Whitetail Hunting Strategies
I now think it's possible to repeatedly hunt stands without altering deer patterns. That is, I believe it when at least one of these scenarios exists:
BUCKS TRAVELING DURING THE RUT
This isn't anything revolutionary. During the rut, bucks rarely cling to a regular travel pattern. They employ a highly effective system of covering ground, allowing them to check the greatest number of does efficiently. In doing so, they don't commonly cover the same ground two days in a row.
Thus, the chances of the same buck busting a hunter and being there to do the same thing the next day are poor. Even if the buck is there, paired up with a doe, who knows how many "new" bucks, will be in the area?
Waiting does keep the resident does ignorant. There is an advantage when hunting a doe trail or bedding area. On the flip side, with stands geared towards roaming bucks, such as funnels between doe groups, the benefit is minimal. In situations in which the hunter has a bunch of great stands, it may not be a bad idea to rotate during the rut. However, when one funnel stand is better than the rest, I believe the hunter is hampering himself by not hunting that stand hard.
UNDETECTED ENTRY AND EXIT
The next scenario is when you can get in and out undetected. Though it may not appear so, that was the case with the food plot stand I described at the beginning of this piece. My stand was at the end of the plot, so all I had to do was walk a trail to the edge of the plot where my stand was hung. The trick was waiting until the area cleared of deer. Once that happened, making a hasty retreat got me out undetected. To further make certain the deer remained ignorant; I used Silver XP™ scent elimination spray. Doing so ensured that I left no foreign odours on the ground or vegetation.
In this case, it is very important not to get busted in the stand. One must be extremely conscious of wind direction and excessive movement. Next, the hunter must get in and out undetected. As importantly, he must not leave odours behind that educate deer to his presence. I firmly believe deer become aware of hunters from the odours we leave behind more than any other single factor.
In most cases, repeatedly hunting a stand requires a hunter to take extreme odor-eliminating steps and/or not cross trails. The only ways I have been able to consistently pull that off is to either wear XScent™ Apparel and to spray down rubber boots with scent neutralizer (Silver XP™) and apply straight doe urine to a scent drag.
As much as we've been taught that over hunting a stand is a sin, I am not the only one to come to the belief that repeatedly hunting stands can be beneficial.
DEER THAT GET CARELESS
There is one other scenario in which pounding a stand site can work, but it certainly won't work everywhere. Deer have the ability to adapt to humans. This can plainly be seen with urban deer, in many heavily farmed areas, and in other settings where human presence is a constant. With repeated exposure to humans, deer (assuming they are not harmed) become tolerant of, even seemingly oblivious to, humans. In these settings, a stand can be hunted as often as one desires.
With all the farming, logging and ATV riders, there are spots where deer see humans a couple of times each day. When that happens, it gets to the point where they stop caring. I know that is the case here on my home farm.
"During the off-season, I'm in the woods almost every weekend. A lot of the times, there are a couple other guys helping me clear trails, put in food plots or hang stands. When the season comes, I typically have 3 or 4 guys hunting with me. With all this ongoing activity and human scent in the deer woods, the deer have become so used to it that they don't pay much attention at all."
The key to knowing if you can pull this off is by observing deer. If they blow out at the first sight of a human, they will alter their behaviour if they know they're being hunted.
KEEPING STANDS FRESH
As noted, getting to and from a stand is a key consideration. Often, this is different based on the tendencies of the humans in the area. Most hunters realize that farm trucks and tractors almost go unnoticed by deer in farming country. In that setting, being driven to the stand is nearly as good as being teleported there.
On the flip side, I used to believe that driving ATVs to stands was one of the worst sins a hunter could commit. I now know so many people who swear the deer in their area don't care that I tend to believe them. It depends on what those deer see as a threat. It's their own experiences that teach them what's dangerous and what isn't.
DEALING WITH ODORS
Regardless of where I hunt, I always go through the same fanatical scent-reduction routine before a hunt; shower with scent eliminating products, place my clean scent eliminating clothing into a scent free sealable container. I also never dress in my hunting clothing until I arrive at my hunting location. Once dressed, I also spray down the exterior of my hunting apparel including boots and boot soles with scent eliminating sprays (Silver XP™). Fanatical or what, I make every possible attempt to eliminate my human odour although human scent is yet another area in which not all deer have the same tolerance level, I’m taking no chances.
CONCLUSION
The underlying point is that different deer have different tolerance levels for human activities. If bucks are moving in and out of the area repeatedly on their own, having one bust you doesn't necessarily ruin your chances for tomorrow. It also can be that repeatedly hunting a hot stand is fine, provided you can get in and out undetected. Or maybe you're hunting one of those areas where deer have simply become ambivalent to the presence of humans.
The best way to assess this is to just use common sense. If you're hunting a remote area, it's not good to sweat before walking through a bedding area to hunt the same stand for the sixth day in a row. But if loggers have been cutting in the area for the last month, odds are your truck won't bother the deer much.
When you analyze how local deer have been exposed to human presence, you might find some tolerable disturbances that apply to your own hunting grounds. And in the end, that might be all the edge you need.
New Scent-Control for the Generation ‘X’ Bowhunter
My quest for total odor control soon made me highly interested in scent-elimination clothing. At the time, the only choice was garments containing activated carbon. Fortunately, I work in a field that deals with various applications of activated-carbon technology; I soon realized that the use of activated carbon in garments to control human odours is a poor application.
Recently the scent-control garment industry has experienced a surge of evolution of its own. First-generation scent-control garments, such as activated-carbon garments, brought about an extreme awareness of the importance of scent control. The market those garments created have opened the door to what I call second- and third-generation scent-control garments, both of which exhibit much more practical methods of controlling human odours.
Second-generation odor control garments are those treated with bactericide compounds. These bactericide treatments allegedly do not wash out of the garments and stay effective for the life of the garment. Scent Blocker S3™, XScent™ and Rocky’s Scent IQ™ are a few example brands using this type of technology.
Bactericide treated clothing is designed to control bacteria growth in the garment. While this is good, the only way bacteria on skin surfaces can be eliminated is if they are exposed to the bactericide treatment contained in the clothing. However, this does not appear to be possible.
This statement may be the result of various EPA and/or FDA regulations on the bactericide compound used in Contain called Triclosan. Triclosan is used in products such as laundry detergent and toothpaste, but is considered a skin irritant and prolonged direct skin contact applications are scrutinized.
A brand new third-generation odor-control garment now available to consumers uses the most impressive, yet simplistic, technology that I have seen to date.
ArcticShield™, makers of extreme cold weather apparel, is now manufacturing an odor-control garment line, which carries the catchy name X Scent.
X Scent™ clothing utilizes a licensed technology called X-Static™, which is a textile fibre with 99.9 percent pure silver (Ag) permanently bound to its surface.
A certain medical report supports silver as a very potent bactericide: “There is no known disease-causing organism that can live in the presence of even minute traces of the chemical element of simple metallic silver. Based on laboratory tests, destructive bacteria, virus and fungus organisms are killed within minutes of contact."
Basically, the moment you don X Scent clothing, your skin is bathed with tiny particles of pure silver, which immediately begin a bounty hunt for odorous-gas producing anaerobic bacteria.
The X-Static technology works harmoniously with the salty moisture on skin. In fact, the more sweat, the better the technology works to destroy anaerobic bacteria. This is with out a doubt a leap forward when compared to activated-carbon garments. Even if activated-carbon garments were effective in dry conditions, they would be completely useless in wet environments caused by sweat or rain.
What about field-testing?
Recently, the U.S. Army purchased 5.5 million pairs of socks containing X-Static technology to prevent against athletes foot and the dreaded Boot Rot, which is caused from poor hygiene due to wearing the same pair of socks for days on end. U.S. Troops in Iraq , who are currently using these socks, have given highly favourable reports on the product.
Throughout this article I have used the term “control” rather than “elimination.” Short of wearing an astronaut’s pressurized moon suit in your treestand, there will likely never be a garment available that will completely eliminate human odor. All the current first-generation scent-control garments use technologies that merely address odor symptoms, where as
X Scent apparel offers a cure.
The third generation of odor-control clothing has arrived. The Generation "X" bowhunter will surely be amazed with ArcticShield’s new XScent™ apparel.
Using Scents and Attractants
Years ago a few enterprising sportsmen began experimenting with the notion that deer are attracted to the odours of other deer. Many guys scoffed at them. However, scientists have intensely studied whitetail behaviour and discovered that the entire world of does and bucks revolves around scents of one type or another. Consequently, the hunter who understands why and how deer scents work can fool even the smartest buck.
The whitetail lives in a world of dense cover and small openings. Rarely is an entire herd together to deal with various situations in the hierarchy. As a result, deer have evolved a unique method of scent communication, called signposting, which is most prominent during the fall rut.
Bucks rub trees not only as visual displays of their presence, but also as olfactory signposts. They leave secretions on rubs from their forehead glands, noses and saliva. Other bucks and does sniff the rubs to sort things out in the hierarchy. As the rut draws near, bucks scrape to leave their individual calling cards, warning other bucks to stay away and greeting passing does to stick around.
Hunters have experienced success in recent years by creating fake, or mock, rubs and scrapes. To create a mock rub, vigorously rub a sapling with a shed antler and then adding some pre-orbital lure. Lay down a series of rubs in a bottom or along a low ridge where you will also create mock scrapes.
Find a low branch and scrape debris from underneath it. Add buck urine to the fake scrape and then dab some pre-orbital lure to the "lick branch" above it. Next, pour a little doe-in-heat urine into the scrape.
String 4 or 5 scrapes along a bottom or ridge with fake rubs in between. Pull a "drag line" (a cloth saturated with doe-in-heat scent) between scrapes. Then stand hunt in the area. A passing buck might see or smell a rub and then begin sniffing along the drag line from scrape to scrape, hoping to spot the hot doe in the area. Of course you're sitting there waiting for him.
The use of scents and attractants is still evolving. But today there is a lot evidence to support the use of scents.
Making Mock Scrapes and Rubs
Creating mock (manmade) scrapes and rubs is a relatively new rut tactic that has caught the interest of the whitetail-hunting fraternity. There are a couple of reasons why. First, avid deer hunters are always interested in trying something new. Secondly, modern doe-in-heat and buck-in-rut urines and scents are chemically accurate and hence effective for luring deer.
The theory behind mock scrapes and rubs is to entice a passing buck into investigating a tantalizing web of rutting-buck sign. To do it, create 4 to 6 scrapes in a creek bottom or along a ridge where bucks are known to rut. To make a mock scrape, use a stick and your rubbers boots to clear a 3- to 4-foot patch of earth. Pour some buck-in-rut scent into the scrape. This liquid or gel usually is mixture of deer urine and tarsal gland excretion. Always build a mock scrape under a licking branch (dab some pre-orbital lure on the twig). Biologists and hunters have noted that mock scrapes with no licking branches are usually ignored by deer.
Mock rubs are used to entice deer to mock scrapes. They lend authenticity to a buck's rutting area, which typically consists of signature scrapes and rubs. Most hunters use an old antler, saw or rasp to rub a sapling until its white inner bark shows. They then squirt some buck rub lure onto the sapling. The mixture usually contains deer urine and secretion from a buck's pre-orbital gland.
To cut down on human odor, wear rubber boots and gloves when making mock rubs and scrapes. Avoid touching or making body contact with brush, limbs, etc. in the rub/scrape area. If you use a stick when making a mock scrape, make sure you carry it out of the area.
Rattling Tactics
As early as September, bucks begin tapping their horns together in light sparring action. Later on, dominance sparring begins in earnest as bucks establish hierarchies. During the peak of the rut, two dominant bucks whose paths cross often engage in a vicious battle that in rare cases ends in the death of one deer. With the biological accuracy of rattling established, the next hurdle is to learn how to rattle correctly.
Early-Season Rattling
Many hunters don't bother to rattle until the rut. However, the first competition among bucks to establish a pecking order occurs shortly after they shed velvet from their antlers in September. This early sparring is 2 bucks tapping their antlers to impress each other. It is a natural sound in the deer woods, and a buck that hears it may come over to see if a bachelor group of bucks is setting the pecking order without him.
When you rattle in the early season, lightly tick a set of antlers together. Plan to spar for a minute or so, wait 15 minutes and then try it again.
Pre-Rut Rattling
This is when bucks really go at it to establish dominance. Your rattling should intensify into serious grinding and clacking followed by some antler ticking and then more grinding. Do that for 30 to 60 seconds, then lay down the horns and get ready. A buck may show up soon. If not, repeat the rattling scenario.
Peak-Rut Rattling
When 2 dominant bucks meet during the peak of the rut the hair often flies! They really go at it, grinding antlers, knocking down small trees and trampling bushes, your rattling should simulate such a fight. Use lots of loud antler grinding, pound the earth like a deer stamping and rake brush and trees with a rattling horn.
E ven if you do everything right chances are a buck won't come to investigate. That's just the nature of hunting. But if one buck in 10 responds to your rattling that is one deer you wouldn't have gotten a crack at had you sat like a church mouse and stayed quiet.
Using Decoys
Decoying deer is a relatively new tactic that has shown some promise. Hunters have reported that some bucks lay back their ears and attack a buck decoy (or try to breed a fake doe). On the other hand, other hunters have reported that a buck was coming in until it spotted a decoy and quickly bounded away. That seems to be the way with decoys-all or nothing.
You can use a buck decoy to challenge a rutting buck, or a fake doe to appeal to a buck's mating instinct. Often a buck decoy is used as a visual attractant when rattling or grunt calling. Some of the newer buck decoys are very life-like, complete with antlers and even a mechanical tail that flickers.
If you use a doe decoy, set a liberal amount of doe-in-heat urine nearby. But don't spray the decoy with the smelly stuff because you'll have to handle it later.
There have been some success stories, but many sportsmen don't feel it's worth the extra effort to lug a life-size deer decoy all over the woods.
ESTIMATING LIVE DEER WEIGHT
Stop guessing your deer's weight. This useful chart will help you determine your deer's estimated live weight, field dressed weight and edible meat weight.
· Measure the animal just behind the front legs (girth) |
Girth/Inches | Live Weight | Field Dressed | Edible Meat |
24 | 55 | 38 | 28 |
25 | 61 | 43 | 27 |
26 | 66 | 49 | 30 |
27 | 71 | 53 | 31 |
28 | 77 | 59 | 34 |
29 | 82 | 64 | 36 |
30 | 90 | 70 | 39 |
31 | 98 | 74 | 42 |
32 | 102 | 80 | 45 |
33 | 110 | 87 | 50 |
34 | 118 | 91 | 54 |
35 | 126 | 99 | 57 |
36 | 135 | 104 | 61 |
37 | 146 | 115 | 66 |
38 | 157 | 126 | 71 |
39 | 169 | 135 | 74 |
40 | 182 | 144 | 80 |
41 | 195 | 156 | 88 |
42 | 210 | 170 | 94 |
43 | 228 | 182 | 103 |
44 | 244 | 198 | 110 |
45 | 267 | 214 | 120 |
46 | 290 | 233 | 130 |
47 | 310 | 251 | 139 |
48 | 340 | 272 | 153 |
Calling Tactics
If your grunt calling interests only one buck in 12, consider that animal a bonus buck that you never would have seen if you hadn't done any calling.
Deer verbally communicate with each other just as humans do but they 'call' to each other instead of talking. As different words mean different things, so do different calls. Hunters can capitalize on calls by imitating them to lure deer. The main time artificial calls are used is during the rut. The bucks are used to hearing deer vocalize a lot at this time and are willing to investigate sources of calls.
Grunting
Bucks grunt year-round-while around other deer at a feeding area, while tending a doe, while fighting another buck during the rut. Mimicking grunting with your voice or a call can sometimes interest and lure a buck, especially during the rut.
Early and late in season bucks grunt softly and sporadically. They grunt more intensely when chasing and tending does during the rut. So as the rut progresses, pick up the grunting pace a little bit. But don't overdo it. Hammering out series of loud, quack-like grunts will get a buck's attention, but the wrong kind!
Good strategy is grunt softly 3 to 5 times, maybe a little more during the rut. Wait about 15 minutes and then try it again. You never know when you might strike a buck and reel him in.
When you spot a buck ducking into a thicket, crossing a ridge or tipping by too fast for a shot, grunt at him. Half the bucks you call to will stop and look back, maybe offering a shot.
Bleating
Fawns bleat when they are hungry or have become separated from their mother. Using this call may trick a doe into coming to your area because she thinks a fawn needs her, while the rutting buck follows her in.
Snorting
This is known as the alarm/distress call. This is made by the deer forcing air through their nostrils noisily.
