The author took this buck in October from a stand located along the bank of a creek. In addition to funneling deer travel, the creek provided the perfect low-impact access for the stand.

It was late October and a cool west wind blew gently in my face as I approached the creek early the next morning, slipped on my waders and carefully retraced my tracks to the base of the tree. I traded the waders for a pair of insulated boots and climbed into the stand. Because of the remoteness of the wheat field, deer fed late into the morning before drifting back into the timber to bed. I sat for at least two hours, questioning my choices, before a big, old doe led the parade.

Once they started coming it seemed like a river of deer. During the next half-hour, seven bucks and at least as many does crossed the old pasture in front of me, but only one was close enough for a shot. But, one’s enough when he’s the biggest! The arrow hit him a little far back as he walked slowly past, so I stayed on stand for a couple of hours before climbing down to head back to my vehicle and then to town for help in tracking. I was so focused on each careful step as I side-hilled back to the creek’s only wadable crossing that I nearly stepped on the buck before I saw him. He lay stone dead right at the edge of my crossing.

I’m sure that stand will produce big buck sightings every year. The creek eliminates all ground scent while keeping me out of sight at the same time. And when the wind is from the west, southwest or northwest it takes my scent out over the creek and away from all the deer using the cover on the inside bend. It’s a great stand, but not because it covers a well used trail – a lot of stands do that. It’s a great stand because you can hunt it day after day without the fear of spooking a single deer.

Most hunters never realize how many deer see them, smell them or hear them as they go to and from their stands. And then there’s the ground scent that continues to alert deer long after the hunter leaves the woods. When deer find evidence of human activity they start looking for other places to live, or at the least, they’ll change their patterns in the area. Either way, the easy pickings are over: you’re looking at some tough hunting. Think about it. You’d take it seriously too if you found a stranger walking through your living room.

This season, remember that regardless of how much sign it overlooks, a stand is not a great stand (or even a good stand) if you can’t get to and from it without being detected.

It doesn't matter how much sign your stand overlooks, or how deeply the trails have been pounded into the ground, if you can't get to and from the area without spooking deer it is not a great stand location.

Where deer find our scent is also a significant factor in how much impact we have on their behavior. In the fringes of their core areas they have come to accept human scent, and don’t react as negatively to it. If your scent shows up in these places it will be noted, but the deer aren’t nearly as prone to change their patterns as a result. On the other hand, sign of human activity found right in their “living room” is another story. When deer smell our scent close to the center of their core areas, they don’t tolerate it. In short order they’ll move on, or become extremely cautious – both of which will make them much harder to tag.

In my experience, the real chess match in hunting trophy whitetails is not what scrape or what funnel you’ll watch. Unless you have a particular buck patterned, one travel funnel is basically as good as the next. The real chess match is planning how you’ll get to and from your stands without ruining them.

Beat the deer at their own game. We’ve all seen big bucks traveling. They take advantage of terrain and cover to keep out of sight as much as possible. Do the same thing as you enter and leave your stands. Take advantage of anything possible to keep you from being sky-lined. Even in the dark, deer can see a sky-lined hunter.

Look for ravines, deep ditches, folds in the terrain, draws and fence lines to keep you out of sight. If you plan to hunt the stand again, the exit route is just as important as the entry route so don’t overlook this important element of the hunt. And, when considering deer movement, the exit route will often be completely different from the entry route.

I’ve started relying heavily on creeks to gain access to my hunting areas. In fact, last season I took three nice whitetails and creeks factored heavily into each successful hunt. I’ll go out of my way to find stands near wadable creeks not only because they tend to be good travel routes, but also because they cover my scent and noise and keep me out of sight while enroute.

The elite 10% of the hunters that take 90% of the trophies have learned one lesson very well: the route you take to and from your stand is more important than the stand location itself. If there is a secret in whitetail hunting, this is it.

Winke set up stand just off a wheat field which the deer traveled through. By keeping his scent down, Winke kept the deer confident and was thus able to arrow a beautiful buck.

Remember that regardless of how much sign it overlooks, a stand is not a great stand (or even a good stand) if you can’t get to and from it without being detected.

The year was 1988, the place Seoul, Korea, the event the finals of the Olympic archery competition. Jay Barrs, representing the United States, carefully watched the flags posted near the course. His competitors were watching them, too.

As each archer took their turn, they “read” the flags on the ground, made their adjustments in aiming, then sent the arrows toward the target face, some of the shots covering 90 meters (99 yards). Jay, however, was the only one who had noticed a small, but significant detail during his practice rounds: The flight of the arrow could be determined more accurately by how a high Olympic flag nearby was reacting to the wind rather than the lower ground flags. The competition discovered this too in a couple of days–but it was too late. Jay Barrs had captured the Olympic gold medal in men’s archery.

