Hunt The Second Season

It's been said that Michigan has two distinct firearm seasons. The first two days -- Nov. 15 and 16 -- represent the first of these seasons, and Nov. 17-30 is the second one. It's basically true. Hunting conditions change after the first two days, and the hunting gets much tougher. Roughly 75-80 percent of the firearm deer are shot during the first 48 hours, and hunters who are not willing to change may not eat much venison this winter.

The second part of the firearm deer season is of great concern to everyone right now. In previous years while working for the newspaper, I had little time to hunt on opening day. So the opener was of little importance to me except for the stories they produced. The second part of the season, starting Nov. 17, was far more productive and many of my past bucks have been taken during this period.

Why? It's a good question, and it is somewhat difficult to answer. Perhaps it's because I wasin the season busy talking to other hunters early and had little personal time to hunt deer. That all changed on November 17, once I escaped from the opening-day atmosphere.

Hunt once the gunning pressure eases.

Perhaps it's because hunting pressure slacks off once the first two days pass. I'm willing to bet the Thanksgiving weekend will be far more productive than the first two days although hunters are reporting more bucks in some areas. Another thing is that during the rest of the firearm season I'll spend less time sitting and more time moving, and that will put me closer to more deer.

I employ several proven methods during the rest of this so-called second hunting season. These tactics seldom pay off early in the season because there are too many other hunters afield, and often the mere presence of additional hunters can cause a deer's travel patterns to significantly change. Hunters often find deer will move out of an area entirely if they hear a single round being fired.

I'll use one or all of the following techniques late in the firearm season, and often one of them will pay off with a whitetail buck. It's just a matter of adapting each of these methods to the prevailing wind and weather conditions.

Stalk late-season deer.

*Stalking deer, especially on windy days, has been a very productive method if snow covers the ground. I prefer a windy day with breezes gusting to 30 miles per hour, and overcast skies seem to produce better than sunny weather. Deer are attuned to weather changes, and the best of all conditions is the 24 hour-period prior to a nasty cold snap or a heavy snow storm.

My strategy is to hunt slowly into the wind through thick bedding cover. I'll take one or two slow steps and pause for at least 30 seconds to check nearby thickets for deer sign. Use your eyes and listen for any sounds of moving deer.

Look around, memorize what you see, and try to see beyond the limit of your vision because anything that moves in between will be quickly spotted. Study the nearby cover, and take two or three more slow steps before stopping again to look around. Don't bulldoze through cover. Instead, act like a deer sneaking  from one spot to another.

Use all available cover as you move. A good stalk will result in a hunter covering no more than 100 yards in an hour. Sometimes, if deer are present, a hunter might not move 100 yards all day. The trick is to move without being seen or winded. Keep track of the wind and head into it at all times.

Deer are reluctant to move in high wind during daylight hours. A slow but cautious approach on a blustery day can place hunters within easy range if the deer are seen before they can spot or smell the approaching hunter. I have, on two occasions, stalked close enough to a buck to touch its rump. That causes an explosive takeoff and a heavy adrenaline rush.

Driving deer means few people and downwind zigzag movements.

*Driving deer is a favorite method among many hunters but too many sportsmen make some major mistakes when they try this method. They gather together into groups of too many people, and they move along in some semblance of a straight line in an attempt to drive deer from too large a piece of bedding cover. Most hunters on a drive make far too much noise as well.

Deer are best driven in short, narrow parcels of thick cover. Strips 100-200 yards long and 25-75 yards wide are ideal. One or two men should begin the drive after standers have been silently placed in likely crossings along the downwind side of the cover.

The drivers should not talk but move in a very slow zigzag, downwind direction and stop every 20 feet. Pause for 15 seconds, and then zigzag downwind back the opposite way to keep deer off balance. Refrain from making more noise than is normally made by walking through cover, and step ahead while watching for any deer movement.

The breeze will carry human scent downwind to the deer, and they will hear and smell the approaching drivers, which is what is needed to make them move. Once the driver stops, deer believe they have seen something, and the animal may bolt downwind toward the waiting standers. Or the deer will try to move back the other way to avoid the oncoming drivers. About that time the drivers stop, and then zigzag back the other way, causing more confusion for the deer as they seem to be closing in on the animal.

Safety must be stressed to avoid a hunting accident. Standers should allow deer to move away from the approaching drivers before taking a shot. A hunter on stand must remain motionless until it's time to shoot because a deer will study the cover ahead for danger as it continues to move downwind.

Find the thickest cover to hunt.

*Thick cover hunting works well late in the season because whitetails have gradually been pushed into thick cover by human activity and nearby gunshots. Choose a swamp a patch of very thick cover that is seldom traveled by humans, and find a high, dry spot where sign shows that deer have recently bedded there.

Try to move into such areas before daylight, and try to be positioned downwind from a bedding area before the sun comes up. Whitetails often feed during the night during firearm season, and then are tucked away and out of sight long before sun-up.

Find a dry place to sit, and get comfortable. Often, if visibility permits, I try to sit within 50 yards of a suspected bedding area. Watch closely for movement. Deer can ease through a cedar swamp without making a sound, and often, the flick of an ear or tail will be the only thing a hunter may see. Allow the animal to step out for a positive visual identification, and be ready to shoot.

Second-season whitetail hunting is fun. There are fewer people afield at that time, and plenty of bucks remain to provide good sport. Try it during the long Thanksgiving Day weekend, and see if you don't agree that deer hunting at this particular time of year may be the best there is.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors