When deer don’t move

This hunter set up closer to a bedding area & shot this buck as he moved out.

It's always been a perplexing time. There comes a period about two weeks after the Oct. 1 bow opener, when the deer seem to stop moving around.
The woods get still. There are few if any sign of does and fawns moving about or feeding, and the bucks have taken an apparent siesta. There is nothing much to be done for it.
Some call it the doldrums, although that applies more to the hot summer months. Many feel the deer are slowly becoming more accustomed to humans in the woods.

The 10-day period is when deer slow down. It‘s time for a new trick.

Some hunters feel this is the time when deer begin shifting to their fall mode or travel as they begin preparing for the upcoming rut that will start the end of October and early November. Still others believe the deer are just starting to settle into their autumn routine.
It makes little difference what causes this slowdown of whitetail deer activity. It's enough to realize it happens, and there is little that can be done to change things.
Over the years I've learned that if a savvy hunter can move in close to the bedding area without making noise, or being winded, that they often can get a better chance at the deer as they move out. Those hunters who are set up along field edges will see few if any deer. Most of the action, such as it is, will happen in or near heavy cover.
Knowing that this annual phenomenon does occur, and that making slight changes in hunting techniques can turn this two-week period around, is important to bow hunters. The month of October begins with deer still following their summer mode of travel, and it is followed by 10 days to two weeks of inactivity, and then the rut kicks in during late October.
Several things can work, and all can fail unless the hunter recognizes the need to be scent-free, and to approach hunting areas with the wind in your face and avoid making noise.
One thing that has worked for many hunters is to get in as close to the bedding area as possible without spooking deer. Make one mistake with this hunting method, and all the deer will head for exits in other parts of the area and you won't see a deer.
Another thing that can produce is to mix a little rattling with a little grunting. Keep it low-pitched, soft and quiet, and make it sound like two deer testing each other without either one wanting to get hurt.

Soft, non-aggressive grunting and rattling can get deer up & moving.

This often occurs if a doe is close to entering estrus. Nearby bucks will push and shove, grunt softly, but neither buck wants to get gored in the eye or become seriously injured if she isn't ready and willing.
Keep the calls soft, and the antler rattling gentle without the violent clashes of bone against bone. Remember that the best response to antler rattling and grunting will come during the pre-rut. Set up shop near travel routes that lead to food sites, and keep the rattling and grunting short, not violent and make certain you are downwind of the bedding area.
There are times when this grunt and rattle routine will draw deer out a bit earlier than normal. Play the weather as well. If a storm is due to move into the area, make certain that you are in a key location to intercept deer as they dash out for a quick feed before the storm arrives.
Another major problem during this period is that the wind direction often shifts and brings in an east wind. Such wind shifts have become all too common in the past several years, and few deer move on an east wind. One can try to establish a blind set up for an east wind, but deer often try to cut the corners on an east wind, and come in from a cross-wind position, and they can and may pick up your scent.
Many hunters give up during this in-between period, and sit out the east wind days and do household chores so they can hunt the rut. That's OK, but it robs hunters of several days when trying different techniques might work.
It's my belief that shooting deer is impossible from the house, and especially from a couch in front of a television set. My thought is to get out in the weather, regardless of what it is doing, and try to puzzle out a workable hunting strategy.
It doesn't always work, and in truth, it seldom works but hunting during bad conditions makes people hunt harder. Those who put in their time, and try different tactics, will occasionally shoot a good buck.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Not the right night to shoot

Bucks often bed down in open grassland where visibility is good.

The buck minced along a fence line in no hurry to enter the field before dark last night. It stopped every 10 feet, lifted its head to look around and sniff for danger before moving slowly toward the dinner table.

The day, still warm but overcast, threatened rain. The buck, more wary than it should have been, wasn't in a rush to leave the heavy cover. It poked along, feeding along the edge of a corn field, after leaving a thick swale where it and several other deer had been bedded down.

The buck, sporting six points in a small basket rack, was only 1 1/2 years old. It was plenty old enough to know enough to stay with other deer his age and not get mixed up with larger, older bucks. However, he had taken to hanging out with some big bucks.

