Perhaps one of the eldest activities on the face of the planet is hunting. The history of hunting, as a result, is also one of the most diverse. Hunting for food has always been something that human kind has had to do, dating back to the beginning of any civilizations known to man.

As a result of this, there have been thousands of weapons and devices used to hunt. The history of hunting is far more complicated than any other history in the world, as it stretches so far into the past. In order to understand this history, you need to break down and study each era where hunting has been a major part of life. While there are exact time lines of when certain guns or weapons were produced, understanding the importance of hunting should be done on a far broader scale. There is much more to the history of hunting than when the gun was created.

The First Era, Pre-Civilization

In this time frame, from before great cities to the first starts of basic civilization, the human race survived on their skills of scavenging and hunting. In cultures similar to those of the first era and pre-civilization, women had the roll of caring for the home and preparing the food brought in by the men. Some portions of modern day Africa have conditions similar to this, where they do not have a great deal of money, and a similar style of hierarchy. The men all learned how to hunt, and they held these hunts daily to feed themselves. Unlike today, all hunting was for survival, and none of it for sport. All of the materials from the killed animals was used, from the bones to the pelt. Hunting was also a method of determining who was the bravest warrior. The bravest would hunt the ferocious creatures that lived nearby their homes. These kills were a vital part of the early hierarchies.

A wide variety of different weapons were used during this era, from slings to spears crafted of wood and stone. For large prey, the hunters would work together in packs, similar to how a wolf hunts to bring down their quarry. The only trophies kept were antlers and teeth. Occasionally the skulls would be kept as decoration or as symbols of the clan or family group. This oldest form of hunting was the basis in which the present was formed.

The Second Era, Growth of Civilization

As people gathered together and civilization really began, the role of men as hunters changed as well. Cities, by their very nature, require a variety of people with a lot of skills. There needed to be craftsmen and weavers, animal handlers and other trades so that everyone could have access to everything they needed. Instead of the split between men and women, hunting became the task of those most suited for hunting. These were usually always men, as it was looked down upon for women to participate in this line of work.

This was also the turning point where hunting becoming a sport. Civilizations, such as the Babylonians, the Egyptians, and the Romans all had their hunters and craftsmen. The Romans, took hunting as a sport to a whole new level, capturing prey alive for sale or gladiatorial competitions. Only certain individuals were hunters, allowing the select men to feed those in their community.

The Third Era, The Middle Ages

Perhaps one of the most interesting times in the history of hunting, is the middle ages. This is the period in time where hunting for food was a vital part of life for many, though restricted. Rules on hunting, such as no hunting in the King’s Forest, was the first real restrictions on hunting present in the world. Only the rich prospered, and the surf classes hunted whatever they could, when they could for survival. Hunting, from boar to deer to fox hunting, became primary sports for the nobility of the time frame. This started the trend of organized hunts for sport.

Colonists to the New World required as much hunting skills as possible, during this period of time, although they progressed quickly from relying on scavenging and hunting to creating farms and plantations. Popular weapons for use in hunting during this time period was forms of archery, slings and throwing spears. The gun was also used, although it had not quite yet reached full levels of popularity.

The Forth Era, The Industrial Period

On the heels of the Middle Ages was the Industrial period. This era stretched from beyond the 1700s until just after the start of the 1900s. The evolution of machines brought about great changes in hunting. Large farms became very popular, where livestock was raised instead of the practice of hunting wild animals, downgrading hunting to only become a past time. Guns, ranging from muskets to rifles, were being to be used extensively. Archery was downgraded to sport use only, though it was very popular for tests of skill.

Present Day

Through these stages of the history of hunting, humans have perfected this activity, with a wide range of weapons. Archers, for example, have many types of bows to choose from. Arrows are just as plentiful as bows, from metal to wood, with many different types of tips. Guns have evolved the same way, with many types of bullets and guns for different types of hunting. Special guns and equipment designed for moose hunting, for example, wouldn’t be the same as deer hunting supplies.

Competitive hunting, such as fox hunting, is still greatly enjoyed by many people who prefer a little more action to their hunting. In the modern world, safety and skill are the requirements for hunting, and it is open for anyone who is willing to learn proper weapon handling and obtain all of the documents necessary to hunt. Regulations on guns and hunting have been developed to prevent species from going extinct. While hunting is still very popular, the modern day has a lot more restrictions that in any other era in the history of hunting.

Each of these eras of the history of hunting have done a lot for the sport and trade, giving it a rich heritage that shouldn’t be forgotten.

Did you have a nice hunting season? Did you shoot a nice buck or maybe even two or a doe? That’s good. Now that this season is over, when should you start to get ready for next year? Maybe sometime this fall, say September? Well I’m here to say hogwash, now is the time to start getting ready for the fall hunt. There are three areas that you should not only think about but also start to improve upon — yourself, your gear and finally your weapon.

Yourself

I’ll bet you did your usual hunting routine; Park your rig, walk maybe 100 yards in, find a nice comfortable spot to sit down and wait. How’s that sound? My question to you is why are you hunting like this? Is it because you’re a little or a lot out of shape? Does your gut hang over your belt like Santa’s? Not only are you a prime candidate for a heart attack or a stroke you must be miserable the rest of the year. What’s in your head? Are you nuts? Well maybe you are but let me go out on a limb and say you’ve gotten wise in your old age and want to start the process of getting into some kind of shape. Maybe this year you’ll actually be able to get far enough away from the road to see a nice buck and get a shot at it. So where do you start?

I suppose you could hire a personal trainer. Or you could do what I do when you need to drop a few pounds; do a few simple exercises and only eat half of what is on your plate. Now before you start telling me how that’s wasteful and all that just think about what I’m asking you to do. For a few weeks only eat half of what you are given or if you have some actual will power, only take half of what you normally would. This will work if you are ready to get serious. “How do I know what a good weight is for my body?” you ask. My rule of thumb is when I look in the mirror after a shower, do I like what I see. Otherwise its time to lose that extra weight and I am here to tell you I know exactly how you feel. I used to be a little out of shape too. If you ask my wife I was practically an invalid! So I made a conscious decision to get serious about my hunting. I’ve tried every kind of hunting method there is — sitting in a tree stand, using a ground blind, stalking, still hunting, you name it, I’ve done it. The type of hunting I enjoy now is tracking — usually on a big high ridge in Maine or New Hampshire. Why in the world would I want to hike a couple of miles up a mountain, and follow a ridge for another couple of miles? Because that’s where the big bucks live and as a bonus I usually never see anyone else. Sure I’ve shot does and even some decent bucks down low, but there’s nothing like a buck that’s pushing 250 pounds. I mean a big old mountain buck that hardly ever sees another human. He’s not even really scared of you. He just lopes off while the younger bucks and does start twitching and getting nervous. More on that guy in another column.

I would have absolutely no chance of humping up the mountain if I wasn’t in decent shape, so after a good Christmas dinner and a few days of leftovers its time to start getting in shape. You might be thinking that’s a little extreme but I prefer to keep myself in reasonable shape the entire year. I’m certainly not going to run a marathon but at least I can walk up a 3000-foot mountain without worrying about a heart attack. Sometime in January I’ll start the process of getting in shape by dieting and exercise. By then all of my muscles have had a few weeks to recover. I usually hunt pretty hard, walking several miles each time out. But since I really never get entirely out of shape this method isn’t quite as drastic as you may think. This also gets me looking at the areas I plan to hunt next fall. There is no other exercise like walking in the woods on a clear, crisp day. I’m here to tell you that you cannot establish the coordination needed nor toughen up the muscles necessary for hunting without getting into the woods.

There are some great benefits in hiking the early part of the year. For starters you’ll have the woods to yourself. You can take your time and not feel pressured, just like the deer. You don’t have to worry about bears or bugs or leaves on the trees. If you live far enough North, there may be a good covering of snow that will show the tracks of every creature in the woods. This is the easiest, quietest time of the year to move through the woods. A side benefit of early year hiking is now the deer are calm and back to the normal life of a wild animal. They aren’t running from strange sounds and smells. I’ve always been able to see several deer during this time and I’m just talking about a few hours on the weekend. If you live in the northern part of the country you’ll want to pay attention to the weather and take the proper precautions in case a blizzard moves in while you’re hiking. Watch what you eat, get some exercise and you’ll be much better prepared when the hunting season finally gets here.

Your Gear

So what is the story with your hunting gear? Did everything work correctly? Did you break anything this year? Are you sure you remembered to bring everything back? Now is the time to do an inventory and replenish or replace what’s missing or broken or just didn’t work. Two years ago one glove fell out of my coat pocket while I wasn’t paying attention. I’ve also been known trying to hunt when the temperature drops to below zero and the lubricant in the gun hardens. Or the scope gets whacked out of alignment when I’ve slipped on some wet moss. Many years ago my hunting partner told me he could hear me walking along because the spare shells were making a clicking noise in my pocket. Now that doesn’t happen because I wear a cartridge belt. I suppose experience is the greatest teacher in the world, it sure has taught me quite a few things. But in the big woods of Maine and New Hampshire and Vermont, where I go hunting now, if I make a mistake the woods sure will point that out pretty quick.

You might also want to evaluate the rest of your hunting situation; I mean from your hat right down to your boots and everything in-between. Lets start at the top — did it rain on you? Did you stay dry and warm under your old headpiece? Maybe it’s time to get a new one lined with Gore-Tex. If you can’t find what you want with that you could always spray the hat with something like the Silicon sprays on the market nowadays.

How did your coat make out? Did you get too wet, too cold or too hot? I used to wear those fancy multi layer garments from all of the big names. I have quite a collection stored in my cellar. But now my choice is a simple wool hunting coat. I have an uncle that has worn the same old green checked wool hunting coat for at least 25 years. One day I’m going to get him a new one. I like one lined with Gore-Tex. I also spray it with silicon to try to keep the water beading. I will choose a coat with a game pocket in the back. That way I can store the food and water I bring.

The biggest problem with the fancy newer coats is that they are all made for stand hunting. If that’s your thing, fine. But if you’re like me you can’t sit still for more than 10 minutes at a time. Stand hunting means sitting (or even standing) still for long periods of time. Any movement whatsoever will keep the deer well out of range. You’re hand waving the bugs away or scratching your nose or a cough is plenty enough to telegraph your presence. If you want to walk around you’ll start to sweat because these new coats don’t breathe like wool.

How’s your long underwear? Forget the old white cotton type because if you sweat, even a little bit, you might as well throw the stuff in the garbage. Cotton is worthless when it gets wet. Upgrade to a polypropylene set and you won’t be sorry. Of course if you are a tracker you won’t need any of this until it gets pretty cold. I usually don’t bother until the temperature is in the teens for the high. By moving constantly I’m more than comfortable.

Finally your most important item — boots. If you are anything like me you have tried just about every make and model of footwear available and have found fault with them all. Either they weigh several pounds apiece, or they cost a fortune or they have those idiot air bobs that don’t grip anything. I have personally tried 8 different pair of boots over the last 10 years from a variety of manufacturers. The one boot company that I’ll use for the rest of my life is the Muck Boot Company. They have managed to create an unbelievably lightweight, snug fitting boot that keeps me warm down to -12 degrees. You heard me; negative 12 and all the way up to almost 50 above. The model I’ve chosen is called the Artic Sport. It has a terrific lug bottom that grips anything I’ve tried to throw at it. You can even get them online at www.muckbootsonline.com.

Your Gun

I suppose more words have been written about the “right” or “best” gun than any other topic around. We’ll save that discussion another column. Today we need to talk about its performance this past year and getting it ready for storage over the summer and what we can do about the upcoming season. We need to ask ourselves some basic questions; did the gun get wet? Did it get banged around in the field or in the truck? If you shot it at something did it actually hit what you were aiming at? Did it down what you were trying to hit?

Safety first — always unload any weapon when you are handling it in a non-hunting situation. Always check to make sure its unloaded each and every time you pick it up. Remember one thing, it doesn’t matter if you just put the thing down, your brother, child, wife or someone else could have chambered a round just to see the action work. People are fascinated with mechanical devices. And you don’t have a second chance here; don’t mess around with a weapon. It’s not a toy.

If you got out of the truck cab and walked only a few feet into the woods it’s a good bet that the gun will need some kind of cleaning. You may not have noticed but if there was even a little dew on the ground some of it made its way into the action of the weapon. Obviously snow or rain will mess up the works and you should make every attempt to get this cleaned out at the first opportunity. Pretty much every gun type — bolt, pump or semi-auto can be either partially or completely disassembled without a gunsmith’s help. After disassembling the weapon, I’ll use some long handled cotton swabs to soak up as much moisture as I can in all of the nooks and crannies. Then a through spraying of water displacing formula number forty, also known as WD-40, will drive out the remaining water. Remember our quest here is to prevent the beginning of rust formation. It’s many times easier to prevent rust than to remove it. After the WD-40 evaporates I’ll use more of the cotton swabs and begin to clean the grit, dirt and leaves out of the action. Dip the cotton swabs in a little Rem Oil or similar stuff so that the crud will stick to the swab and also leave behind a nice coating of Teflon based smoothness. Don’t let any gunk dribble back into the action. Use a brass bore brush of the correct diameter dipped in bore solvent to loosen the residue. Swab the barrel with dry patches and follow with an oil soaked patch.

Now that we have a clean gun think back and see if it was banged around while in the field or in the truck. Did you drop it? Did it fall off of the hood of the truck? Maybe we should check the mechanical parts before we put the gun away for the season. Take a few minutes and start examining the weapon for any dings, scratches or marks. Be sure and do this where you have good light. I’ll do this on my kitchen table after covering the table with a towel. This room has the best light in my house. I will take maybe half an hour to examine the gun from the barrel to the stock. I make a note of every ding and chip so that I can get it repaired over the summer. Pay particular attention to the barrel end. Did it bang into a rock? You might even want to rub the barrel end with some dryer lint to detect any metal burrs that were scratched up during your travels. Work the action several times to ensure the lubricant has been spread properly and that there is no sticking or binding. If you find something wrong and you can’t see an obvious answer, take it to a gunsmith. Now wipe down the outside with some more of the oil and lock the gun away. Remember to use trigger locks if your state requires them. Please store the ammunition somewhere else, not near the gun.

Personally I’ll use the gun several times over the year at the range to ensure I’m proficient with it. This is my routine and I never deviate from it at all. But wait a second. What if your back or shoulders were in pain after a few days of hauling around the beast. Is this a hand-me down from some uncle? Maybe he gave it to you because he was tired of carrying around a ten-pound bazooka. Have you considered trading it in for a lighter model? There are several flavors of hunting rifle that are very light that don’t have huge recoil. I’ve settled on a .270 that’s fantastic for me. I have had the barrel cut down to 18 and a half inches and shortened the stock by half an inch. The total package with a scope weighs in at 7 pounds even.

Ok, its weight isn’t a problem but you say you shot a nice buck and lost your hearing for a few minutes? Maybe you don’t really need that .375 Magnum after all. Please don’t make the mistake of listening to the gun ads talking about knock down power and all of that bull. Just about any weapon can kill a whitetail deer. If you’re close enough a .22 will work. No I don’t recommend using that but it doesn’t take much beyond to be quite lethal to a deer. I’ve known a guide in Maine who has used an old .243 for decades. Every deer he shoots doesn’t go more than a few yards before it drops. So what’s the secret? When you see a deer and your heart starts pumping and thumping you must be in control of yourself so you can be in control of your weapon. So how do you stay in control? Start at the gun range. You’ve got to shoot a lot of rounds to be comfortable with both your capabilities and your weapon. First place your gun in a gun vise so that it doesn’t move. Get it zeroed in for 100 yards. Why 100? If you ask every person you can find who has actually killed a deer, what was the distance they had to shoot you’d find 95 percent were far less than 100 yards. If someone starts with “it had to be a good 350 yards and the buck dropped on the spot” don’t even listen. He’s lying. If you could go back there and actually measure it out you’d see it was much shorter.

Even if your shot happens to be 150 or 175 yards with a 100 yard sight-in you’ll still hit the deer just fine. I don’t worry about hold over or under because I don’t shoot anything over 200 yards anyway. Try this for a test. At the gun range, after you know the gun is sighted in, stand up and pick the gun up as if you were in the woods. Try to hold it on the target at 100 yards for 3 seconds. I’ll bet you can’t hold still. Probably because the gun is too heavy or you’ve just never tried to do it. Now try it at 200 yards. Especially at a high power the crosshairs will be bouncing around all over the place. The more you shoot the more you will be comfortable with the movement of the gun while you are holding it. Of course in the woods always try to use a rest. This could be a tree you’ve stopped at to catch your breath or a large rock. One of my hunting pals loves to drop down to a knee and rest his forward elbow on his upright knee. This is the position he primarily shoots from and so he practices from this position for several days a month during the year. Normally I’ll use a box of 20 shells every month practicing. But then again I like to shoot.

Conclusion

What I’ve tried to do is to give you both a starting point and some motivation to get going now. Don’t wait for November to prepare for the hunt. It’s much easier to be comfortable with your weapon and prepared for the hunt when the time is plentiful than when time is short. Yourself, your gear and your gun should all be ready for the hunt.

If you don’t hunt, you might wonder what’s so appealing about this activity. Why, for example, would anyone sit for hours in a chilly duck blind? Or trudge mile after mile through soggy cattail sloughs? And what’s the thrill in trying to kill an animal, anyway? If hunters want to be outdoors and see animals, can’t they just watch wildlife without shooting them?

Hunting, with a half-million Minnesota participants, must certainly stir the curiosity of those who don’t take part.

Why someone hunts is a personal matter. Many do it to spend time outdoors with friends or family. Others hunt to continue a tradition passed down from their parents and grandparents. Some go for the satisfaction of providing their own meat or the challenge of outwitting a wild animal. Many hunt simply because they feel an urge to do so. As environmentalist and hunter Aldo Leopold put it, “The instinct that finds delight in the sight and pursuit of game is bred into the very fiber of the race.”

It’s hard to generalize what hunters are doing when they go afield each fall. But it is possible to explain what hunters are not doing, and to shed light on some aspects of hunting that might puzzle those who don’t participate. Hunters aren’t killing animals needlessly.

People who say there’s no need to kill animals for meat when it can be bought in a grocery store don’t understand how food happens: Whether someone eats venison or beef, a big brown-eyed mammal has to die first. The animal doesn’t care whether you pay someone else to kill it or you do it yourself.

Of course, vegetarians don’t kill animals. Or do they? Most vegetable production is done at the expense of wild creatures, either by converting wildlife habitat to cropland or requiring the application of chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Soybeans and corn, for example, are often grown on wetlands that have been drained and plowed. Without a place to nest, a hen mallard doesn’t die, but she doesn’t raise any young, either.

1. Hunters aren’t being cruel to wild animals.

   Most wild animals don’t pass away in comfort, sedated by veterinary medication. They usually die a violent, agonizing death. Though a hunter’s bullet or arrow can cause a wild animal pain and trauma, such a death is no worse than the other ways wildlife perish. A deer not shot eventually will be killed by a car, predator, exposure, or starvation. An old, weakened pheasant doesn’t die in its sleep. It gets caught by a hawk and eaten.

   Of course, hunters don’t do individual wild animals any favors by killing them, but they also don’t do anything unnaturally cruel.

2. Hunters aren’t dangerous, inept, or trigger-happy.

   Hunting would seem more prone to accidents and fatalities than outdoor activities that don’t use firearms. Not so. According to National Safety Council statistics, far more people per 100,000 participants are injured while bicycling or playing baseball than while hunting. And the Council’s most recent statistics show that while roughly 100 people die nationwide in hunting accidents each year, more than 1,500 die in swimming-related incidents.

   One reason for hunting’s safety record: Most states require young hunters to pass a firearms safety course. In Minnesota alone, 4,000 volunteer instructors give firearms safety training to 20,000 young hunters each year.

   Just as they handle their gun cautiously, so do most hunters strive to kill game as cleanly as possible. Hunters practice their marksmanship, study wildlife behavior and biology, and take pains to follow a wounded animal to ensure any suffering ends quickly.

   As do all activities, hunting has its share of scofflaws. But most hunters obey the law and act ethically. To nab the wrongdoers among them, hunters created Turn In Poachers, a nonprofit organization that offers rewards for information leading to the arrest of fish and game law violators.

3. Hunters aren’t harming wildlife populations.

   Hunters see to that out of self-interest. That’s why they support state and federal conservation agencies limiting seasons to just a few weeks or months a year, limiting the number of animals they kill, and placing restrictions on killing females of some species. These regulations help ensure that wildlife populations stay healthy. They also make the pursuit of game more difficult, requiring hunters to use their wits, patience, and hunting skills.

4. Hunters aren’t using non-hunters’ tax dollars.

   Hunters pay their own way, and then some. Minnesota hunters fund almost all Department of Natural Resources habitat acquisition and wildlife research with their license fees and a federal excise tax on hunting equipment. In addition, their financial support pays to improve populations of non-game wildlife. Wetland destruction has wiped out the habitats of many bird species, causing their numbers to decline. Were it not for wetlands bought and improved with state and federal waterfowl stamp revenue and with the contributions of hunting conservation organizations, hunters and others who like to watch wildlife would today see fewer marsh wrens, pied-billed grebes, Forster’s terns, and other wetland birds. These are some things that hunters aren’t doing.

What I suspect most are doing–if they hunt for the reasons I do–is fulfilling a need to be part of the natural world that observation alone can’t satisfy.

It was late November in the dark swamps of south Alabama. The leaves were about gone, and it had been raining off and on for four days and nights straight. Now it was almost dark, the wind was picking up, and rain started to drizzle on me. I was sleeping when I awoke, shivering. Ominous black clouds were looming in the western sky. I stood up slowly and stretched out my arms and inhaled the cool damp air, which smelled of soggy swamp mud and the odor of decaying leaves, a scent to which I’d grown accustomed. I picked up my longbow and rested it on my right shoulder.

My washed-out green eyes became like a sponge when I looked across the bottoms at the crowds of strapping oaks, cypresses, poplars, sweet gum trees and white oaks that stood strong and dominated the bottoms. I saw a slough curl, then curve back against a beaver dam crammed full of red, gold, gray, yellow, brown leaves. The leaves floated on the surface of water, and cypress knees rose like spikes three feet above the gravy-colored water.

The raindrops multiplied, producing designs like shooting targets with rings that grew, then dwindled on the flat surface of the water. I looked high into an oak tree and saw a cat squirrel steal an acorn before scooting out of sight.

After a few moments I started to slip in long strides, carefully placing my rubber boots on the damp leaves. Years of experience had taught me to crouch like a lion as I eased along. I never got in a hurry, as there was too much to see.

I never missed an opportunity to observe animals. Watching animals in their natural habitat are highlights of most my hunts now. And in over forty years of deer hunting, I’d bagged several big bucks while slipping out from a hunt.

I stopped and watched a nervous gray squirrel work for acorns at the base of an oak tree. The squirrel didn’t see me. After a few moments, I started easing along the trail again. I had gone twenty yards when a screeching brown woodcock flew up like a wobbling football. I clenched my bow and saw the plump bird arc into the air, then appear to fall short of its intended landing. Then I heard a sound. It came again. The trees were fast merging into one. The sound was stalking me. I felt eyes pressing on my back. The last place I wanted to be was in the swamps with an enormous whitetail trophy buck in the rut.

It is fitting that only a hunter sees and feels such magnificence and sweetness that are in the hunt. Remove the sights, the thrills, and the danger of the hunt, and hunting becomes as dull and uninteresting as a gallon of water with a single drop of whiskey.

The stands are pulled, the gear all stored, and my rifle has a fine coating of oil on it to take it through another long off season siesta. Once again deer season is over in most of the whitetail’s range. Think again! Now is high time to find my buck.

In the last four or five years several things have changed in my approaches to hunting trophy deer. First and foremost is when I do the majority of my hunting. Post season scouting is the best way to find mature whitetails. Inevitably, trophy classed deer that will survive “hole up” during the latter parts of the regular hunting season. It is a survivors game that for the most part trophy bucks win. Dodging bullets and even eliminating any visible encounters with hunters is one thing for a buck, but leaving no trace, impossible.

Where Did He Go?

On the last day of the season my good friend Wayne Mogy and I are walking out to our best bet stands . On the way in there right on the road, is a track . This is not your typical deer track either, it is well over 4 inches from tip to dew claw and three inches wide. Now were on to something, a survivor! In an extremely taunting manner this buck had strolled right down the main thoroughfare on our property most likely late the night before.

For most hunters tracks head one direction, foreword. My instinct, turn around and see where they come from. By looking back I can start to dechiepher the secrets of security for a big buck. “Where did he come from?”, is a better question to ask. Without a doubt the tracks come from a tangled mess slipped neatly into my hunting area. Its in these hideouts that I find the half-time chalkboard with many of the defensive plays scratched out. John Madden couldn’t draw it any better!

Suprisingly, it doesn’t take long after then guns are stored for a trophy buck to return to his usual routine of travels throughout his range, before this happens it is vital to read the sign. There is a two to four week window of opportunity to plow into these “pressure retreats” and see just how and why your buck survived. Sometimes I hit pay dirt and walk right into the bedroom. With a flurry of crashing, broken branches and glimpses of antler tell me I am home. Spooked? Only for the moment, next year he will be back. Even without the chance encounter with a buck, numerous rubbings both new and old, recent scrapes, and single bedding sites will tip me off to a bucks frequent usage of the area. However, absolutely nothing gets me more excited about the season way off in the distance than a real life post season big buck encounter. After an encounter such as this, many nights will be scents counting tines rather than sheep when I lay my head down.

Forming the Plan

Out comes my own chalk board, trails are followed, rub lines pin pointed and escape and entry routes figured. At every step I take notice of the wind direction, contours which will affect the wind, and useable approaches to the hideout. Normally there are very few approaches to be had especially around bedding sites. It has also been my experience that very rarely will there be a great choice in trees for stand placement. Sanctuary areas for a big buck seem to occur in areas where the buck can eliminate the fear from above. Finding the right tree in these areas is one of the hardest parts of my game plan.

The tree

It is very tempting to follow the heavy trails in these areas pick a stand tree out and conclude that I have just out figured the buck of my dreams. Think again ! Even in these thickest of areas mature buck deer will avoid using well worn paths. He does not hole up here during the late season only to drop his defenses, when in this area he is making straight A’s in security school. This is a different hunt than the old rutting buck game. I have to be thorough and locate the secondary use trails , trails used by wary, mature whitetail bucks. Carefully sweeping pine straw and leaves out of the trail many times will reveal the same tracks that led me this far to begin with. I pay particularly close attention to trails that have been used in both directions by the buck. These are favored trails that most likely will be used again next year. Once a good secondary trail is found and followed deep into the thicket its time to pick a tree.

Picking out a tree in these areas usually comes down to taking what you can get. I try and locate a tree that will afford me excellent cover in a normally thin canopy and allow a high enough stand placement to get my scent way above a bucks nose. The tree needs to be downwind or slightly quartering downwind of the secondary buck trails I have found, while the wind position is sure to be less than perfect there is an answer to that problem. If I can get high enough in the tree without standing out like a vulture on a limb my odds are high that I will be able to hunt undetected.

At nosebleed heights, normally twenty five feet or more, cover will be the next important part of my plan. When possible I cradle myself into existing limbs that will fill with leaves in the coming spring, when they fill up with leaves a 2 inch section of the cambium layer of bark can be stripped completely around the limb. This will kill that particular limb and cause the leaves to remain attached to it long after Falls normal leaf drop. Brushible tars are available to cover up the wound to the tree helping to prevent disease and also conceal the fresh looking cuts. These existing limbs and added hunter installed limbs will provide late season cover for my hunting set up.

The approach

Approachability is the key to a good stand anywhere I hunt, while hunting pressure retreats for big bucks extremely early,ans quiet approach it is vital . Without a doubt the options of approach will be slim , very little good downwind access, brush and heavy cover, and water obstacles are common. This area was picked by the buck for good reason. I have taken to adopting a deer trail as my way in. Taking a heavily used doe trail and opening it up just enough to allow quiet (nose into the wind) entry is usually the only way in. By letting the does prospect my trail, I am assured of having a good stealthy approach. Does are better at picking trails than me for certain! Many may question this strategy as it could spook deer but later on my adoption of this trail has a very thoughtful purpose.

The stand

Crooked trees seem to be the rule when I find my ultimate set up. Less than perfect for climbing stands, I prefer to use “loc on” types. I will go ahead and install tree steps as soon as I have decided on the tree.. For me it is much easier to climb silently into place on tree steps than to transport set up and climb into position with a portable. If I can manage it, I will set up two or three trees in the same area which will allow me to hunt consecutive days next season without spoiling a single stand site.

Visibility and shooting lanes

Without fail every season, I have a client who will refuse to hunt a stand due to lack of visibility. Shame, shame, this hunter has just cut his odds 80 % or better at going home without a buck. When I set up a “pressure retreat stand “, I cut small holes instead of shooting lanes. Cutting a wide swath through these areas only ruins them. I pay attention to the detail of the bucks travels and plan my shots months ahead of time. Two or three looks is all you get in a thicket, pick a hole, widen it up just enough to allow a shot and remember that is all you get. When I set up a stand like this 9 times out of ten my shot is taken exactly where it was planned months later.

Hunting the pressure retreat

Late season is a long way off. Checklist: Get your scent-free rubber boots ready, condition your muscles in other stands for a long motionless sitting, and polish up your shooting skills at other stands. Stay out of your pressure retreat stand area!

It’s late season now, Checklist : de scent as much as possible, set up a doe scent drag, walk the doe trail in very quietly in rubber boots being extremely careful to not touch anything, and stay all day. I know he will be here it is just a matter of time and patience. The fresh smell of doe scent I left an hour before the first hint of light was in the sky is sure to calm him some. No grunt calls, just quiet non obtrusive hunting till the crack of a limb, swish of grass, or displaced water splashing gives up the approaching buck.

Sticking to the Plan

This season I had five pressure retreat stands set up and ready for me and me only to hunt. Temptation caused me to give in and hunt two of my stands prior to the expected late season disappearance of our bucks. In my opinion I blew it! By hunting these stands while the rut was still in full swing I changed the usefulness of the areas for the entire herd. Sure, I took bucks in both of these stands but not the buck I had focussed on, he was out and about doing what dominant bucks do, breeding most of the does throughout his entire range. Its a tough call but to be successful at this late season game I have to try and keep from selling myself short by harvesting a lesser buck early on. By hunting the pressure retreat stands early I contaminated the area with scent, shots, and educated my true quarry to my own use of the areas. Poor decisions that caused these two stands to stop producing well short of the late season bonanza I had expected. My bucks picked new hideouts that are now sporting tree stands in them for next year!

The three stands I managed to stay out of until December were a different story. My number one stand gave me a thrilling 5 yard peek at a PY buck just after legal shooting light was passed. My number two stand produced a fine miss at 17 yards on a monster 10 pointer I had found the previous season. Number three stand produced also. On a generous day a friend hunting the “swamp stand”, had a close encounter with140 inches of 8 point buck. Prior to that day, his opinion of our herd was that it was small bucks only.

To many of my hunting friends and most certainly my wife, heading out just after a long deer season seems rather ridiculous, and bordering on obsessed. After everyone else has given up, declared the bucks as ghosts or long since harvested, some of us are still seeing and taking trophy bucks by taking a little time to prepare early for next years late season. Ask the newest potential South Carolina state record holder where he took his buck December 23 and my bet is he will tell you, “I took him out of a little stand I only hunt once or twice a year way back in that messy thicket!” A184 inch 10 point isn’t a bad Christmas gift now is it?

It is said that patience is a virtue. I consider myself a patient guy, and normally, I’d agree with this comment. If November sneaks up to you before you count down the days, then you are not one of us. By saying “us”, I speak of the elite group of people who every year impatiently await the month of November. The almighty month of bonding, siting silently, getting up before the sun, and most immortally, the month of the “what ifs.” Yes, I am speaking of the praised month of deer hunting. This is the only month of the year in which groups of people strategically place themself in the middle of nowhere, 12 feet high in trees, and dress themselves in camo and bright orange. This may sound ridiculous to the majority of society, yet every member, of our growing club, understands and appreciates every moment of it. Yes, that cold November month; where the beer flows freely and the stories of past hunts resurface year after year, yet never grow old. The month where a year’s worth of anticipation may end with disappointment because of a single branch, placed irresponsibly by mother nature.

On normal winter days, for normal people, the below zero temperature keeps them hiding in there homes, awaiting spring and a 60 degree day. But for us, the cold is a relief . It is a cure for the fast heart rate and boiling blood after tipping a brilliant, massive racked animal. I have been hunting for almost a decade now, and over half of those years were spent in a tree—cold and silent—resulting in what some non-hunters may call failure. But just one moment can make up for those story-less years.

For some, sounds of joy may be a favorite song, rain hitting the awnings above a bedroom window, or even laughter. But for me, I crave the sounds of crunching leaves, roaring invisible grunts from a distant swamp, and the sound of a powerful rifle in the distance, wondering if it was successful. In such a place where the hunted out number the hunters, and the abundance of trees and obstacles dominate both. A place where the odds weigh heavily against your goal, and yet, many hunters return home every year with memories and visions that will run off their tongues twice as many times as their minds will replay.

Everyone, hunter or not, wants to find a luxurious getaway. A place where there are no televisions, no cell phones ringing, and no conversations of work or failure. I have found my place, I have been there. It is hidden deep in unexploded sections of the woods, only visited by creatures that reside there. A place where my grandfather toured to my young father, who then guided me and brother through just to pass on such a joyous hobby, and which I plan on showing my unborn child to some day. Another such bonding situation does not exist, at least not in my perspective.

The obstacle: finding the one right tree out of millions, placing yourself in it, luring the one biggest deer of thousands, and placing this trust on one weekend of a whole year. The goal: to find the buck of a lifetime, a prize rack on your wall, and a freezer full of sausage and back straps. The confidence of having a friend or loved one enjoy the taste of your well earned venison is worth all the hard work and preparations. It may just give you yet another chance to retell your successful hunt.

Slowly squeezing a resisting metal trigger and before ears start ringing, seeing a monster buck stumble as a result of your steadiness and patience. That’s what it is all about. A few weekends of the year where race and gender don’t matter. Everyone is family if they’re in camo or bright orange. A time where strangers enjoy stories and info of each others days with full attention. Successful or lonely. It doesn’t matter here. Other hunters are interested in how your day turned out in those uninhabited woods.

Whether you consider yourself a threat with a bow and arrow, or embrace yourself as a marksman with that cold scope on your rifle, you’ll await the 11th month of the year. It’s ok if you cannot recall your anniversary or the birthday of a loved one, just so long as you remember that sweet, long-awaited and well-deserved weekend of the deer opener. Because on this day anything can happen. Good luck to all of you who will enter those intimidating woods with hope and pray. May your hunt be filled with crunching leaves, manly grunts, and excellent decisions. May your stories afterwards be entertaining and unforgettable.

As I end, I must express my concern that all stay safe and unhurt during this wonderful hunting season. All too soon, the season will come to an end. And the only thing that should be hurt or die; is dreams. Dreams of a successful hunt of a gigantic, graceful horned buck. And you always have next year to make them come true. May you have the foresight and patience to pass on a nice size buck, following that warm gut feeling that a wall hanger will be visiting you later. Remember, patience is a virtue. Good Luck!