OneCam
Well-Known Member
With the wind howling and gusting from the north, I felt confident I could get into my stand without alarming the deer in the neighboring field. I parked my truck nearly 500 yards from my anticipated stand site and started my venture toward the tree. The farm I chose to hunt this morning contains numerous ditches, woodlots, and grazing pastures, of which one of the pastures contains 3-5 resident horses at any given time of the year. This particular morning, they had decided to follow me down the worn and winding trail to my stand. I had only made it about 200 yards when to my west, I could hear a buck tending a pre-estrus doe and closing the distance fast. With little time to think, I retrieved my safety harness rope from my pack and slowly walked a few feet back to the stallion and placed the clip on his halter and stood motionless. The buck, although barely visible in the darkness, was a mere 20 feet away on the other side of the fence and appeared to be staring in my direction. After a few moments, he started moving with the doe back into the tall CRP field and parallel to the trail I was using. With about 300 yards left to the tree, I decided to lead the horses the remainder of the way to my stand and climbed to the platform some 30 feet up. As dawn approached, I could hear movement coming through the tall grass along with soft grunts and bleats seemingly feet from the base of the tree. As shooting light was quickly approached, I could make out the large polished white rack above his dark bull-like body as he slowly turned and started moving away. Within seconds, he followed the doe out of range and bedded…..never offering a shot the rest of the morning.
Although this hunt was not productive in a sense the buck was not harvested, I had made it to the stand undetected by the buck or doe, despite being caught in the wide open. The same scenario may have occurred without the companion livestock in the field with me, however, the result without them may have been my dream buck out of my sites for the remainder of the season. I strongly feel one of the most critical tactics at harvesting a mature buck is not letting the animal know he is even hunted. Sounds like common sense but each day afield, we run the risk of being seen on the way to our stands and are leaving behind traces of our presence that mature bucks, and does for that matter, pick up on and file in their memory. After a few times of detecting us, these mature animals can and will change their daily travel and feeding routines to minimize the human exposure.
Mature bucks re-enforce their ability to survive year after year by “nailing us†during our movements too and from our stands either visually, olfactory, auditory, or a combination of the above. Although most hunters practice sound measures at preventing the above to some degree, it takes discipline on each and every hunt to keep the deer on a regular routine. If the route to your stand is carefully planned out, you can minimize the potential exposure of deer to his 3 keenest senses.
After finding a suitable location and placing a stand, I spend a great deal of time looking at every possible way I could get to that stand undetected by the deer in the area, even the does. Although it is nearly impossible to find the one perfect route in to a particular stand, if you look hard enough, there will usually be one or two ways in the area with minimal deer confrontation. Start by walking these potential entry routes in early spring and essentially “cleanse†the path of limbs and vegetation. By using this approach at this time of the year, you are providing low impact pressure on the herd and learning the land structure during daylight hours. This can help make your morning entrances essentially noise and hassle free. Some hunters I have talked with in the past will go as far as raking the leaves from the ground to provide a silent route to the stand. Based on their observations, deer even prefer these travel routes over the traditional trails they normally follow.
Probably the hardest of the deer’s senses to fool is his nose, otherwise carbon suits and commercial scent elimination sprays would have no value to our routine tactics. With each step we take in the woods, our bodies disperse tiny scent molecules that adhere to the surrounding vegetation and forest floor. The little branches that hit us in the head and body also serve as scent wicks for resident deer to key in on and every piece of equipment you carry has the potential to transmit some sort of foreign scent molecule that can alert the big boys to your presence. Despite how much you clean up the entry and exit routes, you will leave behind some clue to your presence in the form of scent molecules. The following routine has worked well for me in the past, however, when it fails me, I can usually find some break in my daily protocol. I prepare for each outing by bathing in some sort of scent elimination soap and topping it off with a non-scented deodorant/antiperspirant. If I have to drive any distance to my hunting ground, I dress in de-scented sweat pants/shirt for the trip and put on my hunting garments upon arrival at my destination. (This even includes 4-wheeler rides in) I have spent countless times in the bed of my pick-up truck in below freezing temperatures in nothing more than my skivvies racing to get dressed for the hunt. After assembling myself, I liberally spray the outside of my garments and equipment with a scent elimination product paying special attention to my boots, gloves, hat, head and neck. If sweating is a real problem for you, use an unscented spray antiperspirant in the areas of concern. Another common problem I have seen hunters have is dressing too heavily for the trip to the stand and essentially destroying any scent elimination measure they have taken. If the weather is warm, pack in the heavier garments in a daypack and put them on as needed when the mercury drops. Controlling the scent we leave behind minimizes the deer tracking our routes to the stand thus further educating them on the fact they are being hunted.
With the scent issue under your best control, the next step is to get to your stand without the deer seeing or hearing you. Most people that hunt mature bucks would agree that they can be and are predictably unpredictable with actual bedding sites changing daily. A mature buck will generally use the same area to bed down but it doesn’t necessarily mean it will be in the same exact spot he was yesterday or the day before. A lot of the deer I hunt do not use what some people would consider a traditional bedding area like heavy brush or dense creek bottom. In fact, the majority of the deer on one particular farm I hunt bed in the open grass fields while the other farm, they use the hilltops, slopes or cedar groves for security. By walking the area shed hunting and post season scouting, I try to pinpoint the bulk of the bedding areas I would assume a mature buck would use. I then take that information and apply it to the next season’s potential stand sites and further more, entry/exit routes. Picture yourself as a hunted deer when you are in these areas and try to determine where he would likely bed based on different wind directions. As difficult as it may be, try to anticipate his potential pattern based wind direction and use this information to stay out of his line of sight, even if it means going out of your way to get to your stand.
Walking in during the morning may take different approach to your stand assuming the deer are still in the feeding areas. By walking the easiest route to your stand across open fields, you run the risk of bumping the deer out of the area and ruining your morning’s preparation. If just one deer catches you on the way in, it can alert all the deer in the area that potential danger has entered the woods and disrupt the normal pattern for the day. In areas of high deer density, this becomes a real challenge and is essentially impossible to accomplish. You have to make the best of it and avoid as many deer as possible by picking the quickest and quietest way in. Start by looking for routes where you would be less likely to encounter a mature buck spending his mornings. As noted in the opening paragraph, some of the deer I hunt are in direct contact with the horses on a daily basis. The deer are used to seeing and hearing the horses move through the pasture during low light so using them as an entrance disguise has worked out on numerous occasions. While walking in of a morning to hunt, don’t hesitate to use a small flashlight to facilitate your entry, just be sure to keep it pointed at the ground thus minimizing a deer’s ability to see it. There are numerous small LED (light emitting diode) units on the market that give off adequate light for short distances which are easily concealed from the deer. I tend to prefer a red LED to give off less light, therefore making it less visible to your quarry.
The key to taking a low impact approach to deer is to study the patterns during the off-season. Careful examination of the terrain and the previous fall’s sign is a must in formulating a plan in hopes of intercepting a mature buck next fall. Consistently having successful hunts requires attention to detail, precise stand placement, time on stand, and above all, stealth movements into and out of your hunting areas. With all the seasons preparations and observations, the last thing you want to do is alert the deer to your presence long before you have a shot at him. By formulating your entrance and exit plans early in the year, you can minimize the pressure effects on the entire herd and possibly enjoy a more successful and rewarding season.
Ryan is a very seasoned bowhunter with many years of experience and trophy bucks to his credit
Although this hunt was not productive in a sense the buck was not harvested, I had made it to the stand undetected by the buck or doe, despite being caught in the wide open. The same scenario may have occurred without the companion livestock in the field with me, however, the result without them may have been my dream buck out of my sites for the remainder of the season. I strongly feel one of the most critical tactics at harvesting a mature buck is not letting the animal know he is even hunted. Sounds like common sense but each day afield, we run the risk of being seen on the way to our stands and are leaving behind traces of our presence that mature bucks, and does for that matter, pick up on and file in their memory. After a few times of detecting us, these mature animals can and will change their daily travel and feeding routines to minimize the human exposure.
Mature bucks re-enforce their ability to survive year after year by “nailing us†during our movements too and from our stands either visually, olfactory, auditory, or a combination of the above. Although most hunters practice sound measures at preventing the above to some degree, it takes discipline on each and every hunt to keep the deer on a regular routine. If the route to your stand is carefully planned out, you can minimize the potential exposure of deer to his 3 keenest senses.
After finding a suitable location and placing a stand, I spend a great deal of time looking at every possible way I could get to that stand undetected by the deer in the area, even the does. Although it is nearly impossible to find the one perfect route in to a particular stand, if you look hard enough, there will usually be one or two ways in the area with minimal deer confrontation. Start by walking these potential entry routes in early spring and essentially “cleanse†the path of limbs and vegetation. By using this approach at this time of the year, you are providing low impact pressure on the herd and learning the land structure during daylight hours. This can help make your morning entrances essentially noise and hassle free. Some hunters I have talked with in the past will go as far as raking the leaves from the ground to provide a silent route to the stand. Based on their observations, deer even prefer these travel routes over the traditional trails they normally follow.
Probably the hardest of the deer’s senses to fool is his nose, otherwise carbon suits and commercial scent elimination sprays would have no value to our routine tactics. With each step we take in the woods, our bodies disperse tiny scent molecules that adhere to the surrounding vegetation and forest floor. The little branches that hit us in the head and body also serve as scent wicks for resident deer to key in on and every piece of equipment you carry has the potential to transmit some sort of foreign scent molecule that can alert the big boys to your presence. Despite how much you clean up the entry and exit routes, you will leave behind some clue to your presence in the form of scent molecules. The following routine has worked well for me in the past, however, when it fails me, I can usually find some break in my daily protocol. I prepare for each outing by bathing in some sort of scent elimination soap and topping it off with a non-scented deodorant/antiperspirant. If I have to drive any distance to my hunting ground, I dress in de-scented sweat pants/shirt for the trip and put on my hunting garments upon arrival at my destination. (This even includes 4-wheeler rides in) I have spent countless times in the bed of my pick-up truck in below freezing temperatures in nothing more than my skivvies racing to get dressed for the hunt. After assembling myself, I liberally spray the outside of my garments and equipment with a scent elimination product paying special attention to my boots, gloves, hat, head and neck. If sweating is a real problem for you, use an unscented spray antiperspirant in the areas of concern. Another common problem I have seen hunters have is dressing too heavily for the trip to the stand and essentially destroying any scent elimination measure they have taken. If the weather is warm, pack in the heavier garments in a daypack and put them on as needed when the mercury drops. Controlling the scent we leave behind minimizes the deer tracking our routes to the stand thus further educating them on the fact they are being hunted.
With the scent issue under your best control, the next step is to get to your stand without the deer seeing or hearing you. Most people that hunt mature bucks would agree that they can be and are predictably unpredictable with actual bedding sites changing daily. A mature buck will generally use the same area to bed down but it doesn’t necessarily mean it will be in the same exact spot he was yesterday or the day before. A lot of the deer I hunt do not use what some people would consider a traditional bedding area like heavy brush or dense creek bottom. In fact, the majority of the deer on one particular farm I hunt bed in the open grass fields while the other farm, they use the hilltops, slopes or cedar groves for security. By walking the area shed hunting and post season scouting, I try to pinpoint the bulk of the bedding areas I would assume a mature buck would use. I then take that information and apply it to the next season’s potential stand sites and further more, entry/exit routes. Picture yourself as a hunted deer when you are in these areas and try to determine where he would likely bed based on different wind directions. As difficult as it may be, try to anticipate his potential pattern based wind direction and use this information to stay out of his line of sight, even if it means going out of your way to get to your stand.
Walking in during the morning may take different approach to your stand assuming the deer are still in the feeding areas. By walking the easiest route to your stand across open fields, you run the risk of bumping the deer out of the area and ruining your morning’s preparation. If just one deer catches you on the way in, it can alert all the deer in the area that potential danger has entered the woods and disrupt the normal pattern for the day. In areas of high deer density, this becomes a real challenge and is essentially impossible to accomplish. You have to make the best of it and avoid as many deer as possible by picking the quickest and quietest way in. Start by looking for routes where you would be less likely to encounter a mature buck spending his mornings. As noted in the opening paragraph, some of the deer I hunt are in direct contact with the horses on a daily basis. The deer are used to seeing and hearing the horses move through the pasture during low light so using them as an entrance disguise has worked out on numerous occasions. While walking in of a morning to hunt, don’t hesitate to use a small flashlight to facilitate your entry, just be sure to keep it pointed at the ground thus minimizing a deer’s ability to see it. There are numerous small LED (light emitting diode) units on the market that give off adequate light for short distances which are easily concealed from the deer. I tend to prefer a red LED to give off less light, therefore making it less visible to your quarry.
The key to taking a low impact approach to deer is to study the patterns during the off-season. Careful examination of the terrain and the previous fall’s sign is a must in formulating a plan in hopes of intercepting a mature buck next fall. Consistently having successful hunts requires attention to detail, precise stand placement, time on stand, and above all, stealth movements into and out of your hunting areas. With all the seasons preparations and observations, the last thing you want to do is alert the deer to your presence long before you have a shot at him. By formulating your entrance and exit plans early in the year, you can minimize the pressure effects on the entire herd and possibly enjoy a more successful and rewarding season.
Ryan is a very seasoned bowhunter with many years of experience and trophy bucks to his credit