Looking for a good buck, not a 1 1/2 year old.

My stand was 15 feet up a towering maple. The buck was still on the same path it had used during August, September and October, and apparently saw no reason to deviate from its chosen course.

Would it follow the same trail again? Yeah, it would because he always traveled the same morning and evening routes, and it would soon pass within easy bow range of my tree stand. My stand wasn't too far from my wife's covered pit blind.

The does and other yearlings had already passed by and continued on into an open field 200 yards away. The buck, moving slowly and daintily like his feet hurt, was taking all the time in the world. He was in no rush to go anywhere.

Many things would have to come together before a bow shot could be taken, and I knew I wouldn't shoot him. The buck seemed to be buddies with some trophy bucks. Now, some of those boys were shooters.

The problem with hunting big bucks is few shooting opportunities.

Would I be ready if one of the big bucks showed up? Daily practice and well over a half-century of studying big whitetail deer at close range had chased away any possible jitters. My mind and gear was ready.

The buck moved a few steps closer. He stopped to sniff where his sister, mother and cousins had paused, and the young buck looked around as its mother had done countless times before. He wasn't running with Mom now but was in the big leagues with the big guys.

My bow, sighted in to be dead-on at 20 yards from 15 feet up a tree, was waiting. An arrow was nocked, and it was ready to use when and if the right time arrived. I was ready for one of the big bucks, not Junior.

The six-pointer hopped over a single strand of barbed wire, and paused again to study the upcoming terrain. Other deer, 300 yards away, were heading out to feed as the sun began to sink in the western sky.

It would have been an easy shot on the little guy.

And then I saw them. Three big bucks were using an adjacent trail. They were only 40 yards away from me but the thick brush would deflect any arrow sent their way, and besides I don't shoot that far.

The young buck turned again, and slowly stepped a few feet closer to my tree. Its head came back, and its nostrils flared as it snuffled the air for danger. None was detected, and satisfied, the buck began to move again, now toward the big bucks.

My tree stand was directly downwind from the buck, and it couldn't smell me. Rubber boots and a downwind position and my Scent-Lok suit kept the buck from detecting my presence.

The buck bent forward, nibbled on a few sprigs of grass, and moved again. The buck was only 20 yards away and quartering toward me. It wasn't a shot I would take even if the buck had been huge. Patience would now become a factor as I waited for the animal to turn and head for the other deer. I could only hope a big buck was lagging behind.

I'd watched that small buck walk to that exact place many times before, and knew he would turn slightly and offer a quartering-away shot at 10 yards. I didn't move, and the buck followed the same pattern he had traveled for months.

The buck slowly turned, quartering away, and my bow came up. It felt like an old friend in my left hand, and as it came up the arrow was cautiously drawn back as my eyes tracked the buck.

An easy shot but again I passed on this buck.

The bow was held back at full draw, and my sight settled low behind the buck's near-side shoulder. One more ounce of pressure on the release would send the Maxima carbon arrow through the buck's chest.

He stopped momentarily to look around, and my finger softly caressed the release trigger without applying the pressure needed to send the arrow on its deadly flight. Slowly, as the buck began walking off again, I eased up on the bow and let the buck walk away, unaware and unharmed.

No other bucks came along that trail. For whatever reason, the bigger animals had taken a different route and were far out of range.

Patterning this animal was easy. His buddies were much more difficult.

I really didn't want to shoot, and patterning this six-pointer and his friends had been relatively easy. Trying to work a bit closer in the days and weeks to come was on my agendam and hopefully one of the bigger bucks would mosey my way..

This exercise was good practice. It provided me with superb outdoor recreational experience, numerous deer sightings, and the chance for a close shot at a nice young buck.

Who knows? Perhaps next time my finger will put that extra ounce of pressure on the release trigger. And then again, I will again choose not to shoot but wait for a larger animal.

It's always this unknown question: whether to shoot or not to shoot, and it's my deep respect for the deer I hunt, that allows me the wonderful opportunity to acknowledge the magical difference between hunting and killing.

For me, on this hunt, it just wasn't the right time or right deer to shoot.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors