I’ve heard many people say, “Turkeys are meant to be shot in the head with a shotgun.” The gist is that a turkey brain-rocked by a swarm of dense shot is going nowhere but down. There is peace of mind in that, and toting a shotgun certainly puts you more in control of the hunt.
Of course, most turkey hunters who are serious bowhunters during the fall are eventually bit by the I-want-to-kill-a-turkey-with-my-bow bug. Turkey hunting with a shotgun isn’t always easy, but if you’ve become good at it, perhaps it doesn’t feel very challenging anymore. You can add excitement and challenge back into turkey hunting by laying down the shotgun and picking up your bow.
If you’re ready to make the leap and hunt spring gobblers with your bow, let me help you taper the learning curve a bit. Following are some tips that have helped me bow-bag dozens of turkeys over the last 18 years.
Get Them in Close
The most exciting aspect of bowhunting turkeys is that, to kill them consistently, they must be close. I rarely kill a bird beyond 20 yards anymore. When a bird gobbles, spits and drums within 20 yards, it’s an entirely new level of exciting. But pulling toms within 20 yards isn’t always easy, so let’s consider our options to get that top-pin shot.
Choose Your Approach
I bowhunt turkeys without a blind as often as I do with one. My approach is based almost solely on the amount of pre-hunt scouting I’ve done. If I know birds are on the property but haven’t seen them do the same routine for several consecutive mornings, I usually go blindless. I dress in camo from head to toe, pack a folding saw in case I need to craft a quick blind and head onto the property with my bow and decoys — a very mobile approach. Hunting cameraOnce I hear a gobbler, I move in as close as possible without being spotted, then choose a setup location where toms approaching my decoys will move behind trees or other obstructions so I can draw my bow undetected. I place my decoys 15 yards away. I call almost exclusively with a mouth call to eliminate movement. I’m not going to elaborate on calling since I rely more on my decoys and less on calling for a top-pin shot.
The beauty of a mobile approach is that if the bird(s) move in another direction, I’m not tied to my initial location. I can move to subsequent setups and try to make something happen. It works well for me, and I find that I hunt fewer hours and kill more birds.
That said, I’m a big advocate of using ground blinds. When I’ve patterned birds that do the same thing every morning — especially in ag fields — I want to be in the exact location they’re frequenting. I can do that with a ground blind. Unlike deer, turkeys (unless they’ve been majorly educated) will accept a ground blind placed in the wide open, especially with realistic decoys placed 10 to 15 yards away. I’ve arrowed many gobblers from this exact setup.
If turkeys are frequenting a large field daily but not in the same exact spot, I choose the highest point in the field as my setup. This makes my decoys most visible, and for whatever reason, turkeys are prone to approach decoys uphill from them. I’ve never had a gobbler come downhill to my decoys.
Tackle for Turkeys
If I had to choose between using cheap decoys with great camo or using mediocre camo with expensive, realistic decoys, I’ll choose the latter every time. I used cheap decoys during my early years of turkey hunting with very sporadic results.
I switched to Dave Smith Decoys 10 years ago, and they paid for themselves right away in the time they saved me. I haven’t done the exact math, but I’d say eight out of 10 toms respond to them. What’s more, they lock onto them so intently that I can draw back undetected. I almost always use one hen and one jake. Why? Because it works and I see no sense in bogging myself down with the additional weight of more decoys.
When hunting without a blind, I wear a HECS suit underneath my camo, which makes my electromagnetic fields undetectable. I carry a small folding chair so that I can keep my bow cam above dirt and vegetation while shooting.
If you don’t have a ground blind and want to hunt from one, you have two options. Either borrow one from a buddy or buy one. If buying, consider it an investment. Cheap blinds don’t last. Buy a blind made from quality materials, take good care of it, and it will last you decades. Thus, you can justify spending more. I have two Primos Double Bull blinds — the Darkhorse and SurroundView 270 — and both are great for deer and turkey hunting.
Broadhead Selection
The exact bow setup you use for deer hunting will work well on turkeys. Some folks reduce their draw weight, which is fine, but I don’t. I want to set up my bow once for the entire year. I don’t want to reconfigure sight pins or sight tapes after turkey season, so I shoot the same setup for turkeys as I do for big game.
Broadheads are very important. A small broadhead placed through a bird’s lungs will do the trick every time, but the lungs are a tiny target that even the best archers cannot hit every single time during a hunting situation. As a bowhunter, the worst nightmare is thumping a bird and watching him go airborne into the unknown. And that can happen if you miss the mark even slightly.
For that reason, I shoot big, forgiving mechanical broadheads. First, the additional cutting diameter will often compensate if a marginal hit is made (don’t use that as an excuse to attempt low-odds shots). Second, the shock a large mechanical broadhead transfers to the bird on impact is astounding. That combined with the large cutting surface will help anchor a bird more quickly. Having shot birds with both fixed-blade and mechanical heads, I’m putting my money on mechanicals.
Take Your Time and Make the Shot
In the past, I rushed more shots on turkeys than I care to admit. It gets really exciting when a boss tom is pummeling your decoy 12 yards away. It creates a false sense of urgency to shoot quickly. I’ve learned to ignore that anxious feeling. I make sure the tom is still and that I know the angle at which he’s standing. A tom locked on the decoys will usually give you all the time in the world — no need to rush. Now, you’d be surprised at how many turkeys are missed or hit marginally at 10-15 yards. A strutting tom is mostly feathers, so if you don’t know the anatomy and how to place your arrow according to the angle, it’s very easy to botch a gimme, especially if you rush the shot.
Study anatomy diagrams online before and during your hunt, and then when an opportunity presents itself, SLOW DOWN. Don’t just aim for the center of the bird and hope for the best. Choose the feather you want to hit and fixate your sight pin on it. Trust me, rushed shots will lead to lost birds. Don’t settle for that.
Go For It!
There’s a level of fear that comes with downgrading from a long-range weapon to a more primitive or short-range weapon. I mean, why lay down the sure thing and make things more difficult? You’ll know the answer when you bow-kill a gobbler from 10 yards as he attacks your jake decoy. It’s a rush that keeps me toting my bow every spring.
When our son asked me a few years ago if he could ride the four-wheeler over to a friend's house and blow up Tannerite with a .30-06, I remember thinking, That sounds like a good idea; what could go wrong?
When my best friend, who was sitting on the bank behind me as I cast for trout, started throwing big rocks to see how close he could get to my head without actually hitting it, my otherwise predisposed mind registered, That sounds like a good idea; what could go wrong?
"What could go wrong?" are the famous last words of many a YouTube hero. Fortunately, our son still has all his limbs and senses. I wish I could report the same result from my trout stream experience.
So, this month, I am going to explore what can go wrong when the focus of our season is standing right there, 30 yards away. Knowing what could go wrong, hopefully, gives us the chance to avoid the seemingly inevitable calamity.
YOUR BOW
Bowstring
I once arrived at an elk hunt only to find my bow was shooting so low I couldn't even hit the target at 20 yards. It was a hot week, and the bow was in a black case on the trip out. The string stretched. Fortunately, I had a portable press and was able to twist it back to the right length.
Your string is made up of several strands of soft extruded polyethylene. The word "soft" should immediately make you cringe. Almost everything else on a bow is made of something hard that can take a licking and keep on ticking.
The string can let you down in many ways. Obviously, it can stretch. The center serving can break or slip. The peep sight can stop rotating correctly. If you have an older string on your bow, or shoot several thousand arrows per year, it is wise to buy a new custom string and break it in before the season. This is the most important accessory on your bow.
After the string, your sight pins are the most vulnerable parts on your bow. I have had pins break and bend during the course of a tough hunt, and I have had the filaments break on plenty of cheap fiber-optic pins. The obvious solution is the best one: buy a better sight. The best sights now feature well-guarded pins that fully protect the fibers. If you have not upgraded your sight recently, you don't know what you are missing. The best have amazingly bright, well-protected pins and are a joy to shoot.
If you choose not to replace your sight, at least make a point of studying your pins several times per day to be sure they are sound.
Arrow Rest
I missed a good buck in the mid-90s because my rest got bumped at some point prior. I hadn't been shooting during midday, so I didn't catch the change. I shot right under that heavy 8-pointer as he worked a scrape just 15 yards away. Back at the target later that morning, the bow hit eight inches low at 20 yards.
Obviously, you have to shoot as often as possible during the season to head off these problems before they cost you a buck. That is the main takeaway from my sad day in the stand, but you can also prevent this from happening, to some extent, by selecting the right accessories. Now I only use rests with secondary setscrews that lock them in place, or I use rests that mount into pre-shaped cutouts in the riser. I no longer trust the notion that I can tighten a single retaining screw enough to keep a rest from pivoting if it takes a hard knock.
EXECUTION ERRORS
Oh, boy. Now we are in the same league as the four-wheeler, Tannerite and .30-06. There are a ton of things that can go wrong here. Let's look at the most obvious ones.
Rushing the Shot
This has cost me a couple of trophies over the years. We all have a built-in tendency to want to shoot quickly. I have more or less eliminated this problem by forcing myself to squeeze the trigger on all my shots. On the range it is not hard to do, but on live game this takes discipline and a very intentional approach. Force yourself to do it on every shot you take.
Hitting Limbs
Three very good trophies (an elk, a whitetail and a woodland caribou) ran off unscathed because my arrows hit mid-flight branches that were above my line of sight. Your eye takes the laser-beam line, but the arrow arcs above this. The only way to prevent hitting these unseen twigs is to actually look for them!
Now, every time I hit full draw, my first mission is to make sure there is nothing above my line of sight. If so, I crouch down or pick a different shooting lane. Seems obvious, but it is very easy to ignore.
String Jumping
I have written about string jumping several times in this magazine, but it is such a huge issue it deserves another mention. Not handling alert deer correctly has been my curse in recent years. I am starting to get a grasp on it, but that education came at a terrible cost. Some really big whitetails have gotten away because I didn't aim low enough.
If the deer is alert, I now aim for the heart on 20-25-yard shots. I aim for the brisket on 30-yard shots. On shots between 30 and 40 yards, I aim increasingly below the brisket. I don't take shots past 40 yards on alert deer. In fact, given how quick deer are, 40 yards is a reasonable maximum range even on relaxed deer — no matter how well you can shoot on the range.
Pin Visibility
I hunt from blinds a lot more now than I used to, for a couple reasons. Number one, I am getting older and softer and like the comfort of a warm blind on a cold day. And second, because blinds are the most effective way to kill deer in a number of situations — especially on or near food sources. To set up a blind well so the deer can't see in, you have to keep the windows shaded. This means it is dark inside — making it hard to see your pins. I had a really big buck get away in 2012 because I used the wrong pin and shot right over him. To be accurate from a blind, even at short range, you need a lighted sight. I have added the optional light to my Fuse sights, and now I aim with confidence right up to the end of legal shooting time.
CONCLUSION
If you are vigilant for changes in the string, the sight and the rest, you will eliminate 90 percent of the nightmares your bow could inspire. But, when it comes to execution errors, things get considerably more complicated. I have found dozens of ways to blow big opportunities. All you can do is anticipate (and try to eliminate) the most obvious ones.
Someday, if I hunt long enough and hard enough, an absolute monster will come past. I don't want him to get away. It is just that simple.
f you've shot a bow for any length of time, you have heard about follow-through. In this column, I am going to take a closer look at follow-through, specifically as it relates to your release hand/arm. In short, proper follow-through involves your release hand and arm falling away from the anchored position as the shot fires. A lot of people misunderstand what follow-through actually is. Most will say, "You really need to work on your follow-through," or "Make sure you remember to follow through," or something along those lines.
In reality, follow-through isn't something you should be working on to have a great shot. Rather, it's the result of a great shot. The goal in execution is a surprise release, where you aren't anticipating the timing of that shot. When that happens, a good follow-through is inevitable.
I often hear the comment, "Man, that guy has a horrible follow-through." But I learned long ago it does you absolutely no good to work on your follow-through, because "that guy" is just anticipating his shot, which is causing his horrible follow-through. Or rather, his lack of follow-through. You see, if I fire my release via conscious command, I am tensing those small muscles it takes to execute the shot, and my release hand will stay right next to my face instead of falling back.
If you have a poor or non-existent follow-through, here is a test to prove my point: Come to full draw and have a buddy slowly squeeze your trigger while you concentrate on nothing but aiming. When the bow fires, your release arm and hand will fall away from the position, because you're not fast enough to stop it. This means that when you are executing your own shot, you know the exact moment to tense up, causing the lack of follow-through.
Instead of spending time pointlessly trying to work on having a follow-through, work on executing a surprise release where you are focused on nothing but aiming. You should be slowly squeezing the trigger until the shot fires. This will result in a great follow-through. Anyone can fake a follow-through, but that will not make you a better shooter. Honestly, when I see a bad follow-through, it is just a red flag that the person has target panic. The two just go together. Working on your follow-through WILL NOT not fix your target panic. However, if you fix your target panic, you WILL have a smooth, consistent follow-through.
If you are really struggling to fire a surprise shot, I suggest getting a release aid you can't punch or command. Back-tension releases are great training tools for this purpose. When it comes to index-finger trigger releases, the Panic X from Tru-Fire has a setting that makes you slowly squeeze the trigger or it will not fire. Shoot with one of these releases until you aren't thinking about the shot or your follow-through anymore; only aiming.
There are a lot of myths on follow-through and how it's a necessary part of a great shot. While it is an indicator of a great shot, it's not something that needs to be practiced. Follow-through is when your release hand and arm fall away from the static full-draw position as the bow fires. This normally doesn't happen if you are commanding the shot or if you know the exact millisecond the shot is firing. Simply put, learning to execute a surprise release is a critical component of becoming the best archer you can be, and it will also produce that picture-perfect follow-through you've been looking for.
No one likes a pessimist, but there are times when it pays to look for the dark clouds we hate to admit are there – to determine what can go wrong. While negative thinking is usually a curse, it can serve a purpose when you look at these possible outcomes and come up with a plan to fix them before they happen.
Looking for worst-case scenarios is a good plan for many outdoor activities, be it wilderness camping or bowhunting. These are unforgiving – you make one mistake, and the whole thing unravels faster than a cheap shirt in a patch of multiflora rose.
I am going to zero in on things that can go wrong during the moment of truth. It would be nice if we could just leave this until the time it actually happens, but those encounters come with a lot of adrenaline and not much time – both push cerebral capacity well past its limit. I must rehearse every possible outcome, or I will most likely misplay my big opportunity. Here are four things that can go wrong and ways to avoid the tragic ending: Paralysis By Analysis
I once had a friend come to film my hunt, and I encouraged him to bring his bow. A nice, mature buck came through, but it was not one of the bucks I was after. So, I swung the camera over, and my friend grabbed his bow. The buck was within 30 yards for at least a minute, but my friend never drew. Afterwards, I asked him why not. "He never offered me a shot," Thad said.
I thought the buck offered him several shots, so I asked what he was looking for. As it turns out, Thad wanted something closer to the classic, broadside shot at 20 yards with the deer in the wide open and his head turned looking the other way.
I applaud the careful nature of my friend's shot selection, but that buck got away because my friend overanalyzed the situation. You need to be ready for the first good shot you get; don't wait for perfect when good enough is right in front of you.
Don't overthink – get your bow drawn as soon as the deer gets within range, and when you see a shot you know you can make, take it.
No Shooting Lane
I have another friend with a lesson to teach. Rod hunted a giant buck for two years before it finally followed a doe straight toward his stand. The doe went past on the "correct" side, walking right through my friend's shooting lane, but the buck circled the tree on the other side to cut her off.
Rod assumed no deer would pass on that side. So, he didn't have a shooting lane where the buck walked. Rod never had another chance at that buck. Never assume a buck will do a certain thing, because the one time he doesn't will really sting.
I remember shooting a buck back in 1991. I was in the stand for an hour and kept looking at two small trees that covered a possible shot to a nearby cornfield. Finally, I climbed down and cut the trees. Two hours later, a buck stopped right in that opening. I killed him only because I had cut those trees down. Play all the possible shots out in your mind once you get to the stand. If there is an angle that leaves you stymied, get your saw out and open a lane. Clogged Nocks & Broken Pins
Another of my friends once had a great buck get away because he had dirt in his nock. The arrow didn't seat all the way onto the string, and when my friend drew back, the arrow pinched loose and fell to the ground. Of course, the buck was long gone before my friend could load another arrow. When Larry set the bow down at the base of his tree in the pre-dawn darkness, the arrow nocks pushed into the dirt and came out plugged. He didn't realize the problem until it was too late. After hearing that story, I always adjust my quiver so that my arrows don't stick out past the bottom cam and I look at them every time I pull the bow up.
I have had my own share of failures in the tree. I once had my bow snag on a barbed wire fence while I was pulling it up into the tree. Rather than climb down, I bounced it around for a few seconds until it finally came free. I can't remember what prompted me to draw the bow a short time later, whether a buck or doe, but I do remember my top sight pin – the one I needed – was no longer there! I broke it off when I bounced the bow. That deer got away because I made a mistake – not the bouncing part, but the lack of diligence once the bow reached my lap.
Both Larry and I could have avoided issues had we drawn our bows after loading our arrows and settling into the tree. You never know what issue your bow or clothing may have developed since the last time you hit full draw. A quick test draw and aim will shake out all these problems while you still have time to fix them. Mid-Flight Deflections
I have had three good animals get away because my arrow hit a branch above my line of sight. It is easy to overlook these obstacles, because they don't seem relevant when aiming. However, because our arrows loop upward after they leave the bow, they fly above our line of sight.
Add an extra step to your pre-shot routine. Aim at the animal with the proper pin, but look just above the line of sight. If there is anything between you and the animal, you need to stop and take a few extra seconds before shooting. All pins above the one you are aiming with should be clear of any obstacles between you and the animal. For example, assume it is a 30-yard shot, but your 20-yard pin is right on a branch. You are very likely to hit that branch. Crouch down to clear the lane or wait for another shot angle.
Avoiding mistakes is not just luck. You have to anticipate them. Spend a few hours between now and the next hunt and list all the things that can go wrong. Have a way to make sure none of them happen, and your "luck" will instantly improve.
I've used almost all the principles that made me a champion archer to make myself a better bowhunter. It's all about complete preparation. For me, the most important part of that is prepping my mind.
All serious hunters spend so much time and money preparing for the fall. We have the best bows, accessories and camo that money can buy. We set up stands, plant food plots and shoot all summer long. We are ready! Or are we? The truth is, most probably aren't, even if they've done everything I just mentioned. See, no matter how physically prepared you are or how prepped your spots are or how patterned that big buck is, if you're not mentally capable of holding yourself together in the moment of truth, all that hard work is for nothing. I may have never stumbled across the importance of mental visualization had I not grown up in the competition world, but nevertheless, I now use it every time I pick up my bow.
In the realm of competitive archery, confidence is everything. Of course, my equipment must be flawless and so must my form. But that won't mean anything if I can't keep myself together on that final arrow. How do I prepare for that moment? I visualize every shot — every possible scenario; I shoot every arrow in my mind before I shoot it in real life. And every time, the outcome in my mind is the same; I win! I do this over and over waiting on the finals or at night in my hotel room. Then when I'm there, in that moment, instead of feeling uncomfortable and nervous, I already know the outcome, because I've won 100 times in my head over the last 24 hours. Obviously, I don't always actually win, but that confidence has carried me through more times than not. The problem is, sometimes the other guy has won 100 times in his head too.
Hunting camera If you love bowhunting like I do, then you already do some form of mental preparation and you don't even know it. I involuntarily daydream about shooting giant bucks all the time, but then I take it a step further — and you should too. Every time I climb into the tree, I instantly go into "what if" mode. I think the deer is going to come from that patch of timber, but what if he comes from behind me? Most failure is prompted by surprise, which causes us to panic and then rush. I try to go over every scenario, every way that big buck could come. I want to imagine it and know exactly what to do when it happens, because nine times out of 10, things don't go the way they are supposed to when you're hunting a mature animal. Then, when that 180-inch buck steps out in the one spot you never figured he would, you're cool, calm and collected because you just shot him there a few minutes ago in your mind.Mental training has been one of my most important edges in competition for my entire career — if not the most important — and I've used the same method in bowhunting with similar success. We all put in so much work preparing for our favorite time of the year, but for most the mental training goes untouched, causing a lot of heartbreak in the moments that should be our biggest victories. Don't let those opportunities slip away because you didn't prepare your most valuable piece of equipment — your mind.
When our son asked me a few years ago if he could ride the four-wheeler over to a friend's house and blow up Tannerite with a .30-06, I remember thinking, That sounds like a good idea; what could go wrong?
When my best friend, who was sitting on the bank behind me as I cast for trout, started throwing big rocks to see how close he could get to my head without actually hitting it, my otherwise predisposed mind registered, That sounds like a good idea; what could go wrong?
"What could go wrong?" are the famous last words of many a YouTube hero. Fortunately, our son still has all his limbs and senses. I wish I could report the same result from my trout stream experience.
So, this month, I am going to explore what can go wrong when the focus of our season is standing right there, 30 yards away. Knowing what could go wrong, hopefully, gives us the chance to avoid the seemingly inevitable calamity.
YOUR BOW
Bowstring
I once arrived at an elk hunt only to find my bow was shooting so low I couldn't even hit the target at 20 yards. It was a hot week, and the bow was in a black case on the trip out. The string stretched. Fortunately, I had a portable press and was able to twist it back to the right length.
Your string is made up of several strands of soft extruded polyethylene. The word "soft" should immediately make you cringe. Almost everything else on a bow is made of something hard that can take a licking and keep on ticking.
The string can let you down in many ways. Obviously, it can stretch. The center serving can break or slip. The peep sight can stop rotating correctly. If you have an older string on your bow, or shoot several thousand arrows per year, it is wise to buy a new custom string and break it in before the season. This is the most important accessory on your bow.
Sight Pins
After the string, your sight pins are the most vulnerable parts on your bow. I have had pins break and bend during the course of a tough hunt, and I have had the filaments break on plenty of cheap fiber-optic pins. The obvious solution is the best one: buy a better sight. The best sights now feature well-guarded pins that fully protect the fibers. If you have not upgraded your sight recently, you don't know what you are missing. The best have amazingly bright, well-protected pins and are a joy to shoot.
If you choose not to replace your sight, at least make a point of studying your pins several times per day to be sure they are sound.
Arrow Rest
I missed a good buck in the mid-90s because my rest got bumped at some point prior. I hadn't been shooting during midday, so I didn't catch the change. I shot right under that heavy 8-pointer as he worked a scrape just 15 yards away. Back at the target later that morning, the bow hit eight inches low at 20 yards.
Obviously, you have to shoot as often as possible during the season to head off these problems before they cost you a buck. That is the main takeaway from my sad day in the stand, but you can also prevent this from happening, to some extent, by selecting the right accessories. Now I only use rests with secondary setscrews that lock them in place, or I use rests that mount into pre-shaped cutouts in the riser. I no longer trust the notion that I can tighten a single retaining screw enough to keep a rest from pivoting if it takes a hard knock.
EXECUTION ERRORS
Oh, boy. Now we are in the same league as the four-wheeler, Tannerite and .30-06. There are a ton of things that can go wrong here. Let's look at the most obvious ones.
Rushing the Shot
This has cost me a couple of trophies over the years. We all have a built-in tendency to want to shoot quickly. I have more or less eliminated this problem by forcing myself to squeeze the trigger on all my shots. On the range it is not hard to do, but on live game this takes discipline and a very intentional approach. Force yourself to do it on every shot you take.
Hitting Limbs
Three very good trophies (an elk, a whitetail and a woodland caribou) ran off unscathed because my arrows hit mid-flight branches that were above my line of sight. Your eye takes the laser-beam line, but the arrow arcs above this. The only way to prevent hitting these unseen twigs is to actually look for them!
Now, every time I hit full draw, my first mission is to make sure there is nothing above my line of sight. If so, I crouch down or pick a different shooting lane. Seems obvious, but it is very easy to ignore.
String Jumping
I have written about string jumping several times in this magazine, but it is such a huge issue it deserves another mention. Not handling alert deer correctly has been my curse in recent years. I am starting to get a grasp on it, but that education came at a terrible cost. Some really big whitetails have gotten away because I didn't aim low enough.
If the deer is alert, I now aim for the heart on 20-25-yard shots. I aim for the brisket on 30-yard shots. On shots between 30 and 40 yards, I aim increasingly below the brisket. I don't take shots past 40 yards on alert deer. In fact, given how quick deer are, 40 yards is a reasonable maximum range even on relaxed deer — no matter how well you can shoot on the range.
Pin Visibility
I hunt from blinds a lot more now than I used to, for a couple reasons. Number one, I am getting older and softer and like the comfort of a warm blind on a cold day. And second, because blinds are the most effective way to kill deer in a number of situations — especially on or near food sources. To set up a blind well so the deer can't see in, you have to keep the windows shaded. This means it is dark inside — making it hard to see your pins. I had a really big buck get away in 2012 because I used the wrong pin and shot right over him. To be accurate from a blind, even at short range, you need a lighted sight. I have added the optional light to my Fuse sights, and now I aim with confidence right up to the end of legal shooting time.
CONCLUSION
If you are vigilant for changes in the string, the sight and the rest, you will eliminate 90 percent of the nightmares your bow could inspire. But, when it comes to execution errors, things get considerably more complicated. I have found dozens of ways to blow big opportunities. All you can do is anticipate (and try to eliminate) the most obvious ones.
Someday, if I hunt long enough and hard enough, an absolute monster will come past. I don't want him to get away. It is just that simple.
If the only time you shoot at game is when the buck or bull of your dreams appears, it's difficult to approach that shot opportunity confidently. I gain confidence by repetition. The more I do something and succeed, the more confident and comfortable I become with accepting greater challenges.
It's often said that nothing instills greater bowhunting confidence than placing your pin on real hair, feathers or scales and executing perfect shots. It positively reinforces good shooting mechanics, and it's the only practice that replicates a real hunting-shot scenario. There's no better way to build your confidence than shooting game in low-pressure hunting situations.
Grouse
Each year while bowhunting elk, I carry an arrow tipped with a "shocker" point for grouse encounters. Elk-country grouse are commonly calm and only wise up once a few arrows have strayed past their heads.
For that reason, these succulent birds make excellent low-pressure targets. They generally give you time to burn the sight pin through them at close ranges before sending carbon their way. Often, they'll pose stock still, but other times they'll walk while bobbing their heads as if to determine what you are. This, of course, adds challenge to an already small target, which is a good thing.
The goal is to settle the pin and use back-tension to trigger a perfect shot. You won't believe how satisfying it is to nail several of these small targets.
Turkeys
Want another moving target? A fall turkey is it. Unlike spring gobblers that strut and then stop, these suckers are like Pac-Man — they're always moving. Anchor one or more of them with perfect shots, and you'll surely boost your confidence for tougher challenges.
Tons of folks focus so heavily on deer hunting that turkeys aren't even thoughts in their minds. At a minimum, I suggest adding a turkey tag or two to your pocket to use if a flock wanders too close to your deer stand. You also might find that taking a break from the deer — perhaps when warm conditions slow deer movement — is a welcome change. The chance to loose an arrow or two can be great after weeks of sitting in treestands without shot opportunities.
Turkeys have larger kill zones than grouse but are more difficult to anchor since they're so powerful. Don't take sloppy shots that will result in a wounded, departing bird. This will drain your confidence and leave a turkey for dead or a coyote feast. Bare down and make good shots to boost your confidence.
Rabbits
Wild rabbits are plentiful and appear in places that won't ruin your deer spots. If you're needing a confidence booster, take a morning stroll into a meadow or pasture with some brush piles nearby. In years of plenty, a morning outing can yield multiple shot opportunities.
Since rabbits sit so still until spooked, you can really take your time to make your shots count. A 30-yard kill shot on a rabbit is similar to a 50- or 60-yard shot on a large animal. Rabbits are perhaps the lowest-pressure species you can hunt — if you miss a chance to shoot, simply move on a find more rabbits.
Rabbits are more comparable to larger four-legged critters than birds in that a behind-the-shoulder hit constitutes a perfect kill shot. Drill rabbits behind the shoulder, and you'll gain confidence to do the same on deer and other big game.
Wild Hogs
Want to add a little more pressure to the equation? Hogs are the answer. These mudders are considerably larger than the species we've covered so far, but still smaller in most cases than deer.
Pressure comes because they're a larger "small game," and because they have sharp senses of smell. More forethought goes into bow-killing hogs than birds or bunnies. And, if you choose the spot-and-stalk approach, you'll get to perfect that skill for an upcoming mule deer or antelope hunt. Perfecting your shooting and stalking skills in one — that's hard to beat.
Last Shot
As I mentioned earlier, nothing instills greater shooting confidence for high-pressure big-game encounters than picking off small-game critters in both low- and moderate-pressure situations. It enables you to duplicate your practice-range skills in hunting situations, which positively boosts your confidence and ability to do the same when a large buck or bull is on the receiving end of your arrow.
If you ask me, heading to a deer stand with confidence in your shooting is an unbeatable feeling. And it can be yours if you get out and boost it on small targets.
By simply increasing your maximum effective range from 25 yards to 35 yards, you significantly increase your odds of having a deer within bow range this fall. Think about that for a second. If you are hunting an open ridge or the edge of a field, every yard of maximum shooting improves your odds for success. There is no reason why a dedicated bowhunter can't be deadly at 35 yards when the opportunity is right. These seven tips will help you make great shots at 35 yards this fall.
STEADY YOUR AIM
Any tension in your body will go straight to the bow and make the pin skip around the target like a moth around a street light. Ideally, the pin floats in small circles around the tiny aiming point you've picked out. It never has to completely stop moving; it just needs to stay close to the spot while you squeeze the trigger.
Start with your legs and work up; focus on each body part while shooting to ensure it is free of tension. It amazes me after all these years of shooting that tension can still find places to hide in my body when I am at full draw. I don't notice it until I consciously focus on each body part and force it to relax.
Most important is your bow arm. Strength from regular shooting (or a reduction in draw weight) will help steady your bow arm, and so will a slight bend in the elbow —just enough to unlock the joint and allow the arm to act as a shock-absorber.
CONCENTRATION
I shoot my best when I focus my attention on the spot I am trying to hit and let the pin blur. It calms my bow arm to focus on something that isn't moving.
Pinpoint focus is critical to increasing your range. Concentrate as hard as you can on every practice arrow. Never get mentally lazy on the range for even one shot.
BREATHING CONTROL
I have learned many of my shooting methods from great archers. Randy Ulmer and John Dudley are two of my favorite teachers, and both emphasize the importance of controlling your breathing during the final seconds of an encounter with game.
It is important that you take deep breaths before drawing your bow. Pull in a big breath as you draw, let it half way out as you settle the pin and then hold it as you squeeze the trigger.
You can get by with rough shooting on close shots, but when you stretch it out you have to be buttery smooth. With a release aid, this means squeezing the trigger while focusing on the spot you want to hit. If you don't break your concentration on the target to mentally shout "now," the release will be good. Ideally, it will take you by surprise.
Your only job while aiming is to keep the pin near the spot you want to hit until the bow fires. You will immediately eliminate target panic shooting this way, and your long-range groups will become much more consistent.
FOLLOW-THROUGH
Follow-through is the most important part of your form when trying to improve long-range shooting. I've helped a lot of average bowhunters improve their shooting at 35 yards by doing nothing more than suggesting they keep their bow arm pointed at the target until the arrow hits.
By the same token, keep your mental focus on the spot you want to hit until the arrow gets there. I've heard it explained that you should "keep aiming" until the arrow hits — both physically and mentally. That's good advice.
LONG-RANGE PRACTICE
You can fine-tune your skills and build confidence by doing most of your practicing at ranges beyond what you would take in the field. For example, if you want to be a great shot at 35 yards, do most of your shooting at 50 yards. After only a few weeks, a 35-yard shot will feel the same way 20-yard shots used to feel.
INCREASE ARROW SPEED
Being accurate at 35 yards in the field is more than just holding your bow steady and squeezing the trigger. You also have to know the range. Obviously, a laser rangefinder is very important on shots past 25 yards, but you can also reduce the effects of errors in range estimation by shooting a faster arrow. Here are two easy ways to increase arrow speed.
Shoot a faster bow: Bow design has a big effect on arrow speed. There are lots of fast bows on the market today. If you have not upgraded in a while, it might be time.
Shoot a lighter arrow: For every five grains you reduce arrow weight, you increase arrow speed by approximately one foot per second. However, to keep a good balance between penetration and speed, don't drop your finished arrow weight (including broadhead) below five grains per pound of maximum draw weight. For example, a 60-pound bow equates to a minimum finished arrow weight of 360 grains.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
Just because you can make the shot under ideal conditions doesn't mean you should always try the same distance when hunting. Other factors, such as wind speed, how cold your muscles are, how jumpy the animal is and even how much clothing you are wearing will affect your ability to pull off 35-yard shots in the field. It is always better to wait if you aren't comfortable with the shot you are facing.
Unknown distance also complicates real maximum range. Even though you may be deadly on the range, hold your shots to 25 yards on deer-sized game unless you know the exact distance. Beyond that, errors in range estimation can result in a high hit or low miss. It is better to risk the extra couple of seconds to get the range right than take a shot past 25 yards unaided.
Bowhunting is supposed to be up close and in-your-face. That's the real excitement of this sport. But 35 yards is still "in your face."
With careful preparation, that's a shot any serious deer hunter can be ready, willing and able to make every single time.
Have you ever killed a whitetail deer while bowhunting on the ground? If so, then you understand the voltage-like effects it has on your sensory neurons. Why is it such a rush? Well, because every single move or twitch you make must be executed at precisely the correct time, or you’ll get pegged and lose the shot opportunity. Staring your prey in the eyes adds unequivocal pressure to an already adrenaline-heavy event.
If you haven’t bow-killed a deer on the ground, just know that getting into a situation where a shot opportunity could unfold will likely be half your battle. Sure, you might unexpectedly encounter deer while hiking to your treestand, but to head out and strictly hunt on the ground is another matter entirely. It goes without saying that whitetails have keen senses with the ability to determine when something is amiss, making this hunting style very challenging, but certainly shy of impossible.
Whether you’ve never bow-killed a deer from the ground or you’ve had little success, there are several ways to increase your chances for an in-your-face encounter. Let’s review.
You Must Try
I believe the number one reason few folks are deadly on whitetails while hunting from the ground is that most bowhunters fear leaving their comfort zone. I mean, treestands arguably provide advantages — they put you above the whitetail’s general field of view, and in some cases, they provide greater shooting coverage of the area. So why hunt on the ground and make killing a deer more difficult than it already is?
To that point, I pose a second question: Ever wonder what’s happening in other locations when your treestand is void of action? I wonder constantly. And that curiosity has caused me to spend more time toting my bow on the ground.
The group of whitetail fanatics who produce Whitetail Adrenaline hunt exclusively from the ground, and I’ve spent a few years now picking Jared Scheffler’s brain on how he and his crew annually arrow impressive – even huge – bucks at eye level. Mind you, the crew hunts exclusively on public land, and Scheffler himself uses a longbow. Talk about stacking challenges on top of challenges.
Each time I visit with Scheffler, I can’t help but wonder if he and his crew would have the number of outstanding bucks to their credit that they do had they continued hunting from treestands. It’s worth pondering.
To conclude this section, let me state the obvious: You won’t bow-kill deer on the ground if you don’t try.
Experience Triggers Success
Nothing replaces experience. Successes and failures are all part of mastering the art of hunting on the ground. Spend as much time as possible hunting from the ground each fall, and always have the mentality that you will learn something new every time you enter the woods.
It’s important to note that when you hunt on the ground, you will make mistakes. That is nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, it’s completely normal. However, you must be attentive to every detail. Determine what went wrong and why the outcome unfolded how it did. Whether you blew deer out well before you saw them or simply whiffed a shot opportunity, it’s imperative you learn from mistakes and work to avoid them next time.
Scheffler believes ground hunting is a continual learning process. “I try to learn something each time I’m in the woods,” he said. “I still make mistakes, but I get lots of encounters and multiple shot opportunities each year.”
Be Flexible
When most folks think about bowhunting deer from the ground, makeshift or pop-up blinds naturally come to mind. However, the style the Whitetail Adrenaline crew uses most involves tons of flexibility and mobility.
“We don’t like to get hung up in unproductive spots,” Scheffler shared. “Since we exclusively hunt on public land, we sort through lots of acreage to find truly productive spots. When we spot deer or sense that something is about to happen, we put on the brakes and get ready.
“One example is my 2014 Iowa hunt,” Scheffler continued. “My cameraman and I covered 30 miles in five days. Most of the ground we saw wasn’t worth our time. On the final morning, we encountered three bucks that would’ve scored 160-175. I didn’t kill one, but we’d located a productive pocket using our aggressive ‘sorting’ approach.
“During the rut, stationary bowhunters often wait for those few magical days each year when bucks are galore,” Scheffler added. “With our mobile ground approach, we’re not waiting so long for that to happen. We’re able to get into the action and make things happen. Our mobile approach helps us encounter more bucks than we used to when we hunted from treestands.”
Decoys are Deadly
Folks who hunt in small patches of timber on the expansive plains commonly watch bucks court does in the wide open. And unless the doe pulls the buck to your stand location, the encounter doesn’t become a shot opportunity. However, a ground hunter can make a play in many of these cases.
It’s best if the buck and doe are bedded, in which case you can crawl within bow range and hopefully get your shot without ever alerting the buck to your presence. However, terrain and cover might be sparse, allowing you to only get so close.
In this case, a buck decoy can be your ticket to the show. The goal is to get within the buck’s comfort zone and then impose a threat by deploying the decoy and grunting or snort-wheezing. This is a very natural scenario that unfolds all the time in the wild — a buck is in lockdown with a hot doe, and subordinate bucks are circling and looking for a way in.
Now, there are two possible outcomes. It’s either fight or flight. In option A, the buck will typically approach stiff-legged with ears laid back. He’ll many times approach head-on, which is a shot that can be ethically made, but only at top-pin range and if you’ve studied anatomy charts and have practiced the shot. The buck could instead circle the decoy trying to acquire the downwind advantage, which could equal a broadside shot. In any case, those pesky open-country bruisers become huntable if you leave the treestand and grab a decoy.
Final Words
One note of caution: When using a decoy, you always must be totally aware of your surroundings. Don’t use one if firearm seasons are running concurrently with archery season. Also, use caution when roads are in view. Unfortunately, poachers exist. You must always expect the worst that can happen. Never use decoys in situations where safety is risked.
Lastly, try not to get tunnel vision when that adrenaline surges through your veins as you look into the eyes of your prey. It can be intimidating and nerve-rattling, but the focused bowhunter who is aware of his surroundings will act methodically and close the deal with a well-placed arrow. And when that bowhunter is you, it’ll likely be the wildest success story you’ve ever told your friends and family.
I can still remember how exciting it was to check my first trail camera and see the crisp, clear pictures of bucks moving naturally through lush vegetation near a few apple trees. It felt like I had a security camera in their living room! I got into the trail-camera game nearly a decade ago, and like most bowhunters, haven’t looked back since.
There is perhaps no other single tool that has advanced deer hunting more than trail cameras. They are the ultimate “tell-all” when it comes to gaining knowledge about the deer you are hunting. But, in order to maximize the value of scouting cameras, you must know where, when and how to deploy them — especially during the hunting season. During the early-season, pre-rut, prime-rut and post-rut periods, I move my cameras as buck behavior changes.
Camera tactics can also vary depending on your hunting area and how it lays out. For example, a property containing lots of conifers and thermal cover might attract a high density of deer during the winter. However, without an acceptable amount of food, this property might hold relatively few deer during late summer or early fall compared to neighboring lands with oaks or early-successional browse. Knowing how and why deer use your property throughout the archery season is critical to avoiding a camera dry spell and missing information.
Early Season
On my property in Wisconsin, I operate seven cameras on 115 acres throughout the archery season. I typically deploy cameras in early July to begin gathering an inventory of local bucks. My goal is to collect as many buck pictures as possible. During the two weeks leading up to opening day, I make certain a few of my cameras are over my two perennial clover food plots and a traditional staging area at the head of a ditch that holds a few apple trees. This staging area at the head of two massive ridges produces my best quantity and quality buck pictures during late summer and the early season. This spot is no larger than a basketball court. I believe this location works for a couple reasons. First, it is pinched between two thick bedding areas on different ridges. Bucks can easily appear out of thick cover from either hillside to find falling apples in this small area. Secondly, this location is very low in topography, where cooling nighttime thermals fall and gather, providing a nice reprieve for bucks dealing with summertime heat.
Since it is not legal to bait in my county, using cameras over field edges, water or food plots are also excellent options. A well-used creek crossing, pond or manufactured waterhole are great areas to gather inventory and catch natural buck movement during early season.
When reviewing bucks captured on my cameras in late summer and early in the season, I do so with the realization that many of them will soon shift to a different fall range and disappear off my property. It doesn’t mean you can’t catch up with these bucks later during the rut, but don’t put much stock into believing every buck you had on camera in August will be around on opening day in mid-September.
If your property has a limited resource, such as the only water source in the surrounding 500 acres, that is a critical part of understanding how to use your trail cameras during early season, and every stage of the season for that matter. The next critical piece of early-season camera tactics is to find where bucks are moving in daylight hours. If you have a buck moving on a summertime pattern in daylight, be aggressive and move in for the kill.
Pre-Rut
During the pre-rut (roughly Oct. 15-28), I still place cameras on food plots but shift my focus to finding bucks over scrapes that may lead to food. I am like most hunters and put my main efforts into hunting the rut. Therefore, pre-rut camera strategies are the most important to me for a few reasons. First, I can pull these cameras in late October and gain important information about what deer have stayed on the property and use this information to help me hunt the rut during my scheduled vacation. Second, I can see whether bucks are beginning to move in daylight and decide what weather conditions could be causing daylight movement, helping me decide what weather is optimal for seeing bucks in each stand. There is no better time of year to place a camera on a scrape than late in the pre-rut, as scrape activity will be at its peak. Typically, I will utilize the “picture plus video” mode over scrapes to ensure I have a good view of the buck. While scraping, bucks drop and lift their head often, and you run the risk of capturing a poor photo if you only have your camera on picture mode. Capturing a short video is also ideal to determine where a buck might be headed after he works a scrape.
When placing a camera at a scrape, mount it in a spot where deer will not easily see the camera. If you feel cameras spook deer, hang your camera high or some distance away from the scrape. In my experience, the amount of disturbance a camera causes varies greatly from buck to buck. Some bucks are very wary of them, while others couldn’t care less and are very photogenic.
As for timing, I have found Oct. 20 an excellent time to move cameras over scrapes. And though I am not a regular user of deer urine while in the treestand, I do use scent drippers over scrapes and have seen great results. However, a word of caution here: too much of a good thing is possible when creating scrapes. I first heard this from Jeff Sturgis of Whitetail Habitat Solutions, who mentioned that having too many scrapes may devalue the pulling power of one “hot” scrape. If you create too many mock scrapes, you run the risk of spreading out buck visits among many locations rather than condensing buck visits down to one or two “hot” scrapes tucked near your bow stand. I was a little mock scrape happy in my early years and have since removed a few to increase control of the few prime scrapes. During the late season, most breeding activity has concluded, and food once again becomes the most important factor when locating bucks. During this period, bucks will generally occupy a much smaller core area than they did during the rut, and their movement patterns will once again become fairly predictable.It’s also important to limit your human scent when making your mock scrapes and installing and checking your cameras in these locations. I spray my boots with odor eliminator and avoid touching vegetation. If you can, deploy cameras in the middle of the day and drive right up to the location and hang the camera from an ATV. In highly pressured areas, I find deer to be less spooked with vehicle scent and sound. This is especially true if you check cameras on a regular basis and have deer somewhat conditioned to your presence throughout the year.
In summary, the pre-rut is all about finding the bucks’ fall range and getting prepped for the precious moment when they will be moving in daylight.
Peak Rut
Peak-rut trail camera strategies are certainly important, but the payoff sometimes doesn’t occur until the following season. During the peak rut, I still have a few cameras on scrapes, even though scraping is typically taking a backseat to travel routes. My focus is placing cameras on major trails — especially those skirting doe bedding areas.
If you have a week or more of vacation to hunt the peak rut and can easily access cameras without blowing deer out, checking cameras on the way to hunt a stand could very well be the ticket to “patterning” a buck and tagging out. Most hunters only have a handful of days to hunt and do not have the luxury of experimenting with camera locations during the rut. For example, if you only have five days to hunt the rut each year, it is very difficult to gauge what stand location could be holding a hot doe. I used to believe placing cameras near a stand was harmful and put too much pressure on bucks, but if you hang the camera properly and somewhat out of view and only check the camera when you go in to hunt, hanging a camera near a stand can be a good strategy. Conversely, if you check the camera often without hunting the area, you are probably harming the spot for your next hunt.
Not all is lost for those who have limited hunting time. Yearly rut patterns do exist, and regardless of moon phase, wind, rain or temperature, my trail cameras have consistently shown daylight buck activity during the period of Nov. 3-8. If I have less than a week to hunt, those are peak days for me to be in the woods each year. If your cameras are not catching the action you would expect, that does not always mean bucks are not around. During the peak chasing phase, bucks take whacky routes to get from one area to another. Oftentimes, bucks will cut off doe trails and walk perpendicular trying to pick up doe scent, inadvertently avoiding cameras as well. Last Halloween, a family member harvested a buck while the deer took a very odd route to seven yards below his stand. There is no sure thing with peak-rut trail-camera strategies.
Post-Rut
Post-rut camera tactics are perhaps least important to the typical hunter who puts all his or her eggs into hunting the rut. But for those who are still empty-handed come late season, it can be the absolute best time to pattern a buck on a food source. Considering bucks could take any trail imaginable to the food source, placing cameras directly on the food is probably the best tactic. One tactic I’ve found effective during the late season is to utilize the camera’s time-lapse mode and cover the food source for the last two hours of daylight. If the food source isn’t too big, this technique will miss very little activity.
If you do not have a food source available, concentrating on easy travel routes on hillsides receiving sunlight can also be an excellent way to gather information for your next hunt. Where legal, bait and supplemental feed will attract deer and give you an idea of what is around.
Throughout much of the nation in 2017, the acorn crop was substantial. If little snowfall exists during late season, do not count out placing cameras inside the timber to catch bucks feeding on leftover acorns.
Conclusion
For today’s bowhunters, better bowhunting is often the result of efficient trail-cam use. Regardless of the stage of the season, I have found my prime camera locations by trial and error. Give a camera a minimum of two weeks to see if the spot you picked is consistently seeing movement.
It may take a few years, but once you begin to study your hunting area and how bucks utilize it throughout the season, your cameras will deliver critical information and confident hunting is sure to follow.
I hadn't yet thrown in the towel, but I was in the middle of my windup. When you've spent over a week fruitlessly scouring western Alberta's "big bush" for a trophy whitetail, it's easy to conclude the last half-day of your hunt isn't going to yield one either.
Then, as I eased along, my eyes picked up something big and dark in the timber ahead. Was this the monster buck I was looking for? Uh . . . no. While clearing a seismograph line years before, an oil company bulldozer had tipped over a lodgepole pine. What I'd spotted was the rootwad's dark underside, which contrasted boldly with its snow-speckled surroundings. Bummer.
But approaching the felled tree, I realized it might not be a disappointment after all. It offered cover, and the narrow cutline afforded visibility in two directions. From here, perhaps I could call in a big buck. It was the only trick still up my frozen sleeve.
I rattled hard for the better part of a minute, clashing the antlers together and cracking branches, then followed up with a few grunts. Upon finishing, I brought my rifle to my shoulder and sat quietly, scanning the woods. I saw no movement, so a few minutes later I repeated the presentation. Nothing. A few more minutes passed, and I did it all again. Still nothing. And then again. Same result.
Should I stubbornly keep this up, or accept the reality that nothing was coming? Knowing I was hunting an area with low numbers of deer, I scolded myself for being impatient. Sometimes it just takes a buck a while to get to you.
A half-hour into this routine, I was all but convinced I should pull up stakes. But a little voice told me to give it just a bit longer. So I went through yet another rattling sequence, followed by a few grunts.
Suddenly I was aware of another big, dark object in that timber — and this one was no rootwad. A mature buck was walking right in on me. As the brute stopped a mere 17 yards away and peered in my direction, I raised my 7mm Rem. Mag., found his thick neck in my scope and squeezed off a round. Soon I was filling out a deer tag I'd feared would go unused.
Shooting that chocolate-racked 9-pointer at close range, on the ground, was an amazing ending to my Alberta adventure and an example of how calling can salvage your whitetail expedition. And it was far from the only time I've filled a tag by making the right sounds in the right place at the right time.
While the clashing of antlers obviously isn't a vocalization, it's one of the most recognizable sounds in the deer woods. It's also one of the most alluring to rut-charged bucks. Rattling caught on in my native Texas during the 1960s, then spread from there with the continental surge in trophy whitetail interest. From Canada to Mexico, plenty of big bucks now have been taken as a result. Learning the Lingo
Whitetails aren't nearly as chatty as elk, turkeys, waterfowl or coyotes. Even so, the woods are full of subtle deer sounds. One might alert other herd members to a sudden threat. Another's purpose is to aid in courtship, while a third helps maintain the social hierarchy.
Hunting camera A number of scientists have studied the "language" of whitetails over the past half-century. The most frequently cited study was done at the University of Georgia, where researchers recorded vocalizations of various ages of captive male and female whitetails. The team came up with 12 vocalizations and proposed that they served a wide range of functions.
"Alarm calls consisted of the snort, given when a deer detected danger, and a bawl, given when a deer was traumatized," the team noted. "Three agonistic calls were recorded. The low grunt was given in low-level agonistic, or combative, interactions. The grunt-snort, given during more intense dominance interactions, consisted of the low grunt with 1-4 rapid snorts added. The grunt-snort-wheeze consisted of the grunt-snort with the addition of a wheezing exhalation through the nostrils. It was characteristic of dominance interactions among bucks during the breeding season.
"Four maternal-neonatal sounds were recorded. The maternal grunt was used by does searching for their bedded fawns. The mew was given by fawns and appeared to solicit care from the mother. The bleat was a more insistent care solicitation call and was given when fawns were disturbed or deprived. A nursing whine was given repeatedly while suckling. Mating calls consisted of a tending grunt and the flehmen-sniff. When separated from members of their group, females gave a contact call."
So, there are a lot of means for vocal communication among whitetails. But which are most useful in hunting? Here are my picks: Grunt: This is the go-to call for most of us. The pig-like grunt is classically associated with the rut, and any revved-up buck hearing the call is inclined to investigate. Early hunters likely made this "urping" sound with their mouths, but in the 1980s, reed-type commercial calls started to help even novice hunters sound like lovesick bucks. While there's debate over "tending" grunts versus other forms, to me it's all pretty much just slight variations on the same sound. A buck hearing this during the rut is typically inclined to investigate, and that's what matters to me. Grunt-Snort-Wheeze: This buck vocalization is mostly a polysyllabic "hiss." I don't even bother trying to grunt on the front end of it; I simply go straight to the snort-wheeze part. The first two or three bursts of air are lightning quick, followed by one much longer and trailing off. This vocalization is the most serious form of insult in the deer woods. Upon hearing it, a meek individual will tend to vacate the scene; a macho one will accept the challenge. Bleat/Bawl: A whitetail bleat is normally softer than that of a sheep or goat but fundamentally similar. Does and fawns that have become separated often use it to reestablish contact. That makes an urgent fawn bleat a great way to lure in does, especially during early season. You might think a doe would come only to what she thinks is her own fawn, but this vocalization apparently has more to do with a general maternal instinct than recognition of an individual fawn's "voice."
During the rut, an extended doe bawl can work. Whether it's because a buck recognizes it as a doe's open invitation or it merely helps him figure out where she is, the result often is beneficial to the hunter. Choosing Tactics
Early in bow season, I like bleat/bawl calls for does and light rattling for bucks. In areas with a November primary rut, most fawns are physically weaned by Labor Day but still hang with their mothers. So mimicking a fawn's "voice" can bring a curious doe into bow range. (It also can lure a coyote or bobcat.)
Meanwhile, non-aggressive rattling that imitates sparring is a great way to draw in curious bucks. I've pulled in bucks as early as mid-September with light rattling.
As the rut nears, I start combining more aggressive rattling with grunting. This is my No. 1 tactic when bowhunting over a buck decoy, as is standard practice for me from around Oct. 20 into late November.
I'll also occasionally snort-wheeze at a buck that doesn't want to respond to grunting. Once I can tell a big buck has seen my decoy, I quit calling and get ready to shoot.
When rattling in moderate to heavy cover during the rut, I start with a couple grunts, then go through a light rattling sequence of 30 seconds or less. If an unseen buck is nearby, that might pull him right in.
But if I see or hear nothing, a minute or so later I'll rattle more aggressively before pausing and grunting a couple more times. Blind rattling and calling in more open habitat, I generally start out pretty aggressive and stay that way until I see a buck coming my way.
The more eager a buck is, the less he'll worry about getting downwind of you before approaching. Still, mature bucks tend to use the wind to their advantage. So, the best rattling and calling setups give the deer some cover through which to swing downwind.
That's why I seldom set up with an open field or large body of water immediately downwind of me. Some bucks won't come close if they can't first scent-check the deer they think they hear. Of course, the trick is to get a circling buck shot before he catches a whiff of you.
Many setups fail simply because no shooter hears the call. Distance between you and the deer, along with topography, cover, and competing noise (wind or even a busy highway) can reduce effective calling range. Windy conditions might not matter much if the buck is 70 yards out and you're trying to coax him into your 30-yard lane for a bowshot.
But if he's crossing a field at 700 yards, it will take virtually perfect conditions to get his attention, much less bring him in. That said, one calm morning on the brushy plains of northern Mexico I saw a buck 800 yards away not only react to a grunt call but turn and walk a straight line to within 60 yards of me.
How deep into the season can rattling work? As late as there's a chance a buck is still prowling for love. The latest I've actually rattled one in (relative to the rut) was Jan. 9, in southwestern Iowa. And the latest I've ever shot a buck responding to the sounds of a buck fight was Feb. 22.
That morning in South Texas, I dropped a 6'‰1â„2-year-old 8-pointer as he rushed to a real buck battle I could hear going on back in the thornbrush. The date was two months after peak rut for the area. Don't Overdo It
One key to success in luring a big whitetail is knowing when not to call. You want to do just enough to get him coming your way but not enough to make him suspicious. And with rattling in particular, extra calling while the buck is coming or even looking your way from a distance can easily blow the deal. Never rattle or call while a buck is looking at you.
Many hunters get desperate when calling to a visible buck that doesn't want to respond. If you're sure he has heard you but doesn't want to come your way, either try a totally different call or simply shut up. Instead of calling louder and/or more often, as some hunters do, it's much better to simply let the deer walk away. He might be more agreeable the next time you hunt that spot.
From ducks to moose, any type of game can be educated to calling and become leery of it. That's certainly true of whitetails. So, if you hunt a certain spot often, be extremely careful not to overdo the calling. And if non-shooter deer respond, do your best not to get busted. The yearling you spook this fall could be the monster that doesn't respond to your calling from the same tree in 2019.
When you know the rut is on but you're not seeing mature bucks, blind calling and rattling could be well worth a try. In fact, if set up in a travel corridor during the rut, I sometimes call as often as every half-hour. You never know which big buck might have come within hearing range since your last attempt.
Bucks are most easily lured in if they're already on their feet before you start calling. Eager ones that had been just out of view sometimes show up within seconds, while others come from farther away and/or take their sweet time. On an evening hunt, stop calling or rattling when there's at least 10 minutes of shooting light left. I'd rather not call in a big buck at all than to have him arrive just in time to see me exit my stand. Conclusion
Many hunters simply set up and hope a big whitetail comes their way. That approach of course can work — but why limit yourself? Become familiar with deer sounds and the situations in which making them can boost your odds. By "talking the talk" in the right place and time, you just might turn a dead hunt into a dead trophy buck. Talk the Talk
When it comes to deer-calling versatility, it's hard to top the lineup from Flextone.
The Extractor from Flextone ($24.99) features an integrated X-Glide button that makes it easy to cover the full spectrum of whitetail vocalizations, from buck grunts to doe bleats to fawn bawls. Luckily, the snort-wheeze call — often considered a last resort on a stubborn buck — is also built into The Extractor, giving you yet another option to lure a mature whitetail into shooting range.
Rattling is more popular in some regions than others, but it works everywhere at the right time, making a quality set of rattling antlers a must for the serious whitetail hunter. Flextone's Battle Bones ($24.99) feature two full racks crafted with Antler Mass Technology for realistic fighting sequences. The Battle Bones also are easier and safer to pack than real antlers and feature hex-grip handles that offer better control and help avoid smashing your fingers during rattling sequences.
Sometimes, a soft buck grunt or doe bleat is all you need to bring that buck a few steps closer or stop him for the shot. However, making those sounds with your bow at full draw or your rifle on your shoulder can be tricky with conventional deer calls.
Enter Flextone's Tine Teaser ($9.99), a call designed for hands-free use so hunters can keep both hands on their weapon of choice. The Tine Teaser features a soft rubber body with realistic antler finish and comes with a lanyard to keep it close at hand. Simply place the call in your mouth and bite down in the appropriate area to produce your choice of buck grunt, doe bleat or fawn bawl.
In order to understand the hows and whys of animal behavior, we often must dig deeply into the origins of a species and take a closer look at its ancestors. So it is with the whitetail.
It’s commonly thought that the deer family, Cervidae, evolved somewhere in the tropics of Asia, then expanded east and west into Europe and the Americas, respectively. This process began sometime during the Pleistocene Era — the so-called “Age of Mammals,” which ended around 11,700 years ago — a time at which the number of species was proliferating into a vast array of biological “experiments.” If a form of mammal could be dreamed up, paleontologists probably have found the remains of something like it.
The ancestral home of deer could be characterized as heavy tropical forest. While such habitats are even today rich in species diversity, populations of large animals are very low, due to the nature of the habitat. Larger animals that eat vegetation require many pounds of it each day, and this vegetation needs to be nutritious. As is the case today, a given unit of land could support only so many individuals.
The low population density and very nature of the forest forced the ancestors of modern deer to develop innovative ways to find mates. Most mammals aren’t particularly vocal. Deer do make a variety of sounds, of course, but sound doesn’t travel well in thick vegetation. For that reason, presumably, scent became the deer family’s primary means of communication.
Early deer-like animals evolved structures we think served to dissipate scent. These growths on their heads, which we call ossicones, took many forms. They probably were covered by skin and hair. The structures might have been glandular, but they also might have been used to pick up scent from other parts of the body.
Many of these early deer had fangs used for combat and protection. Such teeth remain today in Chinese water deer (Hydropotes inermis), which have been known to maim dogs when attacked. Most likely, the bugling teeth of elk and the occasional canine teeth found in whitetails attest to this ancestral trait.
There are other theories as to the function of ossicones, including heat dissipation, social display and scent dispersal. Perhaps all of these came into play at one time or another. There’s nothing wrong with the idea that an organ can have more than one function.
No one knows how these animals used scent to communicate, but based on what modern deer do, they probably rubbed the structures on vegetation. Think of it as the original social network. Over time, the ossicones lost their skin covering and became weapons of combat, mostly in males. This shift to what we now call antlers probably happened gradually.
The modern-day muntjac (genus Muntiacus) offers a clue of what the first hardened antlers looked like. It has very long pedicels armed with short, hooked antlers. (I once was sent an old sailor’s knife from the Smithsonian to determine the origin of the antler used on the handle. It turned out to have been from a muntjac.)
As deer evolved, they developed two primary social structures: The first is solitary and the second is small family groups and herds. The whitetail falls into the first category.
The basic social unit of whitetails is the clan: a group of closely related females. Bucks begin life in the clan but grow solitary as they mature. A buck will only associate with one or rarely two other individuals. Often the subordinate buck is a year younger, but not always. The bucks remain loosely associated until one dies. After that, the survivor rarely finds another “buddy.”
(Yes, I’m aware you probably have seen many bucks come together to feed in a field in summer. But if you watch carefully, you’ll see they arrive either singly or in small groups.)
A dominant resident buck grows up pretty close to where he was born, although sometimes relocates to another place. Regardless, he spends his life in a relatively small area. A dominant floater, on the other hand, is a wanderer. I feel floaters are much better fighters and that the serious fights hunters report probably are clashes between dominant residents and dominant floaters. Hunting cameraThis is a brief overview of the very complex social structure of white-tailed deer. We also have learned through years of radio-telemetry studies that bucks and does often prefer different habitats. Their movement patterns are different for most of the year and only become coincident during that annual tempest we call “the rut.”
However, it’s a mistake to assume does and bucks only interact during a narrow part of autumn, or that all behaviors we see during the rut are restricted to that time frame. We recently made discoveries of scraping, scenting and posturing behaviors during spring and summer.
The Social Center
Here at the Institute for White-tailed Deer Management and Research, we were among the first to identify and name the most active social center of whitetails: the staging area. It’s generally located downwind (based on prevailing wind) of common feeding areas, where bucks go to intercept does coming to eat. These areas have an open understory and many young trees on which bucks can rub. The most important of these rubs is the signpost, which is a special kind of rub in which a dominant buck rubs the bark off using the base of his antlers and then deposits scent from his forehead gland.
The signpost has both a visual and olfactory function. Bucks tend to select tree species with bright under- bark, which makes them highly visible from a distance. Willows, conifers, hollies and other species are preferred. Once the signpost is sufficiently constructed, the buck rubs the base of his antlers and forehead on it to announce his presence. I have included frames from videos we have taken over the years of this activity.