As this example reveals, a razor thin edge can mean the difference between winning and losing when the world’s best archers gather to compete against each other. Each man, or woman, has spent years practicing and studying their sport in order to become skillful enough to qualify for the competition. Both physical and mental conditioning has been an important part of their regimen, with the mental part being the most significant factor–most say as high as 90%.

10 Ways To Gold Glory

Whether you are a beginning archer or a seasoned veteran, I believe you will gain knowledge as you read the following tips from Jay, given in his honest, but articulate, off-the-cuff style of teaching.

Hours at the range practicing from all sorts of angles and distances will put you on the fast-track to more bow kills.brad herndon photo

1. Form.

Actually, the very first step to successful archery is to start with a basic, decent form. I mean it’s amazing how many guys out there just do not pull their bow properly. They generally have their bow set really heavy and they are improperly pulling the bow with their arm, not their back. Start out by getting someone who knows something about archery to show you the basic foundation of form. And then practice your form first; don’t worry where the arrows are going– which is totally against human nature, especially with archery because you get an immediate feed back. As soon as you let the arrow go, if it hits the middle, it’s a good shot, if it doesn’t hit the middle, it’s a bad shot.

Well, that’s not necessarily true. I’ve shot lots of good shots that didn’t hit the middle. I’ve also shot a lot of bad shots that did hit the middle of the target. Don’t get caught up in where the arrow ends up; in the beginning get caught up in how the arrow got there, the mechanics of archery. And basically the better you get, the more you think about form, believe it or not.

2. Consistency. Once you get good form, then work on consistency. Ironically, if a shot is executed exactly the same every time, even a person with poor form might shoot well. Of course this is rare, so what good form does for you is allow you to make a bigger mistake and get less error out of the shot.

3. Know your equipment. Get comfortable with your equipment, understand how it works and why it works. Don’t be scared to play around a little bit with your equipment, the way it’s tuned. Don’t let someone else tune your bow for you, learn to do this yourself. Learn what happens when you do shoot, so if something goes wrong, you will know how to correct the problem. However, don’t get so carried away with tuning that you have to tune constantly. You can take a new untuned bow out of the box and put it in a shooting machine and shoot better groups with it than any archer can shoot.. The only reason you fine tune a bow is because then you can make a bigger mistake and get the least amount of error down to the target.

4. Practice. …

5. Practice. I put this one in here twice because you can’t shoot too many arrows, I can guarantee it. I have yet to see an archer who

Target panic happenswhen bowhunters try tohard to aim the arrow.Instead, concentrate on thesmall area you want to hit,your mechanics and hand-eyecoordination will do the rest.photo by brad herndon

really and truly has burnout. I’ve seen a lot of them claim they do, but I have yet to see one that has shot enough arrows to have a severe case of burnout.

Most archers, whether hunters or tournament archers, sometime in their career encounter target panic, an inability of the archer to hold the sight on the intended target. In a moment I will mention a method of practice which will correct this aiming error for most archers, but, it should be noted, this problem may be avoided by beginning archers if they learn proper aiming techniques.

For example, most of the time the cause of target panic is the archer is trying too hard to aim. Generally aiming is the last thing you should have to think about. It’s like throwing a baseball. You don’t aim a baseball, you look at what you want to hit and you throw it. Archery is a lot that way. Basically your eye will not let you not aim. It’s just the way you’re put together. If you look at what you want to hit, you’re going to aim, that is just the way your mind works.

Don’t get caught up in believing you must keep your sight pin perfectly still on the target, whether it be a deer or paper. I don’t know of anyone that can keep their sight pin perfectly still. It’s going to move–it may not be much, but the sight pin is going to move. So just accept that fact, and look at what you want to hit and let the sight pin have its natural movement on the target. Then concentrate on the proper execution of the shot, not where the arrow is going.

7. The Release. Whether an archer uses fingers and a tab or a mechanical release to shoot, a smooth release of the arrow is critical to shooting accuracy. Most archers, whether they be hunters, indoor target shooters or 3-D shooters, use a release aid, so I will discuss this in detail. I’ve seen very, very few people who shoot a release right. 90% of the people out there “jump” on a release. Whether they think they do or not, I can prove to them they do. If you have an archer pull their bow back, then let someone else trip the release, I can guarantee you if they are not using a wrist strap, the bow will hit the ground. If you can shoot a release aid without using a wrist strap, you’re grabbing the bow, punching the release. Because if you’re shooting the bow correctly, your reaction time is not fast enough to catch the bow before it hits the ground–unless you have your bow balanced where it doesn’t jump forward, which usually isn’t the case.

