Whitetail Wizard

Friday, September 30, 2005

Ten Common Opening-Day Mistakes

Oct. 1 can be the best time of all to shoot a whitetail buck, but it’s also a time when hunters make some common mistakes. I’ve hunted for many years, and when I make a mistake now, I learn by it.

There are many ways for hunters to mess up. Here are 10 common mistakes that bow hunters make.

*Know exactly where you are going. Hunters who blunder around before dawn or late in the afternoon trying to find their ground blind or tree stand often spook deer. Sometimes they scare animals that never blow or snort, and the hunter proceeds to his or her stand hoping for a great hunt. Know your way in and know your way out, and don’t cover more ground than is necessary.

*Don’t get too jumpy and take hasty shots. There are two high-percentage shots: broadside and quartering away. A hurry-up-and-shoot shot often is not as well aimed as we think, and a low-grade shot likely will wound a deer. A wounded animal can spook other deer from that hunting location. Wait and take a good shot.

*Take your time. Don’t take the shot a deer gives you; wait and allow the animal to settle down before drawing, aiming and shooting. If deer are not spooked, they often will mill around before moving out of the woods. Wait out the buck, and if he doesn’t provide a good shot, hold your fire and try for him again another day.

*Hopefully every hunter will have determined where bucks will travel in their area. If a hunter climbs into his stand early enough, rather than an hour before shooting time ends, he may be rewarded with a shot at a buck he has seen many times. If the stand is properly positioned, sit still and wait patiently for your opportunity.

*Make certain you are downwind of the travel trail. Watch for sudden wind direction changes, and if the wind blows into the area where the buck comes from, leave. Sticking it out in a stand and hoping the wind will switch may lead to to scaring off any buck or doe.

*Being downwind and scent-free is only part of this deer-hunting puzzle. Hunters also must sit still. That means being absolutely motionless, and few people can sit without moving a muscle for two, three or four hours. Even a small movement at the wrong time can spook deer from your hunting area, and they may not return.

*Make certain that no part of your ground blind or tree stand squeaks. A faint squeak when a buck is within 100 yards can scare off the animal. This also means not having anything that can be accidentally knocked to the ground. A dropped bow release can bounce off a ladder-stand, and scare an unseen but nearby buck out of its wits.

*A common mistake that first-time bow hunters make when hunting over bait is to shoot the first deer they see. Ninety-five percent of the time the first deer to the bait will be a button buck. Sit back, study the animal through binoculars, and wait for other deer to arrive. Hunters who shoot the first deer to a bait site almost always shoot button bucks. Wait, allow the doe fawn and their mother to feed, and often during the last 30 minutes of shooting time, a buck will arrive.

*Hunters who have deer nearby when shooting time ends should un-nock their arrow, and sit quietly and wait for the deer to feed off. Sometimes the hunter may have to sit for 30 minutes after dark before they move on. A hunter who moves when deer are nearby will never see a good buck. Stay legal, remove the arrow and wait.

*Deer can’t count. If two hunters arrive on a four-wheeler, one gets off and gets into the stand, and then the other hunter drives away, a nearby deer will think it’s the same person coming and going. We’ve dropped people off, drove away, and the hunter shoots a buck while the vehicle noise can still be heard. The reverse is true after shooting time ends: a truck or four-wheeler pulls in and spooks the deer away, and the hunter gets out of the stand, gets in the vehicle and it moves off. It’s the vehicle noise and movement that spooks the deer, not the hunter.

Thursday, September 29, 2005

Hunting Memories: It Keeps Us Going.

Fishermen are commonly known for “fishing memories,” or going back time after time to the same old spot. Sometimes it works on deer, and sometime it doesn’t, but memories often remain long after the size of the rack and the venison has disappeared.

Much the same thing occurs with hunters. We all develop a feeling for certain ground blinds or tree stands, and often this can be good. In many cases, if a particular stand was once good, it may still be good.

For about three years my son Matt and outdoor writer Dave Richey took turns hunting the same tree. It probably produced a dozen nice bucks for them, and then it seemed to go dead. They didn’t hunt it daily, and it may only have been hunted twice per week.

Matt took a few nice 8-pointers out of it, as did Dave, and they still talk fondly about hunting that tree. However, as I make my rounds to study deer behavior and travel routes, it has become obvious that deer had quit moving past that tree.

I’ve got many memories of favorite tree stands, and those thoughts often are built around having taken a really good buck from it or having seen a wide-racked buck nearby. In some cases, a new stand may reveal a great travel corridor than has been overlooked.

One stand sticks out because I had seen a heavy beamed 10-pointer there, and I noted the time he passed by. I was there the next night but he wasn’t, and several deer were passed up because I didn’t want to shoot a lesser buck if the big one may be nearby.

I went back to that stand periodically, and saw that buck on three occasions but he was either screened by heavy brush or just too far away. And this brings up a point: every bow hunter should know what the maximum range is for them to make an accurate shot.

Shooting at a buck too far away usually results in a miss but a deer that is spooked by an irresponsible shot may never return. Even worse, a bad hit may be made, and that may result in a long tracking job and even then, the animal may never be found. Sportsmen must know their limitations, and strive not to exceed them.

Years ago one of my favorite tree stands was in a tree I called the Posturepedic. If a hunters back didn’t hurt when they climbed in, it would be hurting when they climbed down. That stand, 30 years ago, was positioned between a bedding area and nearby fields, and it produced quite a few bucks back but is no longer being hunted.

Those who hunted the Posturepedic stand usually did so just once. It wasn’t a comfortable stand, but it produced some big bucks for me.

Another of my favorite locations was in a dead elm, and it was located 15 yards from a hole in a fence between my land and a neighbors, and was positioned for a broadside shot once the deer came through. Many people do not realize that given the chance, a deer would prefer going through a hole in the fence rather jumping the wire.

The last time I came down out from that fence-hole stand I felt the tree shudder. I kept going and made it to the ground. The next day I drove down a wooded trail past that tree, and it was laying on the ground.

Hunting memories, my phrase for going back to tree stands that once produced shots at whitetail bucks, is something that hunters do. Some of it is nostalgia, and some is to determine if that area is as good as it once was.

These memories are good for hunters. It helps us remember a stand that once led to the arrowing a trophy buck, or a memorable miss, or a stand that just makes us feel good.

I’m willing to bet that all of us have such memories. A little thought can make them reappear on demand, and part of hunting’s thrill is traveling down the back roads of our memories.

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

How Good Is Your Opening-Day Hotspot?

It’s human nature. We fall in love with our opening-day ground blind or tree stand because we’ve thought about it for months on end.

Does this mean your hotspot will be hot on opening day? Perhaps it will and maybe it won’t. It all depends on wind and weather conditions.

One major problem hunters face is setting all of their stands for the prevailing wind direction. During Michigan’s bow and firearm deer seasons, the prevailing direction is south and southwest in October, west to northwest in November and northwest and north in December.

So here is this hotspot stand set up for opening day. It has the stand downwind for a south or southwest breeze. Good thinking!

However, if you’ve followed wind patterns the past few years as I have, you’ll remember that nearly half of our October days featured an east wind. An east wind, unless stands are specifically placed for such wind currents, makes other stand locations nearly impossible to hunt without being detected by approaching deer.

It’s easy to advocate having stands in key hunting locations for an east wind, but it’s sometimes quite difficult to find good spots.

Most bow hunters, like me, prefer hunting out of a tree. One way to get around this problem is to hunt from an elevated coop. Keep the windows closed until it’s time to take a shot.

The best way is to look at how deer travel, especially on an east wind, and locate that one key spot where whitetails filter through. Try to be downwind of the whitetail traffic.

Fishermen have long known that angling success often takes a nose dive on an east wind, and deer hunters - especially bow hunters - know the same holds true for them when hunting on an east wind.

I’ve long known that an open tree stand may cause your scent to drift to the deer when the wind huffs from the east. An enclosed and elevated wooden blind with shooting windows can save the day.

One thing is certain. The hunter who deliberately puts himself upwind of deer on an east wind will probably ruin that hunting spot for the rest of the season unless he can prevent deer from smelling them. A simple V-shaped wooden structure with just enough room to shoot can work if a box-type blind is not used.

If an east wind blows on the Saturday opener, and your stand is not placed properly for that wind, it’s better to sit out the day than to risk spooking all the deer. Once deer are spooked from your hotspot stand, the odds are that they either won’t return past that site or will approach it with a great deal of caution.

Be a savvy hunter. Play the wind like a fine violin, and never discount the ability of a whitetail deer to catch your scent.

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Welcome To My Bow Hunting World

My name is Claude Pollington, and this is the first of my daily weblogs. Some hunters might ask: what is a weblog and why should I read it?

It is a daily journal of my activities. Some might refer to it as a daily column. It will be about what I think, what I do, what I feel and see, and things I do during my days in the bow hunting world. Reading it can add more hunting knowledge to your life, and that can be a good thing.

I’ve hunted deer for about 60 years, and have seen many changes over those years. I remember when the very first compound bows hit the market; those early and wonderful days when I hunted with a long bow; and I remember those times when Michigan whitetail deer numbers were very high or very low.

My mission, with this daily weblog, is to provide you - the reader - with my personal viewpoints on archery, bows, hunting and much more. I intend my daily weblog to be entertaining and very informative.

It is my great good fortune to own C.P. Oneida Eagle Bow Company, the Buck Pole Archery shop (both located in Marion, Michigan) and the Buck Pole Deer Ranch. My goal is to produce the finest compound bows on the market, and my Signature Series ?Extreme? is a limited edition and signed bow that meets that lofty standard.

This daily weblog will not be another way to promote C.P. Oneida Eagle bows, although it will do some of that. There is a link here that will take readers to that website. This weblog is designed to write about hunting, various techniques, and different hunting methods. It will be informative, and in this modern era, information means increased knowledge.

You may read some about bow tuning, other stories on how to properly shoot a bow, but most of all this weblog will offer information about deer hunting. I’ve taken plenty of game in my time, from bear, caribou, deer and others, and I have some hardcore knowledge about some hunting methods, strategies and techniques that I will share in the future.

Today, now that my first weblog has appeared on the internet, I want readers to know that it’s my desire to share with you the magic of bow hunting. That most magical day kicks off Saturday, Oct. 1, when the Michigan bow season opens.

Make this weblog page your go-to location every day. You’ll find my blog to be a breath of fresh air as we wander our way through life with a bow in hand.

We’ll have fun, you and me, and perhaps you will learn a few things about bow hunting that you didn’t know. Most of all, we’ll have fun - you and me - living the good life in the outdoors.

Come visit my weblog tomorrow. You’ll be happy you did. - The Whitetail Wizard.

Monday, September 26, 2005

Welcome to Whitetail Wizard’s Blog

MEET CLAUDE POLLINGTON, THE WHITETAIL WIZARD

Hi, my name is Claude Pollington and my daily weblog will provide hunters with some great information on bows, hunting, and the many things I have done to make bow hunting easier and more fun for a very large cross-section of the hunting world.
Click on Whitetail Wizard for my daily weblog. It will cover a wide variety of bow hunting topics, and I would hope that after you read several days of my copy, you will tell your friends, neighbors and relatives about my site.

I’ve always been a bit of a maverick when it comes to bow hunting for whitetails. I’ve learned to trust my gut instincts while hunting, and some of my findings may fly in the fact of what other hunters believe.

C. P. Oneida Eagle Bow Company is my company, and for the past several years we’ve worked hard to develop new bows that feature a smooth draw curve, fast arrow speed, and are easy and quiet to shoot.

I live in Marion, Michigan, 15 miles southeast of Cadillac in the Lower Peninsula. We opened up my Buck Pole Archery Shop many years ago just before it became the largest selling Oneida dealership in North America. I also own 1,000 acres of the finest deer range in the state, and about 900 acres of this land is under high fence.

My hobby is studying deer, and the best way to do so is to have enough land under fence where deer will behave as they would in the wild. We offer trophy deer hunts, and they are listed on our Buck Pole website.

This weblog is an offshoot to the archery business. I’ve had countless requests for more detailed information about deer hunting, and decided a daily weblog is the best way to do it. A weblog is a daily journal of what I see, what I think, what I do, what I feel, etc. If this were a newspaper rather that an internet weblog, this would be similar to a daily newspaper column. The difference here is my webblog is free.

Some weblogs will be long, some will be short, but all will be informative and provide readers with things they really should know about deer behavior and hunting methods that work.

I have been into archery development since 1982 when I began selling Oneida Eagle bows. However, long before that, I was an avid archer with many magazine and newspaper columns written about me.

In 1980, Outdoor Life, in a feature story by David Richey, called me “The Whitetail Wizard.” The name has stuck for all these years, and people still come into my archery shop to ask for me by that name.

Studying whitetail behavior is my passion. That, and developing what many hunters feel are the finest made compound bows in the world. My latest “The Extreme” is a fine example of the bowyer’s art.

My goal is to make every person who visits my store a better archery shot, and I strive to make a novice bow hunter successful on their first hunt. Obviously, how hunters shoot a bow will determine accuracy. People who follow my easy steps become successful hunters.

It is my intention to make this blog successful. Each day readers will learn something more about hunting deer. There will be stories of some of my hunts, fun things to read about bow hunting, tips and tricks I used to out-wit whitetail deer, and some of the many observations I’ve made over nearly 60 years of hunting with a bow and arrow.

Place my weblog address in your Favorites list, and check me out every day. Most of my weblogs will be illustrated with a color photo, and it’s my intention to make this weblog fun and interesting for you.
Click on my weblog every day. There will be new copy on this site on a daily basis, and anyone who reads it will learn something new.

And, if you are in the neighborhood, feel free stop in and visit. We are located at 20669 30th Avenue (highway M-66) about one-half mile north of the Marion blinker light on the west side of the road.
Hope to see you on the hunting trail. - Claude Pollington