About Me
- Bow4Buc
- Well what can I say, I hunt. I enjoy hunting, friends and family. I figure if I can find a way to mix them together then life is about as rich as it gets.
Most Popular
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Digital trail cameras come in all shapes and sizes today. If you are not making use of trail cameras in your deer hunting and scouting effor...
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A good tube of Allen Company Bow String Wax and regular applications to the string and serving will prolong the life of any bow string. Thi...
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Finding bedding areas now gives you a big jump ahead of the game come this fall. It is becoming more and more popular to hunt bedding areas....
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Remember when you first started deer hunting, not just the first time but when you began leaving the ole man behind and heading out on your ... -
Well October will finally come. Many bow hunters have been loosing sleep waiting for this time of year to come. The colors are on the trees ...
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Kids and Hunting
9:28 AM |
I have spent a great deal of time in the field with all four of my children hunting everything from squirrels to whitetails. Many times after our hunts or when I have had a chance to reflect on our time together, I have often wondered if they are getting out of it what they should be. Do they know that hunting is more then taking game and have I even given them a clue to my idea of being stewards of the land. Last weekend was a defining moment that put some of those worries to rest.
It was a two day youth hunt in Wisconsin and I had two of my kids chomping at the bit, ready for their first deer. We were hunting a lease that belongs to a hunt club I joined and my kids know there is deer on the property.
We split into two groups, my daughter Amber age 12 and myself in one and my long time hunting buddy Todd and my son Nathan age 14 in the other. The first morning Amber and myself have two deer near our stand. One a mature doe and the other just wouldn't give us a look to see what it was.
Now, club rules say we can shoot nothing less then an eight pointer but kids or any indavidual taking their first deer can harvest anything. The doe in the thicket was fair game. Although we could see the doe it was to thick to take the shot and Amber knew this. She never even raised the gun to shoot. That was the first moment Poppa knew she had been paying attention to previous instructions. The doe did however begin to feed in our direction and Amber was on the ball. she stood up in the tree stand some 20 feet above the ground and turned toward the deer. She raised here gun and steadied it against the tree. Still the doe never gave her a shot and slowly walked off deeper into the thicket but as she started to leave the second deer that we could not see started to follow her and took a path just six yards from our stand. I looked to motion to Amber here it comes but seen she already had eyes on it and was ready to shoot.
This was the second proud moment for dad, as she got ready the deer stoped to nibble some browes, giving Amber a perfect quartering away shot. The deer turned it's head and we both saw it was a buck fawn. Amber clicked the safty back on and watched the little buck follow the doe into the thicket. She turned and sat back down in her stand looking at me with the biggest smile I have ever seen on her face. I think we were both shaking at the knees from the excitment and I told her I think she did a good thing letting the little buck walk and she agreed.
That afternoon back on stand again we hear a single shot comming form the direction of Nathan and Todd. Nathan took his first deer confirmed by the vibrating cell phone in my pocket. The look on Amber's face had me guessing, she was rethinking letting that deer walk that morning.
Sunday morning, the last hunt. I hear foot steps in the fallen leaves that cover the ground but can not see what is there because of the canopy of leaves remaining on the trees. The sound stops close by and doesn't move again for many minutes. Finally I hear it again and then I see the head, another doe making her way right into our set up. I motion to Amber to get ready and the doe is walking right through our shooting lane. Amber gets her gun up and finds the deer in her scope. I give the doe a bleat from my mouth stopping her right in the lane for a perfect broadside shot at ten yards. POW! My heart sank because I knew she had just shot high over the deer's back.
To make this already long story short, I think I was more depressed then she was and I was feeling bad for her. She informed me however, that she had a great time seeing deer and even getting to take a shot. I was then also reminded that we have the whole regular gun season for her to get another chance. She took it right in stride and proved to me that she really does understand that there is more to hunting then just taking game. This had to be one of the best couple days I have spent in the field with her and a weekend I'm sure neither of us will forget....
It was a two day youth hunt in Wisconsin and I had two of my kids chomping at the bit, ready for their first deer. We were hunting a lease that belongs to a hunt club I joined and my kids know there is deer on the property.
We split into two groups, my daughter Amber age 12 and myself in one and my long time hunting buddy Todd and my son Nathan age 14 in the other. The first morning Amber and myself have two deer near our stand. One a mature doe and the other just wouldn't give us a look to see what it was.
Now, club rules say we can shoot nothing less then an eight pointer but kids or any indavidual taking their first deer can harvest anything. The doe in the thicket was fair game. Although we could see the doe it was to thick to take the shot and Amber knew this. She never even raised the gun to shoot. That was the first moment Poppa knew she had been paying attention to previous instructions. The doe did however begin to feed in our direction and Amber was on the ball. she stood up in the tree stand some 20 feet above the ground and turned toward the deer. She raised here gun and steadied it against the tree. Still the doe never gave her a shot and slowly walked off deeper into the thicket but as she started to leave the second deer that we could not see started to follow her and took a path just six yards from our stand. I looked to motion to Amber here it comes but seen she already had eyes on it and was ready to shoot.
This was the second proud moment for dad, as she got ready the deer stoped to nibble some browes, giving Amber a perfect quartering away shot. The deer turned it's head and we both saw it was a buck fawn. Amber clicked the safty back on and watched the little buck follow the doe into the thicket. She turned and sat back down in her stand looking at me with the biggest smile I have ever seen on her face. I think we were both shaking at the knees from the excitment and I told her I think she did a good thing letting the little buck walk and she agreed.
That afternoon back on stand again we hear a single shot comming form the direction of Nathan and Todd. Nathan took his first deer confirmed by the vibrating cell phone in my pocket. The look on Amber's face had me guessing, she was rethinking letting that deer walk that morning.
Sunday morning, the last hunt. I hear foot steps in the fallen leaves that cover the ground but can not see what is there because of the canopy of leaves remaining on the trees. The sound stops close by and doesn't move again for many minutes. Finally I hear it again and then I see the head, another doe making her way right into our set up. I motion to Amber to get ready and the doe is walking right through our shooting lane. Amber gets her gun up and finds the deer in her scope. I give the doe a bleat from my mouth stopping her right in the lane for a perfect broadside shot at ten yards. POW! My heart sank because I knew she had just shot high over the deer's back.
To make this already long story short, I think I was more depressed then she was and I was feeling bad for her. She informed me however, that she had a great time seeing deer and even getting to take a shot. I was then also reminded that we have the whole regular gun season for her to get another chance. She took it right in stride and proved to me that she really does understand that there is more to hunting then just taking game. This had to be one of the best couple days I have spent in the field with her and a weekend I'm sure neither of us will forget....
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Find and Hunt Deer Bedding Areas
11:25 AM |
Finding bedding areas now gives you a big jump ahead of the game come this fall. It is becoming more and more popular to hunt bedding areas. This is most true when it comes to hunting large mature deer.
The further you hunt from the bedding area, the more options you give a deer to take a route that will not cross your path. By getting in close you narrow down the options he has to avoid you and put the odds in your favor. Keep in mind though, this isn't for the faint at heart. Make a mistake, and it could be your season in that area. So you better bring your "A" game.
Now, is a good time to be scouting and looking for those bedding areas, if you bump deer it will be months before you are hunting them again. Use a map to mark the beds you find and eventually a core area will emerge on the map. Then you know where to begin your search come this fall...
The further you hunt from the bedding area, the more options you give a deer to take a route that will not cross your path. By getting in close you narrow down the options he has to avoid you and put the odds in your favor. Keep in mind though, this isn't for the faint at heart. Make a mistake, and it could be your season in that area. So you better bring your "A" game.
Now, is a good time to be scouting and looking for those bedding areas, if you bump deer it will be months before you are hunting them again. Use a map to mark the beds you find and eventually a core area will emerge on the map. Then you know where to begin your search come this fall...
Monday, May 16, 2011
Let Other Hunters Work For You
11:36 AM |
Anyone that has hunted public land knows that others in the woods can hurt your hunt. On the other hand they can help it as well. With a little planning, you can use the wind and other hunters to move deer in your direction. This works on public land or private property as you will see in the example to the left. These are two properties that I have permission to hunt. (indicated in yellow). The red is a farm that is leased out for hunting to a pretty large group of hunters. So, how do we use the other hunters and the wind to help us hunt? Lets start with the wind. On a normal day the prevailing wind in our location is from the West Northwest. When it is later in the season and the weather starts to turn colder, the cold fronts tend to come in on a North Northeast wind.
Looking at the property in red, we know that the only access to the property is from the North. When the hunters come in they filter all the way to the south end of the property. Because they can only enter with the wind at their backs or a cross wind, we use this to help us know where to hunt that day. On a West northwest wind we hunt the yellow property to the East. If the wind is North Northeast we hunt the yellow property to the West.
The plan basically is to get in well before sun up and be settled in our stands before the other hunters come in. In this situation we like to place stands near small trails headed into the thickest cover at the edge of the property or hedge rows. If you can find funnels or bottle necks leading into thick cover all the better. Just like clock work, first light comes and you see deer headed for the cover as they try to flee the incoming hunters. Because deer will usually use their nose to watch their back trail and they are already leaving because they got a whiff of the hunters, We sit waiting with the wind in our faces waiting for them to come in.
If you seen deer moving at first light but none close enough to get a shot at, do not worry. Again you can almost set your watch by it, around 9-10 am many hunters will be headed back to the truck for a cup of coffee or just start walking around to relieve the boredom. This is when you want to be sitting quietly in your stand. This should be the second deer movement for the morning and often puts many whitetail bucks in the truck. In the event that the morning hunt didn't let us harvest a deer, we seen were they were headed and have a good idea where to set in the evening. Chances are, when they move again it won't be in the direction of the other hunters.
This tactic works best for gun season, simply because there are more hunters to move the deer around. You can use it to work during archery season as well on public land where there are more hunters.
Just remember, sit with the wind in your face and hunt the edges of thick cover. Get in well before other hunters and stay sitting when you think they are headed out (go early and stay late). The use of topo maps or satellite photos like we use, will help make it easier the tell where the others are coming from and give you a good idea of where to scout for stand sites. If you use this tactic, you will see more deer on public or private land hunts.
TOPO! Explorer Deluxe
Looking at the property in red, we know that the only access to the property is from the North. When the hunters come in they filter all the way to the south end of the property. Because they can only enter with the wind at their backs or a cross wind, we use this to help us know where to hunt that day. On a West northwest wind we hunt the yellow property to the East. If the wind is North Northeast we hunt the yellow property to the West.
The plan basically is to get in well before sun up and be settled in our stands before the other hunters come in. In this situation we like to place stands near small trails headed into the thickest cover at the edge of the property or hedge rows. If you can find funnels or bottle necks leading into thick cover all the better. Just like clock work, first light comes and you see deer headed for the cover as they try to flee the incoming hunters. Because deer will usually use their nose to watch their back trail and they are already leaving because they got a whiff of the hunters, We sit waiting with the wind in our faces waiting for them to come in.
If you seen deer moving at first light but none close enough to get a shot at, do not worry. Again you can almost set your watch by it, around 9-10 am many hunters will be headed back to the truck for a cup of coffee or just start walking around to relieve the boredom. This is when you want to be sitting quietly in your stand. This should be the second deer movement for the morning and often puts many whitetail bucks in the truck. In the event that the morning hunt didn't let us harvest a deer, we seen were they were headed and have a good idea where to set in the evening. Chances are, when they move again it won't be in the direction of the other hunters.
This tactic works best for gun season, simply because there are more hunters to move the deer around. You can use it to work during archery season as well on public land where there are more hunters.
Just remember, sit with the wind in your face and hunt the edges of thick cover. Get in well before other hunters and stay sitting when you think they are headed out (go early and stay late). The use of topo maps or satellite photos like we use, will help make it easier the tell where the others are coming from and give you a good idea of where to scout for stand sites. If you use this tactic, you will see more deer on public or private land hunts.
TOPO! Explorer Deluxe
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Whitetail Deer Scouting, Scouting, Scouting
8:31 AM |
I have often thought of scouting for Whitetail Deer as the hunt before the hunt. The task of hunting for sign that will eventually and hopefully tell me where to hunt. Unfortunately for many people new to the world of hunting and some (hunters that should know better), scouting is something usually thought of as taking place before the actual hunting season.
If we think of scouting as something separate from hunting, then we tend to put some limits on our ability to accomplish the task at hand, harvesting game.
In my opinion, scouting and hunting are one in the same. Without one there cannot be the other or at least not to the extent of accomplishing our goals as we intended from the start.
Not only should scouting take place before the season but also extend into it. The sign will change and there are many factors that cause it to change. Weather, food sources, the rut, and hunting pressure are just a few things that will cause deer to deviate from a pattern. When this happens, all the old sign you found before season does you no good. We have all found some great deer sign, set up to hunt over it and see nothing. Chances are something altered the pattern. To figure out where they went you need to do more scouting.
One example was an early Wisconsin Bow hunt. I started scouting the farm we intended to hunt in July and August. I started looking around the crop field edges for trails leading into the fields. One secluded 40 acre soy bean field at the back of the property had everything I was looking for. Consecutive scouting trips turned up several sightings of at least four shooter bucks using the field. In fear of spooking any deer off I gave the scouting a rest for the last two weeks before opening day. First light opening day found me sitting in a funnel leading from the river bottom to the field. That weekend I put a total 16 hours in that stand and never seen a single deer. Before heading for home that Sunday evening, I decided to get out of my stand early and see what I could find. What happened in two weeks that moved the deer from the field? The sign I was now seeing was the same sign I saw two weeks ago, nothing new. This little afternoon scouting trip turned up some valuable information. What I found and learned was the beans had begun to turn and dry out in that two week period. As I continued to scout the field edge for sign, I found an area where the bean field met a corn field. There is what I'’m looking for, Corn knocked to the ground in large areas, tracks everywhere and a few new scrapes along the edge. It seems that the beans were no longer what the deer were feeding on, in that two week time slot they moved to the corn. I found a nice little bottle neck in the corner of the corn field and relocated my stand there. The first evening in that stand yielded a nice Wisconsin 12 point. I know some guys that will hunt the same sign till the season is over and tell you they have no Idea what went wrong, all the sign was there.
Don'’t get caught sticking with one game plan and do not be afraid to come out of that stand during season to get in a little more scouting. It just might be the best move you will ever make.
If we think of scouting as something separate from hunting, then we tend to put some limits on our ability to accomplish the task at hand, harvesting game.
In my opinion, scouting and hunting are one in the same. Without one there cannot be the other or at least not to the extent of accomplishing our goals as we intended from the start.
Not only should scouting take place before the season but also extend into it. The sign will change and there are many factors that cause it to change. Weather, food sources, the rut, and hunting pressure are just a few things that will cause deer to deviate from a pattern. When this happens, all the old sign you found before season does you no good. We have all found some great deer sign, set up to hunt over it and see nothing. Chances are something altered the pattern. To figure out where they went you need to do more scouting.
One example was an early Wisconsin Bow hunt. I started scouting the farm we intended to hunt in July and August. I started looking around the crop field edges for trails leading into the fields. One secluded 40 acre soy bean field at the back of the property had everything I was looking for. Consecutive scouting trips turned up several sightings of at least four shooter bucks using the field. In fear of spooking any deer off I gave the scouting a rest for the last two weeks before opening day. First light opening day found me sitting in a funnel leading from the river bottom to the field. That weekend I put a total 16 hours in that stand and never seen a single deer. Before heading for home that Sunday evening, I decided to get out of my stand early and see what I could find. What happened in two weeks that moved the deer from the field? The sign I was now seeing was the same sign I saw two weeks ago, nothing new. This little afternoon scouting trip turned up some valuable information. What I found and learned was the beans had begun to turn and dry out in that two week period. As I continued to scout the field edge for sign, I found an area where the bean field met a corn field. There is what I'’m looking for, Corn knocked to the ground in large areas, tracks everywhere and a few new scrapes along the edge. It seems that the beans were no longer what the deer were feeding on, in that two week time slot they moved to the corn. I found a nice little bottle neck in the corner of the corn field and relocated my stand there. The first evening in that stand yielded a nice Wisconsin 12 point. I know some guys that will hunt the same sign till the season is over and tell you they have no Idea what went wrong, all the sign was there.
Don'’t get caught sticking with one game plan and do not be afraid to come out of that stand during season to get in a little more scouting. It just might be the best move you will ever make.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Shooting The long Shot
8:20 AM |
Growing up hunting the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and now the wood lots and farm fields of Wisconsin, I have never had to shoot much past 100 yards. Now that I am thinking of heading out west and trying my hand at Mule Deer or even Elk, I know I will need to practice shots at a much longer rang. With practice I think a comfortable shot might be 200-300 yards. In an attempt to find more info on improving my shot distance, I turned to the internet as I often do. Recently I came across some sites offering videos and DVD's that claim to have you shooting and hitting out to 800+ yards. HMMMM?
My first thought was the usual one for me, some guys trying to make a buck selling their products. Then I gave it a little thought. I know there are modifications you can make to your rifle and it will perform better. I know you can find or load your own cartridges that will perform better in that gun. You can also buy optics that perform better then what you already use. So, is it possible to learn to shoot and hit targets out to 800+ yards? I guess it can be done.
Many of our fine highly trained military personnel are trained to do just that. Although I am not sure that is the kind of instruction you will get from a video or DVD. Then I also pondered the idea, even if you never shoot out to 800 yards, maybe 400-500 is attainable with the right instruction and practice.
Now that was a long first thought. On to my second thought. I know some people and sure anyone that reads this does too, the guys that probably should never even attempt shooting that far. I am talking 200-300-400-500 or more yards. I am afraid that shooting courses being offered in a video format, may in fact have some people believing they can shoot whatever they can see. This of course, will lead to allot of misses or worst yet, wounded unrecovered animals. Is this something the sport of hunting needs? Just as sure as I'm sitting here writing this, someone will be thinking "I can shoot a mile if I learn what this video teaches.
Now, I am not saying you can not learn from a video or even that they are poorly done. I have not seen one of them yet. I just happen to know a little about human nature and tendencies.
With that knowledge, I can see many long range shots being taken in the field that should probably never be tried. Just because an instructor on a video can shoot 800 yards, does not mean everyone should, or can. I sure hope they also teach people to be responsible enough to know their limits...
My first thought was the usual one for me, some guys trying to make a buck selling their products. Then I gave it a little thought. I know there are modifications you can make to your rifle and it will perform better. I know you can find or load your own cartridges that will perform better in that gun. You can also buy optics that perform better then what you already use. So, is it possible to learn to shoot and hit targets out to 800+ yards? I guess it can be done.
Many of our fine highly trained military personnel are trained to do just that. Although I am not sure that is the kind of instruction you will get from a video or DVD. Then I also pondered the idea, even if you never shoot out to 800 yards, maybe 400-500 is attainable with the right instruction and practice.
Now that was a long first thought. On to my second thought. I know some people and sure anyone that reads this does too, the guys that probably should never even attempt shooting that far. I am talking 200-300-400-500 or more yards. I am afraid that shooting courses being offered in a video format, may in fact have some people believing they can shoot whatever they can see. This of course, will lead to allot of misses or worst yet, wounded unrecovered animals. Is this something the sport of hunting needs? Just as sure as I'm sitting here writing this, someone will be thinking "I can shoot a mile if I learn what this video teaches.
Now, I am not saying you can not learn from a video or even that they are poorly done. I have not seen one of them yet. I just happen to know a little about human nature and tendencies.
With that knowledge, I can see many long range shots being taken in the field that should probably never be tried. Just because an instructor on a video can shoot 800 yards, does not mean everyone should, or can. I sure hope they also teach people to be responsible enough to know their limits...
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