Tabla de contenidos para October 2021 en Deer & Deer Hunting

The question we posted on our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages was rather simple: “Name a tradition you do at deer camp.” We had a feeling this would generate some replies, and we were right! Thousands liked the posts and more than 500 people commented. Also expected, responses came from every corner of North America. From Florida to Virginia and Maine to Montana, hunters chimed in with some hard-and-fast traditions and some “expected occurrences.” Either way, the responses had us all here smiling, knowing full-well that the American Deer Camp is alive and well. Here’s a snapshot of the traditions you uphold at your deer camps: JEFFREY DALE Nickel, dime and quarter poker every night! DAVID SIGLER I used to go to our shack with my dad to help him…

Each year since 1992, Deer & Deer Hunting has provided both Southern and Northern readers with the “Whitetail Rut-Predictor.” This system has been featured in several D&DH articles by late contributing editor Charles J. Alsheimer. The Whitetail Rut-Predictor is also included in our annual wall calendar, which still features Alsheimer’s photography. The predictor lets you plan when, where and how to hunt. The rut follows predictable stages of deer behavior. These changes dictate the effectiveness of hunting strategies. Scrapehunting, for example, might be effective when bucks seek does, but it won’t work later in the rut when most does are already bred or being tended. Not every buck exhibits the predicted primary behavior on a given date. Several factors, including age, nutrition, health and genetics, can affect the time and…

To hunt a mature forest and to do so with confidence, hunters must understand that change is inevitable. Whether we recognize it or not, the land of the pulpwood forest is in a constant state of flux. This is not the case when it comes to the attributes of white-tailed deer. A buck cannot see any more clearly than he already does, cannot hear any better, cannot improve his sense of smell and is unable to hide more effectively. It’s simply not possible. Whitetails cannot log on to the Internet to obtain a 12-step self-help guide to dodging hunters. If whitetail behavior cannot be altered, it should be a cinch to routinely hang one on the meat pole once we understand the deer’s behavior… right? Wrong. Unfortunately, it’s not that…

Without a doubt, hunters drop more big bucks during the peak of the rut than any other time of the year. Sure, some bowhunters take whoppers in the early season after keeping tabs on particular bucks all summer long. Also, some real wall-hangers are duped by rattling during the pre-rut. And for those die-hard hunters who stick with it to the very end, some of the nation’s biggest bucks are smoked during the muzzleloader seasons. Nonetheless, when the breeding season takes center stage, rut-crazed bucks are more vulnerable than they are at any other time of the year. They no longer bed in the same thickets, and food is definitely the last thing on their minds. Instead, they are on the move 24/7 in their seemingly endless search for a…

FLETCH OPTIONS Modern bowhunters generally use three (very few choose four) vanes made from synthetic materials (although many traditional archers still use natural feather fletches). Popular high-performance glue-on vanes include the Bohning Blazer and Heat Vane, AAE’s Max Hunter and Max Stealth, Easton Bully Vanes, Flex Fletch Silent Knight, TAC Driver and TAC Summit, Pine Ridge Archery Nitro, VaneTec Super Spine and NAP Hellfire 3D Pro, among others. Vane length and height can vary, but the most popular for modern carbon and aluminum shafts are 2- and 2½-inch vanes made from stiff plastic that offer a lot of surface area to react to air molecules, imparting maximum spin. Most vanes are glued onto the shaft with an adhesive designed specifically for the purpose, then placed on the shaft with a…

A relative newcomer to the whitetail market, German Precision Optics stands poised to take the American market by storm in 2022. The company was founded seven years ago by optical industry senior executives who have intimate experience with how big brands increase profitability to support massive product infrastructures. However, instead of cutting corners to maximize profits, GPO executives set out to build premium optics at competitive prices. What’s more, all of the design, engineering and quality control is still done internally in Germany. At the tail end of last deer season, I field-tested GPO scopes and binoculars while doing research and hunting whitetails with Robert Woods of Cuffawa Creek Outfitters in Holly Springs, Mississippi (cuffawacreekoutfitters.com). I was hunting with friend and optics expert Karen Lutto, and despite decent weather, we…

I typically start articles with an anecdote about how the topic of the piece played into a hunt. But mock scrapes have likely been involved in almost any hunt I’ve experienced. I don’t believe there’s a more powerful — and underrated — scouting and hunting tool than mock scrapes. Here’s why and how you can make the most of them in your hunting and scouting efforts. THE POWER First, I must justify my statement about mock scrapes — specifically that they’re a powerful, yet underrated scouting and hunting tool. I’ll start that with a twist: Don’t expect mock scrapes to drag a buck from three ridges away to within bow range, or that mock scrapes will transform your hunting. I’ll save such claims for the overly eager marketing departments of…

More than 20 years ago, I was perched 65 yards from a bedded 13-pointer and watched him for five hours. There was no question he was an animal I wanted to harvest, but my grunting could not pull him past a brush wall 40 yards away. Five-and-a-half hours into the hunt, a magnificent 18-inch 6-pointer circled the big buck and came between him and me. When he urinated in the big buck’s scrape, the 13-pointer stood up. Then he walked over to push out the younger buck and came one step too far. That incident was one of several that set me on a journey of discovering and formulating a theory I call the centripetal rut. Its basic tenets are: 1) The rut hinges on a dominant buck setting up…

In many ways, trying to understand how white-tailed deer move is like trying to understand how people move on a given day. In a human’s case, age, personality, where they live, what they like to eat or the comforts they prefer might dictate movement. Not surprisingly, the reasons why whitetails move are very similar. To gain a better understanding of deer behavior, we must look at both the natural and physical factors that cause deer movement. 1. Food. This drives deer movement, and the type and quality of food sources will greatly influence when they move and how far they will go to find the food they prefer. This is particularly the case with seasonal foods, like hard and soft mast. When acorns or apples begin dropping from trees, you…

I try never to brood about time passing, but from time to time fall prey and need to remind myself that even if I did belabor time passing, it wouldn’t change it. Specifically about deer hunting, I remember in my youth agonizing at the mercy of a calendar ticking down the days until opening day. As the date edged nearer, sleep came harder, so it seemed entirely reasonable in those days to beg time to fly. But then it flew. Suddenly, I have been hunting a lifetime, and although I no longer lose sleep over it, my appreciation toward more far-reaching complexities intensifies. I suppose that to be a natural procession. Seasons arrive in more understated ways now, but that is not the same as saying they arrive with less…

White-tailed deer are equipped with natural camouflage. Their reddishbrown summer coats and grayishbrown winter coats enable them to blend into their surroundings. Yet, sprinkled throughout the whitetail population are deer with unique color variations. Here are the reasons why some whitetails have different-colored coats. On a typical white-tailed deer, the throat, rump, belly, underside of the tail and insides of the ears are white. Due to genetics, color variations can range from pure white (albinism) to pure black (melanism). True albino whitetails have white coats, pink eyes and pink noses. Albino deer lack an enzyme called tyrosine, which is needed to produce pigment in the skin and coat. The production of pigment is controlled by the pituitary gland in ordinary deer. The condition of albinism results from a recessive gene…

Hunters have invented tons of tricks and tactics to improve their chances of killing big whitetails, but decoys are one of my favorites. And after hunting with a decoy, I’ve found a few simple tips to increase success. TIMING IS EVERYTHING I’m a firm believer in using a decoy from late October through the end of November in most Midwestern states. When I start seeing rutting activity, I get the decoy out. I’ve had success with it through mid-December while hunting Nebraska. My buck decoy is bristled up, and its ears are pinned back. He’s obviously looking for a fight. I’ve had incredible luck with this decoy during the rut. BUCK VERSUS DOE When choosing a decoy, you’ll have to decide if you want to use a buck or doe.…

Fake tactics such as rattling and sparring have been used for years to lure bucks within bow range. For optimal success, however, you should consider several factors. There is no one-size-fitsall technique for performing such tactics. From state to state and area to area, and often from section to section within a county, there are monumental discrepancies in hunting pressure, kill criteria, how people hunt, and the size and terrain features of a property. Each of those parameters has a direct correlation to how many mature bucks inhabit an area or property, and they dictate the daytime movements of mature bucks and their responses to tactics. In heavily pressured areas where most hunters target any legal antlered buck, deer learn quickly how to avoid hunters or get wounded or killed,…

Several years ago, I wrote an article for this magazine called “Right Place, Right Time” (January 2011 Deer & Deer Hunting). The basic theme was hunting where deer actually are, not where you want them to be. The gist of the article was to more accurately read and heed sign and to rely less on preconceived notions. That makes it possible to discover corridors deer prefer to travel instead of those sites that are convenient to you or simply feel “right” — which are sometimes the same thing. I tried to encourage a more careful examination of how you approach stand placement by becoming more strategically involved, instead of relying on blind luck or questionable gut feelings. On a macro level, that approach is sound, if for no other reason…

I recently had a buddy tell me he turned his entire deer into jerky this past season. “I didn’t even save the backstrap,” he told me. “I got pounds upon pounds of jerky in the freezer, which should last me maybe a couple months.” Needless to say, he loves jerky. And I thought jerky and I had a history. My dad introduced me to beef jerky many years ago at The National Sweetcorn Festival in Hoopeston, Illinois. I’ll never forget that leathery texture and homemade flavor, with juices that made me imagine I had a lump of chaw in my mouth (remember this was the age of Big League Chew for us little leaguers). Ever since I started big-game hunting I have wanted to replicate that flavor on my own.…

Many hunters and managers go through several rather predictable evolutions. As hunters, we tend to start out just wanting to shoot a deer, which morphs into any buck, often transitioning into as many bucks as we legally can. From there, it’s often the biggest buck we can find and, if we stick with it long enough, we eventually settle into hunting for the experiences. For those just getting into habitat improvements, we tend to buy our first bag of seed based mostly on the big-buck pictures on the bags. The bigger the buck picture, the better the seed must be. Then, we learn that a picture on a bag means nothing, and we learn how to mix our own seeds. At that point, we have the high tendency to settle…