No Excuses For Me

The question of going back to the same stand for the fourth night in a row was solved today. Even though I was breaking my own rules of bow hunting, I felt the stand warranted one more sincere hunting effort.

The wind was again perfect but just a bit too soft for my liking, but I sneaked into the area, and spotted a buck from a distance as he wandered off down the trail. That was a promising sign.

It turned out to be the only promising thing about tonight. I eased into my stand which was downwind of where the deer come from, and I climbed noiselessly into my stand, and eased my bow up off the ground. I nocked an arrow, stuffed the lower bow limb into my knee-high left rubber boot, and sat back to await some action.

Six hen turkeys and their poults wandered through, jabbering like a barnyard filled with domestic chickens, and they meandered off down the trail, and were soon out of sight although I could hear their vocalizations for another five minutes.

Then the woods fell silent.

From that point on, the woods were as quiet as a tomb. The tiny bit of breeze soon died, and the temperature hovered at about 50 degrees.

The combined forces of no wind, warm temperatures, and the continuing rut, was enough to keep deer bedded down. I sat without motion or noise, and only my eyes behind my face mask moved.

One fox squirrel scolded something out of sight 100 yards away, and a chipmunk scurried through the leaves, and those were the only sounds heard. It was obvious that very few deer were up and moving, and for the rut, there appeared to be very little going on. The new moon is due in two nights, and deer should be moving

A twig snap back in the woods alerted me.

About 5:45 p.m., a twig snapped back in the tag alders. It wasn't much of a noise, but enough to alert me to a moving animal. My good eye watcahed that area, and a doe fawn moved down the trail with little mincing steps. She took a step into the open, about 25 yards away, and stopped to look around and test the air for danger. This was an evening when bucks like this one stick tight to cover and move very little.

She moved with infinite patience forward, looking both ways like a school child checking for traffic before crossing a road, and then she stopped. She seemed fascinated by something 20 yards to my left and back in the tag alders.

She stopped in a slight crouch, poised for a quick getaway, and then wheeled and disappeared back to where she'd come from. I studied the area that seemed to spook her, and could see nothing in the gathering gloom, and all was quiet in the woods once more.

Later, on our way home, we saw just one buck standing on a side-hill near the road. He appeared to be a six-pointer that was about to begin his night of cruising.

I've had enough of a bad thing.

Tomorrow night, warm weather or not, I'm hunting elsewhere. My favorite stand will still be good, but hunting it right now seems an exercise in futility. I'll try it again when the weather cools off and the snow flies, and hopefully it will regain a measure of the greatness it showed last year.

So far this fall, the deer are conspicuous by their absence. A weather change is needed to fire up the bucks and does, and once some snow covers the ground, I'll try my stand again.

To show how miffed I am about this spot I even untied my haul rope, and lowered by bow gently to the ground and threw the rope after it. I'm done with it until the weather conditions change. But I shouldn't be too hasty; we have one more night of bow hunting and a wake-up, and it will be opening day of Michigan firearm deer season.

I won't miss that unless my back really acts up. Five bulging discs from a fall off my deck more than a month ago is slowly doing its number on me. I just want to get through Sunday's firearm opener before my physical therapy begins.

Now there's a good time for me to look forward to.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Mistakes That Firearm Deer Hunters Make

Firearm deer-season openers vary from one year to the next, but some things never seem to change. Firearm hunters do things just before the season opener that can cost them a shot at a nice buck on opening day.

The roads are starting to fill with small trailers, truck campers, tent dwellers, and other people as they head to their favorite hunting area to set up deer camp. These camps are spread widely throughout most of the Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula.

Part of this deer-camp routine means sighting in rifles. Where do these hunters go to make certain that Ol' Betsy is still shooting straight? You've got it: they sight in their rifles where they plan to hunt. Duh!

Hunters should be more quiet before the firearm season opener.

Deer do not think like human beings. They rely on finely honed survival instincts to stay alive. The woods have been relatively quiet with bow hunters closing out the early archery season, and only a few small-game hunters are around to make any noise.

All of a sudden, here comes an influx of sportsmen. They rattle and bang around at their chosen campsite, and there are countless car doors slamming, loud talking, and people start to settle into their boisterous camp routine.

They then walk through the woods through dry leaves or snow to determine where to sit on opening day. They lay down plenty of boot leather, holler back and forth to each other, and leave the woods filled with human noise and scent.

Next, they set up a target 100 yards away, and blim-blam at it for several hours. They shoot fast, over-heat their rifle barrel, and never truly get a good idea of what their firearm is doing. They should know that any first shot they take at a deer on the Sunday opener will be the most accurate because it is being shot through a cold barrel.

The hunters who often score are bow hunters who sit in high tree stands and know where deer travel. Don't overlook the possibility of using elevated coops or tree stands when the season opens on Sunday. Earlier sightings of good bucks during the bow season, as shown to the left, can help point the way to a good spot to sit with a firearm.

Shoot well-spaced shots for best accuracy.

Shooting a clip filled with cartridges in rapid-fire fashion doesn't give the best results at sighting in a firearm or hitting a deer. As the barrel heats up, the bullets start wandering farther and farther from the bulls-eye. Hunters should always allow at least five minutes between shots when sighting in a rifle.

There is loud conversation as the hunters compare notes, and advice is freely handed out. The steady sounds of shots being fired, and the loud talking, and people roaming aimlessly through the woods, isn't lost on the local deer population. It doesn't take much IQ to know that something new has been added to the area, and anything new means possible danger.

It seems everyone now sits inside a portable tent or a small coop to hunt, and many people still use bait, even though it's illegal. Deer are always suspicious of bait that is suddenly found in the woods. It takes deer at least a week to become fully adjusted to a nearby bait site.

The problem of hunting from a fixed location is that no one moves except before dawn, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and then again after shooting time ends. Most hunters don't go out and work the swamps and other heavy cover because they don't want to push the deer to someone else. So if everyone sits, and the deer hold tight in their bedding cover or other thickets, there won't be many shots taken.

Develop a plan for when camp members will move around.

If the deer don't move, the hunters complain about a shortage of animals. They say the DNR has lied to them again. Sadly, most of the blame for very little deer movement can be laid at the feet of the hunters themselves. If everyone sits, and no one moves, the deer won't move until well after dark.

Is there anything hunters can do? Not really, the damage has already been done for this year but sportsmen can sight in their rifles during the summer months next year at a gun club near home. They can make forays north during summer or early fall months, and make certain their blind is OK.

They can tone down the loud conversations, and realize that deer are not accustomed to continuous loud man-made noises. They can work together so that everyone walks around for an hour each day, and develop specific areas for hunters to walk through to move deer.

I'd rather see four guys, who hunt together, sit until 9 a.m., and then one person should walk through a designated piece of cover for an hour before sitting down again. At 11 a.m. many people walk out to eat. At noon one of  the other hunters could cover another parcel of thick cover, and most hunters come back out at 2 p.m. Another hunter could move at three, and a different one at 4 p.m., and that would put someone out walking around and moving deer most of the day. Everyone would see more deer and probably shoot more animals. Walkers often get as many or more shots than those on stand.

If every hunter stays in their blind all day no one will be moving animals. Hunters can work this or a variation of this movement pattern, and it is bound to help sportsmen see more animals.

Even more important, it isn't going to ruin anyone's hunt if just one person gets up and moves around for an hour. In fact, it could lead to better deer hunting for everyone.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

The Rut Is Still Rolling Along

I eased through the dry leaves to a coop overlooking a funnel between two tag alder swales this afternoon, and I'd no more than got into the stand, shut the door and took my bow out of its case and set up my camera tripod when I saw the first two deer approaching.

