Whitetail Wizard

Sunday, April 30, 2006

When Is The Right Time To Shoot?

The buck was mincing along the fence row in no big rush to enter the field before dark one night last fall. It would stop every few feet, lift its head to look around and sniff for danger before moving slowly closer.

The day, cool and overcast, threatened rain. The buck, more wary now than earlier in the bow season, wasn’t in any big rush to leave the heavy cover. It poked along, feeding along the edge of a clover field, after leaving a thick swale where it and several other deer had been bedded down.

The buck, sporting six points in a small basket rack, was only 1 1/2 years old. It was plenty old enough to know to stick with other deer his age and not get mixed up with larger, older bucks.

My stand was 15 feet up a towering cedar. The buck was still following the same pattern it had taken during August and September, and apparently saw no reason to deviate from its chosen course.

Would it follow the same trail again today? Yeah, it would because he always traveled the same morning and evening routes, and it would soon pass within easy bow range of my tree stand.

The does and other yearlings had already passed my stand and continued on into the open field 200 yards away. The buck, moving slowly and daintily like his feet hurt, was taking all the time in the world. He was in no rush to go anywhere.

Many things would have to come together before a bow shot could be taken. The buck would have to present the proper angle for a good killing shot, and it had to be within 15 yards of my stand. And, more importantly than anything else, I had to be mentally prepared for the shot.

Would I be ready? Daily practice and a half-century of studying whitetail deer at close range had shaken any jitters normally associated with seeing a buck. My mind and equipment were ready.

The buck moved a few steps closer. He stopped to sniff where his sister, mother and cousins had paused, and the young buck looked around as its mother had done countless times before.

The deer inched forward another few feet, to within 25 yards of me. Stout branches partially screened my position, and I closely studied the buck’s every movement.

My bow, sighted in to be dead-on at 15 yards from 15 feet up the tree, was waiting. An arrow was nocked, and it was ready to use when and if the right time arrived.

The six-pointer hopped over a single strand of barbed wire, and paused again to study the upcoming terrain. Other deer, 300 yards away, were heading out to feed as the sun began to sink in the western sky.

The buck turned again, and slowly stepped a few feet closer to my tree. Its head came back, and its nostrils flared as it snuffled the air for danger. None was detected, and satisfied, the buck began to move again.

My tree stand was directly downwind from the buck, and it couldn’t smell me. Rubber boots and clean clothing kept the buck from detecting my presence.

The buck bent forward, nibbled on a few sprigs of grass, and moved again. The buck was now 20 yards away and quartering toward me. It wasn’t a shot I would take even if the buck had been huge. Patience would now become a factor as I waited for the animal to turn and offer a broadside or quartering-away shot.

I’d watched that buck walk to that exact place many times before, and knew he would turn slightly and offer a quartering-away shot at 10 yards. I didn’t move, and the buck followed the same pattern he had traveled for months.

The buck slowly turned, quartering away, and my bow came up. It felt like an old friend in my left hand, and as the bow came up the arrow was cautiously drawn back as my eyes tracked the buck.

The bow was held back at full draw, and my sight settled low behind the buck’s near-side shoulder. One more ounce of pressure on the release would send the arrow through the buck’s chest.

He stopped momentarily to look around, and my finger softly caressed the release trigger without applying the pressure needed to send the arrow on its deadly flight. Slowly, as the buck began walking off again, I eased up on the bow and let the buck walk away, unaware and unharmed.

It was really too early in the season to shoot a small whitetail buck, and patterning this six-pointer had been easy. There would have been little pleasure in arrowing the deer midway through October, and besides, there would be other opportunities to take this or another animal in the coming days and weeks.

This exercise was good practice. It provided me with superb outdoor recreation, numerous sightings of deer, and the chance for a close shot a a nice young buck.

Who knows? Perhaps next time my finger will put that extra ounce of pressure on the release trigger. And then again, perhaps I will again choose not to shoot.

It’s this unknown question whether to shoot or not, and it’s my deep respect for the deer I hunt, that allows me the wonderful opportunity to acknowledge the magical difference between hunting and killing. For me, on this hunt, it just wasn’t the right time. 

Saturday, April 29, 2006

In The Air Or On The Ground?

It seems to be a bow hunter’s biggest problem. They constantly worry whether they should be up in the air or on the ground.

For many, the problem is easily solved. They choose an elevated position and call it good enough. I love hunting from a tree stand or an elevated coop, but I would never hesitate to hunt from a ground blind.

Today, just for kicks, I’m going to introduce you to two different stands on my ranch, and give you the heads-up on why each one works. Both stands produce good bucks every fall.

The first is my Flagpole set. It is a narrow elevated coop attached to a tall tree. A ladder goes up the back side and is out of view in this photo, but this coop is surrounded on four sides by heavy cedar swamp, tag alder thickets, and some of the heaviest cover on my ranch.

Bucks come to the Flagpole from all directions. There are entrance and exit trails all around it, and the deer can be only 20 yards from this elevated stand and never be seen. It is a popular spot during the rut, and I often hear grunting all night as passionate bucks bird-dog the does back and forth through the swamp.

A trail leads into it and out of it, and I walk in one way one day and out the other, and the next time I will vary my routine if the wind direction is a factor. This stand is high enough so that an east wind isn’t a factor if the hunter can reach the stand without being seen or winded. It’s a great spot if someone will drop off the hunter, and come in with a truck or 4-wheeler to pick him up. That way the vehicle will spook off the deer rather than the hunter climbing down and walking out.

In many cases, one of the best things about the Flagpole set is the deer leave the heavy cover early, move past the stand as they begin their evening travels, and I often can walk out to my truck without being winded by deer once shooting time ends.

The other photo is of the Pyramid blind. It is a pit blind covered with a tiny wooden structure. The shooting hole is level with the ground, and is in the door where the hunter climbs in.

The pit blind is dug on the top of a knoll near a tall tree. An open rolling field lays to the west, and the shooting window faces northwest.
fifty yards to the north is a huckleberry marsh and tag alder swale, and to the south is open with rolling fields. Fields lay to the east with woods about 300 yards away.

This stand is really neat because bucks offer close shots. Many hunters don’t seem to know that bucks (and does) like knolls because they can see for several hundred yards to the south, west and east, and 50 yards to the north. This stand is not for the faint of heart because it’s possible to see bucks coming for 200 yards, and anyone subject to buck fever would have a fit here.

For the most part, the bucks come from south, west and north. Seldom will a buck come from the east, regardless of wind direction. The pit has a chair in the bottom, and the hunter must draw, aim and shoot while sitting down. It’s impossible to stand up in it.

