Whitetail Wizard

Saturday, September 30, 2006

Emotions Are Running High For The Opener

There seems to be electricity in the air, and it seems contagious. Hunters who plan to hunt the Buck Pole Deer Ranch tomorrow are excited, and rightfully so.

Many have been sitting out in stands and watching deer travel, and they have been seeing some big bucks. There is something about a big buck—something truly huge—that captivates a hunter’s soul.

And there are a good number of big whitetails kicking around the ranch these days, and it’s possible one or more hunters will see one tomorrow. With luck, and being in the right spot at the right time, it’s likely that someone will take a buck with a good bit of bone on his head.

It’s always fun to watch the two different kinds of hunters we have at the ranch. They are as different as night and day.

One group of hunters are those that are really just getting into hunting, and they are nervous. They usually don’t ask too many questions although some will, but for the most part as we gather to talk before or after the hunt, they are quiet. Their eyes flit from one hunter to another, and they seem to hang on every word spoken by those sportsmen who have taken their share of really good bucks.

The new hunters often have new camo, new everything, and there’s nothing wrong with that. They are still feeling the willies from waiting for the hunt to kick off, and they spend a great deal of time looking at the equipment used by other hunters.

They are still unsure of themselves. Perhaps they’ve taken a deer or two, but now they want to test their mettle on a bigger buck, and they still aren’t filled with confidence. I try to talk to them, tell them what to expect, and preach a bit about sitting still and remaining silent.

On the other hand, there are the veterans of many campaigns against the whitetail bucks, and they’ve doped out strategies that work for them. They know where the deer will come from, about what time the animals will show up, and I’ve known some of them to take a little nap before the hunt begins. They are kicked back, relaxed and ready.

They know the importance of having the wind in their favor, being comfortable, and relaxed. They don’t move around because they know there is only one place where they can shot, so they relax and wait to see what develops.

These hunters are good at sizing up a buck, knowing when to make their draw, and when to shoot. They’ve done it so many times that it has become automatic. They know they are a good shot, and for many, they’ve been at this point so many times before that their heart rate doesn’t beat a heavy tattoo in their chest any more. They’ve conquered their nerves.

They establish the fact that this is a buck, a shooter buck, and from then on, they never look at the antlers again. They wait patiently for their shot, the one or two angles they will take, and will not get frustrated if the deer doesn’t offer them their desired shot. They know that buck will come again, and sooner or later it will turn just right, and they will shoot. The deer will run off, mortally wounded, and they know this is the way hunting goes.

We don’t always get the shot we need, but when it is presented, we are ready and fully capable of making a killing shot. We don’t get shook up, don’t try to anticipate a buck’s actions, but are fully content to let the buck go about his business as they wait.

They wait, bow in hand, and ready to draw and shoot. They study the deer, and soon learn that each deer has a personality of its own. Some are very wary and others are content to wander about feeding, or moving slowly down a trail, while others constantly test the the wind and study the trees for danger.

The savvy hunters wait for the deer to turn. They wait for the buck to become distracted by a distant noise, another deer or a squirrel running through the leaves. They never hurry their shot, but are attentive and prepared to shoot at a moment’s notice.

Such hunters started out the same way that the nervous hunters did. They sat, listened, asked questions, and watched. They learned more each year, and after enough deer have been taken, they move up into the ranks of the old pros. It doesn’t come quickly, and all of us have paid our deer-hunting dues, and we’ve learned from our mistakes.

One day it all seems to come together, and it’s a rather magical moment when it does. And that is what every hunter strives to attain, is that wondrous magic of the hunt when we know that now we can run with the big dogs of the deer woods.

Time and experience will put hunters there if they pay attention, learn, don’t try to speed up the process and listen to good constructive advice. Tomorrow may be that day for some hunters. Time will tell.—The Whitetail Wizard

Friday, September 29, 2006

Rain, Rain & Muddy Roads For The Arcerhy Opener

We have received a ton of rain over the past several days, and it makes me wonder if the weather forecast is right—more rain for Sunday’s archery opener.

More rain is what we don’t need. My ranch roads can get awful sloppy if we get too much rain, and we’re about at that point now where getting around may be very difficult if the rain doesn’t stop. Slogging two miles on foot to a stand isn’t the answer either.

A fairly stiff wind tomorrow, sunshine and no rain, could help dry out the dirt roads. Travel when they are muddy and slick is a lesson in frustration because even the most careful driver can find himself sliding into a ditch or off the trail.

A vehicle, off the trail and mired in deep mud, usually requires the aid of my tractor. And even then, it can still be a massive chore pulling a pick-up out of hub-deep mud.

We can’t do anything about the weather except complain, as if that does us any good. Hopefully all the rain is over for the time being, and the weather will clear for Sunday’s bow hunters. We’ll have a full camp, and everyone is eager to sit in a stand and hope a good buck passes within easy shooting distance.

We’ve got the elevated and ground blinds spiffed up, and all we need is a day of warmer weather and sunshine to dry things out a bit. But, dry or wet, we’ll be in our stands Sunday with hope in our heart and an eye peeled for a good buck.

Some of us have set out over the past two or three weeks just to see what is coming past our stands. There are some big bucks everywhere, and they seem to be well scattered around. There are quite a few 10-pointers, some 12-pointers, and everywhere we look there are 8-pointers galore. Some of those 8’s will still be around next year, and will be major-league bucks.

We have one big 12-point, and those who have seen him say he will weigh between 300 and 350 pounds. He apparently has (I haven’t seen him yet) a huge rack that will match his body size. He may be the largest bodied and heaviest antlered buck on the ranch.

There are plenty of does and fawns this year, and we’ll be thinning some of them out as the season progresses. We must remove a big portion of our does every hunting season or we’d soon be top-heavy with antlerless deer. That is not a good situation to be in.

The one thing that everyone says that has sat out, studied deer travel and studied the animals, is that the herd looks healthy. No one has seen a bad-looking deer, and everyone comments how how well the herd looks.

A good looking herd comes about only through proper herd management. That means allowing some of the small bucks to grow, remove some of the does, and keep track of the really large bucks.

That we’ve done, and all we need is a day of dry weather, and we’ll be in tall cotton on Sunday. Best of luck to all of you, regardless of where you hunt. Just remember this: shoot once, shoot straight and don’t miss.—The Whitetail Wizard

Thursday, September 28, 2006

No New Hunting Clothes For me

My wife has been looking at my hunting coveralls, and I know what she is thinking. She thinks I need new togs for the hunting season.

Naw, not me. Never have been a clothes horse, and at my age, it’s too late to start something new. Besides, what I wear is good enough for me. It fools the deer, and that too is good enough for me.

So what if there are a few tears from climbing over a barbed wire fence? Who cares if the coveralls aren’t in the latest and greatest camo pattern? Being all tricked out in new hunting duds doesn’t do anything for me.

It takes, according to my theory, about 10 or 12 years for clothing to get well broke in. That means it has finally lost its “new” look and is just starting to loosened up and comfortable.

New stuff is too stiff for my tastes. Much of it also is too noisy. When I draw down on a nice buck, I don’t want my right arm brushing my chest during the draw and making a sharp and unnatural scratchy sound.

I have a test, and it’s freebie to anyone who wants to try it. I go into a sporting goods store, and when I look at some new duds, I run my hand or fingers across the fabric. If I can hear any noise, it’s too noisy for my tastes.

It’s such a simple test, and I use a gentle touch. Think of what that would sound like if I were sitting in a cedar, oak or pine tree, and had to move just a fraction of an inch to take a shot or move my back away from the tree bark. A raspy sound will spook deer every time.

My coveralls have been washed frequently, and are clean but a bit worn around the edges. I’ve compared some of my hunting stuff with some of the things my friends wear, and I’m convinced mine is better than theirs, even though mine is plenty well wore.

I don’t believe in fancy. I am a believer in function and personal appeal. My clothing is wore well, nice and comfy, and the deer aren’t offended by my less than form-fitting outer wear. By the time they get close enough to me to see my clothing, they are in serious trouble if I decide to shoot the animal.

So neat and tidy new clothes may make the man, as the old saying goes, but they don’t make the man a better hunter. That comes only from experience, and lots of it, and the clothes successful and unsuccessful hunters wear, has little bearing on the final outcome.

Having said that, come opening day on Sunday, I’ll be greeting my stand in my old reliable coveralls. They may be a bit tattered and torn, about like the guy wearing them, but between me and the duds I wear in the woods, we are a fine pair.

And, when we are of a mind to do so, we can do very well with the whitetail bucks. Dead deer could care less what the hunter was wearing when he got shot, and that’s an undeniable fact.—The Whitetail Wizard

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

The Countdown Is Underway

Few things stir my soul like bow-hunting for whitetail deer. It is a tremendous challenge, even on my ranch, and hunters who score on a good buck have done many things right.

Luck can play a role in shooting a big deer, but for the most part, hard work and skill are the most important ingredients.

We’ve had our rain, and it’s OK with me if it pushes its way out of here and falls over in Ontario or New York or someplace else. I’d like to see a nice clear day, with just a soft breeze, and preferably one that is out of the west or northwest.

I’m going to have a ton of people in to hunt on the opener, and I just finished up with some elk hunters. Elk are nice, but give me a veteran whitetail buck every time for a challenging hunt.

Everyone is shooting as often as possible, fine-tuning their bow, and getting ready for the big day. A few people will go out in the Sunday morning darkness, but most of the hunting on my ranch takes place in the late afternoon and early evening.

Everyone who will be hunting has their special spots picked out providing an east wind doesn’t pop up and mess everything up. It happens, and there is little any of us can do about it.

We plan, we hope, and we dream about the day. Sometimes out thoughts and prayers are answered, and more often than not, we have an average day seeing a few small bucks and does.

It matters little what we see. Sitting out, watching the fall color unfold, and seeing some animals is what most deer hunters live for. We dream of this day as trout fishermen dream of the last Saturday in April, and we take what we get and give thanks.

We don’t need to shoot a big buck on the first day, and seldom does anyone do so. We are there to enjoy the day and the camaraderie of other hunters, to listen to what each of the other hunters saw, and to tell what we saw.

Some will see a coyote, a bald eagle soaring overhead, and possibly one or more of the turkeys that call this ranch their home. We look forward to the sights, and sounds, and smells of autumn, and are pleased whenever we see a buck within bow range.

That doesn’t mean we will shoot it, but they are so lovely to look at. The first buck of the season takes my breath away even though I’ve seen plenty during my preseason scouting.

That first buck, with bow in hand, is something very special to me. And, I suspect, to most bow hunters.—The Whitetail Wizard

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

The Perfect Mental Attitude

No matter how a person shakes out his or her attitude about hunting deer with a bow, the success or failure of a shot depends on many things ... including your personal mental attitude.

A friend of mine last year asked if he could bring his grand-daughter down to shoot a doe. She had never hunted with a bow before, and although her mechanical skills were fine, her mental attitude was still a bit suspect.

He is methodical, always trying to think ahead and plan to make a hunt turn out right. He took her to a ground blind where the shot was about 17 yards, and he sat with his grand-daughter.

It was beginning to look as if they would be skunked, and during the last 15 minutes of legal shooting time, several deer came in. One was a huge old doe, and she stood broadside to the young lady at 15 yards, and he whispered for her to ease back, get a firm anchor point, and aim properly just behind the front shoulder and below the centerline of the body.

She did all of it just right, just as he had taught her, and she held the bow at full draw for a long time without canting it or having it wobble from the strain. The doe eventually walked off, and all the deer disappeared from sight.

They sat silently for several minutes, gathered up their equipment, and walked to the car without a word being said. They stowed the cased bow in the back, eased the doors shut, started up the car and drove off.

“Grandpa,” she said, “I just wasn’t prepared to shoot that doe. I know If I had released the arrow that it would have killed the animal, but from a mental aspect, I just wasn’t prepared to take that last step.”

“That’s OK, honey,” he said. “Deer hunting doesn’t mean shooting every deer you see, and one could hunt deer for the rest of their life, and take their pleasure from fooling the animals. But, at some point in time, shooting game must become a part of the hunting maturation process.

“You did the right thing by not shooting. Never shoot unless you are mentally prepared to take that animal’s life, and convert its mean into food for your table. I’m proud that you recognized your mental condition at the time, and chose not to shoot. Shooting a deer with a bow is a big step, and for some people, it takes longer to make that initial step than it does others.”

The other people that were hunting that night all wanted to hear about her success, but when she was asked if she could have shot, she said “yes.” When asked if she did shoot, she replied: “No, I wasn’t mentally prepared to kill that doe.”

Each person gave her an atta-girl pat on the back, heaped praise on her for making the right decision, and now she says she feels that she could take that shot and kill a deer. Obviously, time will tell.

It’s pretty heady stuff, and her grandfather had prepared her properly for that eventuality. She came to the moment of truth, looked it in the eye and recognized her unwillingness to shoot. Her 19 years showed more wisdom that many people twice her age.

Mental preparation is of major importance when deer hunting. I pass up many year that I could shoot, but there is no need to kill another deer. My mental thoughts, honed over many years of deer hunting, allow me to size up the situation, and present myself with a shoot-don’t shoot scenario. I can swing either way, and if I shoot, the deer dies.

Some folks enjoy the hunting aspect but never take it past that stage. I feel it is fine to pass up a shot, but if all shots are passed up, then a person might wish to assess why he or she hunts.

For me, and most of my friends who are keen hunters and deadly shots, they have the mental means by which they judge each situation. If the time is right, and it is a perfect shot and an animal they wish to shoot, the bow comes back, the arrow goes out and the deer dies.

However, they also can study the deer and decide in a split-second whether to shoot or not shoot. They are long past that first-deer stage, and are prepared to shoot if the proper stimuli is present. They also are perfectly content to not shoot.

All of this is a matter of mental conditioning. Preparing for that moment of truth, and carrying it through, is a major step in the growth and development of a bow hunter.—The Whitetail Wizard

Monday, September 25, 2006

Rehashing Our Game Plans

Year after year, it’s a recurring problem. We try to establish a game plan for the bow season opener, but doing so ahead of time most often becomes an exercise in futility and frustration.

It’s never a good idea to second-guess our initial plans, but almost always, we find ourselves scrubbing one plan after another because of a change in weather conditions or wind direction. It becomes so frustrating to put all your faith into a plan only to have it fall apart.

A few people I know have contingency plans for regardless of where the wind blows from or what the weather may be at the time. People with a bunch of land can take a pick of three or four spots that should be productive if the wind is from the east or southeast.

Numerous stands of mine will work for a southwest, west, northwest or north wind. Some will work fine on a south wind. A northeast wind is a miserable wind to hunt in, and not much of what we have here will work when a nor’easter blows through.

None will work if the wind is swirling, and snapping like crazy first from one direction and then another. Deer do not like to move in such conditions, and as a result, most deer will park it in a thick swale and ride out the weather until it changes.

I gave up many years ago on trying to pick the best spots to hunt in advance. It’s fools-play, for the most part, because so many other factors must be considered before choosing a ground blind or tree stand, and trying to do it several days in advance makes about as much sense as flipping a coin or drawing straws.

Hunters who consult a barometer, a weather vane or windmill, can come up with a fairly good guess on where best to hunt. The barometer is important, and a rising or falling barometer can trigger some whitetail movement. A steady barometer with a soft breeze from a favorable quarter often is the best of all.

A weather vane or windmill is an excellent indicator of wind velocity and direction ... at the place where they are located. Sometimes, in deep woods or up on ridges or down in gullies, the wind can be switched by how it hits and bounces off one hard surface or another.

Many times I’ve seen the wind seem to play tricks on hunters. A strong wind that hits a firm wall of evergreens can be forced into the air where the wind will curl back on itself. A deer may be upwind of a hunter in such a position, but when the wind circles backward, it may carry the hunters scent to the deer. It explains why deer often shy away once they get within 50 yards of hunter.

Chances are good the hunter saw the deer and didn’t move, and felt he had the wind in his favor, but a back-curling breeze can be the problem.

A short time ago I explained how I use the silky seeds from milkweed pods to determine wind direction at my hunting location. Sometimes, just moving 20 or 30 yards can make an unbelievable change in how the wind will affect your hunting position.

I choose never to second-guess my hunting spots, and never try to choose one several days in advance. Too many things can go wrong, and when it comes to deer hunting and Murphy’s Law, it always pays to wait until the last possible moment to determine your stand location for the day.

Take it from me, that works best of all.—The Whitetail Wizard

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Shoot Once, Shoot Straight & Don’t Miss!

Many years ago several of us adopted a basic bow-shooting philosophy, and it is every bit as important to us today as it was back then. We called it the Shoot Once, Shoot Straight And Don’t Miss philosophy.

It is a philosophy to aspire to, and we’ve taught it to thousands of bow hunters over the years. The philosophy is easily understood, simply stated, and if archers follow it beginning Sunday when the bow-deer season opens, there would be fewer wounded deer.

Here is the whole philosophy pulled together as concisely as possible.

*Shoot Once—How can there be any misunderstanding about this one? Bow hunting is vastly different than hunting with a firearm where one or more shots can be easily taken.

A bow hunter, 99 percent of the time, will have only one shot at a deer. A miss or a wounded animal will send the deer in hasty retreat. About the only time a second shot might be taken is to finish off a mortally wounded animal.

*Shoot Straight—This and the next basic tenet of this philosophy are most important. Shooting with accuracy only comes from consistent and perfect practice. If the practice is faulty, the shot will be faulty as well.

This means controlling your breathing and nerves, drawing when the buck is unaware of your presence, hold your head up with both eyes fixed on the proper spot for a killing shot, aiming properly once you’ve achieved a firm and consistent anchor point, making a smooth release, and holding your bow steady without moving it (follow through) until the arrow hits your aiming point.

There is little excuse for error unless the arrow hits an unseen twig, but it’s up to the hunter to know that twig is there and to take a clean broadside or quartering-away shot. All other shots are low-percentage opportunities, and should never be taken. If you don’t have a high-percentage shot, wait for another opportunity. Don’t trust to luck.

Develop a mental checklist, and run through it in order before releasing the arrow. If you plan to hunt from a tree, practice shooting from an elevated position.

Know your limitations. If you can’t consistently hit the kill zone on a deer at 25 yards, but can hit it at 20 yards, a 20-yard shot is your maximum effective shooting distance. Know what you can and cannot do, and never exceed your limitations. A miss, or even worse a wounded deer, can be the only two plausible results of exceeding your effective shooting range.

*Don’t Miss—This is the culmination of all of these facets of this philosophy. If the above two facets are followed to the letter, and you never exceed your limitations, and always achieve a firm anchor point and aim properly (and don’t drop your bow arm at the shot), you will hit and kill that deer.

This philosophy is easy to write about but a bit more difficult to put into practice. It requires total hunter concentration, complete focus on all of the minute details,, and it means knowing your bow and at what distance is your limit of accurate shooting.

Follow these simple rules—Shoot Once, Shoot Straight & Don’t Miss—and you’ll be eating venison this fall and admiring the antlers of a nice buck. You can bet on it.—The Whitetail Wizard

Saturday, September 23, 2006

First Day Of Youth Deer Hunt A Winner

It was pouring down rain tonight, and I had a choice of going out to dinner with my wife and friends or sitting out in the rain, and made the wise choice: I went out to dinner, stayed dry and had a good time.

My grandson, Will Pollington of Marion, had nine children and their fathers on a Youth Hunt. The hunt was solely for the kids, and they were placed on parcels of land that Will leases, and despite today’s weather, it appears they all had a good time.

So far, four of the nine have shot bucks. I wasn’t there when they came in, and don’t know what was taken, but I know one of the bucks was much larger than the other spikes and forkhorns.

Is this Youth Deer Hunt a good thing? It most certainly is, simply because it offers young people a chance to hunt without having to compete with adults. The parent or guardian cannot hunt but must accompany the youth.

Is it necessary for the kids to have this special two-day hunt? I think so, and think that any adult hunter who considers this a personal affront, should realize that we cannot lose hunter if hunting is to have a strong foundation in this state. Kid must be given an early chance to learn about hunting, and this hunt enables them to do so.

They must have taken a Hunter Education class, passed the exam, and used their Hunter Safety Certificate to purchase their first license, They also must hunt with a parent or guardian.

Let’s face it. Kids have many other things that can and will compete with hunting, and it’s been proven that unless a child is exposed to hunting reasonably early in life, and has some chance for success, they may never wind up picking up a bow or firearm to go hunting.

Hunter apathy is one problem, fluctuating deer herd numbers is another, and getting kids excited is a major problem. The Youth Deer Hunt, which runs today and tomorrow, enable them to hunt before the general season opens.

Adults or parents who resent the Youth Deer Hunt should get a life, and realize that unless we have a strong young-hunter base on which to grow, dire predictions of hunting going faster downhill becomes more of a possibility in future years.

Instead of adults bad-mouthing this early opportunity, they should fully endorse it. If kids don’t start early, in two years who will be buying the C.P. Oneida bows I make, the Gator Jaw releases or any other archery equipment. Countless manufacturing business will close down, jobs will be lost, and one only has to look at the automotive industry to see what could happen to the hunting industry.

Once sales of such hunting equipment begin to decline, the excise tax dollars paid on the sale of such equipment will decrease, and the amount of money the Federal government funnels back into Michigan habitat restoration and hunter education also will decrease.

Once that happens, it becomes a slippery slope downhill. I love hunting too much to not want to see as many kids as possible have a chance to hunt. So, two days in late September is set aside just for them.

It is a wonderful idea, and it should have taken place 30 years ago. But it’s not too late for licensed youths who didn’t hunt today, to try it tomorrow. Good luck, kids. You deserve this day.—The Whitetail Wizard

Friday, September 22, 2006

Spare The Button-bucks And Spikehorns

Everyone wants to see more bucks. That can be fairly easy to accomplish in future years if people pay attention to one important thing this year.

Pass up the button-bucks and spikehorns, and shoot a doe or doe fawn instead. The meat will be tasty, and for every young buck you pass up this year, there will be that many more bucks next season.

Let’s face it: there is little difference between a button-buck and doe fawn than a few extra pounds and the sex of the animal. There is little difference between a doe and a spikehorn except a ratty young rack. Shooting either antlered animal (even though button-bucks are not considered a buck until the antlers reach three inches in length), the hunter is far better off in most areas to shoot a doe. Some Deer Management Units are low in doe numbers, and hunters should consider either not shooting a doe or hunt areas with large numbers of does.

There is little excuse for shooting a button-buck. Hunters should carry binocular and use them when hunting. Study the top of a small deers head, and often the tiny nubbins can be seen through binoculars. Find a bald-headed young deer, and shoot it.

Passing on the button-bucks and spikehorns makes good sense. It saves those deer from being killed (although in some areas they may die during a severe winter). Every buck saved means more bucks for next year, but that only works if everyone subscribes to this program.

I don’t consider myself a trophy hunter but I rarely shoot something under 8 points unless it has a gnarly looking rack. If the rack looks out of kilter, it may be a genetic defect, and I’ll shoot that deer. A deer ranch like mine strives for bucks with good racks. There is a likelihood that a buck with a bad rack will sire other bucks with bad racks.

A major problem is that hunters have the thought that “if I don’t shoot that buck, someone else will.” For them, shooting any buck means a chance to brag about their hunting prowess. If they thought the situation through to its obvious conclusion, they would realize that very few bragging rights come with shooting a button-buck or spikehorn.

You see, telling people you shot a doe gives a person no bragging rights, but who cares anyway. If the best thing in your life come from bragging about shooting a small buck, why not take up golf?

I’ve known some bow hunters who only shoot trophy bucks. That is an ego trip in the opposite direction. Any fine, well-formed buck with eight or 10 points is a trophy to almost anyone. If you look at a buck and tell yourself that you’d later be ashamed of shooting a little button-buck or spikehorn, then don’t shoot. Do the smart thing that will help the herd, and shoot a doe.

But every year button-bucks are shot by well meaning hunters who rely on their corrected or uncorrected vision to determine if it is a button-buck or doe fawn, and guess wrong. Binoculars can clear up the issue for most hunters.

By November, many button-bucks can be almost as large as their mother. People naturally assume a large deer without visible antlers is a doe. In many cases a pair of quality optics can help hunters judge the deer long before it enters shooting range.

Button-bucks are almost always the first deer that comes to a bait pile. If in doubt, don’t shoot unless the buck has nice antlers. Button-bucks are usually followed to a bait site by the doe fawn, and then the doe, and lastly comes an antlered buck.

Deer hunting, like many things, can be set up to meet certain goals. It is impossible to shoot a nice 8-pointer is you shoot a button-buck or young spikehorn as it hungrily approaches a bait pile.

There has to be something better in life than shooting a tiny buck. Don’t get impatient, learn to pass up the smaller animals, and perhaps a really nice buck will offer a shot. That is an attainable goal for every bow hunter providing that they pass up the little deer.—The Whitetail Wizard

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Use Sharp Broadheads

I spent 15 minutes teaching a guy the other day how to sharpen a two-blade, fixed-blade broadhead. He picked out a packet of two-blade heads, and I asked him to feel the blades.

He was cautious. I asked him to hand it to me, and I ran my thumb and forefinger down the two blades. He warned me to be careful and not cut myself.

I told him he could sit on that blade and probably not hurt himself. He got over being cautious, and really felt the blade and decided that it was dull. Driven by the force of a bow, it would penetrate a deer but it wouldn’t cut cleanly going through.

I broke out the two-blade broadhead sharpeners that I make when time permits, and proceeded to give him a demonstration on sharpening a broadhead. It’s not nearly as difficult as he thought.

He was shown that this diamond stone has two sides, a top and a bottom. One side has coarse stones for establishing and putting a rough edge on a broadhead.

The opposite side has a finer stone, and is used to put a sharper edge on the earlier rough edge. I then strop the blades to remove the small burr on the edge and finish the sharpening process.

The major risk of sharpening two-blade broadheads is if your hand slips down the arrow shaft. Some people wear Kevlar gloves to prevent cutting themselves.

My method of sharpening is easy. Here is how I do it.

Lay the two-blade head on the beveled edges with either one finger holding the broadhead flat on the stone, or all fingers behind the head and pushing it across the rough stones first. Remember that to sharpen a broadhead it is necessary to remove some steel, and this requires constant attention to holding the broadhead flat on the stones and pushing hard enough to remove some metal.

I make three or four passes over the stone, turned it over, and gave the other side three or four passes. A little oil helps, and then give it two passes on each side, and then one pass per side.

The edge should be sharp but have a rough edge. Turn the broadhead hone over, and give it three or four passes one the fine stones, turn it over, and do the same to the other side. Give it two passe per side, and then one pass on each side, and the edge should be there.

If one side seems a bit duller than the other, give it a few extra passes across the coarse and fine stones, and keep working at it until you are satisfied that it is sharp.

A leather belt can act like a razor strop that barbers used to use to touch up the edge of their straight razors. If you have a leather strop, use it. I use a leather belt, and hit several licks on each side against the leather, and that removes most of the burr on the edge. Stropping removes the burr without dulling the broadhead.

Many hunters buy three-, four- or five-blade heads with replaceable heads. Many of those blades are not sharp to begin with, and are nearly impossible to hand-sharpen without risking serious injury.

I coat my sharpened broadheads with some light oil or a thin coating of Vaseline to help protect against rust. One thing I’ve learned is that dull broadheads can kill deer by forcing their way through internal organs. A sharp broadhead slices its way through arteries, capillaries and veins, and by cutting their way through major internal organs.

I shoot 90-grain broadheads that are sharp, and they work. The man I gave the demonstration to tried cutting one page of a newspaper that was folded in half. He tried with the factory-edge broadhead, and it wouldn’t cut the paper. He took the broadhead that I sharpened, and sliced right through the paper without effort.

There is little reason to use dull broadheads. I find that people buy heads by brand name rather than because they are sharp. It’s the main reason why I prefer sharpening my own heads, and that way I know that when I hit a deer, it will cut it’s way through the animal and provide maximum damage.

That is very difficult to get with many broadheads. A bit of work on a broadhead can make a world of difference in how your animal is killed. I would rather have a broadhead cutting than just punching a hole through the animal. We owe it to whatever we shoot to kill cleanly.

Only sharp broadheads can do that.—The Whitetail Wizard

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Hunting & Not Shooting Extends Our Hunting

There are a fairly large number of people in this state who could, if they wished, shoot two bucks the first day of the archery season, and spend the rest of the season bowling or doing some far less fun than hunting.

Many of my friends, and I must include myself in this group, could easily dump two bucks in one day. But we don’t, and for very good reasons.

The majority of really good buck hunters are not interested in a short archery season. If anything, we want to prolong our hunting time, and that is difficult to do if a person shoots the first two bucks he sees.

All of us subscribe to a basic philosophy: it’s as much or more fun fooling a buck, drawing on him if we wish, and then backing off and not taking the shot, than shooting it. Fooling the buck by being in his backyard without him knowing it, and knowing as much about him as we do, makes this a greater test of skill than arrowing two small bucks.

There is a certain sense of being in tune with nature when you’ve got one or more decent bucks lined up, and know that they could be shot if you so desired. My buddy Dave Richey < [url=http://www.daverichey.com]http://www.daverichey.com[/url] > shot a buck on Oct. 2 last year, and it was a fine 8-pointer.

He couldn’t resist the shot at close range as it sparred with a larger buck, but although he seldom shoots a buck before the rut starts, he made an exception. He prized that buck, and is having it mounted, but kicked himself for taking one so early in the season.

The trouble, as he so well knows, is a buck shot very early in the season means the hunter is down to only being able to shoot one more buck. I understand he shot a couple of does, and a large 9-point later on, but deep down inside, those hunters who hunt often rarely shoot early bucks.

Preseason scouting tells us where to hunt, and I always have a number of locations where I can hunt at will on anything but an east wind. We love to sample a spot, and prove to ourselves that life is indeed good when we can narrow down a buck’s travels to the point where shooting that animal is more about knowing when to hunt the spot than almost anything else.

Granted, during the rut, bucks can cruise far and wide in search of estrus does, but they still travel known routes. If they bump into another hunter, it may cause them to change their travel plans for a day or two, but soon they will be following the same travel corridors.

It’s watching the buck approach early in the season, during the rut or the post-rut period, that lights me up. Shooting the buck is the least difficult part of the hunt. What is most difficult is studying their behavior, knowing how they move, and being in place before they move through, that provides the biggest kick of all.

It’s not necessary to always shoot a large buck. I’m content to shoot does as part of my herd management program, and in many cases, shooting an old doe is much more daunting than a big buck.

The long and the short of it is that we can, by not shooting bucks early in the season, prolong our hunting season. It gives us a reason to be out in the woods tomorrow, the day after, and every day next week.

Of course, many hunters don’t take their bow hunting as serious as some of us do, and that is fine. But if someone tells you he passed up a nice 8-point on opening day, don’t ask him “Why didn’t you?”

Chances are he would tell you that the time just wasn’t right. The time he speaks of is too early in the season. If he shoots that buck, and a bigger one during the rut, what would he have to do during the firearm deer season, the December muzzleloader season or the December bow season?

He would miss a good bit of the season, and feel bad because he had robbed himself of so many deer hunting days.—The Whitetail Wizard

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Planning A Daily Deer Hunt

Many people rarely think about how their daily deer hunt will begin or end. For many, they just jump into a tree and settle in.

The hunters that normally score on whitetail bucks, and do it year after year, have a little secret they probably don’t even know they have. They have the ability to pre-plan a hunt at the last minute.

They know the lay of the land, and also know how, where and why deer travel from bedding to feeding areas in the late afternoon or from feeding to bedding areas in the morning.

They turn an eye to the sky to determine cloud cover, feel the wind on their check so they know which way the wind is blowing, and start thinking about where they’ve been seeing bucks moving. They go through all the fundamental thinking, break down the good and the bad for each stand along the deer’s travel route, and come to some type of decision.

It isn’t a coin-toss decision. It’s not a matter of guesswork. It means engaging brain before choosing a stand. It means thinking out all of the possibilities that can or may arise, and throw all of these things into the bubbling stew of ideas, and slowly with great thought comes one good stand floating to the surface.

Pick it up, look at it, study all the reasons why it should be a productive stand for this morning or afternoon hunt, and head that way. Once at the stand, go through all of these thoughts again, and see if they still match up to your original idea.

Sometimes they don’t, and it takes a long look at the stand and area to be hunted, to determine why it isn’t as good a choice as you once thought. Think if over some more, go back to what may have been your second choice, and visit that spot.

There may be something there that jumps out at you and screams silently in your ear: “Sit here!” If that happens, don’t start second-guessing your gut feelings or instincts. There is something inside each of us, that when cultivated by years of in-the-field experience, allows such thoughts to pop into our mind at the right time.

I believe strongly in gut feelings, instincts and reactions. I listen to what my mind and body tells me, and the best looking stand may silently tell you that tonight is not the best night for this spot.

Oddly, there are times when my gut feelings are so strong that I find it impossible to ignore them. And, almost always, that decision is the right and proper one for that hunt.

On the other hand, I’ve had strong feelings that none of these spots will be good on this hunt. Who knows what it is, but again, gut feeling play an important role in the success or failure of a deer hunt.

Often little things can be the key to success. What those little things are may not reveal themselves until the last minute. I’ve seen times when the wind wasn’t bad for a stand but it wasn’t perfect. And then, 30 minutes before shooting time ends, the wind switches direction.

It now blows from the proper direction, and the deer move well to your hunting area. It becomes a matter of choosing which, if any, buck to shoot. Those are the days that can make a believer out of a person.

They prove that over the long haul, a person who trusts his gut instincts can almost always be successful. Having success doesn’t always mean (and seldom means) shooting a big buck, but it shows that being in the right place at the right time is something much more than a matter of good luck or making a lucky guess.—The Whitetail Wizard

Monday, September 18, 2006

Tips On Blood Trailing Deer

It’s one of those situations we hope never happens, but invariably during the season, someone will shoot a whitetail buck or doe where it isn’t an immediate killing shot.

That means blood trailing the animal. Everyone who hunts my land uses a Game Tracker, and on occasion, the tracking string will hang up on a bush or tree and break or the arrow pulls out. We follow the string to where it broke or the line ends, and from that point on, it is blood trailing and in some cases, it isn’t easy.

There are some fundamental truths to blood trailing. It’s a job for people with good vision. I can see blood quite well but sometimes I can’t see individual specks of blood on leaves, pine needles, tree bark or weeds. It’s often a job for younger hunters with good eyes.

One popular thought is to get together a big gang of people to spread out and search for blood or the deer. That doesn’t work well at all. Three people who know what they are doing can do a great job.

One person stays with the last blood, and the other two spread out and start looking. A deer will often stay on the same trail it was traveling when the string broke or the arrow pulled out. That should be the place to begin, and those who are looking for spoor should not step on any blood spots, and as blood is found, the man on the last blood moves up.

If the trail disappears, go back to the last blood and start over. Check any trails that go off to either side, and look on bushes or trees the deer may have brushed up against, and you’ll be able to pinpoint how high up on the deer’s body the wound is located. A pass-through shot can leave blood on both sides of the trail.

Once the blood trail is recovered, keep on it. A deer may go 20 or 30 yards without any blood leaking out, and this can become painstaking slow trailing, and often hunters are on their hands and knees looking for a speck of blood no larger than the period at the end of this sentence.

Listen ahead for any noise that could be the deer moving. Listen for the howls of coyotes. I’ve hunted some places, including here on my ranch, where it is almost a foot race to get to the deer before the ‘yotes do.

If the blood trail starts bending around, and you see where the deer is bouncing off trees, chances are you are very close to the animal. Listen intently, check for blood on the ground and off the ground, and look ahead in the general direction the deer is headed.

Try not to make any more noise than is necessary to keep from unduly spooking other deer. A silent approach or a soft whistle is enough to keep track of each other. Blood shows up best with a Coleman lantern, but the glass and mantles can be easily broken. A 6-volt flashlight works well on most blood trailing jobs.

If hunting in unfamiliar terrain, pieces of toilet paper attached to head-high twigs are easy to spot or use orange surveyor’s tape. Remove the tissue or tape on the way back out, and pick up the Game Tracker line.

Once the track starts to circle, pay attention to both sides of the blood trail. Deer will often jump hard right or hard left as they run out of blood, and the last 20 feet or more may not show any blood.

Often, the deer will be off to one side of the trail, and occasionally they dive into a brushy tangle in a last-ditch attempt to escape the hunters.

Be careful with wounded deer. A dead deer will have open eyes. A wounded animal often shuts its eyes as the light comes closer. If it is still light, shoot the animal again. If it is after dark, it is illegal to shoot a deer with bow or firearm.

Tracking wounded deer is an acquired talent, and some people are far better at it than others. A friend of mine has eyes like an eagle, and he can spot the smallest drop of blood from some distance away.

Blood trailing isn’t fun, but it is a necessary thing for hunters to do. Every attempt to locate a wounded deer must be made, and if a person exercises patience, doesn’t rush the job, almost every wounded deer can be found.

As hunters, we owe it to the game we hunt to successfully recover these animals rather than leave them in the woods for the coyotes.—The Whitetail Wizard

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Up In The Air Or Down On The Ground

Bow hunters always have one basic problem to solve on a daily basis. Should I sit up in the air in a tree stand or on the ground in a blind?

It’s difficult for me to answer that question for anyone else because I often have a hard time making the same decision myself. I tend to waffle a bit, but once I make up my mind, only a lightning storm or the wrong wind can chase me from a tree stand.

Line me up against the wall, threaten me with great bodily harm if I don’t come through with an answer, and I’d say that I’m happiest when sitting in a tree stand or elevated coop. But, there are some qualifications that come with that answer.

Up in the air offers greater visibility, a lesser chance of being winded, fewer chances of being seen, and having to deal with fewer spooky deer than when sitting in a ground blind.

I’m naturally attracted to heights. Being up in the air doesn’t bother me unless I’m in an airplane. I can and have climbed 30 to 35 feet up a tree to hunt, but think it’s a waste of time and energy to do so. Most of my tree stands are positioned at 15 to 16 feet at the platform. A normal adult, if he shoots while standing, will be at least 20 feet above the deer.

The proper combination of tree stand placement, a height of 15-16 feet, and the opportunity to blend in with the tree and natural foliage at that height, makes me happy. I choose my stands with a beady eye on the weather vane, and if the wind is right, I’ll be up that tree as fast as a squirrel and getting ready for the hunt.

Now, mind you, even though I prefer hunting from up in the air, I never hesitate to hunt from a ground blind whenever I feel it is to my best advantage to do so.

Make no mistake about it: hunters who chase deer in areas where every hunter is up in a tree is at a disadvantage. Some (not all of those hunters) will be winded, seen or heard by nearby deer, and that makes the animals wary. If I see deer walking through the woods with their head held high, studying the trees, I know that it is a good time to hunt from a ground blind.

Most people in the south hunt from trees, and few hunt from the ground level or from a coop. There is little need for it because the weather is seldom cold. Bring an Alabama bow hunter up to Michigan in December, and stick him in a tree stand, and he’d probably be begging for any chance to get in out of the cold and wind.

I prefer ground blinds under certain occasions. One is when the barometer is falling, and it causes human odor to head toward ground level. A hunter inside a ground coop seldom spooks deer unless he has two windows open, providing cross-ventilation, which can send human scent out and into the swirling air.

Another time when ground blinds look mighty attractive is when thunder can be heard rumbling off in the distance. Me, trees and lightning don’t mix well, and I’m heading for a ground blind or my truck when lightning starts firing up the sky.

Some of my ground blinds have stove pipes that come out of the roof of the ground blind, and some go 20 to 30 feet into the air to help dissipate any human odor. I’ve been known to wire those stove pipes to trees to prevent the wind from blowing them over, and they help.

All a hunter has to do is sit still with the coop’s shooting window closed until a deer arrives and assumes the position—broadside or quartering away. The windows open easily and silently, and the hunter can come to full draw, aim and shoot without unduly spooking other deer.

Hunters who use a Game Tracker string tracking device can quickly unscrew the canister, toss the unit out onto the ground and quickly close the window. The wounded deer will take out line until it falls down. With the window shut most of the time, it spooks very few deer.

Come October 1, and every other day until January 1, I will face the daily dilemma of choosing to hunt from ground level or up in a tree. The tree is my preference but I swing both ways on that topic.

Hunting conditions, more than personal preferences, should dictate how and where a hunter sits.—The Whitetail Wizard

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Picking The Right Moment

It sounds like one of those Viagra ads on television. Knowing when to draw and shoot allows the hunter to choose when the time is right.

Being indecisive is a common fault when choosing the proper time to draw and shoot, and it takes practice and knowledge to know when to do it right. Draw too early, and one runs the risk of being spotted or being forced into holding at full draw for too long, and drawing too late means running the risk of a deer turning and missing the key moment when the animal is perfectly positioned.

Some of this is nothing more than a matter of practice, and drawing on every deer within bow range certainly teaches you to do it right. People often spook many deer practicing their draw, but once they get this part of the hunt down pat, the rest of it seems to fall nicely into place.

There are some rather obvious do’s and don’ts, and any one of these can make or break a shot opportunity.

Don’ts: Never come to full draw when an animal is turning toward you. Never draw when one or more deer have their head up and studying their surroundings. Never draw on a deer with a squeaky bow or one that tends to creak when full draw is reached. Never make a herky-jerky movement while drawing.

Do’s: Always watch the deer, and make your draw just as the front leg comes forward as the deer opens up the front shoulder. Always know what nearby deer are doing, which ones have their head up or are looking in your direction. Make certain your bow is quiet and smooth, and there is no sound as the arrow is drawn across the arrow rest. A slow and smooth draw is not spotted as easily as a rapid draw.

Other things to concentrate on is the body movements of the animal. Study each deer for any quirks that can be used in your favor, One is the deer that raises and lowers his head while making a turn. Wait out such animals, and when the animal settles down, and the shot angle is correct, draw, aim and shoot if no other deer are present or are looking in your direction.

Sometimes it may take 15 to 30 minutes or more before a deer offers the desired shot. Be patient, watch the deer, and when the move is made, check other nearby deer, and then make your move.

I’ve often thought that a slowly walking deer is easier to shoot than one standing still. Several reasons contribute to that thought. One is the deer often has its head down and is feeding as it slowly moves along. The best possible shot is when the near-side front shoulder moves forward as the leg reaches out for a step. If no deer are looking, make your draw as the front leg goes forward, and this will move the shoulder blade out of the way of the heart-lung area.

Deer that are standing motionless are testing for danger. I’ve shot many bucks when one drops his antlers in an attempt to intimidate another deer. Whenever the target of opportunity is perfectly positioned and not moving or moving only slightly, swing with the deer and shoot.

Given a choice, which I always have, I much prefer the quartering-away shot over the broadside shot, and again, there are reasons. Taking a broadside shot may allow the buck to spot a hunter drawing his bow. Often, unless a buck turns to look back past his rump, the quartering-away shot offers the easiest access to the heart-lung area while reducing the chance of being spotted.

On a quartering-away shot, aim for the off-side front shoulder, and the arrow will enter through the last ribs while ranging forward. If it is a bit more extreme quartering away shot, aim just behind the last rib and toward the off-side shoulder. The arrow often lodges in the off-side shoulder, and takes out the heart-lungs at the same time while still continuing to cut as the deer runs off.

Mind you, I shoot a two-blade Patriot or FirstCut broadhead, and they stay intact while slicing a clean path through vital organs.

Shooting a buck isn’t nearly as difficult as choosing when to shoot. Pick the time that is right for you, and offers the shot you want, and if you intently study the deer you plan to shoot, the animal will offer many clues about when to shoot.—The Whitetail Wizard