it was a cold day outside as me and my dad walked out onto the field.we hunt my grandpas friends land in perry michigan.anyways let me introduce my self i am james vanness 12 years old. when we got out to our blind and my mom and grandpa got to theres [so they could see any coming my way] at 3:30 or so. there where a lot of turkes down in a gully.i watched them and my dad looked out the side window for a few hours or so when i look away for a second theres a young doe standing right there in front of me i said to my dad theres a deer he whispers where right there he lookes out and thers the doe looking around and eating. i shoulder my 870 12 guage and put a bullet threw her lungs her front legs fell and her rear end kicked but she layed down about 15 yards from where she was eating. my mom and grandpa came out and we came out we looked for her for 10 minutes and found out she was in a small patch of hay.thatr was the happiest day of my life. thank you for listining

HUNTING THE BLACKTAIL

Whether you hunt with bow, rifle, or handgun, a big blacktail buck will give you fits. Many well known outdoor writers and hunters say they are harder to bag than a wily whitetail or a wise old mule deer. My goal, through these articles, is to give you some tips for hunting these beautiful animals.

There is a big population of Blacktail deer in Western Oregon. These are the Columbian Blacktails. Your best chance for harvesting one of these animals is in the early season or the late season (especially for archery hunters). I say early season because then some of the deer haven’t wised up to the fact yet that they are being hunted. But I think the late season is the best time of all. There’s a late archery season at the end of November and this is generally the peak of the rut when the bucks get crazed with searching for does and they lose some of their caution.

In Oregon the early bow season generally opens up around the last weekend of August while the last weekend in September or the first weekend in October is for rifle. There is a late bow season that generally begins around the third week of November, about two weeks after the rifle season ends. But in Melrose, Evans Creek, Rouge and Sixes areas the late bow season opens about one week earlier. The bag limit for Blacktail deer is one deer in Western Oregon.

Well, where do you begin? How do you locate these creatures that love to lay low in heavy cover? One of the best prospects for finding Blacktail deer occurs in 3 to 4 year old clear cuts. Look in these areas for sign such as trails, droppings, tracks, or scrapes. Another good spot to begin your search is in an alder tree  canyon or a bench. You may also want to check out power line right-of-ways, Re- prod areas (a place where a bunch of fir trees have been planted and they are 6-8′ tall and really thick) because this is where they really love to lay up. Also look at lowlands because they often harbor some big bucks.

Some of the same techniques that you use for Whitetail or Mule deer hunting can be used on Blacktails. Tree stand hunting takes its share of big blacktails every year, but to me it seems very much like a hit and miss way to hunt because blacktails love to move at night rather than in the daytime. If you are hunting from a tree stand try placing it at apple orchards, a funnel strip of cover between two clearings where they are moving, or a rub line. The key to success is to learn the habits of the deer in your tree stand area.

You can also do a “spot and stalk” hunt where you may see a good buck in a clearing and try to pull a sneak. But since cover is very thick this makes for a difficult way to hunt.

One of my favorite techniques is “still hunting.” The biggest mistake most still hunters make is moving too fast. Take only two steps and then stop, look, and listen. Blacktail deer are famous for holding tight and letting you walk right past them. Every so often stutter step (a couple of quick steps). This will often break the bucks nerves and he’ll move, giving up his location. Remember to move as slowly as possible and then cut that speed in half. Keep looking in all directions, especially behind you. I’ve seen bucks sneaking across my back trail crawling with their bellies on the ground. Hunt from a top of a ridge down in the morning and hunt back up the ridges in the evening. This will help keep the wind in your face as the thermals move your scent up and down the hills.

Another very successful way to hunt Blacktails, even with a bow, is “drives.” This technique works well when you have two or more hunting partners. May sure you plan your drives carefully so safety is uppermost in your minds. On a drive one person skirts around the bottom of a hill while a second may take the middle and the third takes the top of the hill. All three of the hunters go around the hill moving very slowly as you would in still hunting. You don’t want to panic the bucks, just slowly move them hoping to give a shot at a sneaking buck to one of the other hunters. This technique probably works the best for those big bucks that lie up all day and only want to move after dark.

How about calls? These can sometimes work well although Blacktails are not very vocal. The doe bleat or fawn distress calls seem to work best while grunt tubes will occasionally work just before or during the early part of the rut.

Rattling can also work but my success rattling has been very spotty at best. But I’ve seen it work occasionally with great success so you many want to try it as just another tool of your trade.

Well, how to you begin to narrow down your search for a good hunting area. Your first step should be to write to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. You can write to them at 17330 S.E. Evelyn Street in Clackamas, Oregon 97015 or call them at (503) 657-2000. Ask them to send you the biologist’s reports for buck to doe ratios in given units. Drive through the areas with the highest buck to doe ratio looking for logging company gates or public access. A lot of logging companies allow hunting by permission. Other logging companies will just open their gates during deer season and let anyone in. If you can find a logger who spends some time in the woods who will tell you where he has seen deer moving you have a quick leg up. Some will talk others won’t give out any information on their favorite spots. Some logging companies will even draw you a map where heavy deer damage is occurring on their land and they want deer thinned out. In Blacktail hunting like anything else you will find out your best information talking to everyone you meet who may know something about the deer habits. 

The best weather for hunting Blacktail is in a light fog or a light drizzle. The deer seem to stand around more in these conditions rather then bedding up. And often they will head for more open areas then. If you’re not seeing any Blacktails, wait until it starts raining. Then get out into the field quick. The deer seem to come out of the woodwork then.

If you’ve had any success with Blacktails using any special methods you would like to share with our readers, please send me an e-mail. It’s always good to share your experience and success with others. If you would like to send me any information, tips, or “secrets” or a photo of you with your trophy Blacktail, I would love to include them in my articles. You can send them via e-mail to me at KenMcGinnis@nohannah7@aol.com
As always, hunt safe and ethical.
Ken McGinnis

Every hunting trip is comprised of three distinct stages. In order they are: contemplation, preparation and reality. Like most people who enjoy hunting, I have discovered that often there is more pleasure in contemplating a hunting trip than actually going on one. That is because the act of contemplating a hunting trip is purely a mental exercise and nothing ever goes wrong. As you close your eyes and imagine yourself and your hunting buddies camped near your favorite hunting spot, everything is perfect. A mellow, euphoric haze envelops you. The weather is never too cold or too hot. It never rains. The campfire is always just right. Getting camp set up goes smoothly and nothing that you need is ever left behind. Then too, from contemplation you always come home with a record buck. Because it’s so pleasant, some hunters even specialize in contemplation to the complete exclusion of the other two stages.

I know at least one hunter who has become so proficient at contemplation that he hasn’t spent a day in the woods in over twenty years. But the perfection found in contemplation only takes place in your mind’s eye. It is a sweet and beguiling lie. The preparation for, and the reality of most of the hunting trips that I have taken stand in stark contrast to pre-trip contemplation.

After a deer-hunting trip has been properly contemplated the second stage, preparation, becomes necessary. The object of preparation is to gather and pack everything that you will need while deer hunting. But there is pain. Finding the gear and packing it creates most of the pain that this stage generates, although there also can be a certain amount of pain associated with trying to convince your boss that you need an extra couple of days off. Frequently, when you fail to remember everything that you should take, disaster follows in the third stage of the hunting trip, reality.

It has been my experience that reality usually doesn’t even come close to matching the euphoria generated by stage one. The reality portion of a hunting trip can frighten and even discourage the uninitiated; I can illustrate by sharing my wife’s case. Her first hunting trip with me was her last. She too ventured forth wrapped in that mellow, euphoric haze that develops during contemplation only to find the rigors of outdoor life more than she could bear. She was a novice and even though I tried to help her, she just didn’t execute the “remembering everything” activity in stage two very well. She seemed to blame me for not remembering to bring enough blankets, for forgetting the dish soap and toilet paper, and for not bringing any mosquito repellent.

She wasn’t very gracious about the initiation process either. I tried to explain to her that doing camp chores was just part of the initiation and on the next trip she might have time to go hunting too, but she never seemed to understand. We were camped in the mountains about forty miles south of Rawlins, Wyoming. I thought that she might enjoy the fresh air and scenery. Instead, she complained incessantly. She complained about washing dishes in the stream, tending the fire, chopping wood, cooking, being cold in the mornings and fighting mosquitoes in the evenings after it had warmed. For some reason she insisted on bathing every day, then complained about the ice-cold water she had to use.

Because my wife’s lack of understanding of the outdoor life became apparent early in our relationship, I knew it would be a major obstacle to the longevity of our marriage. Naturally, I turned to others who shared my enthusiasm for the out-of-doors for support and companionship. That’s where my hunting partner Charlie comes in. Charlie is well acquainted with all three stages of a hunting trip and he understands that often there is considerable disparity between the stages of contemplation and reality. But even Charlie sometimes seems to forget just how big that disparity can be. The more divergent that the stages of contemplation and reality become, the crankier Charlie gets. I’ll show you what I mean. Here are a few of the details of our last hunting expedition.

As is proper and customary it began with stage one, contemplation. The very best contemplation occurs at a kitchen table over a hot cup of coffee, or in a cozy den in front of a crackling fire with a sullen gray sky spitting snow past your window. It was early last autumn and the conditions were perfect. As I recall, I began the conversation while leaning back in my recliner and toasting my stocking feet in front of the hearth.

“Gee Charlie, we ought to take two or three days at the first of gun season and run up to Park County. I hear the deer are really lousy up there this year.”

Being a veteran outdoorsman himself, Charlie, who was also leaning back and toasting his stocking feet, was quick to pick up on my lead, “Yeah, there’s a monster buck up there I’d like to get a crack at. I could sure use some venison in my freezer too, but do you think three days will be enough? I mean…we’ll want to kick back for awhile and just unwind, won’t we?”

Then I said, “Yeah, you’re right. We’ll need a day to set up and scout the area. If we get there early enough we can pitch camp, then catch a few bluegill for supper. Man! I love fish fried over an open fire.”

At that point, contemplation was gaining momentum. It was bearing down on Charlie and me like a love-struck buck homing in on his sweety. Experienced hunters and campers like Charlie and me understand the importance of giving way to the pleasant flood of mental pictures that washes through our minds during the first stage.

Charlie squeezed shut his eyes as he spoke, “Mmmm, there’s nothing better than fried bluegill with hot beans and biscuits fixed in an iron skillet. I can almost smell that campfire now. It’s my turn to bring the food.”

Stage two, preparation, began in this manner. It was 4:00 A.M. When the alarm went off, I sprang from bed. Well, “sprang” may not be precisely the word that should be used here. The truth of the matter is that when I failed to react to the alarm in a timely fashion, my wife planted both of her feet firmly in the middle of my back and abruptly straightened her legs. My hasty egress from the bed elicited an involuntary squeal from me that must have sounded like a war cry because Fanny, the family schnauzer attacked, thinking I presume that WWIII had been declared and I was the first of the Russian shock troopers to land. After signing a truce with our dog, I hissed at my wife, “What’d ya do that for?”

“You’re going hunting, remember?” she mumbled without opening an eye. As she rolled over and pulled the covers around her shoulders she said sleepily, “Have a good time and turn off the alarm.”

Not wishing to disturb her any further, I fumbled in the darkness for my clothes and the other necessary items that I had laid next to the bed the night before. In the process of feeling for my hunting boots with my feet, I stepped on Fanny again. She immediately assumed that I had intentionally broken our truce and retaliated. A man with a nature more timid than mine, or perhaps a man who is a bit more sensitive to the omens, would have considered the early morning events as a portend of even worse things to come and abandoned the expedition while yet a few good hours of sack time remained. However, I am, as my wife has so often reminded me, not a man who is particularly sensitive to anything or prone to needless worry. With determination that even a pit bull would have admired, I forged ahead.

I very carefully located the remainder of my paraphernalia and, after stubbing my little toe on the bedpost, hopped to the kitchen. I arranged my gear for a quick departure then made a pot of coffee. Charlie was supposed to pick me up at 5:00 A.M. and I didn’t want to hold us up.

It was 7:30 A.M. when Charlie pulled into my driveway. I downed the last of the fresh pot coffee that I had brewed over two hours before and limped out to his old F100. “Where have you been? You said you’d be here by five.”

Charlie seemed a little defensive. “I know I said five…Crimo-nit-ly, it looks like you’d give a fella a little leeway. How come you’re limpin’ anyway?”

“You could call it an old war injury,” I grumbled.

As we drove north to Park County, my mood lightened, but Charlie’s seemed to darken.

“What do you mean you have to stop again? Crimo-nit-ly! This is the fourth time. At this rate, we won’t get there ’til dark.”
“Well, if you’d have picked me up on time, I wouldn’t have drunk a whole pot of coffee now would I? The way I see it, it’s all your fault.”

I didn’t really need to stop the fourth and fifth times, it’s just that when Charlie starts to whine I can never bring myself to let up. I think it’s my killer instinct that makes me do that, though Charlie has a whole different theory. It’s a pretty crude theory too. I’m not sure, but I could have sworn that he was pounding his head on the steering wheel as I entered the gas station the last time.
It was mid-afternoon when we finally arrived at our favorite campsite. We were set up in less than an hour. It was when we tried to hook a few bluegills for our supper that the euphoric haze of stage one began to burn away.

“Crimo-nit-ly!” Charlie said. “It’s almost dark and I haven’t had even one nibble. My fingers are getting cold too.” He surveyed the leaden sky. “Kinda looks like it could snow, don’t it?”

“Let’s go back to camp,” I suggested, “we can fry some bacon and eggs for supper.”

A light snow covered the ground before we got back.

After carefully laying the fire, Charlie stretched out his hand. “Give me a match.”

“I don’t have any matches. You were supposed to bring the matches.”

“Me? Why was I supposed to bring the matches?” Charlie’s voice had raised half an octave.

“Because whoever brings the food is supposed to bring them. That’s why.”

“That’s a stupid rule, ” Charlie snorted, “who made that one up?”

“You did,” I said smugly. “You made up that rule the last time we forgot to bring matches.”

Charlie ignored my deadly verbal thrust. “Crimo-nit-ly! How are we going to build a fire without matches?”

Charlie was whining again, but this time I was sharing his pain and I thought I would control my killer instinct. Since he brought the food I knew that he would have only two items that could be consumed without cooking and the prospect of eating a can of sardines in mustard sauce with cold Beanie-Weanies on the side made me shudder. I remembered the last time we forgot matches and I ate that concoction. I had a terrible nightmare. Charlie claims my moaning screams still haunt his dreams and left him with a deep and abiding fear of the dark. I think he was a little embarrassed too, although he still insists the only reason he screamed was to help me frighten off the sasquatch I had seen. When I asked Charlie what made him think I’d seen a sasquatch, he said that when my screams woke him, he could see nothing in the darkness. But he got a whiff of the pungent, musty odor that permeated our tent, and immediately concluded that a sasquatch was nearby so he deemed it prudent to help me scare it away.

The temperature was dropping steadily and the prospect of spending a long, cold evening in the darkness caused an abiding funk to settle over both of us. Now, it was certain. The warm, euphoric haze of stage one was nearly gone. Then, I brightened.

“Hey, I have a survival kit in my gear. There’s a little block of magnesium, a flint and a piece of steel in it. We can start a fire with that.”

“Magnesium?” Charlie looked puzzled, “What’s magnesium?”

Charlie watched as I shaved off at least a fourth of the magnesium block letting the shavings drop into the bed of very dry grass and twigs that he had so carefully prepared. I knew a quarter of the block was excessive, but I was taking no chances. Next, I struck the flint on the steel trying to aim the sparks at the pile of magnesium shavings. My sparks missed the magnesium, but the dry grass around it began to smolder. Upon seeing the wisps of smoke, Charlie dropped to his hands and knees. Holding his face close to the glowing grass, he blew gently.

“Charlie, I wouldn’t.”

A tiny flame flickered to life, but before Charlie could withdraw the tiny flame ignited the magnesium. The sudden, brilliant burst of light in the gathering gloom temporarily blinded me so I can’t swear to what happened next. But when my vision returned, Charlie was hopping around the campsite, his full beard trailing smoke. And he was shouting some pretty vulgar oaths. I was amazed at the extent of his vocabulary. He had definitely graduated from “crimo-nit-ly” to the big-time. For a fleeting instant, I considered tackling him to keep him from running wildly through the trees and perhaps starting a major forest fire. However, my pragmatic nature emerged; I opted to feed tender to the fledgling flames. I attributed the aspersions that Charlie cast on me, and for that matter on my mother and several of my ancestors, to the excitement of the moment and decided not to hold a grudge.

Later, as I fried our bacon and eggs, I tried to assure him that very short beards and very short eyebrows were the “in” thing, but Charlie seemed a little sullen and distant the rest of the evening. Other than a couple of times when he muttered something about dangerous substances and nitwits not mixing, he wasn’t much inclined to communicate. In fact, he didn’t seem much like himself the rest of the trip.

Two long, hard, cold and fruitless days of hunting passed. We saw plenty of deer sign, but nary a buck. I remained optimistic, but Charlie’s general outlook on life continued to decay. It was the morning of the third day that he insisted on going home. I don’t think it was the magnesium incident, the forgotten toilet paper or even my snoring that drove him over the edge. It may have been the monster buck tracks we found in the snow around our campfire that morning, but more than likely it was the monster buck droppings that Charlie stuck his hand in as he crawled from the tent. He seemed to think the deer was trying to make some sort of statement. Charlie can be pretty sensitive sometimes.

The answer to this is of course you are. And if they are not, they are aware of your presence. All the pre scouting and work to get your stand just perfect, might well be all for nothing. Have you ever been on your way to your stand and see tails fleeing or hear deer snorting? Sure you have, we all have. Now you get in your stand and your confidence and excitement level is not the same as when you started out. After sitting awhile with out seeing a deer you start to doubt your chances and abandon your stand. If this sounds familiar your not alone. This is something all deer hunters face and no sure fire solution. I have taken many hunters to a stand over the years as well as gone to a few stands myself. I have learned some things about how to increase your odds of the deer not knowing your in your stand. There are many products on the market that help hunters get deer to come within site, scents, calls, camo you name it it is all for the same goal. The problem is if the deer already know your there your in for a long day. Let me tell you about this one occurance I observed, This one stand I was in is at least a half a mile from any road that is solid bush and no clearings, and you could hear the traffic go buy . I had been in the stand about a half hour when this 11 point buck appeared. He was slowly walking and feeding without a care in the world. He could hear the traffic as well and paid no attention to it. Then for some reason a vehicle that I could hear heading down the road, started slowing down and eventually stopped. Now remember this is a half mile away from me with solid timber the whole way. As the vehicle slowed to a stop, the buck lifted his head and totally froze. There was a big broadleaf plant in his mouth and he even stopped chewing. The vehicle eventually strated off again and the farther it went the more relaxed the buck got . The buck eventually fed his way out site. Now you may think that this is nothing new or no big deal but all this took place with the buck only 20 yards from me, he never had a clue I was there. He showed more attention to a sound a half mile away from him, without any concern that I was above him. Now just imagine that vehicle that stopped out at the road was me, and I was on my way to the stand that i was already sitting in. Would that buck be in the area by the time I got to the stand? Would I be able to lure him back out with calls? Of course not , he would already be on to what was going on. Whitetails ( espeacially bucks) are creatures of habit and routine. The plan years ago to get to a stand was use the four wheeler the majority of the way then walk the rest. Makes sence right? wrong. In 1995 a older gentleman from New York was hunting with me. Getting off the four wheeler and starting our walk in the dark was starting to get to much for the hunter. One morning he asked me to take him right to the stand with the four wheeler , I stated that this would spook the deer and to walk in quiet would be best. He then stated that we were probably spooking them more by trying to walk in quiet, he said take me right to the stand but do not turn off the four wheeler or shine a light up to the stand to help him see to get in, once he was in the stand and set up I was then and only then to get outa there. The old fellow killed a good buck at first light that morning, he told me that evening that as soon as I left him he was watching the lights of the four wheeler weave its way back through the bush when two bucks started to spar about 100 yards from him. Now those bucks were probably sparring while we were on are wat in, and seen and heard the four wheeler coming. They simply stopped and watched the four wheeler come and then go and resumed there match. As daylight approached they had no idea the hunter was in the stand. The 11 pointer I watched from the stand that listened to the traffic, I had someone bring me to the stand with the four wheeler that day, once i was in the stand the four wheeler left, eventuallly it got back to the road and i could hear it being loaded in the truck. I heard all of that and so did the deer. If you can get the deer in your area to get accustomed to hearing a four wheeler coming in and going out with out ever being shut off I would bet you see more deer. To the deer when they hear you coming they think trouble is coming, when the four wheeler leaves they think trouble gone. Do not shut the motor off tho , let the deer concentrate on the bike. My trail camera pics also prove this method works, I have had pics of deer looking in the direction that I always approach when I come to exchange the card for the camera and then I get pics of deer right after I have gone. Try it this fall for yourself early in the year start riding into your stand, sit a few minutes with the motor running then leave. The deer will get accustomed to this activity and figure they have you patterened. Have a friend bring you in to your stand when season starts, maybe you can return the favour to your friend. I hope this helps someone get the trophy buck of there dreams…………………….Shane Gulbrandsen www.gulbrandsenoutfitters.com