I understand in a hunting situation pinpoint accuracy isn’t necessary and that you’re not going to have the luxury of standing there and squeezing your release nice and smooth all the time. Still, you need to practice that way, and then instead of actually jumping on the release when a deer comes along, you will just pull up and lay your finger on the release, then just increase the rate of squeeze so it still is a smooth motion. This practice will result in improved accuracy, preventing you from dropping your finger on the release from about a foot away like most folks do.

It also should be noted many hunters hunt without a wrist strap and shoot very well on big game their entire career, having a lot of fun in the process. However, if you ever decide you want to shoot for score, the use of a wrist strap and working on a smoother release will be two of the first things you will want to focus on.

8. Overcoming target panic. One of the best ways to conquer target panic is to stand very close to a large target, say five yards, with your eyes closed. Then concentrate on slowly squeezing off the shot. When you get to the point where you can squeeze off every shot smoothly, then shoot with your eyes open, again making sure each arrow has a flawless release. After these two steps are mastered, then, and only then, put up a target face and practice shooting at it.

If your arrows still are flying perfectly when you are using the target, then start moving back five yards at a time, first to ten, then fifteen, then twenty. This method does not assure an instant cure of the target panic dilemma. Like most ingrained bad habits, it will take time to overcome target panic. Perseverance is the key word here.

9. The Importance Of Conditioning. Conditioning is very important at my level of competition. Regardless of who you are, or what you do, the better shape you are in, the better you are going to be able to handle what you are doing.

For example, hunting whitetails in Canada, where it might be zero to twenty below, demands that you be in good shape. For a hunter who is out of shape, after about two days of those brutal winter conditions they’re done– because it is tremendously hard on the body. I suppose there are no disadvantages to being in excellent shape. Even if it doesn’t make you live longer, you will die feeling good.

10. Poundage and yardage. If you can’t hold your bow directly in front of you and pull it straight back, you’re shooting too many pounds. Too many hunters have to hold their bow up in the air, draw the bow, then come down on the target. This is true because their biceps muscles are stronger than their back muscles, so they use their arm to draw the bow rather than using their back. Obviously they are shooting too much weight.

What this creates is a lot of unnecessary movement when hunting deer, and as a result, the archer is picked off by the animal on numerous occasions. Deer hunting from a tree stand is full of odd shooting angles. If the bowhunter makes sure he can draw his or her bow straight back at any angle, including in both the sit down and standing position, then they certainly are increasing their chances of success.

CAN 10 TIPS HELP?
Although ten tips described by a few hundred words can not carry the impact of speaking to a person face to face, there is sufficient advice here to make each of us a better archer if we apply ourselves to the task at hand. After all, these words are from an Olympic champion.

12 EASY STEPS
1. To begin, hang your tom by the head.

2. With a sharp knife, cut the skin where the feathers on the neck meet the skin of the head.

3. Continuing down the back and toward the tail, remove the skin in an approximate two-inch wide strip. You will notice that the feathers attach to the skin in rows and the narrow strip of skin actually holds a much wider angular blanket of feathers.

4. Remove the skin to and including the fleshy end of the tail.

5. With knife and spoon, remove the fat and flesh.

6. Cover wet skin in Borax.

7. Lay Borax covered skin on large piece of flat corrugated cardboard.

8. With straight pins, pin the head end to cardboard.

9. Fan tail, spread to the desired width and pin each feather in place.

10. With an ice pick, lay each feather in place.

11. Let dry three to four weeks.

12. Remove pins, shake loose Borax and hang.

Note: You may wish to mount the cape on a piece of wood cut to fit the cape.—Rob Keck

Lohman's kit was an absolute cinch to do. The author first, of course shot his bird. After removing the the beard carefully and taking care of the breast meat, the next step was removing the tail.

The National Wild Turkey Federation’s Grand National Taxidermy Championship, held each year during the NWTF’s national convention, has raised the level of awareness of top-notch turkey creations.

Once you’ve brought your mount home, these tips will help keep your bird in top shape.

1. Do not place mounts near heat sources such as fireplaces, hot lighting or air vents.

2. Keep mounts out of direct sunlight to keep them from fading.

3. Do not keep mounts in damp areas.

4. Clean mounts with a dry cloth, brushing the feathers in the direction they lay; do not use a vacuum cleaner for cleaning.

