Camera or Bow: Which is best?

Photographing wild whitetail bucks requires as much skill as hunting them.

It was one of those great nights a few tears ago when the deer started moving early on a west wind, and continued filtering through my area until after dark. It presented me with a dilemma.

Should I shoot a buck with my compound bow or with a camera? The new Canon camera with a 300mm lens seemed to beckon hard and long for my use, and because it is newer than the bow, I left the bow in its case at home.

The first deer came along the edge of a funnel between two tag alder thickets. It was an adult doe, and lacking anything better to do, I watched her come for 200 yards. She stopped once, looked back, and hauled butt toward me and she was weaving in and out of the tags.

Knowing where to set up for taking good photos works just as well when hunting.

Her body language told me all I needed to know. She was trying to stay ahead of a trailing buck, and she squirted out in front of me. She stopped just out into the field, stood momentarily, and kept moving.

Two minutes later, as silent as a shadow, came the 8-point. He had five-inch brow tines, and had all the makings of a good buck with one more year on him. I clicked off several photos as he stepped out of the snowy alders where she had run out, and he trotted head-down to the place where she had stopped 15 yards from me, and came to a broadside halt.

I got another photo as he came to a stop, and he apparently didn’t hear the camera shutter clunk, but off he went in hot pursuit. Then minutes later two does and four button bucks and doe fawns passed, and they too were looking over their shoulder. I clicked a few photos of them passing by, and then all was silent and still for several minutes.

The wind was switching from southwest to west to northwest, and back again. My stand was perfect for the wind, and it gave me a good view of the funnel these deer were using. They often would step out into the field rather than cross the two-track trail in heavy cover.

There’s not a lot of traffic down this trail, and my stand was 150 yards from it. The deer seem to favor a more open view of the area rather than to be caught in heavy cover with a car coming. I found it a bit odd, but it seemed to be a local quirk of these animals.

A knowledge of deer habits is very important when shooting photographs.

A half-hour passed, and I could see a few deer across a wide-open field, and those animals were heading elsewhere. They weren’t heading in my direction.

Fifteen minutes before shooting time ended, a small doe was seen being chased by a spike, and she came busting down through the funnel, jumped out of the tag alders and never slowed down near me. The spike had twin six-inch daggers growing out of his head, and it’s possible the doe was more concerned about rough stuff with those spikes than being bred by him.

A minute later a pair of year-and-a-half-old bucks, one a 7-point and his buddy had 8 points, walked past my stand just inside the brush. I snapped some photos of them, and they were on their way.

A friend was coming to pick me up, and I stayed in my stand to await his arrival. His vehicle would spook away any deer, and it would help me avoid scaring off any deer within sight of my stand.

Having a friend walk or drive in to pick you up works great. They will be gone before you can get down.

Shooting light came and went, and I stowed my camera and sat quietly with binoculars in my hands. Two antlerless deer were seen 200 yards away, moving south and away from me, and as I sat waiting patiently, a buck slipped out of the brush and paused, 15 yards away.

I could see white atop his head, and what appeared to be a goodly amount of it. This buck came from out of nowhere, and he wasn’t seen until he was spotted standing there. He was upwind of me, and where he paused was where the doe had stopped.

He sniffed around, sorted out the odors of the doe, the other bucks and fawns, and headed into the tag alder funnel and disappeared from sight. He may have went north or south, but it was too dark to tell.

My buddy soon arrived, picked me up, and we discussed what photo ops each of had had. He had seen more deer than me, and he didn’t have a bow with him either.

Perhaps, another evening will be a bow night. I’m not terribly picky, but I’m always looking for something great. I may have to settle for an antlerless deer or two this year, but I don’t care. I’ve taken too many smaller bucks, and I’d just as soon take a doe as a small rack.

I’m not a trophy hunter. I’m a realist, and would rather see those small bucks grow into big bucks. A doe eats as well or better than a buck, and in the meantime, I can always shoot photos.

Betting on a buck

This big buck, framed between two maples, was patterned right.

A few of my friends have bet me with a friendly verbal wager that they would shoot a buck that night. I’d prod them a bit, and ask just how certain they are that a good buck would fall to their well-placed arrow.

Those who were staunch in their opinion said they could feel it in their bones. Now me, feeling something in my bones usually means a touch of arthritis is flaring up.

They continued to plunge on saying the wind was right, they were planning to hunt such and such a ground blind or tree stand. They had this dream formed in their mind, and I wasn’t about to try swaying their thoughts.

Wishing for and planning to shoot a buck are two different things.

Their big buck, framed between hope and desire in their day-dreams, was due to show up that day at 20 yards, while accompanied by a wagon-load of luck.

Off they would go, a big sillygrin of anticipation on their face. Over many years of hunting whitetail bucks, more often than not, a hunter with such a no-fail plan would be the first to fold Double Bull tent blind when the deer decided to go elsewhere.

It’s my nature to let them natter on and on, and if they ask for my opinion, I offer it for what it is worth. Some pay attention, and others just fritter away an evening of hunting without ever being within 100 yards of any kind of a buck.

Deer operate on instincts, and getting too hyped up in advance can make a hunter careless.  In their rush to get settled into the stand, something falls out of their pocket and is left laying on the ground where every nearby deer will see or smell it.

Their giddy mood often makes them a bit antsy. The beat goes on, running through their brain, and in breathless anticipation of the shot they simply know is coming, their toes are tapping the stand in time with the music playing in their head.

A buck stands back in the brush, hears a faint sound, and eventually the animal locates it high in a cedar, pine or oak tree, and heads off to visit his girlfriend 300 yards away.

Bucks may show up on schedule but they are usually young ones.

Or, our hero sits in the tree, looking a bit southwest with binoculars to his eyes, scanning the terrain for a buck. Every so often, sunlight will glint off the lens and sends a flash of light on its way. A deer that looks up just in time to see the flash of light will be suspicious and approach that area with extreme caution, if at all.

Sometimes the buck does show, and after hours of dreaming of a close and deadly shot, the bow hunter becomes all fumble-fingered, and creates too much movement as he prepares for a shot. Or, he turns slightly in the stand for a close shot, and something falls out of his pocket and goes clattering across the stand.

It could be a wallet or anything. The bow limb could rub against the tree, and some bark or pine needles could go drifting to the ground. A sharp-eyed buck will spot the falling stuff, wonder why he’d never seen it happen in that spot before, and before we know it, the buck is two fields away and still running, scared plumb out of his wits.

These things happen. I’ve learned never to predict a buck at the end of my hunting day. First of all, I’d have to see one I wanted to shoot, and that never happens on a regular basis.

Optimism is a great quality but keep such thoughts realistic.

I do believe in being optimistic. Feeling confident is much different than almost bragging about a buck that may not come within two miles of the hunter.

Respect for the animals we hunt is important. It’s far more important than bragging about an animal that as yet has not been seen or shot. It may be time for some hunters to critically analyze the reasons why they hunt, and those who have true convictions, hunt for the sake of hunting. A buck or doe is only a bonus.

Killing a buck or doe proves very little other than the hunter was in the right place at the right time, and made a good shot. It rarely proves anything else.

Deer do some of the dumbest things

The chasing phase of the rut can make bucks do odd things. This one hit a fence post.

The ground-level box blind was warm and comfortable, and the predicted snow that was supposed to fall, had not materialized. However, a deer did an odd thing and that provides the basis for tonight’s story.

A spindly 8-point buck had just moved down the trail, traveling upwind of my stand, and 100 yards behind him was a button-buck fawn. The young buck ambled along but knew his place in the pecking order of his life, and he was on the bottom rung. Little bucks don’t tick off big bucks, and fare well in the outcome.

The little guy, like small children or small deer, are curious. Who knows why or when something will capture their interest, and hasten their need to investigate. I was 18 yards off a heavily used trail that meandered through the browned bracken ferns of early November.

Watching some of the antics of small deer is more fun for me than shooting.

The wee buck fawn stopped as he came even with my blind, and turn to look at me. The inside of the coop had been painted black, and I was dressed in camo clothing with brown gloves on my hands and a camo face mask. He couldn’t see or smell me.

He looked, bobbed his head up and down in the head fake that fawns soon learn from their mother, and tried to get the box blind to move. It was anchored securely to the ground and wouldn’t budge, but the little buck tried it two or three times without success.

Finally, tiring of the head fake, the button buck started my way. Slowly, mind you, with frequent pauses to check out this odd structure that he hadn’t seen before. Closer he came, inching in the last few feet, and stuck his head in the shooting window.

His nose was three feet from my knee, and he took a deep whiff, found nothing that appeared to be objectionable. I sat still, wondering what he would do next, and he stood still for about 15 seconds, walked back to the trail and followed the buck out of sight. The Scent-Lok suit worked,

Eye-to-eye with a wild deer at three feet is a really neat experience.

I’ve had curious does and fawns walk close but have never had one stick his head in the shooting window of my hunting coop. This was a first for me, and a real treat for someone who loves seeing deer do weird things.

One time, while sitting on a stump just the perfect height off the ground and with my feet stretched out in front of me, a doe fawn and her mother came walking by. The doe stopped to eyeball me, and that didn’t satisfy the curious fawn.

She came walking right up to me, stepped over my legs, and began sniffing my rubber boots. There must have been something there that she liked, and she licked my boots for nearly a minute before tiring of that activity. She walked off down the trail with her month, and I found that if you don’t move, odd things can happen.

Great tasting rubber hunting books after being sprayed to remove odor.

Several years ago while bow hunting the rut just before the firearm season opener, I watched a love-crazed buck do a really stupid thing. He had been chasing a doe all over a green field, back into the swamp, around my tree stand, and the mature doe was just barely keeping ahead of the amorous buck.

He was grunting every step of the way, and sounded much like a barnyard oinker, and occasionally he would let her get farther away and then put on a burst of speed. She was about three steps ahead of the randy buck, and had his nose to the ground like a bird dog on a hot pheasant track.

She was going full out, throwing a few zigs and zags into her run, and the buck never lifted his head to see where he was going. She kicked it into another gear, came to a fence, and cleared it with a fine jump that was a thing of beauty. The clueless buck wasn’t quite as graceful and pretty.

He was so intent on staying with the soon-to-be-bred doe that he never looked up. He ran slam into a wood fence post with his head, and fell backwards on his rump. He staggered to his feet, wobbled around for a minute, visibly trying to figure out what happened, and once the cobwebs cleared away from what had to be an aching head, off he went at a high lope after the doe.

I’ve studied deer for more than a half-century, and have seen them do some pretty strange things. Some of what they do may stagger your imagination, but for me, nothing a whitetail does surprises me anymore.

Even when they stick their head in my shooting window. How cool is that?

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Some Firearm Season Things To Avoid

Nov. 15 is something very special to Michigan deer hunters. It's the only day of the year when you can hear the sun rise.

Rifle shots, shotgun blasts and occasionally even the flat crack of a handgun going off is an audible clue that the annual firearm deer season is underway. However, all things are subject to change as we edge closer to that magic date.

So, this begs the obvious question: Will the firearm opener a week from tomorrow be a noisy affair with many shots at dawn or just  another quiet day? Sunday openers are usually good, and rank high but perhaps just one notch behind a Friday opener which gives hunters a three-day weekend.

High, low or average expectations?

So what can hunters expect from the firearm opener? I'm not a prophet, and never did well at guessing, but I expect a slower than normal opener. Fewer hunters, perhaps a few more deer, and not enough people moving around to keep the deer moving. A heavy snowstorm like last year could keep many sportsmen indoors. It will be a one-day hunt for most people.

However, there are several things to avoid and perhaps these tips may turn the hunt around for you.

Here are some things to avoid.

*Don't wait until you get into camp to sight in your rifle. It should have been sighted in at a target range a month ago.

Shooting a box or two of cartridges just before the deer opener does two things. It helps the hunter get ol' Betsie shooting straight but it also scares the bejeebers out of deer. Gun shots  send deer diving for thick cover, and from that day on the animals will move only after dark, and it may be another long year without venison.

*Stay away from your blind, and remain silent when in the woods. Climbing into a tree stand or clumping around trying to pull together enough cover to build a ground blind leaves human scent in the area and helps alert the deer.

Blinds should have been built long before now. If the weather is mild, set out in a tree stand or find a toppled tree downwind of an active trail and sit with your back to the root wad. It breaks up your silhouette, and anything placed in front of you should be sparse. If it's too thick, it becomes difficult to shoot through and requires too much movement.

Hunt alone.

*Groups of hunters make too much noise. Go off alone, and find a spot where no one else is hunting. The major mistake for most people is they walk through the woods, yakking back and forth as if deer can't hear, and the team effort spooks the animals. Don't slam car doors!

The solitary hunter has a much better chance of shooting a deer than one man in a group of many. One hunter is all hunter; two hunters is half a hunter; and three hunters is no hunters at all. It points out the logic of solitary hunting and why two people make twice the noise of one, etc.

*Never second-guess your hunting location. If it looked good  during the daylight hours, it should still look good as the sun starts rising in the east and the rifles start going bang.

It's rather illogical to sit there as the sun starts to bulge on the horizon, and then suddenly decide another location some distance away looks better. I made this silly mistake years ago, and another hunter moved into my spot as I moved off and he shot a good buck. I never saw a deer in my newest best spot. Stick with your original plan.

Want to shoot a nice buck? It's simple.

*Just be in the right spot at the right time, and have one cartridge in the chamber and none in the magazine.

I started my wife hunting with a single-shot .243 rifle many years ago. She knows she has only one shot and has to make it count. She shoots her rifle long before the season opens, and it is always on and doesn't require any adjustment.

A buck walks out, she aims, pulls the set trigger, refines her aim and softly squeezes the hair trigger. The deer falls over, dead before it hits the ground. She knows she has but one shot, and she takes her time and waits for a good broadside shot. The result can be like the high 12-point rack that is shown in the top photo.

Many people have a lever-action, pump or semi-automatic firearm, and they take ill-advised shots, miss, shoot again, miss, and soon the magazine is empty. They slap in another clip and perhaps run it dry as the deer dodges through heavy timber or across an open field. Deer that stand still are much easier to shoot than one that has already been shot at and is cutting a trail for distant parts.

One shot is all you need if you know your firearm, have it sighted in properly and take your time aiming. Hurried shots seldom put deer liver in the frying pan.

Plan ahead for any eventuality.

I always wear a backpack, and people think it's rather funny. It may weigh 15-20 pounds, but  in it is everything I may need that day.

I may start out hunting from a tree stand so my safety harness is in there. If the wind shifts, and I have to move, I may be sitting in a cedar swamp just about the time an unplanned-for thunderstorm or snow storm rolls through. That's why my rain gear is in my backpack.

Ever shoot a deer way back of beyond, no one else is around and you've forgotten a knife to field dress the animal. Trust me, you can't do it with fingernail clippers. So, do you leave the deer there while you hike out to get the knife and risk losing it to a thief? Or do you muscle it for a mile or more through rugged terrain. Advance planning, and a check of your backpack will prevent that from happening.

*Don't forget to put in 10-15 feet of stout rope in the event you have to drag it out. Field dress the animal, find a stout four-foot piece limb and the rope will enable you to lash the head and antlers to the wood, lift it up and make it easier to drag. Just make sure you position the head so it isn't goring you in the butt or legs with every step.

*Don't get discouraged and start griping about the DNR, the lack of bait, the no-baiting law, etc. Go forward with a positive attitude, and take whatever that day provides.

If anything, become more positive the longer you sit. The more time one puts into deer hunting, the better their chance of success. Don't get bogged down and wallow in self-inflicted misery, even if it snows. You are there to hunt, so do it.

Hunt as if this may be the last hunting day of your life.

Wring everything out of it that you can. Be ever alert, don't get lost in daydreams, and don't fall asleep even though you awoke all bleary-eyed at 4 a.m. Hunt hard, look for movement in the shadows, and horizontal body lines in the vertical woodlot. Look as deep into cover as possible, and anything that moves between you and where you are looking, will be spotted if it does move.

Last but not least: Hunt safely. Be alert to other hunters in your area, and this is one rule that is mandatory: wear plenty of Hunter Orange clothing. Use a light before dawn and at dusk when coming or going to a stand.

If a shot looks iffy, don't take it. A missed shot at a deer is nothing compared to the possibility of shooting another person. Properly identify your target, check what lies behind it, and use an abundant amount of caution.

Good luck a week from tomorrow. Shoot once, shoot straight and don't miss.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Anticipate Rutting Buck Behavior

Trying to anticipate what a rutting buck will do is much like listening to a politician's promise. Both can be a risky venture.

Frankly, the only predictable thing about a rutting buck is his unpredictability. They do things that make absolutely no sense to the bow hunter, but apparently, their actions make complete sense to them.

Bucks can act completely addled, and once they begin chasing does, some bucks dart across roads only to get themselves killed in a deer-vehicle collision. I've watched bucks run head-long into a fence post even though the doe jumped the fence.

Rutting bucks never lose their fear of humans

The oddities of rutting bucks have been well documented. What is seldom stressed is how their mood swings influence their actions, but seldom will a buck become totally clueless. They do not lose their inherent fear of humans, and a buck that hears, sees or smells a hunter, will waste little time getting out of Dodge.

This means that hunters can take no liberties with being downwind of known travel routes. We also must sit still, don't move and take only high-percentage shots. Another thing to note is that bucks are seldom still during the rut, and hunters must be prepared for a quick and accurate shot on a moment's notice. Keep your bow in your hands at all times. Reaching for a bow hanging from a nearby branch often is a waste of time.

The most predictable thing about a rutting buck is he is never far from his latest squeeze. Of course, as soon as he's had his way with her, he is off on a continuing search for other estrus does to breed. For the larger and older bucks, breeding does is a never-ending process in which a mature buck will lose 25-30 percent of his body weight.

Find the does and you'll find the bucks

Remember, a buck will always be near the does. He may hang back in heavy cover near a food source, but once she moves, the buck cuts her trail again. It's one reason why hunters often set up a stand in the heaviest cover near a food source and near a field corner.

A buck will cruise back and forth as the doe feeds, and will check other nearby does to determine how close they are to estrus, but he keeps a close watch on his latest lady friend.

Bucks will often be seen crossing open fields as they course a doe. He will go where she goes, and if she is almost in estrus, he will be even closer. If she goes left or right, he will cut her off, and if she head-fakes him into going one way while she goes the other, he will soon catch up with the wayward doe.

Hunting these animals can be great fun, and almost every hunter will say; "So close and yet so far away" at one time or another. The bucks and does often move just out of bow range, and it's not a deliberate thing on their part. The hunter has simply made a mistake by setting up just out of effective bow range.

Hunt near field corners with thick cover

It's difficult to go wrong by hunting fairly close to fields where does will feed. Choose one of the corners, and especially the field-edge corner with the heaviest nearby cover. That is where bucks will hang out to watch the does, and they often pace back and forth like an expectant father. Their reason for pacing is the driving need to breed when she enters estrus.

None of this means the buck won't enter a feeding field, and often by luck or design, a doe will lead an amorous buck past a ground blind or tree stand, but it's not something to bet the homestead on.

Tending bucks often are vocal bucks, and one about to breed a doe will be grunting with almost every step it takes. This tending grunt is low and guttural, and sometimes can be heard for 100 yards while at other times the buck may only be 20 yards away when the sound is heard. In some cases the sound is much like a ventriloquist "throwing" his voice; it's almost impossible to tell where the sound comes from during a heavy fog or a misty rain.

Bucks will sometimes still check ground scrapes, but once the rut really kicks offs, they stop opening up and freshening scrapes. They have used those scrapes over the past two or three weeks to locate estrus and soon-to-be-ready does, and every buck in the area knows which does will soon be bred. The earliest does to breed often are among the oldest does in the area.

This also is when young bucks try to mount the does while the big buck is busy elsewhere, but most does will not stand for a younger deer unless big boy gets killed. Few 1 1/2-year-old bucks do any breeding. Their day will come in two or three years unless they get shot by a hunter.

Hunting the rut is entirely different than hunting bucks at other times. Hunters must start thinking like a buck, and once they figure out where the does are, and where the thickest cover is (where much of the breeding will take place), it becomes a bit easier… but not by much.

It's easy to make an obvious error in judgment in retrospect, and hunters who know the land they hunt like the back of their hand will usually know from past experience where the bucks and does head during the rut. They can arrange to be there at the right time.

Two tips to remember about hunting rutting bucks

Two last tips on rutting deer is this:

• Bucks often rest up a bit after daybreak but begin cruising in search of estrus bucks between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. This four-hour period during mid-day can be a hot time to be on stand. Few hunters are out at that time of day but the bucks are often moving.
• The same holds true with hunting just before a bad weather front moves through. Check the weather, and hunt just before bad weather hits your area, especially if it features a substantial drop in temperature and either rain or snow.

Rut hunting is never easy, but hunting it properly and knowing a few of these tricks will stimulate your brain and make hunters think each daily situation out thoroughly. And that usually is a good thing to do at this time of year.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors