Talking about BuckHuntersBlog.com and The 10 Best Treestand Locations

I decided to do a review of the blog buckhuntersblog.com/the-10-best-treestand-locations because it is something that most hunters have on their minds once a year.  They have the desire to know where the best chances are going to be in shooting a nice deer.  I feel the same way every year.  It would be nice if the deer always walked down the same trails at the same time every day but more than likely they won’t be so inclined.  Any help that a hunter can take away from the experience of another hunter is valuable but the decision is on how valuable the information is.  Being open to new ideas is a strength for hunters and not a weakness so the need to hear out an idea is important.  It is also important to ask questions and be sure the information is valuable or not.

The article starts out with a situation that some hunters can find themselves in.  Some hunters, including myself, have gone on a hunting trip with others to a place they’ve never been and are expected to find themselves a good location to hunt for the weekend or a few days.  The blog is intended for situations like these and for those who are looking to set up tree stands for the new season of hunting.  I’m going to go through some of the suggestions and talk about some of the pros and cons of each one.  Information such as this can be very valuable for some hunters who are looking to make a good effort in finding the right tree stand locations.

The first location described in the blog is hunting over a beaver dam.  For most hunters this may seem odd but I know that this is a good location for hunters to try.  The only way one of these locations can work though is if the stream or river is too deep throughout most of the area and the deer are forced to cross it.  Deer are opportunistic, they will take the path of least resistance most times and if crossing over a beaver dam is easier than they will do it.  But like the article states, they have to be going to or from a place in order for it to work.  They are more than likely not going to cross a random beaver dam. It’ll be one that creates a funnel that the deer have to use in order to go where they want to go.

To read the rest of this article, please visit my website at http://whitetailconnections.webs.com/reviewofblog.htm

The Hunt of December 8, 2010

After a long wait between shotgun seasons and school, I was finally able to get back to bow hunting today.  I wasn’t able to make it out for the morning hunt due to some school work but I was determined to make the evening hunt.  The temperatures were hovering at around 28 degrees with winds blowing in from the southeast at around ten to fifteen mph.  The southeast winds are quite unusual for Illinois but for the property it makes for a lot of hunting options.

I drove out to the property and made it in by around one.  I wanted to be in the tree by two o’clock and ready to sit for the next three hours.  So I rounded up my gear and made my way out the woods.  The trick was going to be deciding on a tree stand with the right wind.  Most of the deer come from the northeast heading southwest so the east wind was there to help keep my scent from plowing through most of the woods.

After getting set up, I wasn’t even done putting my gear on when the first buck appeared.  There had been a substantial snowfall a week before so I could see him coming from a long way out.  I tried to hurry up while still watching my movements but he was closing in fast.  By the time he got within fifty yards I could make out some of his antler size and knew this was going to be a huge buck.  As he closed in, I could see that he had gotten his right ear nearly torn off.  It was dangling down along the side of his head swinging back and forth just below his massive main beams.  He was a solid 6x5 deer with a split brow tine on his left antler.  I didn’t get the opportunity to get a shot when he passed within fifteen yards but just seeing a monster like him makes any hunt worth the effort.

The One That Made It

When you’re a bow hunter, one of the greatest things you can see after gun season is a giant buck that made it through.  I just got a trail camera picture from the property I hunt that shows this exact thing.  We don’t allow gun hunting on the property for deer and it really hasn’t been a problem.  We shoot are share of nice bucks and there are already plenty of gun hunters taking part in the season in the area.  I’m in no way against gun hunting but for us, we don’t have the need for it.  We usually don’t have much trouble getting a nice buck to walk under one of the stands.

In just over a thousand acre stretch of woods that we hunt part of, there are already at least fifteen gun hunters taking part in one or both gun seasons here in Illinois.  So this season, more than likely, about ten out of the fifteen were successful in filling their tags.  Most were probably smaller does or basket racked bucks but for most of them, a deer’s a deer.  In our stretch of woods, I fully believe that gun season tactics like this are the major contributors to why the woods aren’t full of 140 plus inch bucks.

What’s amazing is that after seven days of gun hunting season, this buck was able to evade all of those hunters and more than likely will live through the season.  Most of the hunters in our area have had their fill of hunting by the end of second season so their will only be a few of us left to hunt deer like the one in the picture.  I expect that with enough diligence that we can have shot at this deer with a bow with the right amount of time and effort.  I was just glad to see that one big bruiser was able to pull through.

Coyotes

One of the most common questions and comments I hear from deer hunters isn’t about deer at all, it’s about coyotes.  These canines are a common enemy of deer hunters and many seek to eradicate them from every stretch of the woods they hunt.  I’ve often wondered if they deserve the reputation they get but time and time again, I see deer act extremely adversely to them and with good reason.   Coyotes are the primary predators of deer, other than hunters that is, in Illinois.  Many of the hunters I talk to say that they will shot every coyote that walks within shooting range.  The question is will any attempt to eradicate them meet with success?

I’m lucky enough to have a sister who graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in wildlife management who understands the concerns that hunters have with coyotes.  I talked to her about the problems I’ve had with them and asked her what she thought about systematically shooting them.  She had some interesting insight about my concerns and questions.  She said that when hunters try to put serious hunting pressure on them, they respond in the best evolutionary way possible.  They can actually sense the increase in hunting pressure and will reproduce more rapidly and with more pups per litter. 

I would have been skeptical of this insight coming from anyone else.  I don’t believe her just because we’re related but because she spent six months studying coyotes in the Welder Wildlife Park outside of Corpus Christi, Texas.  She did say that they are certainly a nuisance to deer and won’t be acting in the favor of deer hunters anytime soon.  So shooting few here and there won’t hurt but be prepared if you’re plan is to exterminate the herd.  You’ll be getting more than you bargained for.

WhitetailConnection.com

Deer hunting has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.  All the years I was too young to go on the trips with my dad and seeing him bring back these monster bucks from Pope County, Illinois.  I’ve always wanted to find a way to give back to the hunting community for all that I’ve gotten out of the lifestyle.  This blog has been one of those ways of giving back and hopefully all the viewers of the Whitetail Connections Blog have gotten something to take with them from reading some of the articles.

Another way I have been able to give back to the hunting community is through WhitetailConnections.com.  The website is a growing project to connect the white-tailed deer hunters of America.  The goal of the website is to have the best information, advice, and connections any deer hunter can want.  I wanted to build a website where hunters could share their experiences and knowledge while getting back more than they expected.

WhitetailConnections.webs.com/Articles is where you can read more on some of the experiences and knowledge I’ve gained over the years.  The article, The "How To" For Finding Public Hunting Areas is one I enjoyed writing.  I wanted to give hunters a perspective on different tactics on what to do if you’re in need of a new hunting location.

I also think it’s important for hunters to be connected to the retailers they shop at for the best hunting equipment available.  WhitetailConnections.webs.com/Retailers will connect you to shops like Cabela’s for your hunting needs.

So have a look and see what the Connection has to offer you at WhitetailConnections.com.

The Late Season Hunt Blog on Wiredtohunt.com

I was surfing through some blogs and came across another hunter at wiredtohunt.com who has the same idea going through their head as I did the other day: late season hunts.   I was just explaining the other day about this topic so I thought; why not add on some more?  This is a great time to be hunting and for those who are willing to go out when others won’t, rewards are out there to take.   He brought up some great points about why the hunt should continue even if the cold has set in. 

One of them was what he called “the second rut.”  I’m not a fan of the wording but he’s right about one thing for certain: the rut is still on even when it’s cold.  If you’re willing to wait it out, there are still going to be late blooming does who come into estrus late and the bucks won’t ignore them even if it’s cold.

Another was about the cold and the snow.  When the snow falls, those deer have food on the brain and they will be hitting the food sources.  The bigger bucks will be coming out last like he says, but all it takes is that one time you’re in the right place at the right time and one bruiser will come by.

One point that the author is missing is the decreased hunting pressure.  For those of us who spend some time or all of our hunting time on public ground, the cold keeps the weekend warriors at home and gives you the chance to make it big.  With less hunters in the woods, you’ll increase the odds that their won’t be someone walking in on you every half an hour till dark going to a tree stand.

Another point about late season hunting I’d like to add is the grouping.  Some hunters have a hard time believe that deer can herd up in big numbers late season.  I can tell you from years of numerous late season hunts that when the cold is in, the deer can swarm feeding grounds like locusts.  If the deer have a reliable food source to go to, they will come.  Being set up with the right wind in the right funnel should give you the opportunity to get close to some nice whitetails.

Let It Snow

Most deer hunters don’t like the phrase “let it snow.”  For many hunters, this is the signal that the hunting season is coming to a close for them.  But for those who are willing to bear the cold and snow, some of the best hunting of the year can be theirs for the taking.  Most of my hunting has been late season of the past few years since I have to put school work first every once and a while.  I’ve had some amazing hunts this time of year and some of the benefits of the snow can make the cold worth it.

What’s good about the snow is the visibility.  When you’re in the tree stand, you can see those deer coming from much further away if you’re really on the watch for movement.  The drawback to this increased visibility is that the deer can see better too.  We all know how calm the woods can be with no wind and a new snow on the ground.  If you’re doing jumping jacks in the tree, or just moving in general, those deer are going to see that movement from a long way away.

Another good part of the snow is the tracks.  If you’re hunting near the end of the season with snow on the ground, those deer tracks can tell you where to be if you’ve had a rough season.  I know I’ve said that you can’t trust tracks, and it’s true.  But these tracks are fresh.  You can bet that if the deer are funneling through a spot regularly on fresh snow then they’ll be back.  The reason you still can’t trust them completely is because they may have been through their regularly, but it could be happening at night and that isn’t going to do you any good.

You can make it big hunting it out through the snow.  The challenge with the snow is the cold.  The deer are still on the move and all they want to do is keep on eating.  The food is the key.  They want to eat, they need to eat, and you want them to think that way.  This way, the deer are at least a little more predictable in their movements and the snow only encourages them to find what they need buried in the snow.

Product Review: The Heater Body Suit

Here in Illinois, the temperatures are starting to dip to around the freezing point.  This doesn’t mean that the hunting season has to be over by a long shot.  The rut may be coming to a close but there are still plenty of deer to be had out there for those willing to battle the cold.  I figured this would be a good time to do a review on a product that was designed to keep hunters warm in even some of the coldest environments. 

The Heater Body Suit, available through heaterbodysuit.com, is made with late season hunters in mind.  It is designed to cover you from your feet up to your shoulders in what I refer to as a big sleeping bag.  The shape resembles a sleeping bag but with legs for mobility.  It enables you to more easily move around the ground or the tree stand.  The suit also comes with booties to put over your boots before putting your boots in the suit.  This helps keep the suit clean being that it doesn’t exactly fit well in a house clothes washer.  The only things you’ll have to wash regularly are the booties. 

The suit does come with drawbacks.  The cost will set you back between $334.95 and $344.95.  When I purchased mine I had to think a lot about whether the cost would be worth the amount of times it would be used.  The suit also has issues with its camouflage selection.  Most will be using the suit in either hardwood forests that are mostly void of leaves or pine forests.  I think the camouflage works as camouflage but it is most definitely not a soul reason for purchasing the suit.

As a product, I would rate it as 8 out of 10.  The goal of the suit is to keep you warm and it certainly does can do that.  I know from experience that the suit is what makes hunting in below freezing temperatures tolerable.  The cost and the camouflage are its only downfalls.  For those who don’t plan on spending a lot of time hunting late season, the cost may not be worth the investment.  But for those who see the potential in hunting late season, this is a product worth taking a second look at.

A Look Back At Some Oldies But Goodies

The Whitetail Connections blog has been running for a while now and I’m afraid some of the older articles may be starting to be lost in time.  So, I wanted to give a recap on a few of them.  This is mostly because I truly believe in them and what they stand for.  Hunting is an art, a pastime, a lifestyle, and a love.  Most deer hunters take pride in the fact that they participate in the sport and want to know the truths and riddles of it all.  I’m going to talk about a couple of the old riddles starting with the first one.

Getting Ready for Opening Day one of those I feel most passionate about but I see hunters time and time again not taking it seriously.  It’s all about practice, practice, practice.   You’re expecting to use a weapon to kill and end a life, no matter how insignificant it may feel to be, it’s still a life.  You should be able to respect the animal enough to take a clean shot with a weapon that you are confident in.

Undoing Scent Blockers is one I really like because of the simple truth of it.  These are things that hunters must not think about because I see them doing it all the time.  It’s a good simple read if you looking to dabble into the sins of making scent blockers useless.

I love talking about hunts like The Hunt of October 14.  This is an entertaining story about the evening hunt I had and the encounter with the nine and a half year old six point.  It’s always good to talk about a hunt afterward to help you recall all the events that happened, even if no one believes it anyway. J

Review of a Blog: BuckHuntersBlog.com

If you want to get a better understanding of what hunting is all about, I believe it is important to look into what other hunters have to say.  When doing this, it’s important to keep an open mind and be willing to ask questions about whether or not you feel what they have to say is credible.  One of the best ways to do this is to look at other hunter’s blogs.  More than likely, if a hunter is passionate enough to have a blog, they may have something to say that could be of value to you.

I looked around and found a blog that I believe other hunters should take a look just to get an idea of what others are talking about.  Buckhuntersblog.com answers a lot of questions that hunters tend to have.  But one thing to be aware of is that most of the entries, much like other blogs of this nature, are based on experience and opinion.  This is by no means a bad thing but you have to be willing disagree and not blindly follow what they have to say. 

One instance of this is an article written on the blog called Should You Shoot Small Bucks.  I strongly disagree with this practice but I do understand where the article is coming from.  It is a well written article and the main points for that side of the argument are well presented.  Just because I don’t agree doesn’t mean that I don’t think the blog is insightful.  It gives advice and expresses knowledge on the subject that I believe other hunters should consider when thinking about the hunt.

Solving the Problems of What to Do After the Shot

Many hunters dream about getting that one perfect shot at a monster two hundred inch deer.  They’ll spend countless hours planning their hunts.  This includes all the time and money spent on clothes, equipment, and everything else that goes into have the hunt come together.  But with such a low success rate on bow hunters actually shooting deer, many don’t get the chance to experience the retrieval of a deer.  Many factors go into this part of the hunt but it seems to be a part that is easily forgotten.  Solving the problem of finding your deer after a shot is extremely important for every hunter.  This article should give you plenty of tips on the best ways to recover your trophy deer.

The first step to finding your deer comes right when the shot is made.  If you want to make a good shot, you have to wait for a good shot.  It’s not a race.  If the deer is moving in, it’ll give you the shot you want, you just have to be ready.  When you’re pin is set right behind the front shoulders with the deer standing broad side or quartering away, the shot is about to happen.  Take a deep breath.  You must pick a spot and concentrate on as small as a spot as you can.  When you’re just shooting for the chest, you’re allowing for a much larger field of error for your shot.  So pick a small spot, concentrate, and when the timing is perfect, fire.

If you’ve done the first step, you’ve moved into the most important part of the process.  This is the honesty step.  Many things can go wrong directly after the trigger is pulled.  You must follow through your shot and watch with the utmost attention to what happens to your arrow.  Once your arrow leaves the rest, it is encountering the elements of nature.  This includes the wind and limbs that may not have been taken into account before the shot.  If you follow your arrow closely, you’ll see any imperfections in the flight path.  The best way to see this is to have a lighted nock on your arrow.  These are highly recommended and will be invaluable through the recovery process. 

To read the rest of this article, visit my website at http://www.whitetailconnections.webs.com/

The Honest Shot

Deer hunters can spend a lot of time thinking about getting that perfect shot.  A lot of things go into getting that shot.  Everything has to come together just right to have that deer walk by where you are at just the right time within range and all you’re equipment has to be in sync to make the shot come together.  But I think that some hunters forget to think about what to do after the shot has been made. 

When you’re hunting archery, there are a lot of things to think about when you’ve just shot a deer.  Step number one is to be honest about the shot.  If you didn’t ten zone it then you have to be honest about it.  Don’t try to convince yourself that you made a shot that you didn’t.  This is easily the number one reason why hunters don’t find their deer.  Hunters convince themselves that they got both lungs when in fact they shot straight through the guts.  So they’ll get down out of the stand after fifteen minutes and go walking after the deer.  What they’ll find is that the deer has run about hundred yards and curled up behind a fallen tree or brush.  From here the deer will run until they drop after the hunter bumps it out of where it laid down.  All they had to do was be honest with themselves and back out quietly.  The deer could take over eight hours to die with a gut hit so after a long wait, go back out and find the blood trail.  It’ll probably lead you to a stream, or a pond where the deer is trying to find relief from the pain.  It’s not pretty but if that’s what happened, all you can do is be honest about the shot and don’t try to convince yourself of something it wasn’t.

Hunting Life Choices

Chicago: the big city and my biggest nightmare.  My girlfriend presently resides in the downtown area there.  Being that she is there and I am not, I am forced to come up and stay.  More than likely, I will also have to move there.  It’s something I’m having a hard time coping with but that’s life.  Many of us hunter I’m sure have been in the same situation.  We know what we enjoy and love to do but life keeps us from it.  For those hunters who are okay with only hunting five or six times a year, something of this nature would be of no consequence to them.  For those who try to hunt at least thirty times a season can really feel it’s a losing battle.

When you think about all the things you’ve given up in your life, doubt eventually ensues.  The “what ifs” and “could have beens” drive our state of mind.  When you are passionate about something, it can be extremely hard to let it go in order to fulfill hopefully a greater good.  But can you really put a price on happiness?  I know most hunters aren’t involved enough with deer hunting to want to make a life altering change for it.  There are some of us though that can feel that need pumping through our veins.  Even though the hunting season only lasts a few months, hunting deer is an all year affair.  When a choice has to be made between two passions in your life, the regret for the other will linger.

Why I Hunt

Every hunter in America is extremely fortunate to have that opportunity.  I feel privileged to have the chance to take part in the hunter lifestyle and learn what it means to be a hunter.  I often wonder though what drives us to go out in the middle of winter and try to stick an arrow through a deer.  It could simply be our nature to look for this type of excitement in the heat of a hunt.  It could also just be an individual preference to simply enjoying nature.  What is for certain is that we hunters have the opportunity to take part in a fantastic pastime undoubtedly will stick with us all through our lives

When I think about the reasons I still hunt, many things come to mind.  I am someone who is in constant pursuit of peace and calm.  The wilderness is an escape that my mind and soul crave and I know that many others feel the same way.  It’s hard to compare anything to feeling of sitting in the middle of the woods, surrounded by nature’s splendor, taking a deep breathe, and feeling at peace.

