We all have roads around where we live that we know very well. We know them
so well in fact, that on a dark night we are applying the brakes to our
vehicle long before we see the curve in the outer-most reaches of our high
beams. We may accelerate coming out of a curve because we know that in
front of us lies a long straight stretch of road. And we might put our
blinker on going up a hill, knowing that our blind turn is just over the
crest. With the recent deluge of rain we have experienced here in the
northeast this fall, many outlying roads are flooding even with a moderate
amount of rain. But almost without thinking about it, we are quickly able
to plot out an alternative route to our destination when we happen upon a
closed road.
We have become so familiar with our surroundings that our actions become
almost second nature to us.
MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE
Deer are masters of their environment. While we may think we know the area
around our homes pretty well, it is literally a matter of life and death
for the whitetail to know their core areas intimately. Not only must they
know their homes very well, it must come fully furnished.
MY HOUSE IS A VERY VERY VERY FINE HOUSE
Deer must have three things in their core area in order for it to hold
them.
· Security. They want secure bedding areas and accessible escape routes
that can get them out of danger and the area quickly.
· Cover. Bucks especially want to have as much between them and prying
eyes as possible. This will include hedgerows that connect two larger
tracts of woods, depressions that allow covert movement, and thick
nasty areas where they can go to hide out.
· Food and water sources. Food sources may include agricultural crops,
meadows, and seasonal acorns. In the fall and winter, deer are
opportune eaters and will consume whatever browse they can find.
FIND THE DOES
While bucks will and do leave their core areas during the rut to search for
receptive does, if there is enough security, cover, and food sources, the
does will be in abundance within that bucks area of operation. Find the
does and you find the bucks…especially during the rut.
CONCLUSION
It may seem that the deer disappear off the face of the earth once the
hunting season has been going for a couple days. The truth is that it takes
a LOT to force a deer to leave its core area. They know their environment
so well, that they simply slink away without you seeing them and hole up
until the pressure lessens.
Think about it…if you knew you were being hunted by some bully who was
watching the roads you normally travel and the restaurants you normally eat
at, wouldn’t YOU find alternative roads and diners? Wouldn’t YOU find a
nice little hidey-hole to escape to when the bully got too close for
comfort? You bet you would…and so does that buck.
Check out my blog, videos, and lots of other stuff at www.thinkarchery.com.
If you would like to discuss this or any other archery topic with me
directly, please feel free to email me at todd@thinkarchery.com
Friday, September 30, 2011
Thursday, September 15, 2011
THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER
I remember the horror stories well. When I first joined our deer camp, I
was quickly informed that the deer numbers were way down from years ago.
Time was, a hunter could see 40 or 50 deer in a single day. But not
anymore. Now they were lucky if they saw one or two….all season! I was a
bit disappointed by this information but I soon discovered the reason for
the decline in deer sightings.
SQUATTER’S RIGHTS?
Many of the camp members had been hunting the SAME stand locations year
after year…regardless of wind direction, hunting pressure, or food sources.
I was blessed to have early success at deer camp. I bagged a buck in four
out of my first five seasons there. I just couldn’t understand why I was
seeing and harvesting deer while most of the other guys were not seeing
anything. I would love to tell you that it was because I was a superior
woodsman and hunter extraordinaire but alas…such is not the case. The real
reason why I was seeing deer and my fellow campmates were not was simply
because I was a new camp member and therefore had to find my own spot to
hunt. I had to find a place where none of the other camp members hunted.
Not a spot that someone had been hunting in for…oh….the last 20 years or
so!
IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME…FOR AWHILE ANYWAY
Deer cannot reason like you and I but they do have instincts that warn them
of danger. If they are repeatedly exposed to the sight, sound, or smell of
a perceived danger in a specific location year after year, they will
instinctively alter their travel patterns to avoid that area. The does will
train their young to also avoid those areas and that is then passed down to
other generations. Pretty soon, the hunter that has been sitting in that
same stand for 20 years will be complaining that the deer that once were in
abundance have left the area. In reality, the deer are still there but are
avoiding that spot.
HIT THE ROAD JACK
What I’m trying to tell you is this…if you have a stand location that once
provided lots of deer sightings every season but now seems barren of deer,
and you have been in that same stand every year, maybe it’s time to find a
new hunting spot.
And you might not have to go far either. It could be just a short hop to
the other side of the ridge. Instead of hunting that spur that comes down
the mountain, try dipping into the draw that comes up the mountain. Try
finding a staging area instead of hunting the field edge.
CONCLUSION
Trust me…I know how hard it is to leave a stand location that USED to
provide lots of deer sightings and the occasional meat in the freezer. You
keep thinking that this will finally be the year that the deer come back in
the numbers of old and you had better be on that same stand…again.
It’s time my friend to give up the ghost and explore the woods for a new
hunting spot. And if you can find more than one new spot, your chances have
just gone up on seeing more deer this season and next.
Check out my blog, videos, and lots of other stuff at www.thinkarchery.com.
If you would like to discuss this or any other archery topic with me
directly, please feel free to email me at todd@thinkarchery.com
was quickly informed that the deer numbers were way down from years ago.
Time was, a hunter could see 40 or 50 deer in a single day. But not
anymore. Now they were lucky if they saw one or two….all season! I was a
bit disappointed by this information but I soon discovered the reason for
the decline in deer sightings.
SQUATTER’S RIGHTS?
Many of the camp members had been hunting the SAME stand locations year
after year…regardless of wind direction, hunting pressure, or food sources.
I was blessed to have early success at deer camp. I bagged a buck in four
out of my first five seasons there. I just couldn’t understand why I was
seeing and harvesting deer while most of the other guys were not seeing
anything. I would love to tell you that it was because I was a superior
woodsman and hunter extraordinaire but alas…such is not the case. The real
reason why I was seeing deer and my fellow campmates were not was simply
because I was a new camp member and therefore had to find my own spot to
hunt. I had to find a place where none of the other camp members hunted.
Not a spot that someone had been hunting in for…oh….the last 20 years or
so!
IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME…FOR AWHILE ANYWAY
Deer cannot reason like you and I but they do have instincts that warn them
of danger. If they are repeatedly exposed to the sight, sound, or smell of
a perceived danger in a specific location year after year, they will
instinctively alter their travel patterns to avoid that area. The does will
train their young to also avoid those areas and that is then passed down to
other generations. Pretty soon, the hunter that has been sitting in that
same stand for 20 years will be complaining that the deer that once were in
abundance have left the area. In reality, the deer are still there but are
avoiding that spot.
HIT THE ROAD JACK
What I’m trying to tell you is this…if you have a stand location that once
provided lots of deer sightings every season but now seems barren of deer,
and you have been in that same stand every year, maybe it’s time to find a
new hunting spot.
And you might not have to go far either. It could be just a short hop to
the other side of the ridge. Instead of hunting that spur that comes down
the mountain, try dipping into the draw that comes up the mountain. Try
finding a staging area instead of hunting the field edge.
CONCLUSION
Trust me…I know how hard it is to leave a stand location that USED to
provide lots of deer sightings and the occasional meat in the freezer. You
keep thinking that this will finally be the year that the deer come back in
the numbers of old and you had better be on that same stand…again.
It’s time my friend to give up the ghost and explore the woods for a new
hunting spot. And if you can find more than one new spot, your chances have
just gone up on seeing more deer this season and next.
Check out my blog, videos, and lots of other stuff at www.thinkarchery.com.
If you would like to discuss this or any other archery topic with me
directly, please feel free to email me at todd@thinkarchery.com
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