They were on the move early, and I readied my camera on the tripod as they walked out of the tag alder funnel and headed my way. They would pause there, and then move back into the funnel and continue on their way or  run off off across the nearby open field.

The lighting was poor tonight at that angle as I faced west into sharp sunlight, and at first glance at 50 yards I thought it was two adult does. That didn't make sense at this time of year, and I freed my binoculars from my back pack, and it turned out to be an adult doe and a 1 1/2-year-old spikehorn with six-inch daggers atop his head.

Two bucks facing off today.

They milled around a bit, apparently deciding what to do when a third deer stepped out. He was what should have been a main frame 8-point but one brow point was just a rounded bump on one antler. The deer, a nice 7-pointer was interested in the doe, and the spike tried to stand his ground. Suddenly, all the deer were in motion; the 7-pointer was after the doe, the spike was trying to get out of the way, and then a 10-point with a fairly wide rack stood 50 yards away as he watched the action.

This stand is perched atop a small knoll looking down 20 yards into a tag alder thicket, and it was a great experience to look down and across into the tags to spot moving deer. I watched a big buck rubbing his rack on a tag alder, but it was just too dark inside that thicket for a photo.

I kept watching, and recalled a tip given over 50 years ago. "Look for horizontal lines in vertical cover."

That advice came in handy tonight, and I put it to good use. I was able to spot two motionless deer with my naked eye, and when I raised my binoculars, two other bucks were seen facing off for a possible one-sided fight. It is wonderful practice for a hunter, and teaches us how to look for the horizontal lines of a deer's body. Once spotted, it become much easier to pick out the antlers, ears and tail.

One buck was a mystery. I could see dark brown antlers coming out of his skull but they blended in with the tag alders. I never did see what kind of rack this animal wore, but he stood absolutely motionless for 30 minutes at 50 yards. I eventually spotted another moving deer, took my eyes off the standing buck, and when I looked back again he was gone.

Some deer moved into the open while others stayed in or near the tag alder.

All the deer eventually moved back into an open field before ducking back into the alders and continued their trek through the thick cover. It gave me a break, and then more deer were spotted moving down through the field toward me.

One was a buck with antlers that went mostly straight up but one side was considerably higher than the other. He stood near a two-track, and watched other deer. Two mature does were widely spaced in a nearby open field, and he watched them for 15 minutes before following the others.

Tonight was a grand night. Several bucks of varying sizes were seen but the 10-point with a huge rut-swollen neck stuck his head out of the alders, looked around, crossed the open area, jumped into the funnel on the other side and disappeared from sight. No chance for a shot with my bow or the camera because of sun flare on my lens.

Little chance for a bow shot.

I lifted my bow once, drew down on an adult doe, and then that shot offering ended as she disappeared with a small buck hot on her trail. I suspect that before too long the doe would lead him past a larger buck who would put an end to his youthful enthusiasm.

All too soon the darkness began creeping across the area and the deer began moving off to some distant destination, probably in a still-standing corn field. One minute there were six deer in sight, and two minutes later all had disappeared as if by magic. There is still a great deal of the deer season left, and one of these day, I may take a shot at a good buck or a big doe. Time will tell.

Another night without a shot but I did get a few decent photos. And, in many cases, one photo can be worth a thousand words.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

10 Ambush Sites For The Firearm Opener

A firearm deer hunter doesn’t need a lucky rabbit’s foot or a four-leaf clover as a good luck charm. What they do need for Sunday's upcoming firearm deer opener is an in-depth knowledge of what deer do and where they go once the first shots of the season are  fired.

Consider one of these 10 key spots for a hunting site on opening day, and sportsmen still have a few days to work with formulating hunting plans. Forget about the old stump at the same old deer crossing that has been an unproductive favorite because one buck was shot there 25 years ago, and dare to try something new and different this year. Here are some hot areas that have worked well for me over many years.

*Backyard Woodlots

Such areas hold more big bucks than many people think, but they often are ignored because they are too close to the house. Look at tiny one or two-acre woodlots, abandoned apple orchards or any spots where the cover is grown up and very thick. Ignore spots that are wide open. Favorite deer hideaways are often small and always thick with blowdowns, briars and brambles.

Bucks that use such areas are almost always buried deep inside long before sun-up. Watch these areas from a distance, and learn where deer enter and exit these tiny pockets of cover, and locate other nearby spots where deer will go. Bucks often move during the 30 minutes before sunrise or the 30 minutes after sundown. Learn their precise exit routes, and be downwind from their next destination. Often deer move out into open fields, and this is where a scoped flat-shooting rifle works best. Shots may 100 to 300 yards, and a quality scope with great light-gathering qualities will come in handy.

*Cattail Marshes

I first learned about cattail marshes as good deer cover years ago while duck hunting at Michigan's Fish Point on Saginaw Bay. I was jump-shooting the cattails, and stopped once to get my bearings and heard something walking toward me. I was hunting into the wind, and just stood still. A good buck walked through belly-deep water, and stopped when he saw me 10 yards away. He wheeled around and sloshed back through the water toward shore.

That buck was heading for a muskrat house just a few feet from where I stood. The top was flattened, apparently from constant use by the buck laying there over a long period of time. Walk around a cattail marsh, check the soft ground for deer tracks, and begin searching for a high and dry spot in the marsh where deer can bed down. Deer will walk through a marsh or swamp to reach safety. Find such spots and you’ll probably have the area to yourself. Most hunters do not want to work that hard for a deer.

*Cedar Swamps

A cedar swamp can be a thing of beauty to deer hunters. They offer superb bedding cover, often contain water, and bucks and does always gravitate toward the closest cedar swamp as the firearm opener kicks off with a bang. Savvy hunters make certain they are well ahead of the deer on opening day. Be in place long before the eastern sky starts to lighten up. Follow the rules for when firearms can be loaded.

Every swamp has some high and dry areas, and this is where deer bed. Scout such spots now, and learn where the travel trails are and where bedding areas are found. If a creek meanders through the swamp, pull on waders and walk into the swamp. Scout for sign of recent deer beds or crossings, and find a nearby spot that is near the water and downwind of where deer bed down. Again, a short-range firearm with a hollow-point or pointed soft-point bullet will work well. Be there long before the deer arrive, sit tight, be still and shoot straight.

*Christmas Tree Or Evergreen Plantations

Most such places are located in northern counties, and many are now surrounded by high fences to keep deer from nibbling on the young trees. However, an unfenced or low-fenced plantation can be a magnet for opening-day bucks.

They provide thick cover to hide deer, and are best on opening day. As soon as the morning sun creases the eastern horizon, and shots are fired, deer start heading for thick cover. Many hunters sit at the edges of the plantation, but I’ve found it’s better to sit deeper inside it. Find a well-used runway, and a spot downwind of the trail. No need for a flat-shooting firearm here. The shots will be close and a .44 Magnum or a .30-30 or .35 Remington will work just fine. Most shots will be at 30 yards or less.

*Drainage Ditches

These narrow and fairly deep ditches are found wherever farmland exists because many landowners installed drains so excess water would flow away from the fields. They are far more common in southern counties than northern Michigan, but wherever they are found, can be a great place to ambush a moving buck.

Key places are where a drainage ditch is found near a swamp or woodlot. Deer use them to travel from one location to another, and most are four or five feet deep and are bordered with tall grasses, sumac  or weeds. Find a spot where the ditch makes a sudden turn toward heavy cover. Sit low and within 50 yards and downwind of the direction change, and be ready for a quick shot. Do not sit up high at field level but down in the ditch. High-sitters will be silhouetted against the sky for an approaching buck.

*Fence rows

A fence row, especially in farm country, usually grows up and becomes very thick and tangled, and deer use them during their travels to avoid crossing open fields.

A fence row can be easy or difficult to hunt. If the deer move through the thick cover, they can be hard to shoot. If the fence row is open, hunters can shoot from 100 yards away if the deer are on the hunter's side of the fence. Don’t shoot through a fence. If the area is thick, wait for the deer to reach an opening, such as a gate, before shooting.

*Funnels

A deer funnel is big at one end, necks down, and empties into another big area. Deer move both ways in funnels, and it can be just a strip of trees between a cedar swamp and a field or woodlot. Anything that is thick, and can funnel deer movement from one area to another while providing some cover is an excellent place to hunt.

A funnel provides passage for moving deer, and hunters should spend all day on stand. Check the prevailing wind, and build a small blind or install a pop-up tent downwind of it. Deer often move through in stops and starts, and once away from thick cover, they are looking all around for danger. A well-placed tree stand along a funnel is a great spot for an ambush. Funnels aren’t always easy to spot, and usually are 100 to 200 yards in length but they can be shorter. They are one of the best spots to bushwhack a buck.

*Hilltops

Deer often are driven by hunter pressure toward open fields, and if the field has a hill, try sitting on it. Such hills, with flat land all around, are good deer-hunting spots if they are within 100 yards of a woodlot, ravine, swamp or other heavy cover that deer are trying to reach.

Deer frequently run around a tall hill rather than going over it, and if there are more than one hill, a hunter may have to try the others to determine which spot is best. Such locations call for a flat-shooting bolt-action rifle and a good scope. Quality binoculars are required, and the hunter must pay attention. It doesn’t take a buck long to run around the base of a hill, and jump into some brushy tangle and disappear from sight. Be alert at all times. More bucks escape simply because the hunter is lulled by inactivity and they don't pay attention.

*Islands In the Stream

Years ago my pointer boosted a ringneck pheasant into the air, and I shot, and winged the bird. It set its wings and glided partway across a river and landed on a tiny island in the middle. The water was shallow, and my dog and I waded across. We found the bird, and also found a big buck bedded down.

That discovery was an important one for me. The island wasn’t 50 feet long, grew only a few small willows and some tall grass. Bucks learned that few people went there so as soon as the opening-day shotguns and muzzleloaders went off in this southern county, the buck splish-splashed across the river and holes up on the island. Less than a month after hunting and shooting that rooster pheasant, I remembered that particular buck, and went early to wait. One hour after daybreak I heard the buck coming through the water, and he came ashore just 10 yards away and provided an easy shot. Don’t overlook such areas but make sure the land is not privately owned.

*Standing Corn Fields

Think about it. A corn field has everything a deer needs for survival: food, cover and water if there are any tiny depressions in the earth. It’s why deer head for standing corn as a place to hide. A deer can live summer, fall and winter in a big corn field.

I lived near Flint 40-some years ago, and we hunted those mile-square corn fields. Deer were hard to move so we began hunting smaller pieces of land. This method is ideal when snow covers the ground. Get on a deer track and hunt into the wind. Stop often, look left and right down the rows of standing corn, and then move as silently as possible forward, and look down the next row. Keep working into the wind, and don’t rush the job. It can take hours to work an 80-acre corn field, but if it’s heart-pounding action you seek, you’ll find it if you walk up to a bedded buck and shoot him laying in his bed without a care in the world.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

I Found A Great Spot

I found what appears to be a great deer-hunting spot on state land today, walked into the cedar swamp and pines for a quick look-see, and came away enthusiastic about hunting it during what remains of the year's bow, firearm and muzzleloader seasons.

It sits not far off a dirt road, but just far enough to discourage most people. Particularly once snow covers the ground.

My intentions were to check and see what it looked like. If deer tracks are worth anything, this spot holds plenty of deer. There are many good reasons why.

The spot just looked great for deer hunting.

This spot is bordered on two sides by private farmland. Corn and other truck crops grew there during the summer months, but now that snow is inevitable during the next few weeks, the animals are gradually moving from the thinner farmland terrain back into something that will offer some thermal cover for a bedding area. Yesterday and day were warm but soon the temperature and snow will send deer moving to such spots.

Thermal cover is something that breaks the cold winds from biting into a deer's hide. It breaks up the wintry blasts, and provides deer with cover where it simply isn't as cold. It also forms a type of yarding area for many deer in the event of deep snow. The thing about this spot is the animals don't have to travel far to find food, and that is important during nasty periods of late November and December.

Moseying around the land during a 30-minute walk-through made it apparent that this spot has been overlooked. It's not overly large, as acreage goes, but it provides for ideal winter bedding conditions.

It offers a hunter the chance for a morning hunting or a late afternoon outing, and deer tracks were seen going in both directions, so it could be a productive spot any time of the day.

Moving quietly to set up two stands.

I slipped into it again today, and quickly put up a stand. It's important to watch the wind like a hawk because a sudden winter switch in direction could ruin your chances. Today the wind was good for this spot, and the stand was set up for that wind direction.

This spot would probably warrant another stand that could cover some other wind direction, but this spot will also work for a north wind. The problem with putting up stands this late in the season is it can be very easy to spook deer. I sprayed my tent blind down with Vanishing Hunter or Scent Killer.

Fortunately, my spot picked today has a sturdy pine tree with a natural opening in exactly the right spot for an east-wind hunt. A small stand with name and address on it was carried in, and a haul rope was tied to it. I climbed the branches, got into position, hauled up the stand, and five minutes later I was gone after also spraying it down.

There was no noise, no breaking of limbs or any disturbance. It was a quick in-and-out maneuver, and the stand is only 12 feet off the ground.The haul rope was tied off to a lower limb so it doesn't sway back and forth when the wind blows. A chain and lock was added to keep honest people honest.

There wasn't much to be done for the footprints where I'd parked but I used a broom to mar signs of the car and my prints. A deer could follow my tracks to the tree, but I used every trick in the book to remove my scent, including spraying down my rubber boots.

What really appealed to me with this hunting location.

My choice was along a natural travel route out to the nearby farm field. Two deer trails met within 20 yards of my stand, and the trail then followed a natural funnel. It was a spot deer would feel comfortable using, and the pine had bushy boughs that provided some natural shade for my face even though I wear a face mask.

Unless I moved (which I don't do), there is no way a deer could spot me unless they happened to be bedded nearby and watched me walk in. Once I got up in the stand, it was positioned to offer broadside and quartering-away shots at 15 yards.

I was tempted to sit there ttonight but decided against it. I wanted the deer to have another evening of milling around in that general area, and moving both ways down the trail tonight and tomorrow morning, and then perhaps tomorrow evening, with a favorable wind, I'll climb up into the small stand for the first time.

A rubber butt pad will keep me comfortable for two hours, and it will be interesting to see what comes tripping down the trail. It may be a doe with a buck trailing behind or it could be a nice buck. The only bad thing is finding a spot to hide my car.

Staying hid in the open and not giving away my true location.

I've got three vehicles, and I'll take turns with them and pick my parking locations 200 to 300 yards from where I'll hunt, and I'll use both sides of the road. Of course, there may be snow before the firearm opener and my tracks to contend with but a wind-broken pine bough can help sweep away some of my tracks near the road.

I can run but can't hide completely in snowy conditions. Perhaps I can fool most of the hunters for a few days, and with any luck I'll be done with that spot by then. One can always hope.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Tunnel Vision Can Ruin A Deer Hunt

Tunnel vision occurs when a person is in a high-stress situation. It can happen often while deer hunting.

A big buck is seen approaching, and ever so slowly it moves closer, and after watching it for moments, the hunter decides he want to shoot that deer. There is a very strong desire to take that animal, and tie his license tag on its antlers. It's the great American deer hunting dream.

The deer  stops, rubs a tree briefly, stands back to admire his handiwork, hits another lick on the bark, checks it out again, and then continues toward you. He stops, and can't smell the sportsman downwind of him or any danger, but he is in no hurry. He is being very cautious.

Anxiety can be your downfall. Fight it.

The anxiety level builds in the hunter after the third or fourth stop for the deer to putter around doing big-buck things, and then he moves forward again. He is now 50 yards away and will soon have his date with destiny if he stays the course. Your breath is labored and ragged, and you feel a bit light headed from anticipation, adrenalin shock and stress.

His antlers are big, possibly the largest whitetail buck the sportsman has ever seen in the wild. He stands, out of bow range, and surveys the area ahead. He doesn't smell or see any danger, but he didn't grow a rack with 10 good long points and a 20-inch inside spread by being stupid.

He stands, motionless, head up and looking around. He's not overly spooky, just being very careful.

Satisfied, he moves to within 40 yards. The rack seems to grow even larger the closer he gets. The hunter is sucking air, and begging silently for a 20-yard shot. The thought of shooting this buck makes him dizzy with excitement, and his heart is racing, beating like a trip-hammer.

Adrenalin rushes cause problems.

A full load of adrenalin is streaming through his system, and as the buck closes to 35 yards and then to 30, he stands behind a thin screen of brush. Jolt after jolt of adrenalin has the hunter as wired as a person drinking 10 cans of Ya-Hoo.

He offers a brief 25-yard shot but your eyes are riveted on that rack, and you don't want to make a mistake. He's coming, just let him move into the 20-yard range and wait for a broadside or quartering-away shot at this huge buck.

Finally, he steps into range, turns to offer a quartering-away shot at 20 yards. The buck stares off toward other deer 100 yards away in the field, and you slowly raise your bow, stare at the antlers again, come to full draw, aim carefully and turn loose an arrow.

The moment of truth.

There is a tremendous "twhack", and the buck races off while the arrow and broadhead sail off into the brush.

Excited, feeling you made a killing shot, you climb down and follow the Game Tracker string to the arrow. There isn't a drop of blood on the arrow.

Tunnel vision had set in and when the hunter aimed and shot, he aimed at the major focal point on that buck -- the antlers. He forgot to force himself to pick a spot behind the front shoulder. His continuous focus on the buck and his majestic rack was his undoing, and that is where he aimed, nullifying any chance of killing that deer.

Total concentration is paramount during the aiming process. Once I know a buck has antlers, and decide to shoot, I never look at the antlers again. I focus on the heart-lung area, shoot and the deer dies.

A buddy of mine went on a wild boar hunt to Tennessee with me many years ago, and I warned him against studying the length of the boar's tushes.

These big curved teeth are fascinating, and my friend looked at the teeth, aimed and hit the boar in the top of the head. It wasn't an immediate killing shot, and I hollered to him to "shoot for the heart-lung area." He did, and the boar died a quick death.

Tunnel vision doesn't just happen to police officers in a fire-fight with the bad guys. It happens to hunters all the time, and most often to sportsmen with very little hunting experience. Believe it or not, it can happen with firearm hunters during the upcoming Nov. 15-30 season.

It can ruin a bow or firearm hunt, but there is no reason for that to happen. The trick is to determine whether it has antlers, and if so, is it what you want? Once that has been confirmed, forget about the head gear, and intently focus on the vital area.

Don't let tunnel vision ruin your shot.

Once you draw back an arrow and aim, or look through a firearm's scope or iron signts, do not look at the antlers again. Pick a tiny spot behind the front shoulder, concentrate on that spot, make a smooth release or trigger squeeze, and do not drop your bow or rifle hand until the arrow or bullet makes contact with the deer.

Big bucks come often to the television hunters, who never seem to miss, but for most bow or firearm hunters like you and me, it can be a once-in-a-lifetime situation. The timing is too important to waste by missing an easy shot. Deep concentration, and not tunnel vision, is the key to hunting success.

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