 I had a professor who talked about how we all now live in a world that makes us feel  as if we never have everything we need done accomplished.  He asked the class if anyone truly ever feels that when they go to sleep at night they have accomplished everything they wanted to that day.  Natural, everyone said no.  I didn’t want to be the odd man out but I knew in my mind that when I’ve been hunting from dawn to dusk and plan to do the same the next day, I never sleep as good that night as I do any other night.  The world is of no consequence and life seems to be so much more fulfilling.  This is way I thank my lucky stars every night that I can live a lifestyle that heals my soul.

Hunter's Needs

Every deer hunter has needs.  Some may be more wants than needs but they’re all dependent on how we hunt.  Hunting in southern Georgia isn’t the same as hunting in northern Iowa or western Pennsylvania.  Hunters in all these areas require different equipment to hunt effectively.  Many of the fundamentals are the same but every hunter needs to pin point what it is going to take to be effective in their pursuit of whitetails.

Something that I found interesting about different equipment is how bow holders that screw into the tree can vary.  I bought one from Cabela’s a few years ago and found that the screw that you fed into the tree always had a hard time getting started.  I still have to bring a screw in tree step in the pack to make a starting hole to put the bow hold in.  After the starting hole is made there’s never any trouble but trying without one is futile.  It’s a minor inconvenience to have to have a screw in step but doable.  Hunting in Illinois, we have a lot of hardwoods like oak, ash, and hickory.  What I found out was the makers of the bow holder are from Georgia.  For them, hunting softer trees is much more common so having s piercing screw isn’t entirely necessary. 

When it comes to needs, some of us hunt around twelve to fifteen feet off the ground while others hunt over twenty.  I prefer to be over twenty but finding an affordable way to get up that high is kind of a challenge.  Sure you could use screw in steps but it’s such a hassle to have to screw in that many steps, especially when you’re hunting over twenty trees.  I’ve found that having sets of climbing sticks made can be a cheap and effective way to go.  I use two twelve foot sections for each set which gets me a solid twenty-four feet up the tree. 

What needs drive you should determine your equipment.  Just because it’s advertised on television doesn’t mean you need it.  Be practical and hunt smart.  Knowing what you need to be effective can be the determining factor for your hunts ever year.

Stay connected, visit my website at http://www.whitetailconnections.webs.com/

Broken Points

A trophy hunter’s have a silent enemy.  It is something to fear when you’re chasing a 150 plus inch whitetail.  Broken points on a buck can be a heartbreaker for a hunter looking to shot a nice trophy buck.  It always amazes me when I see bucks with broken points.  It shows how tough and hard hitting these deer can be.  The enemy comes in many forms for antlers but there isn’t anything that can be done to prevent it.

I was hunting on November 3^rd and watched as a few does started to move in under the tree.  They were walking slowly but constantly looking back into the woods.  I knew what that meant and got ready for the buck to show.  Not long after that, here he came.  His head was down and smelling the scent of the does.  When he got closer I thought that something didn’t look right about him.  I took a look through the binoculars and was shocked.  The buck was missing almost his entire right antler. 

The buck was probably a three and half year old deer and would have scored around 120.  This is if his right antler complemented the left.  When I looked close at what was left of the antler, you could see that the brow tine was still intact but as main beam started to curve up by the ear it had been broken clean off.  You could tell be the way the deer was acting that he could have cared less about it being broken off.  He wasn’t self-conscious about how he looked or how he may not be capable of putting up a fight.  He acted like he was still the toughest deer in the woods chasing the does around.  He was making rubs and working scraps but those broken points are going to save his life for another season.  If he survives shotgun season he could really turn into a nice buck next year.  But for now, broken point gave him a second chance.

Illinois Food Plots

When it comes to Illinois, crop fields are the food plots of choice.  Soy beans and corn fields are very common for food plots and with good reason.  The soil in most of the state is optimal for the growth of these two plants and deer love it.  They’ll eat the grasses but when the snow comes and the deep freezes come.  The grasses die while the soy beans and corn crops still stand. 

I’ve been hunting a property where we have been testing food plot methods for the last five years.  The food plot is just less than ten acres but has produced some excellent results.  We always stuck to a corn and bean split but for the past two years we have tried a mixture of clover and other organics.  What we’ve noticed is that the beans and corn are still getting eaten to pieces while the deer only really seem to eat the clover out of all the other grasses.  There could be several variables attributing to this which are unbeknownst to us. 

What I do know is that it’s important to know what works best for your geographical area.  The best way to find out what that is can be done though asking other hunters.  I know lies can fly about things of this nature but if you ask enough reputable people then you can draw some conclusions and make a decision.  Either way, if you want to increase your chances of seeing deer, you need the food.

Trespassers

For deer hunters, trespassers are public enemy number one.  Coyotes are a pain, wild dogs can be a huge problem, but the scum from the bottom falls onto trespassers.  As you can tell, I do not hold these individuals in the highest regard.  There are a lot of motivations for trespassers but what it really boils down to is that they are lazy.  These guys prey on the hard work of others by going out and hunting areas that someone may have spent all year working the ground to make it suitable for deer. 

Several things can motivate these individuals but they all stem from some sort of laziness.  Someone who goes onto your property and hunts is too lazy to take the time and ask around for permission.  They must feel that any rejection is not worth the effort for them.  So not only will they go and hunt out of one of the tree stands that you bought, cleared out, and put up, they’ll steal it on their way out.  If you want to feel anger like you’ve never felt before, wake up at three in the morning, drive an hour to your hunting spot, go up to a tree that you’ve planned all week to hunt and have not steps or tree stand. 

Jealousy also has something to do with it.  They may have heard that there are big bucks roaming the area and they want a crack at them.  Some of these guys will go to any length to get a shot at one of your bucks.  What they don’t realize is that the only reason that there are good bucks is because guys like him aren’t hunting the area.

So if you see someone trespassing on your ground, don’t hesitate and call the police.  If the opportunity is presents itself you have to put a stop to the behavior right away.  When the cops pick the person up for trespassing anyone else who thinks about pulling the same stunt will think twice about doing it at your place.

To see more about hunting whitetails, visit http://www.whitetailconnections.webs.com/

The Hunt of November 4

Hunting in the early part of November can be incredible. Whitetail deer are on the move and in rut so getting out is essential. I was able to hunt today even and was looking forward to having another chance to see the nine and a half year old six point. He has been showing up on trail cameras regularly for the last week working scrapes and patrolling the area. The chances of him walking right by me though are so slim it's nearly impossible but if I wanted a chance to shoot him I had to try.
The winds were coming strong out of the Northwest all afternoon at around fifteen to twenty miles an hour. The clouds were starting to build overhead and it really looked like it could be a great hunt. I got into the stand at and set up by around three o'clock. On the walk in I saw a doe standing in the field already and knew it was go time. Not long after being in the tree, two does made their way towards my stand on the wood's edge. After a few minutes of them standing around and watching behind them, in came the buck.
The buck was probably a two and a half year old buck with his right antler having a nice four point frame. On his left antler, after a close look, he had broken off all of the antler except for a small piece sticking out and away from his brow tine. When he walked in you could tell he thought he was king of the hill. He chased the does around in front of the tree while working up a scrape and making a rub. All three of the deer ended up walking right under the stand. It really makes a hunt when you can see deer act the way they did instead of them just walking by.

Overhunting?

I’ve always been interest in what hunting pressure can do to deer.  I wonder if it’s possible to have so much hunting pressure in an area that the deer become nocturnal.  To have deer become purely nocturnal during rut is very improbable but is there an extent to which they keep themselves concealed until the safety of the night?

I recently spent some time at a state park in Illinois for a few days of deer hunting.  I’ve been hunting the area for the past five years and the pressure is most certainly increasing.  Even though the number of hunters in the area had increased, I did see a fair amount of deer.  That included a close encounter with a 120 class and a 130 class eight pointer along with several does.  The bucks were both younger bucks and not ones I would shoot but they were nice to see all the same.  But what interested me was when I hunted along field edges

The field edges I hunt have been places I’ve seen deer routinely come out to all times of the year.  The field was one of the only ones in the area that still had a soy bean crop in it.  Every time I hunted the field in a different tree every time, I was sure that the wind was right and that there was no one hunting close by.  I never once saw a deer walking out into the field like they had in the past. 

I had a few hypotheses for this.  One possibility is the deer simply didn’t need to go into the field to eat.  They may have had enough food in the woods or were happy with feeding in the turned over dirt of the nearby corn fields.  Another possibility is that they just weren’t in the area those nights to come out to the field.  Just because there are woods their and deer are in the area doesn’t mean they have to come out to the field.  Another option is that the hunting pressure in the area has the deer in a nocturnal mode.

I don’t like the final option as a reason but it is a possibility.  There are simply too many variables that could attribute to what I noticed and to what the other hunters have noticed this season.  One of the evidences for this option was that my father was able to get a glimpse of two does entering the bean field on our last evening there.  The does entered the field right at sunset but once they entered the field, they ran across it to the other side and into the other stretch of woods.  They seemed to be afraid of spending too much time in the open.  In the heat of deer hunting season with so much pressure it’s not hard to see why.  If they can tell the pressure is on, they could be avoiding areas they know people tend to visit. 

Unfortunately, increased hunting pressure doesn’t just extend to hunters; there are others who can increase the pressure.  Poachers could be the unseen variable.  If deer are afraid to come into the open it could be a sign of poaching.  It’s an unfortunate part of hunting for those of us who abide by the laws but as long as people see an opportunity it will more than likely continue.  Either way, the pressures put on by hunters may be a reason that deer are not coming in as frequently.  If you’re hunting an area where the deer seem to have vanished, then the plague of overhunting could be upon you.

Vertigo

I’ve been taking notice of some of the camouflage available on the market.  Realtree and Mossy Oak are the biggest competitors in the field right now but up until recently, they didn’t have the best camouflage available.  If you look at some of your older camouflage you may notice how dark all the colors are.  The color patterns for the background, the tree bark, and even the leaves are all fairly darker than what’s natural.  In the Midwest, most of what you see in the woods is hardwood trees and not a lot of evergreens.  It seems that these two big manufactures were really only making camouflage that fit well in the southern state where trees keep their leaves longer and the forests can sometimes be blanketed in evergreens.   The camouflage works in the Midwest too but just didn’t seem as effective to me.

I’m happy to announce that Scent-Loc has come up with a pattern of camouflage that I believe will be successful for hunters in the Midwest.  The Vertigo series of camouflage does a better job a mimicking the natural state of hardwood forests.  The colors are lighters and the branches are more sparsely spaced on the pattern.  This helps to keep us hunters from looking like big green refrigerators in the tree.  The appearance is much more natural and the camouflage will help to break up a hunters shape much better than previous renditions.  I believe that using this camouflage will help make hunters more successful in the Midwest.

http://www.vertigocamo.com/home.html

The Hunt of October 14, 2010

The past few days have been very hot for mid-October.  Highs in the middle eighties have made hunting tough to bear.  It’s always a tough decision to not hunt but this early in the year it’s better to let the heat pass and not make mistakes while hunting a spot.  Today the weather began to cooperate and the temperature this even was around fifty five degrees with a southwest wind at ten to fifteen miles an hour.  The skies were mostly sunny and the cooler temperatures made for a nice evening to hunt.  

The getting ready for the hunt process has become a ritual habit.  I drive a little over an hour to get to the farm house and from there I go through the cycle.  The first thing I do is at a shower which is located in the hunting garage where everything is kept as scent protected as possible.  I use no-scent shampoo and no-scent soup and dry off with a towel that has been washed in no-scent laundry detergent.  I then brush my teeth with no-scent toothpaste in an attempt to neutralize all the odors that come out of breathing.  I then put on a set of clothes that are washed with no-scent and another hunter and I then drive out to the hunting ground. 

Once we’re at the hunting ground, we both put on a layer of camouflage and boots.  We then use no-scent spray on our boots and all of our clothing.  We also spray off our packs and especially the gloves we wear into the woods.  We also tend to spray off our boots one extra time just to be safe and then walk towards the stands.

Since it’s still early in the season and not much activity takes place until late in the evening, we went out to the stand at around four o’clock.  Legal hunting time ended the day at 6:49 so we had plenty of time to get ready.  The tree we decided on with the southwest wind was one that had never been hunted in since the property was bought over fifteen years ago.  Whenever we get the chance to hunt a tree that never been hunted before we get really excited.  We like the idea that no deer has ever been disturbed by hunters in that area.  The tree is a tall red oak located near the southwest corner of the property near the stream.  The tree stands were set up just above the twenty-four foot climbing sticks so we would sit at around twenty five and twenty eight feet in the air. 

As we walked to the tree stand, I could see a doe standing inside the timber just a few yards in.  She promptly ran the direction we were headed but at a much quicker pace.  More than likely she was headed for the stream to cross into the far end of the property.  We didn’t like to see her running the direction that we were expecting the deer to come from tonight but it really isn’t that big of a problem.  

She was running but she didn’t blow at us, which is a good thing.  Even though she was running, deer don’t pay much attention to that.  Deer may see another deer running and be more on the alert but deer run all the time for whatever reason.  The other deer may look around and try to seek out danger but once they feel nothing is wrong, they’ll more than likely just go on doing whatever they feel like doing.  

Even when a deer blows at you when you are walking into the woods, it’s not the end of your hunt.  It may seem like a terrible thing to have happen, and it definitely isn’t a good thing, but not every deer in the woods is going to run off because of it.  If another deer hears another deer blowing, the other deer still has no idea what deer is blowing at.  It could be a coyote or another animal that startles it.  I’ve heard deer blow before for no apparent reason.  I always immediately jump to the possibility that they smelled me out but if they are a few hundred yards upwind, they didn’t smell me.  It must be another factor that is out of any hunter’s control.  Even if all the deer around the hunting area left, there is always the possibility of deer coming from other areas that could pass by the stand.

We were a little discouraged by the event of the doe but we realized its insignificance and didn’t think anything else about it.  After a little further walk, we arrived at the entrance into the woods which would take us to the stand.   It was a short walk through the woods on a path that took us along the creek and then about twenty yards back into the tree.  We took turns climbing up the sticks and winching our bows into the tree.  After securing our safety ropes and bows, we sat and waited.

At about five thirty, the other hunter I was with told me he could see a deer crossing the creek about a hundred yards up the creek.  He said it was moving slow and could be a buck.  I was unable to see the deer from my vantage point but through a pair of binoculars, the other hunter told me that it could be the buck I had been after for the past two years.  This buck he referred to is now a six point buck which has been estimated to be at least eight and a half year old buck.  He has been showing up on trail cameras for the past several years and there is no mistaking him.  His antlers have always had a backwards curl on the main beams and the other main g-points.  I never got a glimpse at him and not long after he moved out of sight.

At around six forty, the sun was starting to fade fast behind the increasing cloud cover and we knew our time was just about up.  Just as we thought it was over, the other hunter said he spotted a deer on the trail we walked in on.  After another minute or two, I could see the deer.  It was a buck, and not just any buck, it was the six-pointer.  He looked like he was the size of a small cow with a meaty neck.  He had a monster of a body for a deer from what I could see from the stand.  The light was getting low and I knew if I was going to get a show it was now or never. 

The buck moved slowly down the trail with his nose to the ground.  It seemed that he could smell our foot trail and was investigating what the smell was.  The smell of our boots must have just been there enough to draw his attention.  It became clear that I wasn’t going to get a shot at the deer before legal hunting time so we both just stood and watched as the deer moved slowly down the trail.  He walked along the creek following our trail all the way to the tree.  He stood about five to seven yards away from the tree, so close that I had to look straight down to see him.  You could still make out the unique character of his antler in the faded light and the massive size of his body.  

After about ten minutes of him standing under the tree in the near dark, it was looking like he wasn’t going to be leaving us any time soon.  We don’t like to make it a practice of letting deer see us climb out of a tree so my hunting partner had an idea.  As I stood watching the deer, out of the corner of my eye I saw something falling from the tree and landing on the rear of the deer.  The deer jumped and ran about thirty yards away to the north.  I immediately started to laugh at what had just happened and I had to try with all my might to hold it in and cover my mouth.  The buck became very agitated by the surprise which he wasn’t expecting.  I could hear him thrashing a tree with his antlers and a limb breaking off.  He must have thought it was another buck that did it too him.  He then trotted off and we were able to climb down.

As far as hunts go, we were both happy we how it turned out.  We were able to hunt a tree that had never been hunted before and we went undetected in the tree.  The obvious problem with the boot smell was a topic for discussion for the ride back to the house but a solution can be found.  When you can have hunt where you see a big buck like this one so close, that hunt is a success without a doubt.

Keeping Sheds Secrets

I was reading another blog on prairiestateoutdoors.com about antler sheds.  I know it’s really not the right time of the year to talk about antler sheds but something else came up in the conversation that struck my attention.  Several people were posting up their techniques and one technique which involved a lot walking I really liked.  Walking with the sun to your back and thoroughly checking CRP fields were both tactics that I use to look for antler which has produced pretty good results over the years.  But not too far down the list, a post was put up that said, “The best kept secret to finding sheds is to keep your mouth shut about what, when, and how you find them!”  I thought this post over for a while and started thinking about keeping secrets.

The post in this case wasn’t necessarily trying to keep secrets but was trying to tell other people to not reveal their secrets.  In the case of shed antlers though, secrets are not that important because most hunters aren’t willing to go the distance anyway.  Let’s face it, the difference between finding one or two antlers sheds and finding forty a year is huge.  And yes, I know of one individual who does sets a goal to find that many every year and usually surpasses it.  The problem is that even if we all knew the secrets to finding sheds, most of us don’t have the time to really put in to finding more than a few.  It takes a lot of walking, a lot of persistence, and even more dedication to find a lot of antler sheds.  So in reality, letting the secret out isn’t going to hurt you.