Successful Opening Weekend
Opening Weekend of rifle season went off without a hitch! Friday started off with a trip back home to do laundry and shower before the big weekend set in. We had been bow hunting the days prior and needed to clean up a bit a swap bow gear for rifle gear. Once we dropped off our bow hunting gear and finished our chores we headed back to the woods. Everything was prepared for what we hoped was going to be a successful 2018 rifle season. We spent the rest of Friday getting all our gear ready. Refilling our DDW scent control, Tinks attractants and getting our day bags ready for the long haul. We finished off the night with a delicious chicken fried chicken dinner with mashed potatoes and biscuits. (Just because you’re in the woods doesn’t mean you can’t eat well!)
Saturday morning started off early. The Hillbilly Huntin Team set the alarms to go off at 4 AM and were up the second they went off. Too much excitement to hit the snooze button on opening morning! After our morning pot of communal coffee we strapped up our gear and ran a com-check on our radios. We determined we would check-in on the hour in case anyone needed help with a deer down but otherwise we would stay radio silent. As always, we sprayed each other down with DDW, wished each other luck on the morning hunt and headed to our vehicles.
I reached my stand around 5:30 and sat down to let the woods settle around me. I grabbed my Tinks 69 Doe-in-Rut scent sticks and headed out to place them down the ridge from me. I typically like to run a line of scent around 50-100 yards long around the area I’m expecting the deer to be walking. After that I headed back to my stand and sprayed down with DDW again as I had worked up a little sweat walking about. I settled into my stand and prepared for what I hoped would be a successful morning!
They daylight was finally starting to fight off the darkness and the woods were starting to wake up. The first thing I heard was a family of what I assume was 1000 squirrels that woke up and started funneling out of a group of oak trees about 50 yards down the ridge from me. They were scurrying about, searching for acorns and making it pretty impossible to hear anything else. About that time 10-15 turkey dropped out of the roost right above me. Scared me to death! Any amount of sleepiness I was feeling was quickly gone after that!
7 AM rolls around and I catch some movement out of the corner of my eye. A little Chipmunk had popped his head up from the log near me and was headed my way. He circled around the log for 4-5 minutes and I was just enjoying his company. He had no idea I was there but I was having a good time videotaping him searching for snacks. That’s when I heard him.
Directly down the ridge from me I hear a branch snap. I was so desensitized to the sound from that area because of the squirrels I almost missed it. I slowly looked up from the chipmunk to see a nice 8 point walking straight up the scent line I put out earlier. I couldn’t have been more excited! No matter how many deer you have killed, you always get the adrenaline rush when you see a deer coming in! I waited for his head to move behind a tree and then I raised my rifle. He kept a good pace up the ridge and as he got closer and closer, I had to really fight the nerves and stay calm. I wanted him to turn to give me a better shot because he was walking straight at me. The Tinks caught his attention again as he was about 30 yards from me and he finally presented a shot I knew I couldn’t miss. At that moment I grunted at him with my mouth and he stopped, Kaboom!
I knew immediately it was good shot. I’ve never had a deer run on me since I started using my Remington 30-06 and this time was no different. He hunched up on his back legs and fell instantly. Now I understand that most people keep quite in the woods but after I saw him fall I let out my ceremonial cheer! The rest of the morning consisted of field dressing and the exhausting process dragging deer uphill. I fired up my radio at 8 AM to spread the good news and to my enjoyment, I was not the only member to tag out that morning!
-Cheeto
Saturday morning started off early. The Hillbilly Huntin Team set the alarms to go off at 4 AM and were up the second they went off. Too much excitement to hit the snooze button on opening morning! After our morning pot of communal coffee we strapped up our gear and ran a com-check on our radios. We determined we would check-in on the hour in case anyone needed help with a deer down but otherwise we would stay radio silent. As always, we sprayed each other down with DDW, wished each other luck on the morning hunt and headed to our vehicles.
I reached my stand around 5:30 and sat down to let the woods settle around me. I grabbed my Tinks 69 Doe-in-Rut scent sticks and headed out to place them down the ridge from me. I typically like to run a line of scent around 50-100 yards long around the area I’m expecting the deer to be walking. After that I headed back to my stand and sprayed down with DDW again as I had worked up a little sweat walking about. I settled into my stand and prepared for what I hoped would be a successful morning!
They daylight was finally starting to fight off the darkness and the woods were starting to wake up. The first thing I heard was a family of what I assume was 1000 squirrels that woke up and started funneling out of a group of oak trees about 50 yards down the ridge from me. They were scurrying about, searching for acorns and making it pretty impossible to hear anything else. About that time 10-15 turkey dropped out of the roost right above me. Scared me to death! Any amount of sleepiness I was feeling was quickly gone after that!
7 AM rolls around and I catch some movement out of the corner of my eye. A little Chipmunk had popped his head up from the log near me and was headed my way. He circled around the log for 4-5 minutes and I was just enjoying his company. He had no idea I was there but I was having a good time videotaping him searching for snacks. That’s when I heard him.
Directly down the ridge from me I hear a branch snap. I was so desensitized to the sound from that area because of the squirrels I almost missed it. I slowly looked up from the chipmunk to see a nice 8 point walking straight up the scent line I put out earlier. I couldn’t have been more excited! No matter how many deer you have killed, you always get the adrenaline rush when you see a deer coming in! I waited for his head to move behind a tree and then I raised my rifle. He kept a good pace up the ridge and as he got closer and closer, I had to really fight the nerves and stay calm. I wanted him to turn to give me a better shot because he was walking straight at me. The Tinks caught his attention again as he was about 30 yards from me and he finally presented a shot I knew I couldn’t miss. At that moment I grunted at him with my mouth and he stopped, Kaboom!
I knew immediately it was good shot. I’ve never had a deer run on me since I started using my Remington 30-06 and this time was no different. He hunched up on his back legs and fell instantly. Now I understand that most people keep quite in the woods but after I saw him fall I let out my ceremonial cheer! The rest of the morning consisted of field dressing and the exhausting process dragging deer uphill. I fired up my radio at 8 AM to spread the good news and to my enjoyment, I was not the only member to tag out that morning!
-Cheeto
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It’s not about the kill, it is about the hunt, but putting a tag on a 8 point opening morning is still awesome!
2017 bow season was okay, I had some deer come close enough to shoot, but chose not to, and other came too close.
So Friday evening I scouted a new rub line to a prime scrape area, and decided to hunt the fresh scrapes opening morning.
Deer camp was great, fixed a big meal for everyone Friday evening, not much sleep, but there never is Friday night.
Saturday morning we got up to some fresh coffee, and prepared to layer up, spraying Dead Down Wind Evolve scent control on each layer. Left camp for the woods, everything ready I tried to sneak into my new spot. 50 feet into the woods I see the silhouette of a deer and hear him snort, I clicked my head lamp and 25 feet in front of me was a massive buck standing broadside, wow! Too bad it was 5:30 am, I just froze, flipped my light off and waited for him to move, which he finally did, but I did not hear him go too far. I slipped down the ridge, going by my bow stand, and flipped my light on and there was a doe bedded at the base of a tree, within 15 feet. I was getting excited.
I slipped down to the scape area, found my spot and prepped for daylight. Sue enough I heard what I thought was the big buck and doe running toward me, (it was now legal shooting hours). But they stopped short in the cedars, all I could see was feet. They moved to my left, and once out of sound I moved on down the draw. I reapplied the DDW spray, and used Tinks 69 along the bottom of the draw, and sat down to wait. Shortly I heard a shot from Cheeto’s direction, I readjust and prepared myself for whatever, (I love deer season, and we really like venison, so shooter buck or doe I am ready), I look up and there is a nice 8 point walking right down the bottom right to the area I sprayed Tinks. I quickly determined he was a shooter for me anyway and the Mauser 30-06 but him down, I was so pumped I gave the YEEEEHAW yell.
I saw 2 does on a run during the drag out, but was not ready, I was able to tag a young doe that afternoon. And help the Hillbilly with his doe.
I continued to bow hunt but I was looking for mature does and let the younger ones walk a couple of times, so I consider it a successful season.
I am able to use what was taught to me and combine it with great products like Dead Down Wind and Tinks, to fill my freezer for 2017 season
-Papa Frazier
2017 bow season was okay, I had some deer come close enough to shoot, but chose not to, and other came too close.
So Friday evening I scouted a new rub line to a prime scrape area, and decided to hunt the fresh scrapes opening morning.
Deer camp was great, fixed a big meal for everyone Friday evening, not much sleep, but there never is Friday night.
Saturday morning we got up to some fresh coffee, and prepared to layer up, spraying Dead Down Wind Evolve scent control on each layer. Left camp for the woods, everything ready I tried to sneak into my new spot. 50 feet into the woods I see the silhouette of a deer and hear him snort, I clicked my head lamp and 25 feet in front of me was a massive buck standing broadside, wow! Too bad it was 5:30 am, I just froze, flipped my light off and waited for him to move, which he finally did, but I did not hear him go too far. I slipped down the ridge, going by my bow stand, and flipped my light on and there was a doe bedded at the base of a tree, within 15 feet. I was getting excited.