From as long as I can remember I have had a fascination with the outdoors and hunting, my pocket money was carefully deposited in an old wooden tea box with the sole purpose of building an inventory of equipment with which to persue my passion.
First came the backpack at $15.00 then the sleeping bag and tent.
At the time I was too young to own a rifle so I had to settle for trapping to satisfy my desire to hunt, I would spend my school holidays camped in the bush, waking half frozen at daybreak to patrol my line of traps. One of the remarkable benefits was that this past-time served was to increase the weight of the old wooden tea box and eventually I bought my first riflescope, a Weaver 4 x 28 for $13.87.
By this stage in life I was fast approaching the age where I could own my first rifle, every Friday night for about 6 months I had a well established ritual of going to the towns only gun shop and gazing at the rifle I would one day own.
Finally that day came, I went to the local Police Station, spoke with the local Arms Officer “Tom Shaw” and proudly exited with a “permit to procure” in my hand.
A few days later I shot my first wallaby with that rifle, it was a misty day at Mount Michael when I saw it hop into the middle of the track about 100 yards in front of my father and I.
I fired once, the wallaby turned almost like it was unaware of our presence let alone my attempt to take it as a trophy. I fired two more shots and the wallaby hopped off the track into the scrub.
When my father and I arrived at the point where the wallaby had stood a minute earlier we saw it laying not more than a few feet off the track. Subsequent skinning revealed that my three shots had all hit within the region of its heart.
To this day I still have the skin and my first rifle.
Sadly my father passed away some years ago and perhaps it is not being able to share my passion with him or the onset of middle age but adventures are now few and far between.
How times have changed…

I’ve been hunting for as long as I can remember. The first hunt I ever went on with my dad, he had to change my diapers. My first real hunting memory is sitting on a tree stand and snuggling under my dad’s coat. To this day, I can still smell the musky scent of that old coat. My brother and I were raised on hunting, fishing, and trapping. Our lives were truly like the Hank Jr. song, “A Country Boy will Survive”, we can “skin a buck and run a trot line”. We have had many memorable hunts. I still remember our first deer, riding out a flood, eating Twinkies and sardines, and even being used as dogs when the real ones didn’t want to run anymore. My favorite hunt of all, unfortunately, turned out to be the last for my dad, Lil’ brother, and me. It was the last hunting day of the season, and by the next season I was in Omaha Nebraska, Lil’ brother was in Florida, and Dad was back home in Louisiana. We always made plans to come home and go hunting, but something always seemed to get in the way. Five years later my dad passed away.

As our family gathered for his funeral, the talk, as it always seemed to, turned to hunting. We all sat around telling lies and big stories. Each story was bigger than the last and all of them larger than they truly were. Lil’ brother and I started thinking about the last time we had went hunting together. It had been 6 years earlier.

It was cold, and rainy. Dad had brought his favorite snack, Sardines and Twinkies. You have not lived, until you have tried this tasty treat. I kid; I don’t know a single soul, except for my dad that could even stomach this combination. But it was his favorite, when he was hunting. They were like a good luck charm. As we stopped the truck at the trailhead the rain started to come down harder. It was still a couple of hours before daylight, so we stayed in the warmth and relative dryness of Dad’s truck. Dad had put a moon roof in his old truck with a jig saw and some plexi-glass, so keeping dry could be a real sport some times.

To pass the time we talked about all our passed hunting trips. We recounted the time I shot the truck, a real life lesson in gun safety. The time my brother got lost in the woods and had to be rescued by game wardens in a helicopter. The time my dad shot a goat and tried to convince my brother and I, it was a spike. We told story after story. We finally noticed that it was raining harder, the roof was leaking more, and the Twinkies were getting wet. You can’t let good Twinkies and Sardines go to waste. We washed them all down with what was left of the Stop n’ Go Coffee. We spent the rest of the day telling tall tales and laughing. We never loaded a gun, nor got on a stand, but it was the best hunt I ever had.

It’s been seven years since my dad died. Lil’ Brother and I have not missed a year hunting together, since. We made a pact and we are sticking to it. We bring our sons along, now. We are teaching them what we were taught. Dad use to tell us the greatest gift you can give your child is your time. He forgot to tell us, as a father, the greatest gift you can give yourself is time with your kids. I miss him so much, especially during hunting season. But I know I will see him again. If Heaven is perfect, and I know it is, there will be a Stop n’ Go with bad weak coffee, sardines and Twinkies, and it will always rain the last day of hunting season.

© Copyright 2004 OuachitaGroup. All Rights Reserved.

Hunting as a teenage boy is at times difficult.
By no meens of transport and everywere walkable lamp shy gud nights hunting are hard come by.
However this dosnt mean they dont happen i have a small lurcher (BITCH) witch is a exellent rabbit dog and also capeable of other quarry at times witch is such a rewarding sight.
Lamping close to the town i live in wildlife is hard come by compared to a cuple miles further than walking distance witch leads to slipping your dog on quarry witch is realy unfair on the dog. By watching some of my friends dogs in the past i have noticed that this can servealy dishearten a dog. So i ask myself this when does the sport i love so much become easyer,when can have those nights out i dream of, i guess all this will come with age but how many of the people my age will pull through untill then.
I no i will and to all the people who are already there i say, See you when i get there A.Thompson

I don’t know about you, but I can parsonally say that any type of hunting is my favorite thing to do. I could go out and sit all day long just to get a glimpse of a deer. Deer hunting is probobly my favorite type of hunting but I enjoy all of the others. I go dove hunting in the late summer, Bow hunting for deer throughout the fall, hunt for deer with a rifle in the winter, and attempt to go for gobblers in the spring. Bow hunting for deer is the best. One day it can be 50 degrees out and the next it might be 20. You never know what to expect of the deer because of the rut factor and that really makes it fun. These deer will be going wild giving you the shot of a lifetime. A huge 12 point can be following a doe and I will be sitting in my stand 14 feet up watching the whole thing. Then he will stop to sniff the air or leave a rub and thhhhhhhhppppp. The arrow leaves my bow at 300 feet per second. He doesn’t even have time to react before the arrow pierces his tough hide. He takes off and so does my heart. Could this actually be it? Could I have killed my first buck and no less than with a bow? I sit there waiting! Thousands of thoughts fly through my mind. I finally did it! After all of the hours that I spent waiting for that right time. I am so eager to climb down that tree and start tracking him. I know that I have to wait because if I don’t, he might muster up the strength to make one last run that might last for 30 min. I fly down that tree after the 30 min. are up and can’t wait to begin tracking him. Just then I hear the dog bark and I wake up. It was all a dream but it was real to me. I knew that the next few days, I would be hunting close by and might get that chance to take the huge rut buck that I have seen in my dreams. Today is that first day after my dreams and so far there hasn’t been a sign of him yet, but I know that by the time deer season is over, I will have that trophy deer and he will be mine!

An understanding of deer behavior and travel patterns can help you choose a hunting site. Because deer feed primarily during low light conditions they have two primary rest periods, late at night and during mid-day. Generally they leave their daytime bedding areas in heavy cover late in the afternoon and move toward night time food sources. They intermittently feed, travel and rest during the night before returning to their daytime bedding areas.

Because the amount of light is a Security Factor, deer in forested areas (where there is shade) get up and begin to feed and move a couple of hours before sundown. As the amount of light becomes less they move into more open areas of low brush or sparse forest and feed, moving toward open fields and meadows. Shortly before sundown they move into the shadows at the edges of tall grass and swamps before going into open meadows or agricultural fields where they feel secure and feed during darkness.

In the early morning this pattern is reversed. As the sky begins to brighten the deer move from the open areas back into tall grass fields, then to brushy areas just before daylight and into heavy cover or woods again once the sun is up. Bucks are generally more wary than does and move about a half hour later in the evening and head back to their beds about a half hour earlier in the morning.

Evening Stands

If you are hunting late in the afternoon, when the deer are just getting out of their beds in heavy cover, setup along travel lanes leading from the bedding areas to daytime food sources; near small openings in woods, fallen mast sites, swamp or creek edges near heavy cover. Close to sundown hunt the transition zones of tall grass, heavy brush, swamps and gullies. trails leading to staging areas, downwind of open food sources are excellent at sundown, especially for bucks.

If you are hunting at or after sundown and the deer are feeding in the open your stand should be along trails leading to the fields. Bucks move later than does and often come into the transition zones after sundown, preferring to stay in cover until sundown when they feel secure. If you don’t see bucks in open feeding areas move farther into the woods along buck travel routes in heavy cover and forested areas. Because the deer move late in the evening you have plenty of time to get to staging areas and transition zones before they arrive.

Morning Stands

In the early morning, when the deer are still feeding in the open, don’t hunt from stands near open night food sources unless you are sure there are no deer near your stand or you can approach it undetected. Because of the darkness you won’t know if there are deer in the area until it’s too late and if you spook a deer it will alert all the others in the area. Hunt transition zones, heavy cover where deer feed in search of food, or trails leading to bedding areas. Be at your stand before the deer and ambush them on their return.

Before the breeding phase bucks usually return to cover well before daylight. Hunt rub routes back to the buck bedroom early in the morning, getting there before the buck. Once the rut begins the bucks may return later because they are either chasing or looking for does. Early in the morning you may catch the buck along his rub route near transition zones on the way back to the bedding area. If the buck is not in his bedding area hunt near it from first light until noon. I have seen bucks drag themselves home at 11:00 in the morning. If you previously observed or patterned a buck you know when and where the best setup is.

If you are interested in more whitetail hunting tips, or more whitetail biology and behavior, click on Trinity Mountain Outdoor News and T.R.’s Hunting Tips at www.TRMichels.com. If you have questions about whitetails log on to the T.R.’s Tips message board. To find out when the rut starts, peaks and ends in your area click on Whitetail Rut Dates Chart.

This article is an excerpt from the Whitetail Addict’s Manual ($19.95 + $5.00 S&H), by T.R. Michels, available in the Trinity Mountain Outdoor Products catalog.

One of the reasons humans aren’t successful when they hunt is because they don’t become a hunter. Putting on hunting clothes and picking up a hunting weapon does not make you a hunter. Taking a weapon into the field with the intention of hunting does not make you a hunter, or maybe it does. It does not make you what you should be if you want to be good as a hunter, what your ancestors were; which was a predator.

The difference between a hunter and a predator is that the predator has an intimate knowledge of the game in the area, the area itself, and knows where to find the game at the current time of year, time of day and under the current environmental conditions. If you have hunted the same property for several years you know what I mean.

The more experience you have on a particular property the more familiar you are with it. The more experience you have hunting the better your hunting skills and hunting techniques will be. The more experience you have hunting a particular species the more you will know how it reacts at particular times of the year and times of the day under different environmental conditions. The more experience you have hunting a particular species on a particular property the better you will be at predicting where to find the animals on that property under all conditions. To be successful as a predator you have to know; 1. the land, 2. the species, 3. how the species will react under all environmental conditions, 4. have experience hunting the species, 5. use proven, successful hunting techniques, 6. be a good hunter.

One of the biggest problems for the hunter is not knowing the land. Hunters don’t know the land because they may not have hunted it before or have not spent enough time and effort scouting it. No one can teach you the land. You have to learn it yourself; and the more hours and years you spend on it the more you will about know it. You can cut corners by getting information from someone who knows it, and by having and being able to use topographical maps and aerial photos. Maps and photos will give you an idea where the preferred habitat of the game is.

But, if you don’t understand the game you won’t know what type of habitat it prefers and where to find it under all environmental conditions. You can learn about the game by reading, listening to others and watching videos and the game itself. The more time and effort you put into trying to understand the game the better you will be at predicting where, and when to find it. The best way to learn about the game is to research it thoroughly to gain all the knowledge you can, then spend time and effort watching and hunting the game yourself. Knowledge is only a partial substitute for personal experience.

You can learn hunting techniques, but without good hunting skills, learned through personal experience, even the best hunting techniques won’t do you any good. Hunting skills (being quiet, unseen, unscented and a proficient shot) must be sharpened by putting them into practice over several years. The traits of patience, perseverance, persistence and curiosity are possessed by predators and can be taught through self discipline. These traits and skills must be combined to make a good predatory hunter.

Knowing you should stay downwind of big game; knowing when to sit still and be quiet; knowing that if you hunt all day you’re chances of seeing game are good; and doing it, is not the same thing. Knowing there may be an animal just over the next hill, and going to find out is two different things. Knowing that sitting it out in cold, windy, wet weather will probably help your chances of seeing a trophy whitetail buck, and suffering through the weather is two different things. Knowing that putting in more time and effort will help you learn more, see more and become a better hunter, is not doing it. Reading and listening can help you know and understand, but you have to supply the time, effort and experience if you want to become a predatory hunter.

If you are interested in more hunting tips, or more biology and behavior, click on Trinity Mountain Outdoor News and T.R.’s Hunting Tips at www.TRMichels.com. If you have questions about whitetails log on to the T.R.’s Tips message board. To find out when the rut starts, peaks and ends in your area click on Whitetail Rut Dates Chart.

This article is an excerpt from the Whitetail Addict’s Manual ($19.95 + $5.00 S&H), by T.R. Michels, available in the Trinity Mountain Outdoor Products catalog.