Whitetail Wizard

This is my dream, and it’s one I hold dear to my heart. It’s one I wish to share with like-minded sportsmen. My dream is to help people learn more about bow hunting, and it’s the primary reason I’m working hard on my book which hopefully will be completed in the early fall.

Everyone believes their hunting methods are proper and productive. Many people have learned what they know from their parents and grand-parents, and some have learned from siblings or other friends and relatives.

Sadly, some who teach and others who learn about deer hunting, are not being taught properly. Times change and hunting methods change, and in many cases, the hunter doesn’t change with the times. They often keep hunting the same places, sitting in the same spot year after year, and haven’t realized that the deer have moved to different locations to bed down and feed.

Michigan’s deer numbers in much of the upper two-thirds of the state have been greatly reduced. Some indicators show the deer numbers are coming back but we’ll probably never see a deer population like those of 10-15 years ago. Many hunters stopped hunting when deer numbers began to plummet.

Hunting whitetail deer has changed, even over the past five years. Areas that once held large numbers of deer have disappeared, and fewer animals are being seen. I see many older hunters who should know better plan their hunt around one particular stand. They hunt that spot whether the wind is right or wrong for that location, and this happens on a daily basis.

Deer catch one whiff of human scent and that day’s deer hunt is over long before the hunter realizes he/she is wasting his time. The modern deer is a bit more edgy, more alert to possible days, and often spend time looking for hunters. Years ago, deer never looked up but now they do because they’ve been frightened by too many hunters in trees.

Deer, after generations of bumping into hunters in the woods, can be a bit more difficult to fool. Hunters must be more knowledgeable about stand placement, how to walk into and out of the stands, and how it is positioned.

Learn to study the prevailing breezes at each stand, know how to stay downwind of where deer travel, don’t brush up against bushes and trees with clothing, and wear rubber boots and clean clothes.

Everyone I know who is serious about deer hunting wears rubber boots, and I know a few guys who wear rubber hip boots or rubber waders.

There are two main groups of deer hunters. Those who hunt the way their Daddy and Gran’Daddy did, and those who have learned to adapt to changing deer patterns and changes in wind directions. The first bunch don’t hurt the deer population very much, but the second group is as serious as a heart attack about hunting these animals.

Bow hunting is an offshoot of how I make my living by manufacturing the various models of C.P Oneida Eagle bows. The hunting is a big part of my lifestyle, and what makes me feel really good about my life is I can teach people how to accurately shoot a compound bow.