I slipped down to the scape area, found my spot and prepped for daylight. Sue enough I heard what I thought was the big buck and doe running toward me, (it was now legal shooting hours). But they stopped short in the cedars, all I could see was feet. They moved to my left, and once out of sound I moved on down the draw. I reapplied the DDW spray, and used Tinks 69 along the bottom of the draw, and sat down to wait. Shortly I heard a shot from Cheeto’s direction, I readjust and prepared myself for whatever, (I love deer season, and we really like venison, so shooter buck or doe I am ready), I look up and there is a nice 8 point walking right down the bottom right to the area I sprayed Tinks. I quickly determined he was a shooter for me anyway and the Mauser 30-06 but him down, I was so pumped I gave the YEEEEHAW yell.
I saw 2 does on a run during the drag out, but was not ready, I was able to tag a young doe that afternoon. And help the Hillbilly with his doe.
I continued to bow hunt but I was looking for mature does and let the younger ones walk a couple of times, so I consider it a successful season.
I am able to use what was taught to me and combine it with great products like Dead Down Wind and Tinks, to fill my freezer for 2017 season
-Papa Frazier
2017 was a successful year and I didn’t fill my buck tag. I can still say it was successful because I passed on bucks that I had a shot at in bow range but was after a certain buck I had on my trail camera and I never got a shot at him. Bow season consisted of lots of close encounters with bucks that didn’t fall into my shooter list but they were still nice bucks. I did tag a doe with my crossbow before rifle season.
The Friday before opening day I had to make a run to town to shower and do laundry since I had been camping the entire week before. Feeling refreshed I made it back to camp Friday night for lots of laughs and some good dinner before getting everything ready for my favorite holiday of the year “opening day”.
When my first alarm went off I jumped out of bed and started getting things ready and drinking coffee. I sprayed my body down with Dead Down Wind put my base layer on sprayed down again then my outside layer on and sprayed down again. We said our good lucks and made our way to our stands.
I was hunting off a down tree where I knew deer funneled through. I had hung Tink’s 69 in a circle around the down tree about 30 yards and at first light I had a little spike walk within 10 yards and out of sight. About 15 minutes later I had 3 does walk down the ridge right to me as I watched them get closer and closer the lead doe was the mature on and at about 10 feet I decided to shoot her. I put my crosshairs on her nose and pulled the trigger and all I heard was a click. I attempted to unload and reload the round and at about 7 feet I was busted and they ran off. Bummer but I knew I was in a good location.
A few minutes after that I heard some crunching across the bottom from me and when I looked I could see 2 bucks and 3 does walking down the trail. Neither of the bucks were shooters and I was trying to pick out the most mature doe when I heard running behind me and I turned around to see a young doe stop at 20 yards with her tail up I thought she had busted me. I lowered my rifle and just watched her start to walk down the trail until she took off running. I was so consumed with watching her that I didn’t realize a monster buck had been behind her about 50 yards. When she started running he started running and that’s when I looked and saw him. I raised my rifle and tried to get him to stop because I couldn’t get a clear shot with him running. He ran out of sight without me ever taking a shot.
I had heard two shots earlier so I turned on the radio to find out that papa and cheeto had both shot bucks. I headed out of the woods to help them with their deer. After getting them back to camp I headed back out with no luck. I met up with papa at camp to check my maps and decide where I would hunt that evening.
I told papa that I wanted to go check a ridge that I knew always had does traveling on it so we jumped in the truck and headed that way. Before getting to the ridge we saw an older hunter at his truck and we stopped to say hi. He had shot a spike and had forgot his rope at his house so we decided to help him get his deer before heading to the ridge I wanted to hunt. We sprayed down with dead down wind again but before we made it 10 yards into the woods I saw 3 does and picked the biggest one and took the shot. She dropped and we went to get her when I was field dressing her a guy on a 4 wheeler showed up and asked if we wanted help getting her out and we said sure. We loaded her up on his 4 wheeler and he got her out of the woods for us.
Deer season isn’t always about who shoots the biggest buck it’s about the memories made and we made a lot on opening weekend. As hunters we should all help each other out when we have the chance it was nice not to drag my deer out since she made the fourth one of the day that I would have helped drag out. You never know when someone may need something including yourself and you may make a new friend or two by offering a helping hand.
Stay safe be kind good luck and we will see you in the field.
-The Hillbilly
The Friday before opening day I had to make a run to town to shower and do laundry since I had been camping the entire week before. Feeling refreshed I made it back to camp Friday night for lots of laughs and some good dinner before getting everything ready for my favorite holiday of the year “opening day”.
When my first alarm went off I jumped out of bed and started getting things ready and drinking coffee. I sprayed my body down with Dead Down Wind put my base layer on sprayed down again then my outside layer on and sprayed down again. We said our good lucks and made our way to our stands.
