Remember, four boxes keep us free:
The soap box, the ballot box, the jury box, and the cartridge box
This statement above is more true than we know

What to do with velvet rack?

    When you get a velvet buck to preserve the velvet depends on what you want to do with it. Whatever you do you have to do it fast. Blood stops when you kill him and the velvet will slip if not taken care of fast. When it starts saving the rack will be lost.
    Taking it to the taxidermist for a shoulder or European mount gives you two options. Cape the buck out drive straight to the taxidermist for them to deal with or cape him out and put him in the freezer to give you time to get him there.
    If you’re doing it yourself take a needle and poke as many tiny holes in the velvet as you can. This takes many many many hours. When you’re doing it you’re also squeezing the antlers softly with a paper towel or rag to soak up the blood. When you get as much blood out as possible put the rack in a pan or box then cover completely in borax. Carefully squeeze and grind it in to make sure it totally covers the entire rack. So that for about 30 days. After the 30 days use an air hose and gently blow off the remaining borax.
    Your other option is freeze dried put the antlers in a frost free deep freezer for many months which kills bacteria and preserves the antlers. Much easier but takes lots of freezer space and it takes much longer.
    The method you chose should be determined by how much time you want to spend on them and how fast you want to have them on your wall. Best of luck I have never tried since I have not got a buck in velvet but I have done the research and this is what I have found.

Velvet bucks

    Have you wanted to shoot a velvet buck to hang on your wall? It’s something I really want to do! The early bow season hunting offers that chance. During early season it also gives you a chance to pattern the deer easier the bucks should still be in bachelor groups and have their summer pattern. Yes it’s more eyes, ears, and noses to bust you but with little to no hunting pressure to spook them it should be an amazing sight. It’s hot and lots of bugs but it would be hard to beat watching a group of mature bucks running together. 

    Since its hot make sure to use scent elimination to its fullest wash your clothes in scent free detergent and scent away everywhere. Make sure to spray under arms, neck area, cuff areas, waist, and between your legs along with anywhere air can escape from under your clothes heavily. Take your scent elimination of choice into the woods with you and spray yourself often since you will have probably sweated on your walk into the woods. Be cautious when you pull the bottle out make sure to look around and double check your surroundings before doing anything.

Geting someone into hunting.

Getting someone into hunting can be a challenge. If they don’t understand why that small buck and doe mean so much to you. Whether it’s your wife, girlfriend, or a kid teach them what you look for take them on scouting trips or shed hunting. If they put in work that pays off they will be more excited to hunt and about whatever deer they shoot. If you do all the scouting and they have no idea why they are sitting were they are chances are there not going to stay long. After you have taught them and showed them what rubs are let them show you and take you on scouting trips ask them questions be very supportive right or wrong. If they are wrong explain why tell them the answer and help them to understand. Take them out shooting let them practice get them comfortable with their weapon. You want them to feel like they are doing just as much as you and chances are they will get hooked just like you.

Weather they are as into hunting as you are is not important. Sharing your love for the outdoors and hunting is the important part. Your goal should be to pass on the traditions and heritage on to others so that it continues long after you and I are gone and many years to come.

Rubs part 4

Rut  bucks will be with does and most likely not be using there rub lines as much but after they breed the doe they are with they will use the rub line again to travel to feed and bed down before they are back on their feet looking for another doe.

Post rut rub line hunting will be much the same way as early pre-rut. The pressure they have received could alter if they are using the same rub lines so check for fresh rubs.

Finding rub lines that include scrapes the combination means there is above average buck travel. Look for rub lines and rubs starting near feeding areas on in travel corridors and you should start finding rubs and that will turn into rub lines.

Hopefully you have enjoyed and learned something from this trail of articles on different rubs. Rubs can tell you a lot about a buck and are to me better sign that a buck travels through an area more often the scrapes. I hope your able to use what I have told you in these articles to put one on your wall.

Triple Tragedy: Three Ohio Bucks Found Drowned With Antlers Locked

read the full story its crazy what mother nature does! http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/gallery/hunting/deer-hunting/2010/12/triple-tragedy-three-bucks-drown-antlers-locked?photo=16#node-1001378178

Rubs part 2

In this article I’m going to describe different rubs and there meaning. We will go over pre-rut, rut post-rut, velvet, rub lines, and sign post rubs as well as when the best time to hunt them and how over the next week. One article on all that would be very long and that’s not what my articles are on here. So let’s start.

A rub is when a buck rubs his antlers on a sapling, brush, or small tree. Rubbing the bark off and leaving his personal scent and making it possible for other bucks in the area know he is there and make his presence known. The side of the rub that has been rubbed is the direction the buck was walking from. They make rubs to do multiple things some rubs are just to get the velvet off there antlers, strengthen his neck, and used to mark travel routes.

A velvet rub is when the bucks antlers have just started to harden and the velvet has started to drying and cracking becoming itchy. We will talk about this process latter on this week. This rub are normally small, very hard to see and on whatever is around at the time the antlers start itching. Those rubs mean very little and will be hard to determine anything other than there is a buck in the general area. There is a good chance you won’t even notice the rubs.

Rub lines are made and used for visual and scent communication connecting feeding and bedding areas. You can normally find a rub line in travel corridors and funnels that lead to a feeding or bedding area. Bucks in velvet will travel rub lines even though they aren’t rubbing and even if they didn’t make the rub line. They do this because the rub lines are normally on travel routes they have come to trust so they will use them for years and even re rub the same trees. Normally the only reason it would change is because of dramatic change in habitat or landscape. Several generations of bucks will use these preferred travel routes indefinitely with the same rub lines. Rub lines can also connect points of interest for a buck such as dense cover, cedar patches, and water. Rub lines are not a concentration of many rubs that would be a cluster and is normally found in what is called a staging area near a food source. A rub line is probably nearby so start looking!

End Of Season Scouting

Well on Tuesday I took time to run down to my hunting grounds to do some end of season scouting and look for some sheds. I didn’t find any sheds and I took the opportunity to really scout out some areas that I felt were holding mature bucks. I wasn’t disappointed in the least. I took a few bottles of water and a note pad with a pen then started my trip by busting threw the brush following trails and rub lines and came across a bucks core area and found fresh beds and well used trails I then scouted around the area to find places he could be coming and going from. I found them but there is no way to get there without him knowing. I will continue to scout the same area now so that come bow season I’m not having to bust him out or worried about moving him away.

Right now was a great time to go the rubs are still bright and the trails are still easy to follow there are no leaves on the trees so the distance you can see has increased a ton.

When I was doing my scouting out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash of black and thought it was a hog so I moved as quiet as I could to try and get a shot when I finally got a good look at him it wasn’t a hog at all it was a black bear! No shot was taken as I watched the beast gracefully move through the woods. It was really an amazing sight getting to watch it.

The conservation department said they have some collared but they would like everyone to call in sightings of bear and mountain lions. This helps them to determine were they are and numbers I guess.

If you get the chance to do some scouting I have to say it’s very beneficial!

Identify

    Each buck will have characteristics to his rubs it could be deep gouges on the back of the tree or just that every rub is on a certain tree rubbed low to the ground. There is no telling what the characteristics will be but every buck has his own preference on tree, size of tree, and different antler characteristics.
    When you figure out a certain bucks “finger print” for a rub you will be able to track him and follow his rub line instead of trying to follow many different rubs you will be able to know what buck made what rub.
    This becomes very valuable when you have multiple bucks in your area but you want to hunt a specific buck. Figuring out his “finger print” is the hard part. When you know the type and size of tree he rubs you no longer are looking at every tree you’re looking for specific types.

Mentor Program

    I was watching a hunting show with my daughter today and they started talking about mature bucks traveling with younger bucks. To be exact they said a mature buck will travel with one younger buck using him to walk in front a ways to see his reaction and test the safety ahead.
     It got me thinking it’s like a mentor program and in theory both bucks benefit from it. The mature buck uses the younger one as another set of eyes, ears, and nose as well as using him as a decoy. The younger buck is learning what the mature buck knows and is learning how to survive. Most hunters would probably shoot the younger buck not realizing behind him hiding and staying back is the mature buck. 
    My opinion is during the rut the bucks will be apart but during pre- rut and post- rut they will be together. I’m not saying every young buck is traveling with a mature one but I am saying if you have the chance to watch do it learn to read his body language and you never know that mature one could be in the woods waiting for the all clear from the “student”.
    Stay focused even if you have decided to pass on the buck keep an eye out and ear open don’t practice drawing your bow or keeping your sights on him. There could be a mature buck watching you deer see in movements so always keep them a small and slow as possible. I would hate to miss my chance at a monster because I had my sights on a buck I had no thought on shooting.