The sides and the roof keep the rain off hunters, but late in the fall, water begins to gather in the bottom of the pit. Hunters here, and elsewhere on my ranch, wear tall rubber boots to avoid getting their feet wet and to prevent leaving scent behind as they walk in and out.

Regardless of where the bucks come from they tend to gather in front of the shooting window. A hunter who sits back in the blind, and doesn’t move around, can shoot a buck. In fact, on a bright sunny day, the setting sun will illuminate the inside of this pit blind. A face mask is handy, as are brown or black gloves.

A buddy shot a dandy 8-point there last year. He said the two bucks were so close they looked as big as elk. He made a perfect 15-yard shot, and the buck ran only 50 yards and dropped.

So, we repeat the question. In The Air Or On The Ground? Either one of these two stands will produce a good buck, and unless someone is really stubborn, there shouldn’t be much discussion. Both require a lack of noise and minimum movement. Do properly from either stand, and a buck is a certainty.—The Whitetail Wizard

Friday, April 28, 2006

Listening To The Spring Gobblers

Spring has a special form of music, and unlike a boom-box that can be heard at high decibel levels, some of the finest spring sounds are made by wild turkeys.

There is a whole vocabulary of turkey sounds, and each has its own message from one turkey to another, from a gobbler to a hen or from a hen to a white-headed gobbler.

Turkeys seemed to be slow to move into our particular area, and even today, there are not a large number of birds on my 1,000 acres. There are two or three small scattered flocks, and for the past three weeks, the woods have been alive with their calls.

Personally, I find the gobble to be the most stirring of all. This is especially true when a great big gobbler pussyfoots in behind you, and roars out a gobble or douible-gobble at the maximum noise level. It’s difficult to sit through it without jumping, and the hunter must be prepared for a close-up gobble at any time.

It’s quite easy to tell the difference between a jake and an older gobbler. The jake sounds like an adolescent boy when his voice is changing. Sometimes the gobble starts on a high, squeaky note and gets deeper as it goes, or start out sounding almost like an adult bird before getting squeaky and breaking at the end.

There is no doubting the gobble of a large adult bird that is three or four years old. These bruisers have a built-in amplification system, and a hard gobble seems to shake the trees and the ground. It is a raw and primitive sound, startling in its clarity, and overpowering in volume.

What is really striking is to have several gobblers roosted in adjacent trees. The first bird to sound off is usually the Boss Man, the biggest gobbler in the area. There is a pecking order in nature, and all other gobblers defer to the largest bird even though other gobblers will try to run off with a hen if the opportunity arises.

A hen yelping is an engaging sound that immediately attracts your attention. She can yelp softly, at medium volume and loudly, as she determines. Hens also putt, cluck, cutt, purr and whine. Some claim there are even more sounds in the turkey’s vocabulary.

There is a drumming-spitting sound that gobblers make when they are near a hen. This sound doesn’t carry very far, but if you hear it, the bird is very close and any movement would spook the bird.

I called once to a gobbler while sitting on the ground. A hen came out, and stood within 20 yards of me in the open. The gobbler’s snowball-white head could be seen circling my position, and both gobbler and hen were looking for the hen that had made the call.

The birds were too close for me to call again, and I figured the gobbler would finish his circle, and head out into the field to strut and display for the hen. I was sitting motionless when I heard this sound for the first time.

It sounded like the gobbler was humming and spitting. It sounded something like a “hmmmmmm-phhit!” The bird stayed directly behind me for 15 minutes, drumming and spitting, and the hen was getting agitated and the intensity of this sound seemed to increase.

It didn’t seem to get any louder, but the intensity of it grew more demanding. I’m not sure that is the right word, but finally the hen turned, and walked within five yards of me, met up with the gobbler, and he quickly had his way with her. There was a violent rustling in the leaves, and soon she had been bred.

The two birds wandered off the opposite way, and I didn’t shoot a gobbler that day, but was witness to a turkey sound I’d never heard before. I’ve heard it many times since, and it always seems to be made by a large gobbler with breeding on his mind.

I can’t begin to recall how many times I’ve listened to gobblers and hens, and there are times when the hens get pretty sassy with a gobbler. Often, it the breeding is winding down, a gobbler will stay close to a solitary hen.

If a gobbler starts coming to a call, the hen may cutt, yelp and carry on, and I’ve found that making the same sounds as the hen will occasionally bring both birds to the gun. Hold off, wait until the birds separate, and give a soft cluck. The gobbler will raise his head and one shot is all it takes to kill a long-spurred, heavy brushed longbeard.

And most of the skill needed to work a gobbler is to duplicate the calls of a hen. It works for me. â??â?? The Whitetail Wizard

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Tips On Quick Scoring A Buck

Bow hunters seem to have trouble field-scoring a big whitetail rack. It seems bucks are much easier to score once they are laying on the ground.

The reason for that is a buck can stand motionless for long periods of time without any movement, but most of the time, a buck is turning his lead left to right and back again with frequent up and down motions. The head seems in constant motion, and it can be quite tricky to score with complete accuracy.

Scoring a buck on the hoof requires good binoculars, especially for animals at a distance. Body size is often a key place to start. Small-bodied bucks with a decent rack can appear larger than what they really are. However, a small bodied buck is probably 1 1/2 years old, and his rack will probably be a small basket rack.

Bucks of 2 1/2 years may still have a fairly small body and a slightly larger rack, but the same rule applies for this age group as it does with the younger bucks. Check body size and antler size for a key to the average age of a buck.

It’s when bucks reach 3 1/, 4 1/2, 5 1/2 and 6 1/2 years of age that things start happening with a buck’s body and his antlers. These animals become more “blocky” looking, and the older the deer, the more this girth versus length of body become apparent. Big bucks look massive, and their necks are large and often fleck with gray hairs.

There are many ways of scoring bucks, and the beginning process can start by answering one question: How many points are “up?” Any quality pair of binoculars can inform the hunter of the number of “up” points excluding the brow points and antler tips. Most mature whitetail bucks have two brow points and two antler tips, which gives a field scorer four points to start out with.

Three points up on each side means the buck is an 10-pointer. There are the two brow points and three more on each side, and the antler tips on two sides equals 10 points.

Four up on each side means the animal is a 12-pointer. Of course, in the case of a nontypical rack, one should also count the “down” points or drop tines. There also are the possibility of double brow points, sticker points and a number of such bucks have been taken on my ranch.

Scorers should also count the inside spread, and estimating the widest point can be difficult until a person has looked at many racks. This distance can be over-estimated in the case of heavy beams.