I was hunting off a down tree where I knew deer funneled through. I had hung Tink’s 69 in a circle around the down tree about 30 yards and at first light I had a little spike walk within 10 yards and out of sight. About 15 minutes later I had 3 does walk down the ridge right to me as I watched them get closer and closer the lead doe was the mature on and at about 10 feet I decided to shoot her. I put my crosshairs on her nose and pulled the trigger and all I heard was a click. I attempted to unload and reload the round and at about 7 feet I was busted and they ran off. Bummer but I knew I was in a good location.
A few minutes after that I heard some crunching across the bottom from me and when I looked I could see 2 bucks and 3 does walking down the trail. Neither of the bucks were shooters and I was trying to pick out the most mature doe when I heard running behind me and I turned around to see a young doe stop at 20 yards with her tail up I thought she had busted me. I lowered my rifle and just watched her start to walk down the trail until she took off running. I was so consumed with watching her that I didn’t realize a monster buck had been behind her about 50 yards. When she started running he started running and that’s when I looked and saw him. I raised my rifle and tried to get him to stop because I couldn’t get a clear shot with him running. He ran out of sight without me ever taking a shot.
I had heard two shots earlier so I turned on the radio to find out that papa and cheeto had both shot bucks. I headed out of the woods to help them with their deer. After getting them back to camp I headed back out with no luck. I met up with papa at camp to check my maps and decide where I would hunt that evening.
I told papa that I wanted to go check a ridge that I knew always had does traveling on it so we jumped in the truck and headed that way. Before getting to the ridge we saw an older hunter at his truck and we stopped to say hi. He had shot a spike and had forgot his rope at his house so we decided to help him get his deer before heading to the ridge I wanted to hunt. We sprayed down with dead down wind again but before we made it 10 yards into the woods I saw 3 does and picked the biggest one and took the shot. She dropped and we went to get her when I was field dressing her a guy on a 4 wheeler showed up and asked if we wanted help getting her out and we said sure. We loaded her up on his 4 wheeler and he got her out of the woods for us.
Deer season isn’t always about who shoots the biggest buck it’s about the memories made and we made a lot on opening weekend. As hunters we should all help each other out when we have the chance it was nice not to drag my deer out since she made the fourth one of the day that I would have helped drag out. You never know when someone may need something including yourself and you may make a new friend or two by offering a helping hand.
Stay safe be kind good luck and we will see you in the field.
-The Hillbilly
Moon Phases
Most hunters know that the best times to hunt are the hours around sunrise and sunset due to those times being when you see the most action. That’s not always the case and you will find and see deer at all hours of the day because they do move but there is normally more activity in the hours around sunrise and sunset. But some of the best and most successful hunters know specific days and times that deer will be moving and on their feet they know it because they are experienced and understand the specific monthly phases of the moon and they apply it to their hunt strategy.
This isn’t something new, it’s called the solunar theory; the solunar theory is that animals and fish are more active during certain periods of time due to the moons position in the sky. This theory says that the best times to hunt or fish is when the moon is directly overhead or underfoot. When the moon is in one of these two positions they call it a major activity period. When the moon is rising or setting is another activity time and it is called minor activity.
This theory has been tested and re-tested and records compared to the moon phase show this theory to be accurate. Throughout all the research it’s been proven that during a new moon phase the effects are the strongest. I actually use this and have applied it to my hunting strategy and it has paid off. Nothing is perfect and I can’t say if you hunt during a major period during a new moon you are guaranteed to shoot a record deer or even see one. I can see from my personal experience it helps your odds of seeing deer activity.
Let’s take this to the next step and apply it to your regular mindset of when the most deer activity occurs. If you remember from the first of this article I said most activity occurs during the hours around sunrise and sunset right? Well look for a day that you have a major or minor period that falls around or at the same time as sunrise or set and you will see the intensity of the solunar period amplified and the activity increased. I plan hunts around when these times match up, if I am chasing a specific buck I know my best opportunity is going to be when I can stack everything in my favor. Does it happen often no it doesn’t but when it does you see the difference if you are lucky and are in the woods.
You are probably asking yourself how and why the lunar cycle or commonly referred to as moon phase make a difference on deer, fish, birds, and other animals. From the readings and research I have done since I’m no scientist it’s because of the gravitational pull on the earth and it is greater during the major and minor times. From my understanding the gravitational pull creates a pressure that makes the animals feel like they have to be up and feeding. Have you ever looked out across a field and seen deer feeding and a weird time? I have and then I will look and a moon phase colander and see that it was during a major or minor period and I then know it’s not a weird time it’s what should be expected. Finding deer on their feet during major and minor times is normal.
