Top 10 Hunting Things

               Well here we go. Whenever anyone hears me talk about deer hunting, and learn that I love it more than most people they begin testing my knowledge. Some in hopes to prove I don’t know everything (which duh, I don’t!) or to pick my brain and learn something. No matter the reason almost all of them ask me to produce some kind of hierarchy of hunting importance or share with them what I believe in the most. A top ten in many ways is something you have to be ridiculously naïve in writing…I mean pick a topic and you’ll never be write; which is why I’m giving fair warning that the following top ten is by no means 100% fact, however they are 10 things I believe are pivotal in increasing your chances at getting a solid set of antlers in your hands.

#10 Equipment

                I put this last on the list merely because it’s not the equipment that is going to harvest the deer, it’s you. Yes, you need to be sure your equipment is operating at its best but how many dollar bills it took to get it doesn’t matter for one second. I’ve harvested my two best bucks with what others would consider “POS” bows. Neither cost me more than $100 and neither were new when I got them…but I practiced and could use them to the best of their ability. Yes, I do now own a bow which ran me around the $500 mark, but it isn’t going to kill a deer any easier than those other two…knowing that though is why I’m a better hunter than those who think they will. I’m not about to tell you who makes the best shotguns, rifles or bows…because all of them can harvest deer. All you have to do is know the chosen weapon like the back of your hand, practice with it and then utilize it.

#9 Footwear

                I’ll be honest the order of the next seven really doesn’t matter as much as why they are all important. Footwear is one of the most overlooked things by me for years. I used to just throw on some winter boots and call it a day. However, now I’ll only use rubber boots that are warm, comfortable and suitable for the season. You need a warm weather and cold weather set of rubber boots because of 2 reasons. Rubber boots will release less scent than any other material and cold feet are the number one reason why hunts get cut short.

#8 Camouflage

                This category is one I’m very picky about. I do have my preference but that doesn’t matter as much as staying consistent. Don’t wear a pattern that doesn’t match or blend into your surrounding is the bottom line of the commandments when it comes to camouflage. Yes it’s true I’m normally not a fan of the more expensive stuff, although I will admit in this category you have to go with the camouflage that has the most research behind it…which in my experience hasn’t lowered the cost. Lots of good patterns out there, just don’t settle get the best you can and use it. Camouflaging your position, blind or tree stand will also help this category as well.

#7 Scent Control

                Perhaps the most crucial steps in your pre, during and post hunting endeavors is controlling your scent. First thing to know about conquering a deer’s nose is this: YOU CAN’T. That’s right, you didn’t misread that, you cannot and will not completely conquer a whitetail’s nose EVER. You can however trick it or temporarily confuse it by taking the proper steps. There are tons of things out on the market now, and one can easily spend hundreds of dollars in a matter of seconds if you’re not careful.

                These though are the things I view as minimum scent control techniques:

1.       Wash everything you wear in scent free detergent.

2.       Store those washed articles in a trash bag inside of some storage container...preferably in a garage or shed outside of the house where less smells abound. (be careful in garages though, don’t get dress if a vehicle is running inside of it as well…idiot mistake I made once)

3.       Wash yourself in scent away soap and shampoo.

4.       Don’t overlook washing your undergarments, socks and also towels to dry off with in scent away and store appropriately.

5.       Be sure to spray your clothes down before heading into the woods, and NEVER FORGET YOUR BOOTS! (Re-apply once up the tree if sweating occurs)

6.       Use a cover scent that is appropriate to your area…don’t use cedar scents if no cedar trees are around.

7.       Use deer urine cover scents appropriately. A little bit used appropriately is better than using a ton of it wrong.

8.       If you have to drive your vehicle to your hunting site do two things:

-Put trash bags around and on your seat as to minimize your scent absorption from the truck seats.

-Don’t wear your outermost clothes in the truck if you can help it.

9.       When your hunts are done try to minimize your re-using of articles as sweat collection occurs almost every time we hit the woods. Re-wash and re-store them.

10.   Remember everything you take into the woods has a scent…that flashlight you grabbed off the nightstand smells, your wallet smells, everything!

11.   Remember a pee can! Yes some have said that you can use human pee as an attractant…and it’s true it may peak their curiosity but would you like to risk your chance at “Mr. B&C” because you didn’t bring a pee can?

#6 Scouting

                I’ve pretty much covered this in another post…check it out and you’ll understand the importance of this.

#5 Tree Stand Heights

                I’m a huge fan of hunting the wind, but who of us have a huge parcel of land to hunt and millions of stand options?? Probably only 5% of the people reading this apply…want to know how to minimize the damage of not hunting the wind? Put that stand as high as you’re comfortable…but I’d say minimum 20 feet. Most of my stands are about 24 feet to the platform base…more than 10 feet higher than the average Walmart ladder stand. This isn’t going to conquer not hunting the wind…but it most definitely will minimize the damage done by doing so.

(courtesy of googleimages)

#4 Listen to Instinct

                You’ve spent time in the woods, you’ve read books and you’ve even visited some blogs on deer hunting…trust your gut. Many a time we’ve all been tricked by that squirrel scampering behind your tree…or that branch swinging in the breeze, but don’t stop trusting your gut. You know what you see, what you hear…listen to it. If you stop and get lazy with your thoughts, that is when you will mess up the chance at that “once in a lifetime” buck that isn’t a squirrel or stick in the breeze.

#3 Confidence

                The only way all your equipment and hunting tactics are going to work is if you have confidence in them. Call me crazy but the saying “Good things happen if you think good things will happen” is true to a degree. If you have faith in what you’re doing you will be more attentive to everything that happens around you, having confidence is merely being able to think like a better hunter. Think like a better hunter will lead to doing things like a better hunter, which in turn will end in you being a better hunter.

(Last year's 8-pointer...very warm October but confidence in my spot and myself kept me up the tree)

#2 Respect

                Respect your quarry and respect your fellow hunters. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been disgusted at the amounts of hunters who show a lack of respect for the deer their hunting. They’ll take a running shot at a deer, shoot for the head or even worse giving up on tracking a deer after 10 minutes.  Not to mention the numbers of hunters who will bait when it’s illegal, use illegal weapons out of season, spotlight deer or shoot before or after legal shooting hours….if you are one of those hunters please for the rest of us STOP. You are not a hunter you’re a POACHER…and you deserve to be busted. In order to be a good hunter you have to be a “good” morale hunter; know the rules and follow them, pass on your knowledge to others and above all else respect the game you’re hunting. You can shoot a B&C every single year and you’ll never be a great hunter if you’re not doing it the right way.

#1 Commitment

                You can hang the stand in the right spot, have proper scent control, practiced every day with your gun or bow or spent your summer scouting maps and aerials of your area. If you aren’t committed it’s all going to be for not. If you want to get your hands on a trophy size set of antlers you got to commit. Don’t lose faith the first week of December when that little six-pointer is walking towards your stand and your reaching for your bow or gun just to settle for something less than you want. If you commit yourself to only taking solid whitetails define what that is for you and commit to it. If you decide they need 8 points and as wide as the ears…YOU HAVE TO PASS ON ANYTHING SMALLER.  Yes, this means that sometimes you could go an entire season not getting a buck. You could even see neighboring hunters bagging the very bucks you are passing on throughout the season. In order to be the hunter you want to be though you have to accept this.

                In the same breath if you just want to bag a buck and don’t care about the size, you have to be okay with that as well. You have to be prepared for those days you shoot a 4 only to have a mature 8 pointer walk by minutes later…just commit to whatever you decide is a harvestable buck and stick to it. Do this and your days as a hunter will be more successful than they were before.

Genetics vs. Nutrition: What is really to blame for all the spikes?

               I was browsing around some Deer and Deer Hunting articles, highly recommend this to anyone as D&DH have some great writers and segments that any hunter can learn from, but one comment on a story caught my eye. It’s something we’ve all thought at some point and has caused us to consider shooting that little spike or fork that walks by your stand every day it seems. “Is a bunch of spike or fork antlered bucks a sign of bad genetics and should be harvested to encourage better genetics in my deer population?”

(courtesy of Googleimages)

                That my friends, is a highly loaded question, and one which deer biologists and hunters have argued over and will continue to argue over for years to come. I can simply go off of information I’ve witnessed on my hunting properties and from the opinions of people I respect in the whitetail world. It cannot be simply answered with one blanket type answer ruling out genetics completely or saying it is genetics completely…however as you see from my response I truly believe it’s more about nutrients than genetics.

                Three years back I can still remember the first few weeks of bow season like they were yesterday. I had bucks on stand every single time I went out and hunted. One day I had 5 different bucks around me throughout the 4 hour morning hunt, and 3 more in the evening. The problem though was a 10 inch wide 4-pointer was the biggest one in the bunch. I had never seen this many small bucks in my hunting career and attributed it to terrible genetics…however once I really started paying attention to when bucks were born this theory started to waiver some.

                It’s a proven fact that the size of a bucks rack is part genetics, however a buck’s body is only going to use the nutrients consumed to grow it’s rack if it’s body doesn’t need them all first. A common example of this is a doe that is bred in what is considered the secondary rut, sometimes as late as December or first week of January in some states. This is going to place this doe’s offspring a good 3 to 5 weeks behind the normal birthing period if her gestation period is normal. Think about how much body growth can occur for a fawn in a month’s time span…that little buck fawn born late is going to have to “catch up”. In order to “catch up” that fawn’s body is going to utilize every single ounce of nutrients and minerals he takes in building up its body before it even thinks about building up their antlers; which common sense tells you its rack really isn’t going to show its full potential in that first year. It very well could be the son of that Boon & Crockett buck from the marsh down the road, but that first year it’s busy trying to build up its body and not its rack.

                One way to combat this is by establishing good solid mineral licks. Mineral licks are the quickest and easiest way to get the important nutrients and minerals a deer needs in order to build good solid bone structure and great sets of antlers. Every single deer if not receiving all the nutrients they need will utilize mineral licks, thus helping deer reach their full potential in body growth, antler growth and overall health. We’ve seen great results just on our little hunting properties since we’ve established 2 main and 2 secondary mineral licks on our primary hunting properties. This year we’ve captured many pictures of young bucks sporting much healthier bodies and more full racks. We’ve still got some spikes and 4-pointers but they appear thicker in mass and taller in height, a good sign going into their second year when more nutrients will go towards antler growth than body growth. *A quick tidbit on mineral licks. You need to know what the laws are in your state about the use of minerals. Some states consider it bait and it cannot be hunted over or even in some cases put out at all. We've actually had to eradicate a couple licks because we felt they were too close to our stands and didn't want to run the risk of getting in trouble. One thing to consider is if you have a neighboring property owner that may let you put a mineral lick out, but not necessarily hunt. Again make sure this would even be legal before doing so.

                So if you’re seeing an amazing amount of tiny button-bucks or spikes, think about establishing some mineral licks on your property. You want to get these going in early spring, as it’s over the summer they are needed the most; although they will continue to see some activity throughout the entire year. We’ve had great success with ground up trophy rock, and it could be a good place to start in your search for a mineral compound the deer like in your area. It’s important though to pay attention to the ingredients and possibly offer at least one mineral lick that differs in minerals offered as it may attract deer that the other may not.

                Remember that every small buck grows up, and by seeing a bunch of young deer could simply be the sign that in 3 years you could have a solid 130-150inch deer in your neck of the woods if given the proper nutrition.

Great example of small acre success!!!

This past year I got an email with an amazing buck pictured with 14 year-old Kyle Bolen...what I never realized was the amazing story behind it. This massive buck was shot in my home state of Indiana and...well I'll let the article in Indiana Game and Fish tell it better:


THE KYLE BOLEN BUCK —
NOBLE COUNTY’S NO. 1 NON-TYPICAL GIANT!
(found in the September 2011 edition of Indiana Game and Fish, vol. 2011, No. 7)


           A case in point is the fine non-typical buck taken by 14-year-old Kyle Bolen last season in Noble County. Noble County ranked fourth in the state last year in total number of deer taken (3,063), behind No. 1 Steuben (4,102), Kosciusko (3,652) and Switzerland (3,223). So, in a county more known for numbers of deer rather than big bucks, a young hunter takes a trophy 22-point non-typical with a final score of 213 6/8, as added up by official scorer John Bogucki. That makes Bolen’s buck the biggest non-typical ever from this high-harvest deer county.




          One look at the Bolen buck is all you need to realize what kind of trophy it is. Its a rack that looks like a bush, with matching double drop tines laced with velvet on the tips, along with many other branches and points. It’s a sight to behold and one that mere pictures don’t do justice.


          But the huge 22-pointer is not Kyle’s first deer; it is his fourth, and he is four-for-four when it comes to bagging deer. Already, this youthful hunter has his buck-of-a-lifetime, along with scoring a deer on every shot. You’ve got to believe that many seasoned hunters in this part of the deer world were surprised that they never got such a chance at this big non-typical. This time youth prevailed over age and experience. And the hunt itself all came together without much planning and without much time passing from start to finish. Sometimes, everything just comes together in the deer woods and that’s what apparently happened with this young hunter. But it almost didn’t happen at all.


          You see, Kyle’s was supposed to be hunting with his dad, but his father was trying to catch up on some household chores, so the young hunter went off on the family’s 6-acre plot of land on his own. He immediately headed toward thick cover found around a nearby pond. Interestingly, though Kyle had located a nice-looking rub along a deer trail, he had never seen a deer of any size using the property. But he and his dad were aware of many does using the area. On this day, Kyle was actually hoping to get a shot at one of those does, which were using the prime habitat for food, water and shelter.


          The hunt was his first on his own. As he walked slowly along a path to the pond, he noticed a deer that appeared to be drinking some 75 yards off. Kyle inadvertently stepped on a twig, which snapped under his weight, but even when the buck raised its head and huge rack, Kyle did not realize it was a trophy deer. The big rack actually blended in with the heavy underbrush, shrubs and tree limbs. This may have been a good thing, ’cause there was no reason to get nervous if you don’t know it’s a big buck you’re looking at.


          Fortunately, Kyle’s dad had cut the long grass down that leads up to the edge of the wood line. When the deer raised its head to look back, Kyle took aim with his .44 Magnum H&R rifle, and let fly with an accurate shot. The bullet hit the deer in the side at an angle and went through its lungs; a fine shot. It ran no more than 10 yards and fell into the heavy cover.


          “I was only back there about 10 minutes when mom and dad heard a shot. It took more time to drag the big buck out. We even had to move a few logs because the deer weighed over 226 pounds,” said Kyle Bolen.


          What do you do to top a deer like that? Probably just savor a fantastic hunt for the rest of your life. One thing Kyle did, though, was donate much of the venison to charity. He mentioned a full-body mount will be completed sometime later this year. What a way to remember such a lifetime hunt.

(picture from http://www.gameandfishmag.com/)

          6-acres!!! Just 6 acres and this 14 year old bagged a huge buck I'll probably never come close to! Awesome story and from what I've heard an even more awesome kid and family!

Scouting your property properly #2: Trail Cameras

Like I stated yesterday there is no substitute for actually getting out and hoofing it on your property. You will catch more with your eye if you take your time than any topographical map, elevation map, Google earth or speaking with locals ever will. However, once you’ve got the property memorized it’s time to step back and let nature do its thing with as little human interference as possible. To accomplish this there a couple rules I abide by with no questions asked!

#1 Never step foot on your property, unless you absolutely have to before 11am and after 2pm.

                In my short time as a hunter it is very obvious that deer movement is going to be dramatically lesser during this time frame than any other part of the day. Now I understand that sometimes we can’t do this, but try to as much as you can. Yes, you’ll leave human scent no matter what time of day, but doing it during the midday hours allows your scent to dissipate more before the deer are up and about again in the afternoon evening hours. This is the time frame I always hang stands, or walk any new properties I’ll be hunting the following season.

#2 Treat each time you scout as if you were hunting.

                This means that if you know you’ll be scouting try washing some jeans and t-shirt in no-scent detergent and using the proper scent away sprays just as you would if you were hunting. We want to minimize our interference with nature and by doing this; your presence is going to have a lesser impact on Ol’ Mossy Horns you want to harvest.

#3 If at all possible use trail cameras!

                I’ll admit when they first came out I refused to even consider such a thing. They used to flash like a polaroid (surely scaring mature bucks) and cost more than any hunting equipment I’d bought. However, once my father purchased one and we started using it…I was a changed man! These things are crazy nice! Yes I’d still recommend only getting infrared ones as they don’t flash at night, but some do still flash and dusk and dawn (a problem seemingly solved by the new ones like the Primos Blackout). They are however priceless for two reason though.

                One, they’re going to scout for you. You’ll begin to see how your deer are moving and using your hunting property without you being there to capture it…priceless! How many of us have the time to set 24 hours on trails scouting the deer, I pray the answer is none. So save up some cash, decent ones can be had for $100, and start scouting 24/7.

                I will admit the second reason these things are amazing is a double edged sword which can definitely work for you, but can also work against you. These things will show you what is out there! I mean everything…don’t be surprised if you realize after looking at your pictures you’ve been settling all these years on those little 4 and 6 pointers. Trail Cameras show you just what caliber of bucks you have roaming your ground, which at times can play against you. An example of this from my experience is actually happening right now. Entering this year’s bow season I know there is a solid 120inch 8-pointer which uses our property daily. Now putting the idiot hunters we have pressuring neighboring ground aside, I know this 8-pointer is probably one opening day away from one of my arrows. However, I can see it now; there he is 15 yards in front of me on a trail begging me to shoot and all I can think about are these guys:

What will I do? To be honest I don’t know but knowing the way hunting goes I’ll probably regret it no matter what I choose. So just be careful with trail cameras don’t let them play with your mind and you pass up solid deer at the chance for the HUGE one unless you’re willing to have years where you get skunked.

Just remember that a day spent in the woods beats a day…well not spent in the woods! J! Good luck!

You must first know your land....How to properly scout your property

I grew up in Northern Indiana, mere minutes from the Michigan line. I can remember many a time when I was younger always taking shortcuts on my scouting…or so I thought. I was introduced to hunting whitetail deer like many of us in the woods of the Midwest…hunting the elusive bushy tailed fox squirrel. To be honest I never really scouted much for deer like I do now or should I say are starting to now. I only hunted one chunk of ground. It was roughly 8 acres of my parent’s property and a few adjoining smaller parcels of land which altogether didn’t equal 15 total acres. I spent countless hours slinking my way through our creek bottom or standing like a statue by a huge shaggy hickory we had…all to get a shot at a squirrel.

                Now you may be asking yourself, why is he talking about squirrel hunting? Well, squirrel hunting taught me a lot of the techniques I now use while scouting. As a matter of fact by squirrel hunting I got to know our property so well and encounter deer so many times I finally traded in my .22 for a 12-gauge and started hunting them. By this point I’d squirrel hunted for 3+ years and had learned the ins and outs of our property, something many whitetail hunters never learn about their hunting grounds. Now don’t get me wrong many of them claim to know, but they’re simply blowing smoke based upon only what they’ve seen while up a treestand in one or two locations. They haven’t tightened up their belt, put on some good rubber boots and hoofed it out.

                Let me state it right now, walking the property one time in a circle doesn’t constitute proper scouting…it merely helped you burn some calories. Whether you have 5 acres or 80 acres to hunt, you must know it. Why? Because you can bet Ol’ Mossy Horns, you know the one that’s eluded you time and time again, knows your property like the back of his hoof. It’s true you’ll never be on a level playing field with a trophy whitetail buck when it comes to smell, sight and even instincts…however our mind is our greatest tool. By learning about your property and studying it you can analyze it and possible by your smarts begin to see it as a trophy buck does, the crazy thing is he does it instinctively. He senses and instinctively will move his bedding area with the wind/thermal directions on your property. He will instinctively use that shallow lip that runs along the creek on your property, knowing it blocks some of his movements.

                You need to get out and study your property; look for spots if you were being hunted you would hideout in or around. That open tall grassy knoll now appears to have great coverage and sight line if bedded down, instead of the hill you always saw as a pointless endeavor. Notice not only where the heavy deer trails are, but now search for that secondary trail that runs parallel to it that bucks love to use. This trail isn’t always going to be visible but look closer, notice an old rub here or a spot that has slightly less ground vegetation growing on; this could be because a buck or bucks are using this trail some. It was these things that I started to see the more and more as I snuck around quietly looking for squirrels...little did I know all this data was leading me to be an educated whitetail hunter.

                Pay very close attention to the elevation changes on your property, this is one of the most crucial things to pay attention to while scouting. An example of this from my own hunting experience came with my very first hunting experiences in our woods. My first time deer hunting, I was a little naïve and didn’t completely listen to all I’d seen in my years hunting squirrels. I decided to put my treestand up a sycamore which was dead center on our property. My thinking was if I hunt that spot I’ll increase my chances because I’d be surrounded by “huntable” ground. Well it shouldn’t have surprised me that it didn’t take long to notice a lot of the deer I was seeing was along our northern property line (outside my range then). I should have seen this coming because right on the Northeast corner of our property is a significant hill which sticks up a good 60-70 feet from its base. Obviously this makes quite the barrier which deer don’t cross and come south a lot of the time. Instead the deer would skirt around it and follow the path of least resistance on our northern most border.

                That first year I harvested just a small doe that happen to come and nibble on some bean pods dropped by the thorn trees all around my stand. The next year however I moved my stand location to the Northwestern corner of our property, and picked up a bow for the first time ever. Here I didn’t have nearly as much “huntable” ground around me and could only shoot roughly 20-30 yards in front of me (due to property line) but it was a much better spot. This was one of the primary trail lines that ran from that hillside and down the very gradual decline into the marsh which was now about 100 yards down in front of me on a neighboring property. That year I shot what I thought for sure would be the biggest buck of my life. It was a 140 inch 4x5 with stickers that pushed it to an 11 pointer (bottom right photo up in the title). I was most definitely spoiled for my first bow harvest and buck harvest ever.

                Knowing the property, looking for signs and calculating where deer should be allowed me to harvest that buck. I’ve learned since then, and that treestand has treated me quite nicely…as a matter of fact it’s been the location for every single buck I’ve harvested. Part of that is due to up until recently I’ve only really had that spot to hunt. I’ve added some stand locations over the years and I can now hunt that area that has the marsh on it, but the other stands just haven’t yielded results yet. I suspect they will though, and possibly soon (which you will learn if they do!).

                Knowing your ground is important though and never over look that! Don’t just use binoculars from the truck one night watching your property; get out and leg it! Learn each trail, each bedding area, all the escape routes out of the bedding area and study the elevations you have. By simply doing this a couple of times you’ll have begun down the path that will end with antlers in your hands!

~Be sure to check back for the next article on using Trail Cameras to even further scout your property.