Try to quickly estimate the length of each beam from the skull to the antler tip. Bucks with antler length of 24 inches can be pretty high scorers if all the other measurements match up accordingly. Again, estimating the antler length can be tricky until one develops an eye for quickly measuring mass.

Next is to estimate the length of the G-2s and G-3s and any others. G-2s (first antler tine up from the brow point) that measure 12 inches are excellent, and the G-3s are slightly shorter, but if a person can do mental mathematics as the deer walks by, it becomes somewhat easy to estimate the green score (before a 60-day drying period) and come to a fairly close estimate.

The next step is to measure antler circumference at four key areas: the base of each antler, midway between the base and the G-2, between G-2 and G-3, and between G-3 and G-4.

Of great importance is the appearance of mass, both height and width.  Then we consider the overall number of points, and length of points. We also need to have some objects of reference to use as measuring tools.

For instance, a deer’s ears are about six inches in length from the base to the tip. An alert mature buck, with ears up, will be roughly 16 inches apart. These measurements can help a hunter do quick math on the length of beams and antlers points. There are other tools, such as the eye circumference and length of nose, that can help score a rack.

Boone & Crockett Club, 250 Station Drive, Missoula, MT 59801 has a wonderful spiral-bound book called “A Boone & Crockett Club Field Guide To Measuring & Judging Big Game.” The book is $24.95 plus shipping. Email them at < booneandcrockettclub.com > for ordering information.

Judging animals is an acquired talent. I do a mental count on bucks on my ranch almost every day, and I’m usually fairly close. It’s a good bit of fun judging them, and frankly, it’s much easier to judge a typical whitetail rack than a nontypical one.

It really matters little what the score is until you run into a real shooter. Get good at scoring young deer, and keep trying to score larger bucks, and when a Boone & Crockett buck steps out, you’ll know you are looking at something very special. â??â?? The Whitetail Wizard

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Seven Months & Going Strong

My Whitetail Wizard weblog has been up for seven months now, and day after day I give readers an inside look at bow hunting for whitetail deer. The number of visitors were slow, as is always true at the beginning, but now plenty of people are coming to visit every day.

Time doesn’t allow me to respond with in-depth emails. For new visitors who are wondering about me, I was named The Whitetail Wizard by Outdoor Life magazine in 1980 when famed outdoor writer Dave Richey < [url=http://www.daverichey.com]http://www.daverichey.com[/url] > did a story about me. That first story, and others that followed in Sports Afield, The Detroit News and countless other outdoor magazines, have been circulating through bow hunting circles for many years.

My weblog is geared to the active bow hunter. Granted, I write a good bit about some of my hunts, but I also own C.P. Oneida Eagle bows, the Buck Pole Archery Shop and the Buck Pole Deer Ranch near Marion, Michigan.

My blogs are strictly about bow hunting, scouting, selecting key locations for ground and tree stands, and how to become a better bow hunter. It’s my desire to help hunters become more accurate shots; teach them how to hold, draw, aim and accurately shoot a bow; and judging from the number of readers who visit my site daily, my message is getting through to a large group of bow hunters.

This Whitetail Wizard weblog is not just another avenue for me to sell my bows, sights, releases, arrows and other archery equipment. Our primary website serves that purpose.

This daily blog is a journal of sorts. It describes good hunts and bad, learning how and when to draw on deer, when to take the shot, how to determine high-percentage versus low-percentage shots, and every one of my daily weblogs are illustrated with color photos of deer, me, other hunters, some of my 40+ deer stands, and I’m big into sharing my hunting methods with others.

There are no egos to be stroked here. Much of my daily topic material is stuff that hunters seldom read in the hunting magazines. There is much discussion on what causes deer to focus in on hunters, and the two major factors that spook deer are movement and noise.

I’ve done blogs on some of the ways to cure buck fever. Others have been done on my thoughts about broadheads (I shoot a two-blade broadhead and hand-sharpen each head). I am a bit opinionated at times about things that work, and am a strong proponent of hunters using a Game Tracker string tracking device.

Some of my blogs are on hunting the pre-rut, rut and post-rut. Some are written about using elevated permanent coops, tree stands, ground blinds and the use of pit blinds. Other items of interest to hunters include tips on pre-season scouting, locating those hidden trails or escape routes, and how and why to position stands certain ways.

Hunting the wind is the topic of occasional blogs, and I’ve covered things that I do, and other hunting friends of mine do, when the wind blows constantly from the east. I teach hunters how to study deer, how to mentally prepare for a shot, how to remain ever-alert to the possibility of a shot.

I did a blog on how to use the red-dot site that I began using and have been selling over 20 years, and have written tutorials on how to draw, aim and shoot, all in a second or less. More opportunities are missed by hunters because they are not ready than for almost any other reason.

There have been blogs on carrying a small backpack and what it should contain. How to shoot at bucks that are uphill and downhill (it’s easier than you think), and how to maintain your focus on that one sweet spot where the arrow must hit to provide a killing shot every time.

I’ve discussed deer nutrition, food plots, the need for removal of excess does, how to manage a herd for big bucks, and what is required to grow a trophy rack.

Some blogs describe my concept of targeting one particular buck, and how to make it work. I’ll discuss missed shots, remembered hunts, how to practically guarantee a whitetail buck on Oct. 1, and much more.

My blogs are new and different, and they run every day. Some of the buck photos are of truly huge racks that roam on my ranch, and there is something here for everyone. I’m a firm believer in getting children and women involved in bow hunting, and sharing the fun of a hunt together.

If this is your first time on this weblog, and if you like what you see and read, don’t hesitate to tell your friends, neighbors and relatives about it. This daily weblog is for you, a bow hunter who wants to learn about how to become a better and more successful sportsman. Stay tuned because we’re really just getting started. â??â?? The Whitetail Wizard

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Need A Sitting-Still Education? Hunt Gobblers

My preaching about sitting still without making noise has become a mantra. Some people might think I keep repeating myself.

Perhaps I do but there is a good reason for it. Move at the wrong time, and a deer has you pegged. If you are very lucky the deer will run off without blowing and snorting and spooking every deer within hearing.

The same thing holds true with making any noise. Click an arrow against the bow, and it’s enough to send whitetails bolting for cover a half-mile away. It’s just their nature to be jumpy.

Some people believe that because they are in an elevated stand or inside a ground coop that they are well concealed. That’s not true. They may be somewhat concealed but movement or sounds are seen or heard.

Anyone who really wants to get an education on sitting without movement or noise should practice on wild turkeys. These birds seem to have X-ray vision, and their ability to hear sounds is second to none.

My son, Matt, and I hunt birds. We are accustomed to sitting still in a deer blind, and it is second nature for us to sit still while turkey hunting.

We’ve watched other people hunt birds on our land, and almost all of them wind up spooking the bird long before Ol’ Longbeard strolls within 100 yards. Think of it this way: all wild animals have the ability to tell almost precisely where a call they hear is coming from.

Use a deer call on a whitetail passing 100 yards away, and if that buck comes, he will come to within 10 feet of where the call came from. If deer can do that, if moose or elk can do that, so can a turkey.

That bird may come fast or slow, but he will be coming directly to the hunter’s location. Some may try to circle a bit but they head straight for the call. So what happens when the bird is 100 yards away, and you decide to reposition yourself for a shot at the wrong time?

The gobbler will have you spotted in a heartbeat. There is an old adage about hunting gobblers that states: If you can see the gobbler, the gobbler can see you. If a move is necessary, do so when the birds head is behind a big tree. Don’t get caught when he is out in the open.

Cheating on a gobbler involves waiting until the bird goes behind a thick bush or a big tree. If a move must be made, make if fast, smooth and without noise ... and when the bird cannot see you. Never attempt any type of move if a bird is within 35 yards.

OK, if the bird is coming directly to your call, all you need to do is line up on the bird’s head. You do have the shotgun stock to your shoulder and the fore-end braced on the palm of your hand and resting on your knees, don’t you? It’s like having the bow in your hand, the other hand on the release, and being back at full draw and waiting for the shot.

Success at turkey hunting means being prepared, doing everything right, and sitting still. A moving hunter or one who makes any noise other than that made by a hen turkey will probably scare off the bird. Once a turkey is spooked, he’s not coming back for a visit any time soon.

That same analogy applies equally well to deer hunting. The sportsman that can’t set still for an incoming turkey won’t be able to sit still when the buck of a lifetime approaches his stand.

It’s great training for those hunters who drew a spring turkey permit. If you didn’t draw one, don’t practice your sitting still exercises when other people may be in the woods. There is little sense is ruining someone else’s hunt.

If you want a top-end experience of learning what and what not to do when game approaches. hunt gobblers. Make one mistake, and you’ll have learned your first one.—The Whitetail Wizard

Monday, April 24, 2006

Planning Ahead For Next October

Do you realize there is just a little bit more than five months before the bow season opens? It hardly seems possible, but May, June, July, August and September will zip by, and Oct. 1 will soon be staring us in the face.

Are you ready? Will I be ready? If the season opened tomorrow, I would be ready. I shoot my bow every day, and the bow and I work together as a team. I come to full draw, aim and stroke the release trigger, and the arrow goes where it is supposed to.

But, enough about me. How about you? Are you mentally and physically prepared for the season? The truth is that most people are not. I own an archery shop, and am constantly teaching people how to accurately place arrows in the proper place on a target.

An old fishing saying is every bit as appropriate to bow hunters as anglers. Anticipation is 90 percent of a hunt (or fishing trip), and participation is only 10 percent. That means we spend most of our time looking forward to an October bow hunt but only a little bit of it is spent in the woods.

That means mental preparation. If only 10 percent, at the most, is spent in a ground blind or tree with a bow in hand, it means that we must be ready and well prepared for a shot at any time. Most people, quite frankly, cannot maintain their interest at a high level for long periods of time.

They hang their bow on a hook, stretch the kinks out of a sore back, watch a rooster pheasant or ruffed grouse picking its way through the woods, and we get distracted. We’re thinking of a steak dinner, wishing we had a cup of coffee, chewing ourselves out for not using the bathroom before we left to go hunting.

There we sit, accustomed to working and thinking and doing, but at a point where we must be motionless and still. We are not mentally prepared for that point in time when a buck steps out only 20 short paces away, and we are fumbling to quietly lift the bow off the hook.

We have just over five months to counsel ourselves in being ready. Turkey hunting is a delightful way to learn how to sit still without making a sound. It teaches hunters how to be prepared long before the shot presents itself.

Good hunters have mastered this knack. They can sit still for hours if need be, and never make a sound. Look at them and they look as if they are asleep with their eyes open.

Don’t be fooled. This attitude is one of optimism, and preparation. Many are holding their bow in such a way that it is instantly ready but puts on strain on their hands, wrists or arms. They may appear to be half-asleep but they are well aware of everything around them.

An arrow is nocked and positioned perfectly on the rest, and the release is on the strong. It requires little wasted movement to bring it up while drawing the string back, and as they achieve full draw, the sight is nestled low behind the front shoulder. From spotting the deer to releasing an aimed shot is about one second.

There are two basic ways of settling the sight behind the front shoulder. One is to come to full draw below the deer, follow the front leg up to the shoulder, inch in over and release. Or, some people start their draw high up on the body, and bring the sight down until it is in the right spot.

Following a vertical leg up seems easier than bringing the sight down through the horizontal part of the body, and then move the sight to the proper location. Try each one until you get it perfect and know which is best for you.

Too many people draw their bow horizontal to the aiming point, and then try to finesse it into the right spot while holding at full draw. Following a leg up, inch it right or left, and release works well for many people.

Let’s face it. If we don’t shoot all winter, our muscles aren’t as strong and accustomed to holding a bow as they are after months of practice. Whichever method you used to drawing and aiming, stick with it.

As you practice, develop a attitude of minimal movement. Always sit or stand in a stand with your feet properly positioned for a shot. Moving your feet and/or your body when a buck is within range is likely to spook the animal. The movement involved the whole body. Learn to be properly positioned for a shot at all times, and it will save you seconds in getting lined up for a shot.

Planning ahead should be your motto during the next five months before the upcoming bow hunting season. â??â?? The Whitetail Wizard

Sunday, April 23, 2006

Spring Is Here & It Won’t Be Long For Fawns

I took a brief walk in the woods a couple of days ago, and it was easy to determine that spring is here. There was the pungent odor of leeks in the air, the first few biting insects were buzzing about, and trees are budding out.

Spring is a time that I thorough enjoy. Part of it is knowing that soon our fawn crop will arrive, but even more than that, it is watching the deer as they freely move from one area of the ranch to another.

The deer remind me of old stories about Alaskan trappers. They either made it through the long days and nights of darkness and cabin fever and came out in the spring with their sanity intact or they didn’t make it. It’s much the same for deer.

Some deer, for one reason or another, do not survive the winter. Even here on my ranch, where they are fed daily in addition to what they find to eat during the winter, some deer die.

They succumb for many different reasons. Some are old bucks that bred does too hard and too long, and could not recover. Others die of old age, wounds incurred while fighting during the rut, and some small button-bucks and doe fawns just can’t make it.