If you are like most hunters you can’t hunt every day and you have to plan out vacation or days off well in advance. You plan your days off gambling on if the weather will be good for hunting and what you think will work best for your schedule. I can look at a colander with the moon phase and figure up the major and minor times and then look for the days that have those in conjunction with sunrise or sunset and plan a year in advance to what days I want off. Try it do your own tests and see if you notice more activity during these times.
Sick days and vacation days get used more during hunting season than any other time of year for me call it buck fever or that my arm is in a sling when the moon aligns and everything falls into place I’m not going to be at work I will be on stand facing a trial of wits with a mature buck and if I win his antlers will go on my wall. Am I encouraging you to call in sick to work or burn a vacation day no I’m not but I know most of you will so I want to make sure you aren’t wasting a day. Can you ever say a day was wasted when it was spent in the woods? I don’t think so but that is another conversation for another day. Be safe, good luck, and I will see you in the woods.
This isn’t something new, it’s called the solunar theory; the solunar theory is that animals and fish are more active during certain periods of time due to the moons position in the sky. This theory says that the best times to hunt or fish is when the moon is directly overhead or underfoot. When the moon is in one of these two positions they call it a major activity period. When the moon is rising or setting is another activity time and it is called minor activity.
This theory has been tested and re-tested and records compared to the moon phase show this theory to be accurate. Throughout all the research it’s been proven that during a new moon phase the effects are the strongest. I actually use this and have applied it to my hunting strategy and it has paid off. Nothing is perfect and I can’t say if you hunt during a major period during a new moon you are guaranteed to shoot a record deer or even see one. I can see from my personal experience it helps your odds of seeing deer activity.
Let’s take this to the next step and apply it to your regular mindset of when the most deer activity occurs. If you remember from the first of this article I said most activity occurs during the hours around sunrise and sunset right? Well look for a day that you have a major or minor period that falls around or at the same time as sunrise or set and you will see the intensity of the solunar period amplified and the activity increased. I plan hunts around when these times match up, if I am chasing a specific buck I know my best opportunity is going to be when I can stack everything in my favor. Does it happen often no it doesn’t but when it does you see the difference if you are lucky and are in the woods.
You are probably asking yourself how and why the lunar cycle or commonly referred to as moon phase make a difference on deer, fish, birds, and other animals. From the readings and research I have done since I’m no scientist it’s because of the gravitational pull on the earth and it is greater during the major and minor times. From my understanding the gravitational pull creates a pressure that makes the animals feel like they have to be up and feeding. Have you ever looked out across a field and seen deer feeding and a weird time? I have and then I will look and a moon phase colander and see that it was during a major or minor period and I then know it’s not a weird time it’s what should be expected. Finding deer on their feet during major and minor times is normal.
If you are like most hunters you can’t hunt every day and you have to plan out vacation or days off well in advance. You plan your days off gambling on if the weather will be good for hunting and what you think will work best for your schedule. I can look at a colander with the moon phase and figure up the major and minor times and then look for the days that have those in conjunction with sunrise or sunset and plan a year in advance to what days I want off. Try it do your own tests and see if you notice more activity during these times.
Sick days and vacation days get used more during hunting season than any other time of year for me call it buck fever or that my arm is in a sling when the moon aligns and everything falls into place I’m not going to be at work I will be on stand facing a trial of wits with a mature buck and if I win his antlers will go on my wall. Am I encouraging you to call in sick to work or burn a vacation day no I’m not but I know most of you will so I want to make sure you aren’t wasting a day. Can you ever say a day was wasted when it was spent in the woods? I don’t think so but that is another conversation for another day. Be safe, good luck, and I will see you in the woods.
Factors
Let’s take a look at some of the biggest factors that can make or break a hunt and how you can make sure to keep the cards in your favor. Weather, location, scent, equipment, and tactics are some of the factors, we don’t have control of all of them but we can make everything work in our favor. Just like every article I write I’m sure I will get off on a different aspect of it but this is a good start.
The weather is a factor that nobody can control and most the time won’t get predicted correctly. The best thing you can do when it comes to weather is plan for every condition you can think of. For example if the weatherman says it’s going to be cloudy with rain plan for it then have a backup plan for thunderstorms and clear bluebird sunny day. I like to watch the barometer, over the years I have learned how the deer are affected by the pressure change and that makes it so I’m relying less on the weatherman and more on my knowledge and experiences. That’s all great if you have learned to be your own weather man but your location plays just as much a role as the weather.
