Deer Hunting
Shamanic Guide — Treestand Safety
When I look back on my early years of deer hunting, it’s a small wonder I survived. Take tree stands for instance. Look at any good book on deer hunting. Go to any Hunter’s Ed class. Here’s what the Treestand Manufacturers Association says you don’t do: • Wear a safety belt around your waist. If you should fall, this will flip you upside down leaving you dangling helplessly; or you could completely slip from the belt and fall. • Hunt from a tree stand while under the influence of drugs, alcohol or if you’re physically impaired. • Use a tree … More . . .
The Cost of a Tag
Over on KentuckyHunting.com’s forums, SCSIMS was commenting on the increases in tag prices. I completely agree. Increasing tag prices: 1) Encourages folks to not buy tags and not report kills. This is the last thing you want. Once that begins snowballing, the herd dwindles back to nothing. 2) Discourages new hunters and old hunters. If hunting will remain the Commonwealth’s main choice in controlling deer herds, that is a problem. 3) Turns deer hunting into an elitist activity. One of the big draws of deer hunting is that you do not need to be a rich guy to do it– … More . . .
To hang or Not to Hang, That is the Question
I’ve never been much of a believer in letting the carcass age. Mine usually go right to the processor and I usually pick up the results a week later. He may let mine hang for a few days, while it waits its turn, but that’s it. I’m on the road to processing my own, now that I have a shed to do it, but it won’t age. I worked in a frozen meat plant for years, and before we ground up the 8-foot diameter pallets of beef, we’d put it in a tempering room. Basically, we were aging the cuts … More . . .
The ritual of Fall has begun.
The bug finally hit last night. All of a sudden, the scene changed. It came with the 10 degree drop in temperature, the accumulating leaves in the yard, the smell of my old leather shooting glove as I brought it out of the case. It was time to bow hunt, and I could no longer wait. I had been practicing for quite a while, but it had not seemed real. It was something too far off in the future to get worked up about. I grabbed some arrows and grandpa’s old watering can and stepped off the twenty yards, set … More . . .
The Optimal Whitetail Load
How do you know if you have an optimized whitetail load? That question is simple to answer: take it out in the woods, point it at deer and touch it off. If, in the next few seconds, you transform a graceful, warm, vital deer into a slowly cooling pile of venison, I think it is safe to conclude that you have an optimal load. Okay, I’m a smart-a$$. There is something I have noticed as I ever so slowly mature as a deer hunter and a reloader. There are an infinite number of mental bunny holes and most of them … More . . .
Blood Trail Philosophy — Push or Wait?
I was reading the November 2004 issue of Deer and Deer Hunting Magazine over lunch. There was a big article on the “5 Critical Mistakes of Blood Trailing.” It all boiled down to this: Let the deer lie down and die. Don’t push. I remember 10 years ago this magazine was saying the exact opposite: trail the deer immediately. Of all the deer I’ve shot and arrowed, I can only think of two that needed any special treatment. In all the other cases, I’ve could have walked to the deer and tag it immediately. However, I followed the old sage … More . . .
Aching with Anticipation
I had one stand that still needed some work this past weekend. It is my current best stand. While I was sprucing it up in early July, I noticed a missing bolt. One thing lead to another, and I haven’t been back out. There is plenty of sign at several of my prime stands, including this one. I just got pre-occupied with family reunions and such this summer and let things slip away. Now, there it was, 3 weeks into KY Bow Season, and it was still not done. I found the bolt, and a camo blind that goes around … More . . .
On Rifle Selection
There was a time in my life when one deer rifle was all it took. Now I have a safe full of them, and I cannot seem to ever be totally satisfied. Do I need another deer rifle? No. Do I want another? Always. What I’ve found that I really enjoy is the adventure of putting a new rifle into action. I like the process of acquiring a long gun, mounting a scope, building a good load and then proving it in the field. That has turned my deer hunting into an expensive hobby, where it should not have been. … More . . .
More On (MORON ?) Funnels and Signs
A lot of guys have responded to my piece yesterday about funnels and signs. In general, all I can say is that I think all you guys are barking up the wrong tree. It’s all in the salt. You and the state have it all wrong– deer can’t read. Deer don’t need a sign to tell them there’s salt. All you have to do is put out a big enough pile– more salt, bigger deer. It’s all silly anyway. They make these big yellow signs for the deer to see, but then they tell us deer can’t see color and … More . . .
Shamanic Guide — More on Funnels (serious like)
Now you know, after that last post, there’s going to be some city slicker treehugger type that’s going to find this weblog and have an absolute conniption. Oh well. Some folks just don’t get the joke, do they? Then there’s the fellow (bless his heart) that’s going to take this all gospel and go out to Wally World tonight to get himself a nice shiny funnel, and a box of Morton’s. I think it was Ray Knight that told me once that he’d come up with an idea for turkey hunting. He’d been hunting along the Ohio River, and heard … More . . .
Funnels and Deer Signs
When I was learning how to hunt deer, they always told me to look for sign and hunt the funnels. Deer signs were easy. They were big and yellow and they had a picture of a deer on them. In some places, the deer were shown just standing. In other places, the deer were leaping. You wanted to hunt the ones with the walking deer; they were easier to shoot. If you were lucky, you found one with a few big slug holes in it. That meant somebody had hunted that sign successfully. You wanted a fresh sign too– one … More . . .
Shamanic Guide: Why the poopy loads?
I loaded up a bunch of .308 Win for the Savage 99 yesterday. They’re light as 308’s go, they’re more like a hot 300 Savage. Why? Why not load these puppies up to the max? Why not hunt with a 300 WSSSSM or a SAUUUUUM? Why? Why go to all that bother? Whitetail dear are not that hard to kill. The fact of the matter is that if you stay away from pushing the envelope, you do not have to worry as much about: 1) Recoil. It’s amazing what a 5% or 8% reduction from the maximum load does to … More . . .
Shamanic Guide: Some Basic Misconceptions
Before we go further with this beginner’s guide, please let me disabuse you of some of the common misconceptions held among deer hunters: 1) You cannot hunt just anywhere. 2) Always obey all the rules. The game warden can come on private land and arrest you 3) Hunter Ed is not for kids. If you have not taken it, do so. 4) Forget gimmicks. There is no magic recipe for bagging a deer 5) Most of what you hear from old-timers is wrong 6) Camo is not a replacement for being a good hunter; A scent suit is not a … More . . .
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