Each spring is different. Time will be spent determining which fields will be rotated into corn or winter wheat or clover. Some fields may be left fallow for a year or two, and the spring planting takes time.

Year after year our stands remain in place, and are subject to the natural ravages of weather. We must go over every stand with a careful eye to determine what must be done to keep them safe.

It’s not such a big deal with our ground blinds but our elevated stands and coops are always a concern. We check to see if they are listing slightly in one direction or another, and we check and double-check the ladders to make certain there are no weak spots.

Time and weather has their way with coops and open tree stands, and we check and double-check them for rotted floors or steps, and one problem that always evolves is that nails, screws or lag bolts loosen up and a floor board or side wall will develop a creaky sound if the hunter moves around inside. Any floor that makes noise when the hunter shifts his or her weight must be quieted down in some manner.

Each year we put in two or three new stands. Sometimes an older stand will be retired if the deer have changed their travel patterns, but a good deal of time is spent checking out areas for a potential new stand. We study such areas for deer traffic, learn how the animals travel through it, and we then determine the absolute best location for an elevated or ground blind. Such decisions are not made quickly, and an area must prove itself worthwhile before a new stand is placed there.

Often these stands are placed near runways leading to the food source in that area. Sometimes a stand is designated a firearm stand, a bow stand or one that can be used for either season.

Key things we must know before new stands are built and put in place are why deer move on that particular trail. We are always mindful of the prevailing wind directions, and this year we hope to have two or three new stands put in place to be hunted just on an east wind.

East winds have been increasing in the past several years, and we’ve seen times when the wind will be out of the east for two, three or four days in a row. We are going to make a determined effort to add some stands where an east wind will work in our favor.

Spring is a time of renewal, a time of rebirth, and a time when we see what winter weather as brought our way. Sometimes it is nothing more than some wind-toppled trees and other times the winter damages some of our pit blinds.

There is no end to the work that can and must be done on a deer ranch during the spring months. With that thought in mind, I’m back to thinking about locations for east-wind blinds.—The Whitetail Wizard

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Remembering High Points Of Our Deer Hunts

We’ve all heard the canned joke about memory. It’s the first thing to go.

If that is so, then it’s all the more reason to keep a hunting journal. Hunters can record all the atmospheric conditions, wind directions, etc., if they wish. However, if the above punch line is true, now is the time to rectify the problem.

Frankly speaking, I tend to remember the bucks that got away longer than the bucks that were taken. It may be because we missed an easy shot, and do not care to be reminded.

There is a man I know who uses his hunting journal to record events of his hunting days. He notes only the events leading up to the high point.

A typical entry may read: “Nine-point buck sighted at 7:05 p.m. as it moved through heavy cover while heading from west to east. It approached to within 25 yards of my stand but never came any closer. It stood with its head held high, peeking around a side-lit pine tree, and the antlers looked as white as snow as the sun sank lower in the west. No chance for a shot, but maybe later in the week he will offer a shot.”

He feels that keeping a running log of his hunts will hopefully enable him to remember the sights that he found so captivating at an earlier age. He says he doesn’t need to know all the other information that many journals require (such as air temperature, wind direction and velocity, clear, overcast, raining, snowing, etc) in hopes it will lead him to a solution on how and where to hunt under future circumstances.

“This journal is just for me,” he said. “Perhaps in my later years, if my mind starts to go, I can read several passages every day and relive parts of my hunting life. It won’t solve memory problems, but if my vision is decent, I may still remember the event that I’m reading about, but it’s my hope that the journals will provide some future pleasure.”

He has hunted with a recurve bow for years, and as the years creep by, he decided to start shooting a compound. He came to me last year, and bought a new C.P. Oneida Black Eagle bow.

He says this momentous occasion marked a change in his hunting life. Even though he practiced often with the recurve, an accident affected his chest, and it hurt to draw his recurve. He faced two choices: stop bow hunting or switch to a compound.

He didn’t want to quit hunting so made the transition from recurve to compound, learned to shoot with my red-dot sight, and happily went out to shoot a nice buck last fall.

He says that big switch was noted in his journal. The first buck he shot with his new compound was duly recorded, and he hopes these short descriptive passages will jolt his memory in later years when and if a fog starts to cloud his mind.

“The items I place in my journal are particularly meaningful things that have happened to me,” he said. “They don’t all pertain to shooting a buck, and in fact, only a few passages involve shooting at a deer.

“There are passages of religious thoughts while sitting in a tree stand; watching fawns running and jumping like young children; spotting a coyote slinking through the brush; seeing an eagle circle overhead; watching two evenly-matched bucks push each other around before the rut starts; and countless other things that capture my attention. A gorgeous sunrise or sunset is fair game for my journal because I never grow tired of seeing them.”

He said his hunting journal isn’t just about deer hunting. It may be about a spring day spent looking for shed antlers. It could be about two or three days of preseason scouting, what he finds, and how he interprets that information.

“I have been keeping these journals for years, and even now, I enjoy getting them out and going back through one day of my hunting year, and reading about what I saw, thought or did,” he said. “I find that my journal tells me things that had already disappeared from my memory.”

He feels these journals will bring him great pleasure later in life. He considers them an investment in his future, and although he isn’t eager to reach the stage where they will become even more important to him, he knows they will provide him with years of memories once he no longer can climb into a deer stand.

Folks, that is a great reason to buy a diary or journal, and write down what you see, feel, hear and touch on your outdoor journeys. One day, they may become something of great importance to all of us. â??â?? The Whitetail Wizard

Friday, April 21, 2006

How Often Should I Replace A Bow String?

Bow strings are not indestructible. They do break at times, and when it happens without warning, it’s not a pretty sight.

There is no solid answer other than to warn people to examine the string, at both ends and at the serving around the nocking point, before shooting. But that advice, although sound, is greeted with indifference by some people.

How long a bow string will last depends on how much a person shoots. Those who shoot 100 arrows a day will go through strings faster than people who shoot a dozen arrows each week.

One concern about bow string life is poundage. The greater the draw weight, within reason, the shorter the life span of the string and the more often it will need replacing.

Beware of strings that begin to look frazzled around the serving or at either end. Such strings may look a bit ragged, and they may allow the shooter 100 more shots or break on the next shot. Any string weakness can lead to an unpredictable break.

I normally recommend string replacement whenever any sign of wear occurs or once a year. Mind you, it doesn’t have to show much wear to greatly weaken the string.

Some releases can fray the serving just a bit with every shot. We promote and use our Gator-Jaw dual-jaw release. They attach above and below the nock, and this helps distribute the draw weight to two locations rather than one as is true with single-jaw releases.

Any rough area on a release can cause potential problems. The first sign (if you are lucky) is minor wear on the string. Be smart, and get a new string installed before the bow blows up.

It’s not fun when a string breaks during a shot. The force to the bow can cause all sorts of bad things to happen to some bows. Cables fly around, pieces come off the bow, and injury can be the result.

If a person shoots every week, and sees no visible sign of wear, a bow string may be good for the season. I say it may be, but if the string has been on the bow for a year or longer, I strongly suggest a change.

Bow strings vibrate when an arrow is released, and this vibration isn’t necessarily damaging to a string, but string damage is a cumulative thing. Stresses exerted by some types of releases can damage the string. Some wear (although minimal) can occur by using nocks that are a little too tight.

Many archers and bow hunters take some weight off the limbs and string by cranking down the bow. If the draw weight is 70 pounds, and the bow will not be shot all winter, it may help preserve some string life by reducing the weight to 50 pounds.

If you shoot at 50 pounds, reduce the weight to 35 pounds. Just how much this reduction will save a bow string isn’t clear, but it may help to prolong string life.

Finger shooters, of which there are still quite a few, can damage a string slightly with every shot if their leather shooting glove or tabs have stiffened up or become slightly brittle with age. A smooth release affects the string the least, regardless if shot with fingers or a release.

I’ve only talked with two or three people over the years who have had a string break while shooting at deer. None of them hit the animal.

Most broken strings occur while target shooting. Repetitious shooting can be the culprit, and so can a rough edge on a release. The wisest thing to do is to change bow strings every year, and most people who do so, have a new string installed a few weeks ahead of bow season.

That gives them time to fine tune their sights again, make certain the arrow flies straight, and to become accustomed to drawing the bow with a new string. Old strings stretch slightly, and are usually just a bit longer than a new string.

Check your bow string now, and if necessary, replace it long before the bow season opens. It can eliminate any future problems. â??â?? The Whitetail Wizard

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Some Tricks To Try When Deer Won’t Leave

It’s a problem that every bow hunter has encountered while hunting over bait. The deer show up just before dark, start munching happily on carrots, corn or sugar beets, and won’t leave even though it’s dark.

So what’s a bow hunter to do? Start climbing down is a stupid act because the deer are still there, and it would scare them badly enough so they may never return.

The first thing to do when legal shooting time ends is to take the arrow off the string, and put it back in the quiver. Sit motionless, make no human-like noise or movements and wait.

One of my buddies who hunts a large farm, and often has one or two guests hunting with him, uses a four-wheeler. He drops the other hunters off at their tree stand so the machine will spook any nearby deer. He waits nearby, with the engine idling, until they are in their stand.

Before anyone goes out hunting they discuss what will happen if one or more people get pinned down by late-moving deer. Their rule is the first person out goes and gets the four-wheeler, and slowly moves in to pick up each hunter.

They don’t roar in fast with headlights blazing, but just keep moving slowly toward the stand. The deer often will let the four-wheeler get to within 100 yards before they move out.

The basic principle of this philosophy is it is better for the four-wheeler to gradually move deer off rather than have a hunter attempt to climb down from the tree. Hunters in trees will betray their presence if they try to climb down and sneak past the deer. The four-wheeler does a much better job, and the deer will return the next night.

One guy rigged up a rather ingenious way to move deer away. Long before deer season opened, he rigged this set-up at two or three different hunting locations. He would go into his hunting area in May or June with a big aluminum ladder, an empty pop can, a pocket filled with small pebbles, two screw eyes, and some greenish-brown Fire Line.

He would find a tree at least 25 yards from his stand, extend the ladder, and climb up 15-20 feet off the ground and put a half-dozen pebbles in a pop can sprayed with brown paint. He drilled a hole through opposite sides of the can, run a length of coat hanger wire through both holes, bent the ends of the wire up, and screwed a screw-eye into the tree.

He then ran the Fire Line through the screw-eye, and tied it to the coat hanger wire, and allowed it to dangle about six inches below the screw-eye. The line was run across to his stand, through another screw-eye, and tied to a small wood stick.

If the deer came just before dark, and pinned him down, he would put away his arrow at the end of shooting time, and sit and wait. On occasion, everyone in his hunting part would be pinned down, so he would give a soft yank on the fishing line.

The pebble-filled can, 25 yards away, would rise and fall and the pebbles would rattle around. The deer would often turn to look at the noise, and go back to feeding. He’d give it another yank, make more noise, and after two or three times, the deer would walk or run off. That noise would spook the deer enough to allow him to get down, walk out to the four-wheeler and pick up his friends. The deer would never be frightened enough to avoid that stand. They always came back.

Another hunter, when pinned down, will snort loudly like a deer, and often the animals would move away. I’ve never tried this but wonder how a deer-like noise sounds when it comes from up in a tree.

Another man carried several marble-sized pebbles in his pocket. He gets pinned down, and flips a pebble on the other side of the deer. Two or three pebbles rolling around in the dry leaves usually get the deer moving away from the stand.

Each hunter must figure out how to move deer without being seen or spotted by the deer when he gets pinned down. I’ve found the best way is to either wait them out and allow the deer to move off by themselves or have someone (wherever possible), move in slowly with a car or four-wheeler with the lights on.

That way, something other than the hunter scares the deer away and it doesn’t ruin the hunting spot for the future.—The Whitetail Wizard

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Is The Rut Really The Best Time To Hunt?

This is a question put to me all the time. Many hunters are told the absolute, no-doubt-about-it-greatest time of all to hunt is during the rut.

Well ... there is no doubt that it can be a very good time. The bucks are moving, the does are moving, and there are a bunch of things happening in the deer woods.

However, if a person has done a good job of scouting before the Oct. 1 bow opener, and hasn’t managed to spook the deer in the process, it would be quite easy to give the “absolute best” vote to Oct. 1, the first day of the bow season.

Say what? Many people don’t agree, which is OK, but those who do little scouting and bet on a bit of rabbits-foot luck to shag a deer in their direction, have no basis for argument. Think of it in a different light.

Deer move all summer unmolested. The animals arrive at the food source by the same trail every evening. They generally use the same trails today as they did yesterday, to head for the bedding areas in the morning. Each day, except for weather and wind, is about the same as the one before it.

These animals are in their summer mode of travel. Pinpoint those times of day when deer move, especially in the late afternoon, and it will be about the same time tomorrow. Each day the travel time changes a tiny bit as the number of daylight hours and minutes slowly gets shorter.

Watch the deer in August and September, pinpoint those travel routes and times, and come Oct. 1, you can climb into a ground blind or tree stand downwind of the active trail, and sit back to wait. You can almost set your watch to the time when a buck will appear.

Deer can’t read calendars. They don’t know the difference Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. It’s that summer mode of travel, and unspooked deer follow the same runways and trails daily. They are as predictable as nature allows them to be.

If you’ve located a buster buck, and haven’t spooked him or any of the does, he is easier to shoot than a buck that has been hunted often. The rut changes a few things, but it’s wise to disregard those old wives’ tales that say bucks lose all their caution during the rut.

And, as long as we are at it, many hunters believe the week of pre-rut (before the actual rut), offers even better hunting opportunities than the actual rut. This is the chasing phase, and bucks are after the does that aren’t quite ready to breed. The bucks stay real close to the those deer during this time period, because for larger bucks who have been through the rut before, they know what is coming soon.

This is a time when some bucks fight to establish their last-minute domination over rival bucks, and they can be called and rattled in close enough for a shot.

The actual rut can get pretty frantic and intense as small bucks try to move in to poach a doe while the dominant buck is driving off another larger buck. The does will seldom stand for the small buck, but once in a while he gets lucky.

I’ve seen quite a number of does get bred by a big buck, and the whole act is rather short-lived. A dominant buck may breed a doe several times, and if the big boy goes dashing off after another doe, another buck may also breed that doe.

The great thing about bow hunting whitetail bucks is there are so many different times when a good buck can be taken. Obviously, a buck can pass a hunter anytime during the season, and catch an arrow in the ribs, but the four best times to hunt are as follows:

Oct. 1 is probably the best day of all if the bucks haven’t been spooked by preseason scouting. The next best time is the pre-rut when bucks are chasing does all over the fields and woods. The third best time is during the peak of the rutting activity when bucks can get a bit goofy. And lastly, for those who love December, try hunting about 28 days after the peak of the rut when the secondary rut kicks in.

The action in early to mid-December isn’t hot, but late-blooming does are coming into estrus, and surviving bucks will be dogging their tracks.

Take your pick. All four are great times to hunt, and I’ve yet to find a bad time to hunt whitetails. It’s just that a few times of the hunting season are obviously better than others. â??â?? The Whitetail Wizard

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Protein Makes For Big Antlers & Body Size

It should come as no surprise to most bow hunters that three things are required to produce big body size and heavier antler growth. These three items, are what produces big bucks.

Time is a key element in growing a buck with plenty of antler mass. Study DNR records, and most of the bucks killed in this state are roughly 18 months old. If they are taken by hunters at 18 months, it’s impossible for them to attain the age required to produce big antlers.

A buck must be four or five years old before they really begin to develop antler mass. Shooting a year-and-a-half buck with a small basket rack removes any possibility of that animal ever having large antlers. Time to live three, four or five years is the key factor, and it’s one reason why many hunters push for Quality Deer Management.

Even at that, QDM does little to help if the rules call for at least three points to a side. A 1 1/2-year-old buck often has six points, and for that matter, an 8-pointer may meet the criteria and still be 1 1/2 years old.

We often pass up these deer. They may have eight points, and the start of what could be large antlers, but we allow them to walk. We are giving them time to produce quality antlers.

The second thing that leads to larger deer with better antler formation is protein. Few people realize that most of the protein absorbed through food will go to increase body size and condition, and what protein is not used building up the body, will go to antler development.

Many feel that corn is a good solid food for deer, but it ranks down the protein chart from other foods. Quality Imperial Whitetail Clover can produce up to 25-30 percent protein. Legumes such as navy beans can produce similar results, and possibly even higher protein levels.

Deer are browsing animals, and even though they may have a constant source of protein in a bean field or a green field planted to clover, they do feed heavily on shrubs and bushes. Some people plant a mix of crops for deer. I normally have clover fields, corn, winter wheat and rye grass. Rape and sugar beets also provide quality deer foods.

I know a few people who try to build up their soil by liming it every year, and fertilizing it heavily. I’ve talked with a few people who use almost twice the amount of fertilizer as required in hopes of adding more boost to the crops. It’s up in the air whether that produces or not.

One thing that is important is to offer deer a variety of quality foods. A small food plot of beans helps, but it doesn’t last long because deer will hammer the field and eat the beans as they grow. That is why it is most important to have a variety of high nutritional food sources.

Much is made of genetics, and up to a point, good genetics helps build strong and healthy deer with good antler potential providing that hunters give them time to develop with a great food supply.

Many feel a spike buck will always be a spike, but that isn’t true. Give a spike good food, time and a lack of stress that comes from having to compete heavily with other deer for food, and that buck can get turned around and produce a quality rack.

Michigan hunters on open state, federal or private lands, hammer deer hard. Every deer hunter wants to shoot a buck, and for many hunters, anything with bone on its head is fine. Secretly, they would all love to shoot a heavy antlered buck but few are willing to pass on small bucks and shoot an antlerless deer instead.

Much of deer management is not only managing in the best interests of the deer, which usually means reducing antlerless deer numbers, but it also means managing people. If hunters were restricted statewide to shooting bucks with only 8 points or more, fewer bucks would be shot but those bucks that survive, would have another year to grow larger antlers.

The question is: are most deer hunters willing to pass up small bucks and take an antlerless deer for three years? If they were, and if they gave something back to deer in terms of land management and food plots, within three years all deer hunters would be seeing some bigger bucks.

Of course, not every hunter would get a big buck but there would be more such animals running around than there are today. It would take a serious commitment to make this work, but remember this: time, quality food and lots of it, and genetics are key ingredients toward bigger racks. Reduce antlerless deer numbers, and stress levels would be reduced among hungry deer, and that would pave the way to deer hunting like this state has never seen before.

It all starts with the individual. Are you prepared to pass up a small buck, shoot an antlerless deer, and do this for three years? The difference, in most areas, would be astonishing.—The Whitetail Wizard

Monday, April 17, 2006

Dig A Pit Blind Now & Be Ready To Hunt

Turkey season is open, but my hunt starts with the third season, so I sit and thing about deer hunting. As I sit, a recurring thought keeps picking at the back of my mind.

It’s about that pit blind I had planned to dig last spring for the 2005 bow and firearm deer season? It really got me thinking because I have a perfect spot for a pit blind for this fall, and I suggest that bow hunters grab a shovel and ax, and get the pit dug now ... rather than later..

There is a runway that deer have used for many years on my land. It runs along a ridge before dipping down into a valley. Once the trees leaf out, and the ground is shaded, a person must know exactly where to look to find it. I’ve studied that trail for two years, and there is a heavy cover spot where two trails merge near a large uprooted tree.