The location you choose to hunt is probably the most important factor in hunting. There are multiple aspects to the word and what comes to mind when you say location. For example stand placement, hunting rights, buck to doe ratio, and deer herd population. Now saying that let's dig into it a little more if the property you are hunting has a very small deer population or none at all your chance of success is slim that’s a given but change it up just a little and you have a fair population but the buck to doe ratio is off. When that happens a lot of the tactics you or I would use to hunt aren’t going to be as effective and that also will play a part in your success. But say you have permission to hunt property that has a good deer population and the right buck to doe ratio but you have your stand set up in a bad spot you might as well be on property with a bad buck to doe ratio.
We as hunters can selectively harvest deer to help the population grow and keep the buck to doe ratio were it needs to be. That is called quality deer management and it is a growing trend with hunters all over the country and that is why we see deer numbers rising. Every hunter can help and make a difference when it comes to quality deer management not one hunter can do it on their own it takes a group effort to make it work. Stand placement is something that is learned and figured out by scouting studying and trial and error. You can get suggestions from other hunters and they can help guide you and point you in the right direction but it takes learning deer to know exactly where to put a stand and even then you won’t always be right 100% of the time. Because every situation is different I can’t sit here and tell you what placement is right or wrong but I can tell you weather and conditions are a lot to determining stand placement.
So we have the property that has a good deer population with the right buck to doe ratio the correct and stand placement for the conditions so what’s next? Scent and I’m not just talking about the scent as in deer lure I’m talking also about the scent as in odor that we produce and bring into the woods with us. First in this category I will talk about the major of the two and that is odor. The reason why it is more important than scent lure is because you don’t need a deer lure I know of guys that don’t put out anything because they don’t want deer to know anything is out of the ordinary and they are successful but using an odor eliminator product is almost mandatory for you to be successful.
When you walk into your perfectly placed stand you are tracking through the property and taking odor with you from the second you stepped foot into the woods or field. You prevent this by using an odor eliminator my personal favorite and preference is Dead Down Wind I swear by it and so does my entire team. We use it all; body wash, laundry detergent, field spray, rinse free shampoo, foot powder, and face paint. We cover ourselves and all our equipment in it and make ourselves as scent free as possible. Dead Down Wind has been tested and proven to work my firsthand experience with it has made it so I am a believer and will use no other scent eliminator product.
The second aspect to scent is the deer lure when it comes to deer lure not all products are created equal. Myself and my team all use Tink’s products the key to it is that you have to use the right type of lure for the situation and what I love so much about Tink’s products other than that they work is that they have everything you need lure wise from early season buck and doe urine, to curiosity attractant scents for the entire season, the rut is covered but dominate buck and doe in heat urine, to post rut with trophy buck urine and that’s just a small amount of the lures they have. Not only do they have you covered by every type of scent of lure you could possibly need they have it in different forms such as original real bottled urine, synthetic urine, arousal, and smoking scent wicks. If you can think of a way to apply a scent to hunting they have it for you.
When you put out a lure you have to make sure to use the right lure for the timing of your hunt. Not only that but when you throw in calling and your setup you have to think about what you are trying to make the deer think in going on and make it as realistic as possible for example if you are rattling you want to set up two different lures from a buck and throw in a doe in heat lure so it smells like you have two bucks and a doe. They hear bucks fighting and they smell two bucks but they also smell the doe the bucks are fighting over. That brings us to our second to last point of interest equipment.
When it comes to equipment every hunter has a preference and I’m not going to run that into the ground but making sure it isn’t damaged and is working properly. Season after season all equipment takes a beating and get wear and tear to it, sometimes it needs to be replaced other times it just needs cleaned and a little bit of work done to it. Some equipment is better than others by that I mean it sound more realistic or is authentic. For example I carry two different grunt calls but I have multiple grunt calls that are now toys for my daughters. I have one grunt that sounds like a dominant buck and one that sounds like a young buck for the reason I described earlier. The other vital piece of equipment that I now use it real antlers over fake for rattling, the key on that is to have two different size sides of antlers. And just like the lures and the grunts the reason is that you want it to sound like it is two different bucks fighting. Antlers have different densities and therefore they make a different sound, you and I might not be able to tell the difference between the sound different antlers make but deer can. Using the right equipment makes a difference in how your hunt will play out so try out different calls and gear to see what works best and don’t believe everything you see on tv.
The last factor I’m going to talk about is tactics; tactics are the way you choose to hunt. Some example of tactics are hunting from a ground blind, tree stand, still hunting, deer drives, calling, and run and gunning. There is no one tactic that is better than the other they all have a time and place but you have to know how to apply them to your hunting strategy. Every hunt should have a strategy and a plan if it doesn’t you are less likely to be successful even if you have all the other factors perfect the tactic you use to approach the hunt needs to be the correct one. If you try to run and gun when you should have been in a tree stand you will probably spook more deer than you ever see. You can simplify the tactics by putting them into two categories aggressive and non-aggressive tactics. Run and gunning, deer drives, and some calling techniques are all aggressive tactics were as stand hunting whether it be tree stand or ground blind, and still hunting are all non-aggressive tactics. There is a time and place for both categories then deciding the technique out of the category becomes the decision.
I will close this article by lumping everything we just talked about into what I like to call this is hunting strategy. The hunting strategy should include where you are going to hunt, how you are going to hunt, the gear you are going to use, the odor prevention you will use, the lure and calling you planning and the plan you have to get in and out of the location you are going to hunt. When you build a hunting strategy for every hunt you go on not just a season you will start seeing a difference in your hunts and you will be able to build on that. Every hunt is different so that means every hunt strategy will be a little different and if you write them down before the hunt and after the hunt you come back and write down how everything went you will be able to put together a plan and be able to learn from every hunt. The key to hunting in general is to learn from everything you do when it comes to hunting and as you learn from one hunt to the next you will see your deer sightings go up and you will start filling more tags. Good luck, stay safe and we will see you in the woods.
The weather is a factor that nobody can control and most the time won’t get predicted correctly. The best thing you can do when it comes to weather is plan for every condition you can think of. For example if the weatherman says it’s going to be cloudy with rain plan for it then have a backup plan for thunderstorms and clear bluebird sunny day. I like to watch the barometer, over the years I have learned how the deer are affected by the pressure change and that makes it so I’m relying less on the weatherman and more on my knowledge and experiences. That’s all great if you have learned to be your own weather man but your location plays just as much a role as the weather.
The location you choose to hunt is probably the most important factor in hunting. There are multiple aspects to the word and what comes to mind when you say location. For example stand placement, hunting rights, buck to doe ratio, and deer herd population. Now saying that let's dig into it a little more if the property you are hunting has a very small deer population or none at all your chance of success is slim that’s a given but change it up just a little and you have a fair population but the buck to doe ratio is off. When that happens a lot of the tactics you or I would use to hunt aren’t going to be as effective and that also will play a part in your success. But say you have permission to hunt property that has a good deer population and the right buck to doe ratio but you have your stand set up in a bad spot you might as well be on property with a bad buck to doe ratio.
We as hunters can selectively harvest deer to help the population grow and keep the buck to doe ratio were it needs to be. That is called quality deer management and it is a growing trend with hunters all over the country and that is why we see deer numbers rising. Every hunter can help and make a difference when it comes to quality deer management not one hunter can do it on their own it takes a group effort to make it work. Stand placement is something that is learned and figured out by scouting studying and trial and error. You can get suggestions from other hunters and they can help guide you and point you in the right direction but it takes learning deer to know exactly where to put a stand and even then you won’t always be right 100% of the time. Because every situation is different I can’t sit here and tell you what placement is right or wrong but I can tell you weather and conditions are a lot to determining stand placement.
So we have the property that has a good deer population with the right buck to doe ratio the correct and stand placement for the conditions so what’s next? Scent and I’m not just talking about the scent as in deer lure I’m talking also about the scent as in odor that we produce and bring into the woods with us. First in this category I will talk about the major of the two and that is odor. The reason why it is more important than scent lure is because you don’t need a deer lure I know of guys that don’t put out anything because they don’t want deer to know anything is out of the ordinary and they are successful but using an odor eliminator product is almost mandatory for you to be successful.
When you walk into your perfectly placed stand you are tracking through the property and taking odor with you from the second you stepped foot into the woods or field. You prevent this by using an odor eliminator my personal favorite and preference is Dead Down Wind I swear by it and so does my entire team. We use it all; body wash, laundry detergent, field spray, rinse free shampoo, foot powder, and face paint. We cover ourselves and all our equipment in it and make ourselves as scent free as possible. Dead Down Wind has been tested and proven to work my firsthand experience with it has made it so I am a believer and will use no other scent eliminator product.
The second aspect to scent is the deer lure when it comes to deer lure not all products are created equal. Myself and my team all use Tink’s products the key to it is that you have to use the right type of lure for the situation and what I love so much about Tink’s products other than that they work is that they have everything you need lure wise from early season buck and doe urine, to curiosity attractant scents for the entire season, the rut is covered but dominate buck and doe in heat urine, to post rut with trophy buck urine and that’s just a small amount of the lures they have. Not only do they have you covered by every type of scent of lure you could possibly need they have it in different forms such as original real bottled urine, synthetic urine, arousal, and smoking scent wicks. If you can think of a way to apply a scent to hunting they have it for you.
When you put out a lure you have to make sure to use the right lure for the timing of your hunt. Not only that but when you throw in calling and your setup you have to think about what you are trying to make the deer think in going on and make it as realistic as possible for example if you are rattling you want to set up two different lures from a buck and throw in a doe in heat lure so it smells like you have two bucks and a doe. They hear bucks fighting and they smell two bucks but they also smell the doe the bucks are fighting over. That brings us to our second to last point of interest equipment.
When it comes to equipment every hunter has a preference and I’m not going to run that into the ground but making sure it isn’t damaged and is working properly. Season after season all equipment takes a beating and get wear and tear to it, sometimes it needs to be replaced other times it just needs cleaned and a little bit of work done to it. Some equipment is better than others by that I mean it sound more realistic or is authentic. For example I carry two different grunt calls but I have multiple grunt calls that are now toys for my daughters. I have one grunt that sounds like a dominant buck and one that sounds like a young buck for the reason I described earlier. The other vital piece of equipment that I now use it real antlers over fake for rattling, the key on that is to have two different size sides of antlers. And just like the lures and the grunts the reason is that you want it to sound like it is two different bucks fighting. Antlers have different densities and therefore they make a different sound, you and I might not be able to tell the difference between the sound different antlers make but deer can. Using the right equipment makes a difference in how your hunt will play out so try out different calls and gear to see what works best and don’t believe everything you see on tv.
The last factor I’m going to talk about is tactics; tactics are the way you choose to hunt. Some example of tactics are hunting from a ground blind, tree stand, still hunting, deer drives, calling, and run and gunning. There is no one tactic that is better than the other they all have a time and place but you have to know how to apply them to your hunting strategy. Every hunt should have a strategy and a plan if it doesn’t you are less likely to be successful even if you have all the other factors perfect the tactic you use to approach the hunt needs to be the correct one. If you try to run and gun when you should have been in a tree stand you will probably spook more deer than you ever see. You can simplify the tactics by putting them into two categories aggressive and non-aggressive tactics. Run and gunning, deer drives, and some calling techniques are all aggressive tactics were as stand hunting whether it be tree stand or ground blind, and still hunting are all non-aggressive tactics. There is a time and place for both categories then deciding the technique out of the category becomes the decision.
I will close this article by lumping everything we just talked about into what I like to call this is hunting strategy. The hunting strategy should include where you are going to hunt, how you are going to hunt, the gear you are going to use, the odor prevention you will use, the lure and calling you planning and the plan you have to get in and out of the location you are going to hunt. When you build a hunting strategy for every hunt you go on not just a season you will start seeing a difference in your hunts and you will be able to build on that. Every hunt is different so that means every hunt strategy will be a little different and if you write them down before the hunt and after the hunt you come back and write down how everything went you will be able to put together a plan and be able to learn from every hunt. The key to hunting in general is to learn from everything you do when it comes to hunting and as you learn from one hunt to the next you will see your deer sightings go up and you will start filling more tags. Good luck, stay safe and we will see you in the woods.
1st Trail Camera Check
I checked cameras for the first time of 2017 after they had been out for three weeks, I did something different this year that I haven’t done in the past three years and that was make a change to my mineral recipe (always trying to make it better). So far I’m glad I did. 8000 pictures on three cameras! I put out four but one didn’t work correctly so hopefully I got that corrected and I will have pictures from that area in two weeks when I go back.
One camera had around 400 pictures on it but the reason for the small number of pictures is because they are marking trees and walking around the woods surveying for the loggers. That means there is a lot of human pressure in that area and has pushed the deer out but they still like the area so I will be leaving the mineral and camera.
Camera one had around 3000 pictures when I’m used to at most 1700 but normally only about 1000. Camera two had over 4600 pictures and that camera is normally around 2000. Camera three is the one in the logging area with around 400 pictures on it. Camera four is the camera that didn’t work. I put out a fifth camera on a trail and fence crossing for the first time in the past five years so we will see what it shows us in two weeks.
I expect to have a drop off in pictures the next time I check them because for starters it will be two weeks instead of three and secondly the does will be having fawns and staying close to them for the first week or so. I’m going to hope for somewhere around 4000 pictures in two weeks I will be happy with that. Antler growth wasn’t what I expected because of the reports I have had coming in and pictures I have seen.
Antler growth right now depends on when the deer shed their antlers and because the area I have my cameras had a warm winter the bucks shed antlers latter meaning they didn’t start growing them as early. The same places that I’m getting reports of bucks with 7 and 8 inches of antler are also seeing fawns already so that tells me since my does haven’t dropped fawns the timing of the rut was different and also I can’t base antler growth off of the reports I have been getting.
All of the deer I have seen on camera are looking very healthy and I’m pleased with that, we are in the prime time for antler growing and we should start seeing increasing reports of antler growth look for the next update on trial cameras in two weeks and I will be adding another camera most likely and that will put me at six. Stay safe, good luck, and we will see you in the woods.