Last Season

    Did you have the season you wanted? Do you know why? The first thing you have to do to change the outcome of your next hunt? To figure out what went wrong this season after you have figured that out you have to know how to correct it. Some things can’t be changed and are out of your control but by learning from season to season will put the cards in your favor and the factors that aren’t in your control impact will dwindle down because you have all the cards. When you look back on every hunt no matter the outcome when you learn something the hunt was a success even if you didn’t get the monster or put meat in your freezer. In the big picture you have eliminated something you won’t do again and found something to correct it. Hunting is like playing chess you have to learn what not to do to learn what works. So sit back and think about your hunt and try figuring out what went wrong and how you are going to fix it. Feel free to ask questions on here and I’m sure someone has the answer for you.

How to hunt the rut

During the rut you’re not so much trying to hunt the bucks as you are trying to put yourself in an area where there are the most does. By sitting on a rub line you’re hoping the buck has bred a doe and is heading to bed or heading from bed to search for more does. If your hunting scrapes your hoping the buck that made it isn’t with a doe or has already bred and trying to find out what is in the area.

Hunting the does and travel corridors is hoping you get a buck trailing a doe or that has found one and is staying with her until she is ready to breed or searching for doe using common travel routes that does use.

By sitting up in a travel corridor or rout you’re going to see more attention and your efforts of calling and scent will be put to better use.

If you think like a buck what would you do? If I’m looking for a doe I’m going to be where they are if I’m not with them I’m going to be trying to find them by traveling the same trails they do.

Just my thoughts on how to hunt the rut and weighing the options on why I think it works.

Velvet antlers

    What are velvet antlers? Whitetails have antlers not horns! Antlers are grown by members or the cervidae family, horns are grown by cattle, bison, sheep, goats and other animals that do not lose and re grow their head gear every year.
    The difference is antlers are made of bone and shed every year; horns are made of keratin and grow through the animal’s entire life. The process of antler growth is 128 day process primarily caused by change in testosterone levels. The pineal gland causes the change in testosterone levels and is caused by change in day light hours or photo- period. The longer daylight the faster the growth occurs. The same gland and shortening of day light causes them to stop growing harden and shedding occurs.
    Velvet is a skin with tiny hairs and the skin is filled with blood vessels and the antlers can grow up to ½ an inch a day at peek growing time.
    What goes into play when growing antlers? Stress, age, genetics, and the nutrition’s they need come from food. Nutrition’s from their own bones is used during the growing process. The minerals are taken from places in the bone structure then when the growing is done the body replenishes what is lost and it returns to normal.
    The blood stops flowing to the velvet the bone hardens then the velvet dries and cracks becoming very itchy and the bucks want to remove it that’s why they rub.
    That’s what velvet antlers are and it’s crazy what their bodies go through every year to grow them. There bones have very little minerals and nutrition going to them so an injury during the process will affect the healing process and antler growth.

Shed hunting.

    It’s that time again lets go look for sheds! Hunting for sheds is a great family event unlike most other hunting trips you don’t have to worry about stealth and not making a noise. You’re not going to scare off a shed! Shed hunting is mostly luck but your odds increase if you use your knowledge of deer habits to your advantage. The more ground you cover the better odds of finding sheds will be. Look on the edges of fields and on brush lines since deer spend more time in and walking these areas. Follow well used deer trails and look near and around bedding areas. If you find one shed look very well nearby because bucks can feel off balance and will rub trees trying to lose the other antler. I’m not saying it will be there but it’s worth a shot.

    This is another way to teach new and young hunters about deer habits since everything will be fairly open it’s a good time to teach about rubs, rub lines, and bedding areas. Bring others into the outdoors if they aren’t into hunting but enjoy the outdoors take them to the woods and just walk. Try and walk funnels and travel corridors everywhere commonly traveled by deer. The person your with will be walking enjoying nature and you will be shed hunting. Look for white lines and gaze the ground looking for anything that doesn’t look right or out of place. Good luck finding sheds when you do find them send a picture and share it. The picture will be posted on the sheds page under pictures.

Is it really the off season?

So it’s the off season but is it really? Right now is the best time to find that monsters home without screwing up your hunt. Head out to the woods and scout the rub lines hard follow a rub line and try and find his home when you find his home try and find a spot that you can set up your tree stand or ground blind were you can see his rub line going into and out of his core area. After you have got an idea of where your stand will be next year the fun starts.

Start walking well used trails keeping your eyes on the ground looking for sheds the rub lines are a great place to start even though the bucks aren’t rubbing they are still walking the rub lines because they are normally on safe travel routes and funnels. Keep notes of where you find the sheds for next season. Feeding areas are another area to look along with bedding areas because that is where they spend the most time.

Scouting the core area of a mature buck now gives you a head start for next year by already knowing were that monster is coming out and in. it keeps you from having to disturb his home closer to season. Finding rub lines you didn’t know about now is always a bonus since he will probably use the same one next year or close to it. Next year all you have to do is make sure the rub line is active and you know where it leads and he’s still in the area.

So it’s not really the off season the foot work is just starting and there’s lots of it to come. Make sure you have goods boots because you’re going to put miles on them if you want the deck stacked in your favor this year.

What makes a trophy buck?

What do you consider a trophy buck? Does he have to make it in a record book? Does he have to be bigger than any other buck you have taken? A trophy to me is a buck that I have worked for, a buck you have scouted patterned spent countless hours trying to figure out where and how to hunt him, or a buck you missed the year before that you have seen him grow from year to year. You find his sheds and you have a story to go along with him. The hunt that you thought was busted from the time you walked into the woods because your plan fell through and you had to use your knowledge to pick another spot or the buck you hunted sitting in your stand in the heat, cold, rain, and wind but you still got him. That is a trophy no matter the size or even the sex of the deer. Keep that in mind as you take young hunters into the woods the work you put into your deer will make it the trophy of your dreams.

A trophy is whatever you decide and being able to share the story and have the memories for a life time and just as important as the size of the rack or the sex of the deer. What is a trophy to you?

What makes a hunt successful?

What makes a hunt successful? Is it shooting a monster? Shooting a buck? Putting meat in the freezer? Seeing a deer and choosing not to shoot it? Every hunter has their own version of a successful hunt. From year to year your version may change depending on the circumstances. No one can tell you what should be a successful hunt for you that’s for you to decide no one can do it for you.

For me and the members of our deer camp we consider it to be a successful hunt if we see a deer and choose not to shoot it. That’s what makes it a successful hunt to us having the opportunity to harvest a deer and choosing to pass is as good as shooting one. If we learn something from the season every year we use what we learn to figure out our mistakes and try and figure out how to change it and never do it again. That’s what it takes for us to have a successful hunt learning something and having the opportunity to harvest a deer.

Evaluate what makes it a successful hunt to you and whatever it is try and make every hunt successful. Put the cards in your favor to make it successful. Getting someone else into hunting will make a UN successful hunt feel successful because you have now kept the traditions alive by passing on your hunting knowledge and love for the outdoors. Seeing the excitement in someone’s eyes as they find their first rub and watching them as they try so hard to do everything you teach them is an experience that cannot be described.

My thoughts are this you don’t have to put a monster on the wall to feel successful being in the outdoors enjoying the gifts of god and passing on the traditions and love for the outdoors and hunting are enough to make any hunt successful. Enjoy the time you have with you hunting friends and the stories they tell you never know when it will be your last chance to pursue the amazing creatures we hunt.

Rubs part 3

You will find larger rubs when you get into a bucks core area. These rubs are there for him to keep track of bucks that move in his home. Other mature bucks will come in and work his rubs to try and test the waters and see how far they can go before being ran off. Just because you see a small buck works a rub that doesn’t mean a monster won’t be on his way.

Sing post rubs are worked year after year by bucks and does much like a scrape. The difference is they are used throughout the season not like scrapes that have a very hot time then cold. Scrapes are used for a breeding purpose sign post rubs are bill boards that bucks and does both use.

Early bow season is a good time to kill a buck traveling a rub line there movement is fairly predictable and they are possibly still in bachelor groups so you can’t rule out seeing three or four bucks traveling together during early bow season. The bucks are most likely in there summer pattern and have had very little to know pressure and wont spook as easy.

Pre-rut rub line hunting is the best time to be sitting on an active rub line. 10 days or so before the first does go into estrus is the best time during the pre-rut to hunt a rub line. This is because they are working the rub line heavy at this point trying to put their ad out that they are in the area. Finding scrapes on the rub line at this point makes the line that much better and you know he will be walking the line often.

Staging areas

    Staging areas are places that a buck will wait before entering a feeding area if he arrives early. A mature buck isn’t often seen out feeding in a field in the middle of the day or even early evening. This is because he has learned to put the cards in his favor and wait to feed until right before dark. This doesn’t mean he isn’t nearby it just means he’s not going to be out in the middle of the field. A common staging area will have clusters of rubs in small vicinity or just a few trees close together that he works often to strengthen his neck and let other deer know he feeds there. After working the staging area he may walk to the edge of the field or walk just inside the wood line surveying the field looking, listening, and smelling the air for danger. There will normally be a rub line leading to the feeding area and near the staging area. 

    To hunt a staging area you can put a tree stand a comfortable shooting distance from the area and between the rub line and staging area if they aren’t right by each other. The further into the woods you are the sooner and better light you should have when he shows up. 

    For a morning hunt when he is leaving the feeding area you can still hunt the staging area because he most likely will revisit it to see what other bucks have been by. A staging area isn’t just a single buck many bucks could be using the same staging area and you can possibly see some sparing going on in these areas or on the nearby edge. The intense fighting most likely won’t be in this area but you never know.

Getting to know Rubs!

Most hunters know what a rub is and when they see it they can call it out. But do you know the purpose of a rub and that they are different rubs? Everyone thinks that you have to have fresh rubs to be successful or they forget about the rubs and look for scrapes then hunt over them.

Bucks will visit old rubs from years prior and rubs that are from other bucks. The purpose of a rub is a signal to other bucks and does they are like bill boards different bucks will go through the same routine on the same rub and they do this to put there scent all over it. Other bucks will smell it and do the same thing. Much like a male dog peeing on everything he wants other dogs to know he is in the area.

Bucks in velvet will travel what’s called a rub line even before they start rubbing to get the velvet off. They travel these rub lines because they were put there for a reason safe travel route to food and bedding.

During early bow season bachelor groups will be traveling together and you guessed it using rub lines. Seeing three or four bucks traveling together down a rub line isn’t out of the realm of possibilities.

Remember your first deer

If you or someone you know goes hunting this year and it’s their first deer send me a picture and there name and I will make a certificate for them to remember their first deer. Here is an example of what it will look like.

New Season

    It’s January and it’s never too early to start preparing for next season, reflect back on last, and figure out what you need to change to be successful. Wash your clothes in scent free soap and put them away after you spray them down with scent eliminator. When you put them away use anything that will keep air and scent away from the clothes.
    Your gear you need to clean it and replace or fix anything you lost, used, or broke. Make notes of what worked with your gear and what didn’t now so its fresh on your mind and you can fix it or do it again next year.
    Your rifle give it a good cleaning and if anything was wrong with it this year get it fixed now so you don’t forget when you pull it out next year. You don’t want the same problems year in and year out because you forget that you wanted to change something.
    Wright down what you saw and about this season all your observations like weather feeding patterns stand sites deer movement. You can use that next year and years after.
    Now think about what you want to change next year everything from places you want to scout, how you want camp to be different next year and everything you learned during this seasons hunts. That can be useful in years to come if you keep good notes and keep track of it. Have a plan and follow it so that your hunts remain or become successful, learn from your mistakes and let’s put some meat in the freezer and one on the wall this year.