What's new about deer hunting?

Trying to come up with a new angle for bow hunting whitetails is a pretty tall chore. Every writer I know, and many new ones that I don't know, are looking for new and deadlier hunting methods to write about.

Does any new stuff come along? Not really. Native Americans hunted deer with bows before Columbus set sail, and since outdoor writers have been writing about the sport, very little new has come about.

Bow hunting is somewhat like playing baseball. Everything happens in each sport in much the same manner as it did 100 years ago. There may be equipment improvements but very little is really new.

Everyone wants to shoot a big buck. Superb hunting skills are needed.

Some things have changed, and the biggest change of all was the invention of the compound bow. And back about 20 years ago I brought a red-dot sight back to Michigan from an Outdoor Writers conference, and when I let Claude Pollington borrow it, that was an innovative new change for bow hunters. It was a legal sight that works very well.

Pit blinds have been in use for countless years, but it's only been in the last 30 years that more and more people have learned that shooting bucks from a hole in the ground is pretty easy. But new, it's not.

There are continuous changes in bows. New cams, wheels, dampeners, string silencers and much more, and although every bow manufacturer puts some new bell or whistle on their bow every year or make a small change so they can offer an upgraded model, most of the change may smooth out the draw curve, help a hunter gain another 10 feet-per-second arrow speed, but the changes are seldom revolutionary. In some cases, they are cosmetic at best.

New arrow rests, sights and releases come on the market every year, but one can ask this question: what benefit is there in switching? In some cases, depending on the hunter, there can be great benefit.

Tree stands seem to be a bit lighter than before, and most of those manufacturers subscribe to the theory that all tree stands must be safe and sturdy. So, other than perhaps being a few ounces lighter, and locking more rigidly to a tree, there isn't much change. There has been vast improvements in safety harnesses, however, and hunters who don't use one are risking life and limb.

New tricks aren't needed but basic skills are important.

Where change must come is from the hunter. Attitudes about deer hunting must change. The day of the taking any possible shot at a deer is slowly dying out, and none too soon. Forget about the awful bow shots taken by television "pro" hunters because many of them take whatever shot the deer offers, and often they are low percentage shots. I recently watched one shot where the hunter made a bad hit, and admitted it to his viewers. That was a first, and long overdue.

Hunters, facing fewer deer in Michigan now than 20 years ago, must become better hunters. This means studying deer habits more, and putting in more preseason scouting time. They must learn to rely more on skill and less on luck.

These sportsmen are learning much more about eliminating human odor. There are many odor eliminating sprays on the market, and Scent-Lok clothing has made great strides in recent years. More and more people I see are wearing Scent-Lok clothing, and more of them have become better deer hunters because of it.

There seems to be greater strides being made in learning the true art of bow hunting. I refuse to get into debates over bows. If the bow being used is legal by DNR statutes, it's fine by me. I shoot a compound bow these days, but once hunted for many years with a recurve. Never could shoot a long bow well, and have never shot a crossbow at a deer but that may change unless my bad back and shoulders don't improve.

Today's hunters are wising up. They realize that hunting methods come and go, but none of them are new. Hunting deer in a corn field has been around forever although some hunters are just coming to realize that properly done, a hunter can be very effective inside a corn field. Again, it's not new but may be new to some people.

Tons of stuff comes out every year about hunting the rut, and the significance of hunting rub lines and scrapes. Again, hunters have been doing this for years but many younger hunters are hearing about it for the first time and think it is something new. I hunted downwind of active scrapes and rub-lines 45 years ago.

Go back to the basics and learn from scratch. Take only perfect shots.

Few people did back then, but I spotted a nice buck working a scrape and I watched him shag an estrus doe out of sight. That taught me some things about scrape hunting, and I learn more each year.

The question is: what's new? Nothing much is truly new, but more people are learning about deer hunting by reading about it, whether on my weblog, that of other blogs or magazine articles written by savvy writers.

What is new is the willingness of many hunters to learn. Many have cast aside some of the old folklore that was never true in the first place.

I try to learn something new about deer and deer hunting every day. Sometimes I take note of something that is new to me, and as we continue to learn, we continue to grow in stature as a bow hunter.

Once a hunter stops learning about deer hunting, they stop being effective at it.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors