Making gobbler-hunting plans

Nancy Kerby of Honor, Michigan, poses with a nice gobbler.

This happened several years ago but it's a prime example of why I love hunting spring gobblers.

The big Tom was 75 yards away and moving fast through the spring woods toward us.

He was fixated on Henrietta, my sad-looking and gobbler-hooked old hendecoy, and he seemed committed to a quick romantic dalliance with the old hussy.

The longbeard was almost within shooting range when the hunter in front of me asked, rather loudly: "Is it time to shoot?"

The strutter was just educated by someone who should know better.

 

The gobbler heard the human voice, hit the skids, hung an immediate hop to the left, ducked behind a tree, and quickly disappeared from sight. He was as lost as last year's Easter egg from that time on. I was never able to locate him again.

Granted, turkey season is still more than a month off but savvy sportsmen are planning their hunting strategies now. Knowing the benefits of solitary hunting can play an important role in future hunting success. The time to learn how to avoid mistakes is now so it won't happen later.

Turkey hunting is considered a one-man game. On occasion I'll take one or two people hunting, but dislike taking more than one. And frankly, I'd much rather hunt alone than with someone although it makes me feel great when I can call a big strutter to the firearm of a first time turkey hunter.

Hunting turkeys is solitary business

 

The sad fact is that turkey hunting, which begins in mid- to late-April and early May, is not meant to be a community effort. It's not meant to be a social affair, a gathering of friends with similar hopes and desires. It means absolute silence, no movement, and a keen knowledge of how to set up on a bird and how to call it in.

Seldom will two hunters score during the same hunt. A guide and one hunter can work but one guide and two hunters soon becomes a lesson in frustration.

There is much to be said for turkey hunting alone. You choose your hunting spot, and if the birds head the opposite direction, the hunter gets up, starts running while hoping to get ahead of them without being seen. It occasionally works, believe it or not.

It's not easy, but it's much easier for one person than for two or three. Me and two others tend to get in each other's way, and often someone will move when they should be sitting perfectly still. A fidgety hunter will spook every turkey long before they walk within shotgun range.

Often someone wants to talk, and even though an occasional whisper may not be detected, a hunter who is somewhat hard of hearing will attempt to whisper. He whispers loud enough so he can hear himself, and the result is a low conversational tone that is easily heard 100 yards away by a sharp-eyed, keen-eared bird. A group of three hunters wind up making far too much noise, and all too often, both hunters are talkative gents intent on impressing each other.

Some hunters want to idle away slow time by talking. I don't want people talking to me because I must listen, and don't need to hear stories of past hunts, what he expects from this hunt, or to answer hunting questions when we should be motionless and silent.

My idle time is spent trying to get someone into a bird. Sometimes it just doesn't work, and other times, the gobbler comes to the call like I have a rope tied to his neck. Now may be the time to state that I am not a for-hire guide. I only take family and good friends hunting.

Perhaps the finest outdoor writer of all time put the problem this way: "One boy is all boy; two boys is half a boy, and three boys is no boy at all." The man who wrote these words of wisdom was the late Robert Ruark, and his homespun philosophy is worth noting.

Loosely translated, it means that one sportsmen can hunt well alone. Two hunters make twice as much noise and movement, and three hunters are as conspicuous as a black eye.

Hunting alone has much going for it, and frankly, it pleases me immensely. It allows me to go where I want, make decisions whenever they become necessary, and there's no need to worry about someone else and their feelings, whether real or imagined.

One might say it's selfish of me, but who cares? It's my hunt, it's my time, and if I choose solitary hunting, so be it. It's not a case of being antisocial; it's a matter of knowing that one turkey hunter is far more effective than two or more people hunting together.

The odds improve greatly for solitary hunters. The only reason I take another person out for wild turkeys is that I enjoy watching them shoot their first gobbler. Both hunting alone and calling a bird for another hunter are selfish actions. I do them reasonably well on calm birds and with people who pay attention and don't move or talk, and do trips my trigger.

I tell hunters what I expect from them. To me, this turkey hunting is serious business. Don't talk to me when I'm calling, listening, and don't do anything but what you are told to do.

People know I have bad vision, and they are counted on to help me spot incoming or circling birds. No words need to be spoken. An elbow nudge gets my attention, and the movement of a relaxed finger gives me the direction. The birds often are spotted first, but it doesn't always happen in a wooded area with heavy vegetation.

My instructions are simple, and should be easily understood. Sit still, don't move, sit with your back to a shoulder-wide tree, pull your knees up, rest the shotgun against your shoulder and across your knees, don't shot until I tell you to, and listen to what is whispered to you.

I tell them that as the birds approach us or my decoys that they cannot move, even if they have the mother of all charley horses. Be still, don't make a sound and wait for the gobbler to move directly in front of the shotgun at 20 to 35 yards.

A sharp but barely audible putt is made when the gobbler is in the right position for a killing shot. The sound makes the bird stop, and its head goes up to look for danger. Be ready, and shoot the gobbler where the head and neck join. Hunters are warned to keep their cheek down on the shotgun stock, and don't lift their head when they pull the trigger or the shot will go high.

I say when to aim and shoot

 

There will be plenty of time to palaver and talk once we leave the hunting area. Often other turkeys will have been with the dead gobbler, including other gobblers. Shoot the bird, sit still and don't move, and let the other birds wander off on their own.

Doing it this way doesn't alert them to humans in their midst. A shot could be confused with thunder, which turkeys hear all the time. It's the motion and noise of a moving hunter that jumps out from in front of a tree that sends birds heading for the next township.

Hunting alone removes all of these potential problems. It's one man, going one-up with a gobbler, and without any consideration for anyone else. It's making personal decisions, and living with them whether they prove right or wrong.

The case has been made for hunting alone, and although I take hunters out every spring, I haven't figured out how to hunt error-free yet. Maybe I should hire me a guide and learn something new.

But I won't because I enjoy the quiet solitude. It's what keeps me focused and willing to put up with too little sleep during the spring turkey season. I rarely have it any other way.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Bowhunting tips to remember

Hunters seldom see good racks like this but wait for him to turn.

Bow hunters are always looking for a shortcut to personal success. What can I do to make each trip better?

First of all, don't expect every trip to be successful in terms of killing a deer. It won't be, and besides, if it was possible, deer hunting would soon become rather boring and tedious.

I've come tonight with a list of things hunters can do to increase their success rate, but I'll probably forget a few and that will make for another blog on another day.

Deer hunting tips to live by.

*Practice shooting every day if possible. Learn your bow, what it will do, and practice often with it. Everything else in these tips will fall apart unless you can hit what you are shooting at.

*Hunting isn't just from October through November. It should be a year 'round activity. Of course, you can only shoot in season, but scouting is often overlooked by lazy hunters. Spend time in the field every week, and especially from mid-August through the end of September.

I went out earlier today for a look-see. Snow in copious amounts is schedule for tonight and tomorrow. Deer often move ahead of a winter storm, but there was very little deer traffic tonight, which makes me think the storm may not arrive until late tonight or early tomorrow.

*Pick ground blind areas and tree stand sites with care. Know why deer move to those spots, know where they come from and where they are going. The more a person knows about how deer travel through an area is vitally important to success.

*Don't go above 15 feet in a tree stand. The downward angles are acute, and missing or wounding a deer become more likely for many people. Those deer shot at nose-bleed elevations on the television could have been shot from 15 feet just as effectively.

It’s not needed to hunt high. Be downwind and don’t move.

*Learn how to be scent-free. Above all else, hunt downwind of where deer travel. If the wind switches so you are not downwind of the deer, move before they get your scent. Wear clean, tall rubber boots to hunt in, and stay away from gasoline or cooking odors. If money permits, invest in a Scent-Lok suit. It can be a wonderful investment.

*Sitting still is so crucial, and yet many hunters fidget and move around, making noise and spooking deer. Learn how to focus your mind and body into absolute silence with no movement. Make a movement only when deer are feeding or looking away, and move in slow motion. Hurry-up movements are easily spotted by nearby deer and such moves tend to create more noise.

*Learn to see deer. Forget about seeing a calendar pose of a majestic whitetail buck. Often, bucks are first seen by a flicking tail, moving ear, sunlight shining off antlers, but often the first sighting is just a piece of the horizontal body outline in a vertical surrounding. Look as deep into cover as possible, and anything that moves in-between will be seen. Learn how to pick apart the cover in search of deer.

*Learn how to get to and from a stand without scaring deer. Each stand should have at least two entrance and exit routes, and mix them up. Go in one way and out another, and try not to use the same stand two days in a row. You must pattern deer; don't let the animalss pattern you.

*Study deer at every opportunity, from springtime though the winter months. Watch and study their actions and body language, and get accustomed to seeing deer at close or long range. Buck fever is a fear of failing, and the best way to get rid of that bigaboo is to find a place where deer can be studied at close range. The more you watch deer, the less often buck fever will set in.

*Pick a spot. Good deer hunters never shoot for the center of mass; instead, they pick an exact and precise place where they wish to hit. The obvious organs to aim for and hit are the heart and lungs.

Know your bow, pick a spot, and make a smooth release.

*Always take high-percentage shots. This means taking only broadside or quartering-away shots. Wait for the deer to give you the shot opportunity you want. Don't take the first shot a buck offers. Allow them to move and turn, and present you with the optimum shot opportunity. Be patient and wait for the perfect shot.

*Always know what other deer in the area are doing. Don't get so intent on one animal that you forget that other deer may be looking around for danger. Keep track of all the deer, and  wait until your deer has its head down and feeding or looking at another deer and double-check the other nearby deer. If the animal is in the proper position, aim, pick the exact spot, and don't lift your head until the arrow hits and the Game Tracker string flutters out. Always use a Game Tracker because it can offer a helping hand in recovering a wounded deer.

*Listen to your gut instincts. If you have bad feelings about taking a shot, or worry about missing, don't shoot. Your gut instincts are always right, and if you ignore them, a wounded deer may be the result.

*Use your senses of hearing, seeing, and smelling. Those three senses are what a deer will be using to try to stay alive once hunting season begins.

*Believe in yourself, your bow, and your shooting ability. Confidence is an important part of hunting, and if you feel confident, you will be. If you dither over choosing a spot to hunt, forget it.

There are many other tips, but these are enough to start with. Master these, and we'll consider a graduate course sometime in the future.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Hunt natural foods as well

Bow hunters have a deeply ingrained habit. They hunt the food sources.

For many, that means the edge of a corn field where bucks and does move in and out. It could mean a huge soy bean field where deer are conspicuous as the only upright objects in the field.

If you hunt the beechnut trees and the oak flats, and good mast is laying on the ground, this is a pretty good bet as well. Oak mast, and to a lesser degree, beechnuts are a staple in the diet of deer that roam near such nut trees.

There are more deer food than corn, soy beans & other truck crops.

However, many hunters overlook other deer food. The forget about the less common stuff. Years ago I had a stand where I could see deer approaching for 200 yards from their bedding area as they moved to a nearby soy bean field.

The bean field was huge, and there weren't many deer in the area back then, and I had the opportunity to watch this buck come. It took him an hour to reach my stand area only 75 yards from the field.

I had a pit blind next to an uprooted tree, and my pit was in the soft earth ripped up when the tree went down. One side of the root wad hung three feet over my head, and shielded me from the sun and rain, and covered me in shadow.

The buck, one step above a basket rack, fed every night in the beans. This boy was as regular as the 11 o'clock news, and I watched him walk out of the brushy swale where he bedded down. He moved 10 yards out, stopped to browse on something, poked around a bit more, moved closer, and browsed on something else, and with every few steps he would get closer to me and the bean field.

This buck was feeding, and at the time I didn't know what it was. I made up my mind that if I shot the buck that night or didn't shoot it, I was going to learn what that deer was feeding on before he reached the dining table loaded with high-protein soy beans.

He kept coming, and if he stayed his course, he would cross 15 yards from me and offer a quartering-away shot. I relaxed, watched for other deer, but again, there were far fewer deer in those days. Little did I know I would be learning a trick that few people know they know.

Thirty minutes later he nibbled at something, lifted his head, took several more steps and stood, quartering-away and looking off toward the field. It was easy to make my draw, take my time aiming, and make a smooth release.

Watch what natural browse deer eat in your hunting area.

The buck kicked up his back legs, and darted out of there in a panicked 75-yard run before collapsing near the field edge. Two or three does were in the field, and they looked up, studied the area for a moment, and went back to munching soy beans.

That buck taught me more than just about deer feeding in a soy bean field. He could have been heading for an alfalfa, barley, cabbage, clover, corn, oats, potatoes. rape, rye, rye grass, sugar beet, winter wheat or any other farm crop to have dinner. Deer are catholic in their appetite, and will munch on almost anything.

Protein levels are high in clover and legumes, such as soy beans. But a deer's appetite goes far beyond these truck crops. It's some of the wild stuff that grows and that deer eat, that can provide the often overlooked other food source for people to hunt.

Deer make wise use of the aforementioned acorns and beechnuts. They also eat wild apples and pears. There used to be one single pear tree near my home, and a nearby fence row was 15 yards away and it held one gnarly old oak. It didn't produce acorns anymore, but it offered a spot for a tree stand. More than one buck met his fate by coming to eat on the pears.

Deer are often known as random tip browsers. They will nip a bud off a twig here, one over there, and they have a wide range of things they will eat besides farm crops, fruit and nuts.

Some examples of what Michigan deer eat beside truck crops.

Michigan deer will eat balsam, basswood, cherry, dogwood, dwarf sumac, blackberry leaves, black cherry, ground hemlock, orchard grass, red maple, red osier, spruce, tag alder tips, white cedar, wild grapes and the leaves. Many other wild growing weeds also serve as fodder for a browsing whitetail deer.

Find a neighbor who has ornamental shrubs planted around the house, and watch it for a few days in December. You'll soon learn which trails deer use to come to feed on the shrubs, and a savvy bow hunter can set up on them very easy. Stay away from the houses because of Michigan's "safety zone," which is 450 feet, and ambush them as they move down a trail to feed.

Hunters who can locate a wild food source has found the banquet table. Some wild foods are eaten only in the winter, but many are a mainstay at other times of the year.

Learn these foods, spend some time checking for deer movement around these natural food sources, and it can pay off. If deer are slow or reluctant to come to croplands, go looking for wild-growing foods.

It can pay off ... big-time.

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