Unraveling some bow-hunting myths

The author with a nice buck
photo courtesy Dave Richey Outdoors ©2012

You know what a myth is? It's something that is commonly accepted as fact, but it really isn't. You know what I mean: pick up a toad, and you'll get warts and other stuff like that.

There are many myths about bow hunting. Some have been steeped in public acceptance for so long it's difficult to dislodge the thought. Here are a few that bow hunters seem to accept as fact.

*Rutting bucks are stupid. This one has been around so long that it should have long gray whiskers. It's simply not true.

Some myths are repeated so often that many consider them true

Bucks do run during the day and chase does, and occasionally they will do something that humans might think stupid, but they probably make perfect sense to the deer. Don't look for them to run up to a human, and stand idly by while someone shoots at them.

If bucks make any mistake it is chasing does during the mid-day hours. A bow hunter can turn that knowledge to good use by hunting from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

*Deer always travel into the wind. That too has been proven wrong so many times each year one would think it would fall out of fashion. Gran'pappy tells his son that two or three dozen times when the kid is young and impressionable, and he believes it. So he tells it to his son, and these old wives' tales get passed down from one generation to the next.

The truth is deer often travel downwind, cross-wind, and quartering into or away from the wind. Deer have always headed west in the morning and east in the evening, and it makes no difference which way the wind is blowing. They will travel upwind, downwind, or quartering into or with the wind.

One thing is certain. Move or make a faint noise, and a curious deer may turn around and come upwind to determine what and where you are. The trick is to give deer no reason to circle into the wind.

*The deer jumped the string. This means a bow hunter comes to full draw, releases an arrow and the deer jumps up or goes down to "duck" the arrow. What nonsense is this? That gives deer human-like intelligence that tells them an arrow is coming.

 

This can be a problem if deer have been alerted to human presence

Deer will move up, down or sideways if they have been alerted. Deer that travel head-up are alert, cautious and a walking bundle of raw nerve endings. Give them a reason to be alert by being caught moving, making some small noise or being winded, and an alert deer may move to avoid danger.

However, if an arrow is traveling 180 feet per second, and a deer is within 20 yards of the hunter, the arrow will impact the animal before the buck or doe can react to the bowstring launching an arrow. Most arrows are traveling from 220 to 280 feet per second, and sometimes more than 300 fps. This precludes a relaxed deer from "jumping the string." Some muscle-bound people who can pull 100 pounds and shoot an arrow in excess of 300 feet per second will have little trouble hitting a relaxed deer.

*The higher the treestand the less chance there is a deer winding you. OK, I've hunted a few times at 30 to 35 feet and dislike it intensely. I know of people who hunt 40 feet in the air, and a friend swears he saw some fool stand on what looked like a tree stand the size of a postage stamp at 50 feet in the air.

What being that high does, if the wind is blowing down toward the ground, is transfer your scent farther from your hunting area. If a deer gets downwind of you at 200 yards, he may still smell you. Knowing which way the wind is blowing, and using milkweed seeds to see where the scent travels, makes far more sense.

 

I prefer more tree cover than being too high in the air

My tree stand preference is 15-16 feet. I depend on my being downwind of the deer, being able to sit still, not make any noise, and being able to shoot accurately from an elevated position. It works exceptionally well for me.

The higher a tree stand the more acute the angle when shooting down at a deer. That angle becomes even more acute the closer the deer is to the stand. Lose your anchor point while aiming, or be a fraction of an inch off at higher elevations, the greater the chance is of missing or wounding a deer.

There are many other bow hunting myths kicking around, and one day soon, we look at some other ones.

Q & A about deer hunting

Green woods or snowy terrain, feel safe when drawing on a buck.

Over many years, readers have asked me countless questions about deer and deer hunting, and they are often duplicated. Each one is answered in some detail, but seldom is this information shared with other readers of my daily weblog.

Here are several questions asked of me in the past couple of weeks as we prepare for the end of the archery and muzzleloader deer seasons soon.

I could fill a book with questions I’ve answered in recent years.

Q. - Are you happy when all the deer seasons finally end after three months?

A. - No, I'm never happy to see the season end. But then, I often go out and sit in the woods and watch for deer providing they aren't yarded up. There is no bow or firearm with me, but I'm studying deer habits, travel routes, and it is all a necessary part of hunting. I'll spend an average of 87 of the 90-day season hunting, and watching it end feels like I'm losing an old friend.

Q. - What kind of a tree stand appeals to you?

A. - I enjoy an open tree stand where playing the wind is necessary. I use the Gorilla brand ladder stands made by Eastman Outdoors. They go up easy, come down easy, and put me about 15 feet off the ground. They are safe, stable, easy to climb, and work for me.

I like these easy questions.

Q. - Name your favorite trees for a tree stand? And why?

A. -- C'mon, that's too easy: Cedars. I prefer to sit back in the shadows of overhead boughs with heavy limbs on both sides. The only place I need to shoot is out in front and a bit to my left. I prefer deer to pass the stand from behind me and to my left, and that angle provides me with an easy broadside or quartering-away shot.

Q. - Do you cut shooting lanes for bow or firearm seasons?

A. - No, and here's my reason why. Remove a bunch of small trees, branches and other cover such as leaves, and it removes the reason why bucks travel in that direction. I note where deer travel, pick a hole in the brush to shoot an arrow or bullet through, and do as little to disturb the area as possible. I hear most deer before I ever see them.

Q. - How often (days in a row) will you sit in the same stand?

A. - Much depends on the circumstances, but I try to sit in a different stand every evening or morning. If I've got a a big buck coming through on a regular basis, and if the wind is in my favor for two days in a row, I will probably sit in the same spot both days. The big problem is it is very easy for deer to pattern a hunter, and it becomes easier the more often you hunt a particular stand. I get bored sitting in one stand, looking at the same trees day after day, and when we leased land, we had several tree stands and several coops or box blinds scattered around. It was easy to hunt a different stand almost every day. It paid off with good bucks.

Q. - What is your biggest fear associated with deer hunting?

A. - Getting spotted climbing into the stand or being winded. Each location has a minimum of two routes in and two out, and I always rotate how I approach a stand. Even if I hunt the same stand twice in eight days, the second time I walk to the stand is by a different route than I used a week before. I always leave the stand by a different route than when entering it. Some of my stands have three and even four ways into and away from them.

I’m now obsessed with personal safety while treestand hunting.

Q. - Any other fears?

A. - Oh, sure. I have a healthy fear of falling. I've fallen several times in the past, but was never injured. As I get older, and as my vision worsens in my remaining good right eye, I've become more obsessed with insuring greater personal safety. I began wearing a Rescue One 'CDS'  (Controlled Descent System) full-body harness from Mountaineer Sports <mountaineer-sports.com> every time I hunt from a tree.

It affords me much greater protection while climbing up a tree or ladder, climbing down, and while in the stand. I’d rather be out without my bow or firearm than be without this safety harness, ascend-descend line, and Lineman’s Safety Rope and Treestand Anchor Strap. There is a much greater peace of mind when knowing you are safe at all times.

Q. - What is the biggest problem for most archery deer hunters to solve?

A. - Playing the wind. The hunter must be downwind or down and slightly cross-wind whenever they hunt. How you avoid having deer wind you is up to you. Simply hunting only when you can have deer upwind of your position is great. Some hunters believe in Scent-Lok suits, as I do, and others believe in sprays that help eliminate human odor. Being downwind of deer offers a great advantage. If the wind switches, leave that spot to avoid being winded and blowing a good stand.

Q. - Do you wear rubber boots? Are you that fanatical?

A. - Yes, I am that fanatical. Most of the time I wear knee-high rubber boots, but if I must walk through tall marsh grass I'll often wear hip-boots or rubber waders. Years ago, when I wore leather boots, more than one deer trailed me to my stand. They don't trail me now. I also try not to touch any vegetation with my clothing or skin.

Q. - Why do you pass up bucks that others would shoot?

A. - That's easy. I've shot over 270 deer during my lifetime, and no longer derive any satisfaction from shooting small bucks. I'd rather hunt for an old doe because they offer more of a challenge than a young buck. Hunting doesn't always mean a kill for me, and if a wee 6-point comes by, I draw and aim as if I'm going to shoot, and then ease off and let him walk. I no longer need to kill a buck every year, and I didn't shoot one during last season, but passed up numerous bucks I could have shot. Passing up bucks can be more fun than shooting one because it means you've completely fooled them.

Stay tuned and we'll do this (answering questions) again soon.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors