Video issues

Video promised is not cooperating...hopefully tomorrow sometime it'll be up and working. In the mean time I wanted to thank all following the site publicly, by email or just by re-visiting. Thanks to everyone! If you find yourself wanting to see an issue or topic discussed please contact me! Also if you have some awesome trail cam pictures or want me to post a survivor in my survivor page (above) just hit me up and I'll try to post as many as I can!

email me at tylanmiller(at)gmail.com   (use @, just trying to beat the scammers)

Busiest time outside of actual hunting...

I cringe every singe year when people tell me in September about how many stands they just hung, paths blocked with cuttings or how great their scouting trips were. That is the absolute wrong time for all of those things. Yes slipping in a few weeks before the season to make sure lanes are still open and stands are secure is going to happen, I do it, however your human 'stamp' on the woods should be as minimal as possible at this time...you never know what buck you bump out just prior to the season could end up on another hunter's wall.

A prime example of this is actually my 2011 buck, Trident. Trident was a buck we'd gotten photos of for months across a county road just a mile to our north and along a river bottom my father hunts. We thought for sure if either of us we're going to get him it would be my father. However, my dad finds out that another guy who hunts the property hung a stand just a few weeks out from the season right along one of the spots we'd been getting images of him almost daily...and the landowner decided cutting up some trees would be a good idea as well.

Needless to say, Trident, disappeared. Only to come up on the bad end of my arrow October 15th coming out of his new bedroom, the briars just across the road from his old bedroom...which just so happened to butt up to my father's 10 acres I primarily hunt...which the stands had been hung around the same time planting and fertilizing food plots occured (July/August).

Believe it or not in a mere week or two is the proper time to start that scouting. I will do 80% of my scouting this January after snow has set for a few days, 15% of it just making observations while putting in food plots and then 5% finalizing stands and lanes in early September. Atleast that's always the goal, and the snow I stated for January is key. The great thing about snow is it's like a carbon copy of the days activities. It'll show you whether deer were walking, running or browsing. It'll show you where they're sleeping, eating and staging. Pretty much January is going to show you where some of the best bedding is because trails are going to be going predominately to and from them to food sources. The biggest thing I'm looking for is locating the secondary trails which I overlook when snow wasn't on the ground. Yes, winter trails can differ some from fall but deer have certain trails they're going to use predominately...and locating those secondary and sometimes barely used trails can be the thing that puts you on a wiley old buck.

So get out there now! Don't waste the prime time to scout deer as they have not switched to their summer feeding patterns (which you observe when scouting in August and September) and you have the assistance of the snow on the ground.*

***TONIGHT I WILL BE POSTING A VIDEO BLOG ABOUT WHAT STEPS I RECOMMENDED TO A FELLOW HUNTER WITH ABOUT 70-80 ACRES OF WOODS ALONG A RIVER AND CROP FIELDS. EVERYTHING I RECOMMEND CAN AND IN MY CASE HAS  OR WILL BE DONE WITH MY OWN HUNTING GROUNDS.

**I will be posting about the hinge-cutting process at a later date as we (father and I) video ourselves doing them on our own hunting ground.

*If you live somewhere that snow is rare, this is still the right time to get out there for the reason stated above. You want to get out there while they are still in their winter/fall eating patterns, scouting summer feeding patterns are not nearly as valuable!

The art of whitetail ethics...

*Sometimes on this site I'm going to tackle just hunting issues or tactics that are not specifically geared or pointed towards small acre hunting or public land hunting....this is one of those times.

You've put in your time on the practice range. You've got your bow producing Robin Hoods occasionally and your gun is producing Davy Crocketts (two bullets in one hole). All the proper steps to be able to cleanly harvest a deer you have completed with flying colors. Then from your stand you see this deer walk up:

(click on the photo to see image even larger)

Now the origins of this doe's wound isn't 100% verified, but any experienced hunter can recognize the likelihood of that not being due to a bullet is next to zero. We can set here and beat around the bush about maybe it was a deflected shot or inexperienced hunter taking a tremendously long shot or perhaps this or that...but we all know this deer was probably a result of one of the two toughest shots to perfect; the head shot and the running shot.

These two shots occur every single year, in every single state and in every single county across the US.

HEAD SHOT:

Made popular because of its DRT (dead right there) capability, something appealing to any hunter. However, think of what can happen if you don't hit the "meat" of the head? You may just skin the skull deep enough to make living impossible but dying quickly just as impossible. You may hit the meat of the neck or where the esophagus meets the neck and make digesting food impossible=a slow and painful death for the deer. Another way to kill a deer slowly would be to produce something like in the pictures. Hitting the jaw structure will most definitely kill the deer...but there is no way of knowing how long that will take. Believe it or not the hunter who let me share these pictures actually said this doe can eat, albeit awkwardly. One can't help but wonder if she can eat at the rate her body will need throughout the winter months...also if I were to guess she may struggle with eating hard mass like corn, acorns or pecans.

Head shot, simply a shot I will never take. If you believe you can and will, practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. I would need to be able to produce Davy Crockett's from 100 yards away before I'd ever be able to let myself even consider such a shot.

RUNNING SHOTS:

These are not really shots you can practice, as most of the targets we all use are stationary. However, the ever popular 'deer drives' cause a lot of these. DISCLAIMER: Although I am personally not a supporter of deer drives, I understand they play a major part for lots of hunters and do not feel they are legally wrong. The reason I'm not a fan of drives are that the majority of the times the deer will be running when the shooters get a shot opportunity.

Shooting a running deer isn't at all impossible, why just this year a hunting friend of mine dropped a very nice buck with a running shot. The key for him he said was his waterfowl background and taking moving shots is almost second nature for him. I on the other hand again would not have taken the shot, gone back to camp with the old story of the one that got away.

RESPECT IS THE KEY

No matter what your stance is on what shots should or shouldn't be taken, you should above all else respect the animal you are trying to harvest. That respect should raise your expectations for a clean harvest to a level that to some would seem unobtainable. You should know exactly where your bullet is going to hit the second you squeeze that trigger, or where your arrow is going to impact upon release. There is no excuse for taking shots that have a greater chance of producing an injured (or dead but not found) deer. Meaning if you know you are going to do deer drives, figure out a way to practice taking moving shots...if you plan on taking a head shot know you can hit a quarter every single time!

May these pictures serve as a reminder running and head shots can and have produced more injured deer than a stationary shot when one aims at the lungs/heart.

Too small to do anything?

In my opinion if you have 3-5 acres you too can do things to your hunting ground in an effort to up your harvests come hunting season. As I've stated many times, 95% of my hunting has taken place on my parents 10 acres or the tiny parcels (none larger than 4 acres) that touch my parent's property. I am a living testimony that not only can you be successful in harvesting deer, but you can harvest wall caliber deer (if that's important to you) if you put in the time and have the patience.

The biggest mistake thousands of hunters do is, nothing. They don't do a thing to up the odds. They are either to lazy, don't know any better or simply don't care. If you're reading this blog I'd say the third option isn't a possibility as you're researching/surfing online for information. Now if it's the first one, being lazy, I think you'd be amazed at how little time it takes to make your property attractive to more deer. If you just don't know any better, keep reading and absorbing knowledge from anywhere you can!

I'll share with you the 3 key things that I feel anyone with 3 acres or more can do to attract more deer to utilize your woods as a part of their lives.

(www.greatnorthernoutdoors.net)

#1-Encourage more browse. Deer love the corn, alfalfa and other crops that we see as we drive down the road, but when it boils down to it not all of us are blessed to hunt this fields...we find ourselves hunting small wood lots which at times seem to receive no deer usage! Research shows that one of the primary things deer need to thrive are the natural browse found in the woods. This is the easiest thing to do out of the three, all you need is a chain-saw (actually a hand saw would do in a pinch...just more work). If your woods don't have undergrowth or active ground level bushes and thorns 9 times out of 10 it's due to your canopy being too thick. There are two ways of solving this problem. Cutting trees completely or hinge cutting. Cutting the tree's completely can be helpful as you provide your self with firewood, but it takes underbrush and the dormant seeds in the ground a couple years to truly thicken the area up like we want. Hinge cutting solves this issue. Hinge cutting is when you cut through a tree just enough  that it falls but doesn't snap completely. This allows the tree to still bud come the spring and produce cover, natural fence/wall and browse the deer will love! Hinge cutting must be done before the sap starts flowing from its winter storage in the stump and roots (February/March is when we'll be doing ours).

#2-Food plots. Bringing browse to your property is great but supplying the deer with some supplemental food sources are an excellent way to attract deer. The important thing to remember about putting food plots in is that you'll never be able to compete with the destination food plots like the farmers have, so don't try. I guess I should first clarify the difference between destination plots and the type you should be putting on your property. Destination plots are like the ones I described, the huge corn, alfalfa or any other cash crop that the farmer's are planting. The plots you should be putting in are much smaller (as small as an 1/8th of an acre), which deer feel safe and secure in before heading off to night time feedings in the large destination food plots. It is these places that deer will feed during hours a hunter can take advantage of. The biggest keys are keeping them irregular shaped and not easily checked in one fell swoop. Make it so a buck has to check one, then the other, then the other. This can be done with planting site barrier plants like switchgrass, Egyptian wheat or forage sorghum around the plots. Hinge cutting around and between them is also a possible route to go. While I could talk about this topic forever, I must point out that the place I've gained the most knowledge from is sniperbowhunting.com, which coming in January will become a new site with new experts on it's staff. Randy Vander Veen, the creator, personally looked over aerials of our property and began to share with me these tactics and much more. I highly recommend any hunter looking to learn how to properly attack food plots, hinge cutting and so much more to check out the site (it's actually on the right side of this blog/site). 

(www.chelsesgreenhouse.com)

#3-Introducing trees that produce food or browse for the deer. Fruit trees, mass trees or berry bushes are the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what plants will attract deer. All have their pros, but definitely come with some cons. Fruit trees are seriously like candy to deer, you have one that produces deer will be there...however they typically need a lot more work by you than anything else you can plant, which at least in my eyes is a major negative. Mass producing trees like oaks are absolutely amazing for deer, however they take years (even the fast ones take 4-5 years) before they produce enough nuts to make a big difference. I'll be honest though when a nut tree produces a great yield it can produce some of the best hunting you'll experience. Bushes/briars are easy to plant and usually get started, but the problem with them is some can take over and become borderline if not completely invasive. My advice is that before you plant anything make sure you research it. If food is your goal and you want it quickly dwarf fruit trees may be a good option, if you  are willing to wait plant a few oaks (Sawtooth produce the quickest). I'll be honest though don't overlook the trees most already do. One of the most valuable trees in our woods is one most tear up (we plan on thinning them some even ourselves), and that's locust. We have some locust trees in our woods that produce these huge bean pods (I'll post a picture here as soon as I make it out to the property). The great things about these trees are they have tiny leaves leaving the canopy slightly less dense and these trees grows like weeds almost if allowed...which is the main reason I'm excited about hinge cutting them this Feb/March.

Now there is a lot of things even those of us with small parcels can do, but honestly those are my top three. I hope to go further into each one of these at some point, as there is so much more behind each one than I had time to post here. In the mean time get out there this late-season around the food or food routes and let me know if you meet any success!

Ruts come and gone...now what?

You've heard it many times, hunt the rut. It's true more bucks are shot during the rut than any other time...however I don't buy into the theory it's the only time to bag the big boy of the area. Right now is one of my favorite times to be in the woods with a buck tag in my pocket. One reason is that there's just something about hunting the cold and harvesting a buck that just feels special. The other reason is, they are predictable.

You pattern the bucks in your area going into the early season, however hunting pressure and the coming rut simply changed things before you could capitalize. You're left taking educated guesses during the rut hoping to get the big boy to step within range, but let's be honest he's got other things on his mind to worry about being where you want him to. Enter the late season.

Now that we're entering the time where most if not all the does are bred and bucks are beginning to think with the brain between the ears again. That brain is screaming one word very loud, "FOOD!" Find the food and the bucks won't be far away. This food source could be standing corn, rye grass fields or pretty much any other source of food that is in your area.

My dad's first buck ever, came in the dead of winter at the tail end of our muzzleloader season back in 2009. After going years without seeing a buck worth shooting or sadly losing them my father connected on one, hunting of all places 40 yards from neighbor's house and the road...reason? Honey-locust and their bean pods. Parts of our woods are loaded with these thorn covered Honey-locust trees that drop bean pods that run from 3 to 7 inches long. Once the snow falls and the crops are gone the deer absolutely hammer these things as they fall. Knowing this my dad positioned himself in a spot we'd hardly ever hunted but knew with the pods down anything could happen.

So the question is where's the food? I'm a big fan of small food plots or natural late season food like those pods because both are surrounded typically with better cover than a wide open field; allowing that big boy to step out while there's light to have a crack at him. The only thing left to do is be there when the deer are, which raises my next point.

It could be as simple as the
bushes that still hold leaves
or pods still attached to them.
(trochronicles.blogspot.com)

Years of experience have shown me that once the temps drop down in the freezing range and lower that mid-day hunting is big! Just today my father and I hunted a neighboring property known for great morning movement (a little standing corn still present near this property). Well, it was 7 degrees at shooting light...9 degrees after an hour...and 16 degrees when we finally called it quits. Total deer we saw: 0. Now this is where it gets interesting, on our way to our traditional after hunt brunch at a local diner we saw deer up and moving...at 10:30am. Then at 11:30 when I finally pulled out to head home I saw even more deer. Not 1/4 of a mile down the road were two deer, then along a busy highway I saw eight-plus deer on their feet and moving (one was a great young 8-pointer).

We both decided that this coming week, last week of muzzleloader, if we hunt we're going to try middle of the day. Sad thing is I should have known better, 3 of the late season does I've shot in the past 5 years have all come between 9:30am and noon. But like most hunters, I've fallen into the idea that morning and evenings are when you have to hunt.

Now if the temps aren't dropping the deer may continue to move just as they always have, but be sure to pay attention to the mercury. As it plummets, deer movement will almost always shift, typically moving as the sun begins to warm things up.

So getting on the food or travel routes to food, and being willing to adjust with the weather are the keys to increasing your odds this late season to getting your hands on some antlers.

Followers...

It appears something triggered a reset of my followers along the right side of the blog. If you are experiencing problems getting notified when things are added please re-follower!

Also lots are about to come this blog's way. I'm working on getting some products for some follower giveaways (so if you're one of the many that have visited but not followed be sure to!) as you'll have to be a follower to be applicable!

Next topic I'm going to discuss is late season hunting, look for it tomorrow or over the weekend! Good luck to all!

Public Ground 101

     When venturing into the idea of this blog/site I knew I wouldn’t be able to merely share my knowledge and make all who visit better hunters, because I’ll be honest I learn and am learning all I know from others. So with that in mind I sought out Rick DeStefanis, author of the great book The Philosophy of Big Buck Hunting, which you can and should purchase (click here). I wanted Rick to share on a topic I’m still fairly young to, hunting public ground. I’ve been blessed to have at least a tiny chunk of private ground to hunt since I was young, however with the way the economy is going and how much land and lease rates are these days the common hunter is slowly being forced to hunt free public ground more and more.

So here is Rick’s Public Land 101:

Hunting public land, or heavily pressured timber-lease land can be a challenge for anyone, regardless of one’s level of experience.  That is where I do most of my hunting, and the deer there often tend to be smarter than average and much more wary.  There are, however, some things a hunter can do to put the odds in his favor.  First of all, make sure you have all your basics down.  That’s the simple things like scent control and wind awareness.  You already face a daunting challenge when you set foot on public land, so make sure you are prepared.  After that, persistence and a willingness to go where others don’t are the keys to success.

As with any area you may hunt, scouting is paramount.  However, what you are looking for in addition to deer sign is evidence of use by other hunters: ATV trails, deer stands or evidence of climbing stands used on trees, cut brush and of course, boot prints.  If you are finding a lot of this type of sign, keep moving.  One of the primary strategies I use on public land is to go deeper or further than the average hunter before I begin scouting in earnest.

Look for those difficult to reach areas, old clear-cuts, buck-brush thickets and swamps.  This is where the older and smarter deer go when they feel the pressure.  What are you looking for?  Two things primarily: good natural forage (acorns, honey suckle, etc.) and natural funnels.  If one takes precedence over the other, I’d choose the funnel.  This is one of the key strategies to hunting public land.  You move in on foot early; well before daylight, and ahead of other hunters.  Keep noise and lights to a minimum. The wind plays a key role in this strategy in as much as it needs to be at your back if you are going straight in from an access point that everyone else uses.

Once you arrive at your stand location, the plan is to hunt facing back toward the direction from which most hunters will be entering the land.  This puts you facing the wind and in position to see deer moving away from the onslaught of hunters arriving at first light.  The wind direction doesn’t have to be perfect, but you must put yourself on the down-wind side of the trail or funnel you choose.  I have often had to only wait for first light to see deer that have moved deeper into the woods to avoid hunters.

The third part of this strategy is to keep the faith, and stay put.  You will occasionally see other hunters moving through the woods, and hear shots everywhere around you.  It can be somewhat disheartening when you feel everyone is getting shots but you.  The fact is that most of these shots are being taken at running deer, and multiple shots from one weapon normally don’t equal a kill.  Just sit tight.  The deer don’t always move in a mass exodus for the deeper cover.  They will sidestep hunters, circle and wait for the most opportune time to move.  I have often had hunters walk by, and moments later see a crafty old buck circling their back trail.

(www.whitetailbuckhunter.com)

This takes me to the last part of this strategy.  Don’t get off the stand at 10:00 a.m.  Most hunters, including stand hunters get antsy and begin moving more by late morning.  Many are working their way back to their vehicles for lunch.  One of my old hunting mentors taught me this many years ago.  Sit tight and you will see as many deer from 10:00 to 12:00 as you do at first light.  It’s true.  I killed eight or nine of my first bucks during this time.  And the ones that aren’t jumped or pushed to you, often feel the pressure lighten and begin browsing as they move to deeper cover.

Public land can be just as productive as those expensive leases if you use your primary weapon to its fullest.  That is your mind.  Keep thinking and you will find other ways to put venison in your freezer.

-Rick Destefanis