and a larger 8-point that was too far away for a shot. The other hunter saw two small bucks and several does, a long ways away.

The story is becoming like a sad old song with a very familiar refrain. The weatherman hints to an east wind through the weekend, and by that time, we’ll be in that two-week lull where deer move very little before the rut kicks off.

Deer are complex animals and trying to figure them out at times like this can be a puzzling pastime. People who claim to know everything about whitetail behavior can add little wisdom about how to hunt when the wind remains totally wrong for long periods of time.

Tonight the husband and wife were setting in a coop with the windows closed. All the deer that moved came crosswind for a certain distance to avoid heavy cover and trees, and then bee-lined it straight down through an open field. At one time they counted 22 bucks and does feeding in a little five-acre area but all of the animals were far from any cover.

My stand was up in a tall pine, and what little activity I saw also was crosswind to me. The deer seemed determined to stay away from any coop, elevated or otherwise.

Another friend sat in a ground blind and never had a deer within 150 yards. Those few moving deer were crosswind from him and moving directly into the wind.

The photographer set up his tripods and cameras inside a ground blind, and there wasn’t a deer moving within 250 yards of his stand. The deer he saw seemed to be moving directly into the east wind or quartering crosswind into the stiffening breeze.

Shortly before shooting time ended, the breeze really picked up and turned into a stiff wind. Almost all of the deer that had been visible soon moved upwind, their nose into the wind, and headed for cover.

Perhaps the deer have more brains than the hunters. At least they headed for an area of thick pines and some thermal cover. We toughed it out until shooting time ended, and pulled up stakes and headed in.

One night soon, the wind will change direction, and the deer will move on a predictable basis. When it happens, I know five people who will be ready.

Monday, October 10, 2005

Poor Hunting Night, Good Thinking Night

People say there is no such thing as a bad hunting night. They maintain simply that some nights are better than others.

If so, tonight left much to be desired from a hunting standpoint. A northeast wind is not good on my property, and only a few places could be hunted. And, of the five people sitting out in ground blinds or tree stands tonight, it was a mixed bag of nothing much.

One man never saw a deer. Another was photographing deer for me, and didn’t have a buck within 150 yards all night. Another man saw a few small bucks and does, but nothing close. Another hunter saw a 6-pointer and a doe but chose to pass on the young buck.

Me, I saw a couple of small bucks but nothing close and nothing I would have considered shooting at. It was one of those nights when most of the deer seemed to be taking a break from their early evening travels.

The weatherman forecasts more east winds until the weekend. Wow. This is almost as exciting as a blizzard in mid-February.

Hunters, being the eternal optimist that most of us are, can use our time on stand to silently remember old friends who have downed their last whitetail buck, stands we have loved and lost to wind storms, bucks we have seen but never were successful in taking.

I sat and remember some of my old stands from 25 years ago. I thought they were super stands at the time, but when compared to stands being used today, they were pretty rough.

Between watching the hills and ridges, the nearby open fields, I remembered Dr. Ned Hether who used to hunt here. He treated me and my family without charge, and we enjoyed having he and his family come from Swartz Creek to hunt.

I remember George Richey, twin brother of outdoor writer Dave Richey, who visited my ranch several times. He wasn’t an avid deer hunter like his brother, but he enjoyed the camaraderie of the hunt and the stories told after the hunt ended.

I remember when an old railroad caboose was a hunting blind at the north end of my front woods, and I remember the Hole In The Fence tree stand. I remember the old Execution Knob pit blind that produced so many opening-day firearm bucks for me over the years.

These slow nights of sitting high in a tree stand are great times to solve problems. I keep thinking about solutions to vexing problems, and ways to make my C.P. Oneida Extreme bow even better than it is. I roll the many vast improvements around in my mind, and keep nudging the bow-building envelop closer and closer to perfection.

Oops, there’s a small buck. He’s moving somewhere, and perhaps out of the way of a big buck. He disappears, and again I become absorbed in my thoughts. Over many years of hunting and thinking I’ve been able to solve complex mechanical problems while keeping both ears and eyes at full attention.

Nothing escapes my hearing or vision during these slow nights, and although we gripe about them, it’s still fun to be out in a tree stand and watching for deer. This deer hunting is a continuing learning process for people willing to pay attention while on stand.

Hunting is my life, and making and selling C.P. Oneida Eagle bows is what pays the bills, and I suspect a bit of nostalgia is good for all of us. It helps us appreciate good hunting when it develops, and allows us keep track of our past. We can’t know where we are going unless we know where we’ve been.

And thinking and remembering is as much a part of hunting as carrying my bow into the field or tracking down a heart-shot buck. Even though the hunting wasn’t good tonight, thinking about past hunts and old friends helps keep me going.

Sunday, October 09, 2005

Managing Deer Through Hunting.

MARION—My 900-acre Buck Pole Deer Ranch enclosure is many things. It is where I study deer, learn more about whitetail habits and preferred habitats, and it is a place where I can go to escape business chores on occasion.

I find solitude on my deer ranch. Sure, I sell some hunts, and have some friends in on occasion to hunt, but it’s a place for me to go and play on my bulldozer or tractor. I installed the fences myself, made the roads over a period of many years, and it’s this being in the field on a daily basis that teaches me more about deer.

This is land that I love. It has become my dream come true.

One thing that owners of new enclosures do is come to talk to me about deer management. It’s difficult for the DNR to manage the state’s deer herd; I know that to be true because it is a time-consuming deal to manage the deer on my 900 acres.

Much the same is true outside of my enclosure as inside. People, as a general rule, want to shoot a buck and preferably a big buck. They feel that everyone else can shoot the antlerless deer.

Folks, that can’t happen in an enclosure. Antlerless deer must be kept in line with their food supply and their habitat requirements. Too many whitetail does and doe fawns at the end of the season means an even bigger problem next year with the new fawn crop.

We have to shoot antlerless deer, and many of these animals are doe fawns. We need some big healthy does to produce fawns next spring.

If we were to stop shooting doe fawns and some mature does, within two years our herd would be in serious trouble. The does would far outnumber the bucks, and that is exactly how Michigan public deer herds have got so far out of control.

Does beget more does if people shoot only bucks. Everyone wants to take a big buck, but that doesn’t happen if every buck taken is only one-and-a-half years old. Only time, and good genetics, high-protein food and a lack of stress, allows bucks to grow large antlers.

It takes a minimum of four-and-a-half years to grow a big buck, and those that live 5 1/2, 6 1/2 or 7 1/2 years, will grow trophy racks. It seldom happens on private and public lands. The bucks get shot long before they can attain any age or size.

Proper deer management means having one buck for every doe or a ratio of 1.5 does per buck. It is very difficult to get the buck-doe ratio that low unless the herd is well managed. Some of the large ranches in south Texas have the same problem, and reducing doe fawn numbers is the key to managing for quality deer.

Deer hunters are their own worst enemies at times. They want big bucks but want to shoot bucks every year. Somehow, some way, they must realize that age is a major factor in producing big bucks. Shoot little bucks this year, and that little buck will never grow to be a larger buck. Most deer hunters aren’t willing to shoot does for four years, and none wish to go that long to allow bucks to mature.

Many of the big hunting clubs in our southern states shoot does, and limit bucks to be taken to 8 points or more. In Alabama hunters can take a doe a day, and that helps keep deer numbers down and produces a better buck-doe ratio. Some of those clubs put a serious fine on a person who shoots a buck with less than eight points.

Managing deer is not a hobby for me. It’s a job, and I’m most proud and successful at doing it right. People who come here to hunt know they must abide by my rules, and over the years, my methods of managing deer on my land has helped me produce superb bucks.

And guess what: Every year we will see two or three huge bucks that no one has ever seen before. Sure, the land is fenced but the hunting isn’t a walk in the park. These deer have plenty of room in which to roam, and they are as wild as any found outside the fence.

The only difference is my deer herd is well managed, and it produces bucks that any hunter would be proud of. And folks, that is a big difference from what is found on most private and public lands.—The Whitetail Wizard

Saturday, October 08, 2005

Old Stomping Grounds Not Always Best.

Deer hunters are creatures of habit. Many staunchly resist change.

Many will sit on the same stump, along the same runway, as they did 10, 15 or 20 years ago. It’s difficult for many sportsmen to break their old habits, and some deer hunters never try. It becomes a tradition to again hunt where a buck was killed sometime in the far distant past.

They often wonder: If it was good 20 years ago, it will be a good spot now. Won’t it?

Maybe yes and maybe no. That tradition of returning, year after year, to the same spot has probably saved the life of more bucks than poor shooting or a lack of preseason scouting.

Sadly, clinging to a traditional spot, even when it no longer is hot, is a lesson in frustration. It also leads to fiery claims by skunked hunters that the Department of Natural Resources’ reports of abundant whitetails are inflated.

Perhaps this season is the time to cast aside the traditional old haunts, and think about trying a new area. Too many people never realize that food and habitat conditions can and do change, and if the landowner doesn’t do something to make the land produce more food and offer more cover, the deer will move on. It’s as simple as that.

Deer are animals of farmland and woodland. Granted, some deer live in deep forest and many live on farms, and that’s a fact of life in this state.

If you agree that a new hunting location should be tried, where should hunters start in their search for a new spot to try their luck or skill?

Hunters can start with the DNR. They keep track of deer trends, and know which counties have the highest deer numbers and which ones produce the largest deer. The county extension agent often deals with farmers and other landowners, and they also can help.

Determine if you want to hunt the Upper or Lower Peninsula, but if you’ve read hunting reports elsewhere about deer hunting prospects, the U.P. is not the place to go. The area with the most deer is south of an east-west line from Bay City to Grand Rapids.

Start asking questions. Learn which counties produce big bucks and lots of deer, and learn why deer numbers are high in such areas. Determine the availability of state or federal lands nearby, but both state and federal land is quite sparse and overhunted in the southern Lower Peninsula.

Spend time scouting two or three different areas. Determine which ones offer the best combination of land, cover, deer foods, bedding cover and access. Walk around the land, and check for well-used deer trails leading from bedding to feeding areas and back.

Look for buck rubs and deer scrapes in late October. Check barbed wire fences for bits of hair that indicate deer passing through the area.

Talk with nearby landowners to determine their idea of hunting pressure. Often, in agricultural areas, the major hunting pressure is from the landowner and his or her family and close friends.

Consider the possibility of leasing hunting rights. Fees vary depending on length of the lease, property size, whether it is ideal or marginal deer habitat, and what it offers the hunter.

No one owes today’s sportsman anything in terms of hunting private property. I manage my 1,000 acres to produce big bucks, and crop lands are rotated and some timber is cut. Doing so helps maintain good hunting, but it’s a never-ending learning process to keep up with where whitetails travel after crop rotation and timbering takes place.

I spend many hours every day, 365 days a year, scouting my land. Deer habits change, food supplies change, and hunting pressure can make deer seek quieter areas. A hunter doesn’t know these things unless they spend time in the field on a regular basis.

Public lands feature too many hunters in narrowly confined areas, and the hunting pressure is too high. Food supplies are far better on private land than state or federal lands. Private property holds deer, and, in many areas, it supports more whitetails than public land. For this reason it’s easy to understand why more people lease hunting land even though the price of leasing acreage is rising.

Whether a hunter leases private land, hunts on public land, or manages to wangle an invitation from a landowner, scouting is a never-ending problem. Hunters who don’t scout old land or new land run a major risk of not being successful.

Knowing what lies over the next ridge and why deer travel one trail and not another is why some sportsmen bag whitetail bucks year after year, and why some hunters never tie their tag to the rack of a good buck.