Bucks generally are late sleepers and tend to get up from their daytime beds, work another type of signpost around the bed, then head out for a specific staging area. How they chose them I do not know, but they do make a decision (at least at that moment). Arriving at the staging area just at dark, each buck works his signpost, then lies down or just hangs around the area, waiting on does.
Our videos clearly show that a subordinate buck will also visit the rub. But he’ll smell the signpost without adding scent to it. Does also visit signposts of dominant bucks (see video frame) and rub their foreheads on them. We’ve seen that red deer (Cervus elaphus) females will rub male scent over their shoulders and back. Their reason for doing this is currently unknown, but I tend to think it helps them thwart unwanted suitors. I have no evidence one way or another.
The rubs and scrapes you often encounter also have their functions, serving as a “social network” in the deer community. Over the last two decades, we’ve been conducting studies using GPS to locate and map rubs and scrapes across the landscape, then using a geospatial analysis program to create deer-use maps of the land.
Most recently, my assistant Nathaniel Parker mapped the rubs and scrapes from 2017 over a 4,000-acre area in Georgia. The resulting map (page 16) is striking, to say the least. It’s allowing us to define landscape features that affect the movements of bucks. Needless to say, we’re learning a great deal about how they use their habitat. This study already is revealing areas of intense activity previously undiscovered and unreported.
All these social and biological factors illustrate just how complicated our favorite game animal is. Next month, I’ll explain how you can turn this information into a successful hunting strategy year after year.
A large number of bowhunters take the month of October off, which is great for those of us who don't.
While the there are good reasons most hunters do not see as many deer during this pre-rut month, there are some compelling times and places to be in the woods during the month of October. Here are five that might make you rethink your October complacency. It's Lonely Out There
Since so few hunters take October seriously, you may be all alone out there. October may be the single best time to hunt public land because there is little pressure putting the deer on edge. There may be a few people out and about on the weekends, but you might find that you have normally busy areas of public hunting properties all to yourself in October.
Hunting pressure definitely causes deer to change their behavior patterns. Once they begin to feel pressure, many mature bucks go underground and won't be caught out during daylight. Hunting in October gives us a chance to target them before they feel the heat. They can still be in fairly predictable fall feeding and bedding patterns, which leads us to reason number two. Predictable Movements
October is a time of ease for most bucks. Food is everywhere and the bedding areas are mostly undisturbed. Acorns are still around in abundance, cut corn and soybean fields offer easy to reach food, alfalfa is still green.
The daily lives of a buck might be to rise in late afternoon, hang out with the guys a little, make a few rubs and maybe sniff a scrape. He may do a little sparring with other bucks and then make his way towards the food source where he arrives with a half hour or so of daylight left. He'll probably hang out just inside the woods until nearly full dark before exposing himself in the open, which gives a hunter the perfect opportunity to connect with him just inside the woods.
In the morning, he works his way back to his preferred bedding cover without much urgency, nibbling at browse along the way. Then he will spend his days in cover chewing his cud and only rising to stretch and relieve himself occasionally before going through his routine again in the late afternoon. It's a pretty good time for a savvy hunter to figure out the pattern and waylay a mature buck who has no idea he's being hunted. Enjoy the Autumn
The living is pretty easy for us hunters too. Another great reason to hunt October is to get out and enjoy pleasant fall weather while gathering information for upcoming rut.
Evenings are delightful in a treestand at this time of the year. Mosquitoes have succumbed to frost and the colorful leaves are pleasant to the eye. Mornings are cool but not shivering-in-your-boots cold. It's just a great time to enjoy some of the things we love about hunting and being outdoors to observe nature and its natural goings on. You can learn a lot that will help you better hunt the upcoming rut as well. October offers you a chance to inventory the deer in your area and get a feel for where the does are bedding. This knowledge will be valuable come the helter-skelter activity of the rut. You have to get out there among the deer to gain this knowledge. Calling and Rattling
The second half of October is arguably the best time of the year to use calling and rattling to bring in a buck. Testosterone is surging and bucks are on edge as the urges of the upcoming rut are beginning to run through their veins.
The success rates of using combinations of grunt calls and rattling antlers can be at its peak in late October. Bucks come running with more abandon than at any other time of the year. Find a good spot with lots of ground cover near a bedding area and do some calling sequences. Make sure you are set up where the buck can't see a long ways, but must come close to investigate the source of the sound. The largest buck my son Ben shot with a bow was taken under these exact circumstances. We set up at the point of a wooded draw where it cut into an alfalfa field. At the bottom of the draw was a thick creek bottom; perfect bedding cover.
I put out a buck decoy and Ben concealed himself 20 yards downwind of the decoy while I rattled. Almost immediately, a buck came strutting up out of the bottom and challenged the decoy. Less than 10 minutes into the sequence, he had the 10-pointer on the ground. Sign Success
By the last week in October, scrapes and rubs are a central part of the area deer's lives. This pre-rut period is the time of the year when scrapes are visited in the daylight and rubs are being worked often. I don't hunt sign just for sign's sake very much, but the last week in October is the one time when it's definitely worth the effort.
Hunting camera When you've found an area all torn up with scrapes and rubs, the hunting can be good there both mornings and evenings. Set up downwind and use some good scent such as Trails End #307 or use a scrape dripper with Active Scrape lure in it. Spicing up the scrapes with good quality scent works very well during this time of the annual cycle. Many bucks will circle to wind-check the area from downwind so be sure you set up your stand accordingly.
If you can't find the scrapes and rubs in the right situation to set up a good ambush, create your own. Mock scrapes with fresh scent work just as well — sometimes better--than the real thing. Use a pocket knife to forge imitation rubs. The local bucks feel compelled to investigate.
So don't spend October on the recliner in anticipation of November. These five reasons should be incentive enough to get out there and tag a buck before the masses fill the woods.
Most hunters think of the rut as the best time to kill a big buck, but there are valid reasons why early season can also be good -and sometimes the earlier the better.
It didn't feel much like deer hunting weather — temps in the 70s, muggy and buggy — yet there I was, perched in a ladder stand 80 yards from a persimmon patch roughly the size of a house. It being so warm, I didn't expect much action until the waning moments of daylight. So it was somewhat unexpected when a doe and fawn showed up with two full hours of daylight remaining. That turned out to be the tip of the iceberg.
It wasn't long before a young buck showed up, followed by another, and another. As the afternoon wore on, the number and age of bucks arriving to feed on newly dropped nectar of the gods grew. I stopped counting individual rack bucks at 10, though I know there were more. None quite made my personal minimum, but the experience of seeing that many adult bucks in one place at one time was reward enough.
The assembly was somewhat unexpected, though it should have been. It was early muzzleloader season in Kansas, a state that has a lot of bucks, at a time when those bucks tend to be at their most visible and potentially vulnerable period. While most deer hunters favor cooler temps and the hot action of the rut, early season offers some alternatives that rival and may even exceed the rut if your goal is to bag a big buck.
What Happens in Vegas...
One advantage of early season hunting involves social interaction. In late summer, whitetail bucks begin forming loose associations called bachelor groups or bachelor herds that will remain together to some extent into the early fall. They may include as few as two or three deer, or more than a dozen depending on deer densities and food availability.
Hunting cameraI use the term "loose" because the groups can vary in size and individual deer from day to day. The bottom line is that if you see one buck at this time of year, chances are good you'll see another, and another, and another — and they tend to get larger as the evening wears on so be patient.
The Other Rut
When talking about deer, the term "rut" is typically applied to that magical time when even the wiliest whitetails drop their guard and wander around during daylight hours. When referring to ourselves, we humans ascribe the term rut to a monotonous routine we're stuck in.
While we don't call it that, whitetails also sometimes get into a fairly repetitious routine, but only early in the season. While the rut is exciting, it's also very random. To the contrary, whitetails are at their most routine, and most "patternable" very early in the hunting season.
Low Pressure
While deer — particularly bucks — tend to be fairly routine, it doesn't take much to throw them out of their early-season patterns. Studies have shown deer move increasingly less during daylight, and more in thicker cover as hunting pressure increases. Like the savvy fisherman who wants first water — to be the first to cast a fly into a particular pool — you want to be the first in a particular patch of woods. And if you did your scouting properly, your fist sit should be your best as deer will quickly begin patterning and avoiding you.
Time Management
As already mentioned, deer tend to be rather routine in the early season, and one of the more common patterns is that daylight activity tends to be compressed into the first and last few minutes of the day. Deer don't like moving around when it's warm, and more importantly, in full daylight. Their eyes function best in fading light. Knowing this, you can maximize your effective hunting hours by concentrating on the first and last hours of the day. There's no need to sit those long, all-day vigils like you will when the rut kicks in. And because the days are much longer in the early season, you may be able to hunt peak hours and still put in a full day's work.
Relax
For several reasons, early-season hunting tends to be more relaxed. Some of it has to do with weather. You don't have too, nor do you want to move too quickly when it's warm. Deer season is a marathon, not a sprint, so you want to pace yourself and work up to speed slowly. Early success also brings certain benefits. With a deer or two in the freezer, and potentially at the taxidermist, the pressure is off so you can relax and get more enjoyment out of the weeks and months of deer hunting still to come.