A small roll in the ground 15 yards away would put the pit blind in the perfect location for a shot at a buck moving along the trail. I would be shooting dead-level straight at any buck following the runway.

Deer hunters have a common failing. We wait until the last minute to build a blind for the bow or firearm seasons, and all too often, we procrastinate until a few days before the season before doing this chose. Now is the best time to build a pit blind because the air is much cooler now than during the summer or early fall, and it would give months to become accustomed to the spot.

Blinds can be built on private property in the spring once the ground thaws and is soft enough to dig. One of the best blinds is a pit blind, and if it is properly constructed long before the season opener, deer will become used to it and won’t be intimidated by its presence.

A pit blind is much more than a hole in the ground. I’ve used them for bow and firearm hunting, and they work very well. The best ones are dug into or adjacent to a cornfield, under low overhanging limbs or butted up next to the root-wad of a fallen tree.

Dig a pit four to five feet wide at the bottom for a firearm blind and slightly larger for a bow blind. Dig the pit’s back 18-22 high for a seat (see the illustration), and the back rest area should extend up another 24-30 inches from the earthen seat. The pit’s front (facing the direction where shots will be taken) should be 36-40 inches high. Contour the back rest for personal comfort.

The key to a pit blind’s success is in its construction, placement and camouflage. Only the hunter’s head, neck and shoulders should be above the edges. The front must be slightly lower than the back to shoot comfortably.

Camouflage should be placed behind the hunter. Vegetation behind will break up the human silhouette and if a hunter places the pit blind properly where deer travel, and if the hunter sits still, such blinds are extremely effective and offer close shots.

I’ve had wonderful success hunting from well-positioned pit blinds. Once, while hunting just inside a corn field edge, I saw a buck heading my way. A doe headed into the corner of the corn field, and came my way, and it was a toss-up which animal would reach me first. I watched as the buck moseyed slowly toward me while the doe was on a collision course too.

Ten minutes later the doe reached me before the buck. She stuck her head through the corn stalks six inches from my ear, snorted, blew snot all over my head, and ran off snorting. That, I found was the only problem of positioning a pit blind in a corn field. Sadly, the buck heard the commotion and headed the other way.

A tiny bit of brush or grass can be placed in front of the blind but it must be open enough to shoot through. Sit motionless as deer approach. Locate the blind properly, enter it early and wait until all deer have left, and practice scent control. That means wearing a Scent-Lok suit, wearing rubber boots, and being scent-free while going into and out of the woods.

Now, if you feel overly ambitious, it’s time to start digging. That way the blind will be perfectly positioned long before the season opens. Just don’t go out to check it unless you are scent-free. The first time you enter the blind after it has been dug should be the first day of the bow hunting season ... if the wind is right. â??â?? The Whitetail Wizard. 

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Develop A Hunting Attitude

Anyone who has ever taken a Dale Carnegie course comes out of it with an attitude. This ‘tude is what some bow hunters need.

Some people develop a false hunting attitude where they think they can shoot a buck. Those with the right mindset don’t think they can; they know that when a shot is presented, they will kill that buck.

There is a huge difference between thinking you can and knowing you can. Thinkers are doing just that. They think too much, and by the time their mind solves the issue, the deer is gone or offers only a low-percentage shot. They miss an opportunity by thinking too much.

How can a bow hunter go from being a thinker to a doer. It’s pretty easy.

They practice constantly on targets at distances consistent with their skill levels. They have confidence in their ability to shoot straight without having to think things out before drawing their bow.

They size up the opportunity, and have enough confidence in themselves and their arrow shooting ability to come to full draw at the right time and deliver a killing shot.

Confidence is the key word in this whole discussion. Confidence comes from knowing you can do it and do it right. Any questionable thoughts just eat away your confidence and a shot is usually missed. Good hunters, if faced with a questionable situation, won’t shoot.

Good hunters know that a familiarity with deer, and especially bucks, is important. A sizable whitetail buck steps out within easy shooting distance, and the decision is made and the arrow is released in much less time than it takes to read this sentence.

The thinker, if he were sitting side-by-side with the confident doer, would still be evaluating the situation while the hunter has shot the animal. Thinkers deliberate, and doers shoot deer.

This doesn’t mean the doers don’t think. They size up the animal, raise the bow, aim and shoot. Their mind, because they have a large amount of self confidence, instantly knows this is a shooter. The doer, if the animal switches positions, also can stop and wait if necessary.

This type of positive thinking comes from looking at a great many deer, learning to size up the animal, and being able to draw, aim and shoot without consciously thinking about it. It becomes second nature.

Some people have enormous amounts of self confidence and some do not. Those who lack this confidence building skill must spend more time outdoors, and spend more time in close proximity to deer.

Think of it this way. The wind is your greatest enemy because it allows deer to smell you. Your next worst enemy is the inability to sit still. Learn to conquer both items, and you’ll have gained a large measure of self confidence.

The next step is to have deer within easy shooting range. Things change dramatically from when the deer is 100 yards away to when it is within 15 yards. The closer a buck gets, the more a thinker starts concentrating on the antlers than where the arrow must go.

A lack of concentration is the hallmark of the thinker. The doer is five steps ahead in his ability to draw, aim and shoot in a second or two.

The thinker also procrastinates. Learn deer body language, and a hunter can often tell if a deer is about to walk or run off or stay in the area. The longer a deer stands nearby, the longer the thinker studies the antlers, and the longer it takes to shoot.

Let’s go back to high school exams. It’s easy to tell the right answers, but some questions are more difficult. Often, studies show, the person’s first instinct is right in a yes-no or multiple-choice question. It’s when students second-guess themselves, deny their original instinct and thought, that they provide the incorrect answer.

Bow hunting is similar in many respects. Dawdle or think too long, and the opportunity walks off into thick cover. This doesn’t mean that hunters must rush their shot, because in most cases, they have more time to draw, aim and shoot than they think.

The doer recognizes that ideal moment, and instinctively acts on it without conscious thought. Ninety-nine percent of the time, when the bow comes back to full draw, a shot quickly follows. The entire shooting experience becomes instinctive.

Deer act on instinct as well. There is no reason a hunter can’t develop the same style of instinctive reaction to a quality shot opportunity. Shooting a deer with a bow should become instinctive, and mind you, learning how to do it doesn’t come overnight.

Only consistent quality practice, being close to deer, being able to read a buck’s body language, and doing all of these things often enough, will lead to becoming a great hunter.

An old friend had a saying that seems to sum up this hunting philosophy: “They don’t ask ‘can you?’; they ask ‘did you?’”

The doers can, all the time, and the thinkers can, occasionally.