5. Check mounts periodically for signs of insect infestation. Contact your taxidermist if you find anything suspicious.

6. Handle mounts as little as possible. They become more brittle over time.

7. Keep temperature extremes to a minimum. Constant room temperatures are best.

8. Clean glass eyes with a damp Q-tip.

9. Make sure all wall anchors supporting mounts are secure. Inspect periodically.

10. The tips of tail and wing feathers may become “ruffled.” Simply smooth them out with your fingers.

Be sure to catch some of the best taxidermy in North America at the NWTF’s Grand National Taxidermy Championship next year during the Federation’s National Convention and Sport Show in Charlotte, N.C., February 21-24, 2002. For more details, call 800-THE NWTF.—Rob Keck

LOHMAN KIT CONTINUED…

The author's mount took him all of 20 minutes to build and hang on the wall.

Some hunters don’t realize this, but you can remove a turkey’s beard easily by grabbing it firmly where the beard meets the breast feathers. Give the beard a solid yank and it usually comes off bearing nothing but a little white skin that holds it all in one piece. Otherwise, take your knife to breast skin around the base of the beard. Carefully cut all the way around the base of the beard. Then, do the necessary trim work and lay on the borax.

Next, pin the fan down flat on a fairly large piece of cardboard. A few days to a week is about all the time the fan needs to dry out. Now, it’s ready for the Lohman Kit.

Simply lay your flattened fan into the back piece of the mount. Place the piece of foam that’s included in the kit on top of the fan. Next, place the decorative front plate on top of the fan. Now, slip the black, beard-holding inserts into the holes. These inserts keep the entire unit tight as a drum. Now place your swingin’ beard into one of the beard holders and you’re ready to go lookin’ for a place to hang your trophy!–Nino Bosaz

For a huge selection of turkey mounts see eders.com

Of course, there’s no guarantee you’re going to harvest a wild turkey just because you go hunting, but trying is half the fun. While going to the store is still the most reliable means of getting dinner, spending time in the woods, getting some exercise and the pride of being self-reliant is what a traditional life outdoors is all about.

To learn more about turkey hunting, how to get involved in turkey hunting and find more great recipes for wild turkey and other game, contact the NWTF at 800-THE NWTF or check out the Federation’s web site at www.nwtf.org.—Doug Howlett

Cajun Mardi Gras Wild Turkey Breast
Get out your beads, masks and doubloons! It’s time for Mardi Gras, which is Latin for “removal of flesh.” Carnival has many symbols, including Boeuf Gras or “fatted bull.” Traditionally, Boeuf Gras is the ancient symbol for the last meat eaten before the Lenten season of fasting begins. Thanks to this delicious wild turkey recipe from Dave Constantine of Durand, Wis., in the Wild About Turkey cookbook, Dindon Gras, or “fatted turkey,” may be the newest Mardi Gras symbol! An easy to prepare entree, Cajun Mardi Gras Wild Turkey Breast served over rice is easily complemented with a Caesar salad, yeast rolls and, of course, a King Cake or Moon Pies for dessert. As they say in Mobile and New Orleans during Mardi Gras: “Laissez les bon temps roulez!” (Let the good times roll!)

Cajun Mardi Gras Wild Turkey Breast
1 pound bacon, diced into 1/4-inch pieces
Cajun poultry seasoning, as needed
4 tablespoons butter or margarine, divided
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 (2-pound) boneless turkey breast, cut into 1-inch chunks
4 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

In a large, heavy skillet, add bacon and sprinkle it with Cajun seasoning. Fry until crisp. Drain, discard grease and set aside. In the same skillet, add 1 tablespoon of butter, and sauté the chopped onion until tender. Remove onion, and set aside. In a large bowl, combine turkey, 2 tablespoons of oil, Worcestershire sauce and more Cajun seasoning. In the same skillet, heat remaining butter and oil until sizzling. Add turkey, bacon and onion. Sauté until turkey is brown and tender. Serve entree over rice. Yield: 4 to 6 servings.

Stuffed Midwestern Wild Turkey
Springtime is a time of rebirth, a time of new beginnings. It is at this time of year that families celebrate many special occasions—Easter, Passover, christenings, weddings and Mother’s Day—just to name a few. And Spring is a great time to show off your newly- bagged gobbler! A.M. Glombowski of Lake Forest, Ill., has a delicious recipe using a whole bird—Stuffed Midwestern Wild Turkey. This is an easy-to-prepare recipe that will look beautiful on your special table this spring, or any other time of the year. Enjoy!

Stuffed Midwestern Wild Turkey
14 slices bacon, divided
1 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup water
1 (8-ounce) package cornmeal stuffing mix
1 chicken bouillon cube
1/2 cup hot water
1 cup dry red wine, divided
1 (10- to 12-pound) wild turkey

Fry eight slices bacon until crisp. Drain bacon, crumble and set aside. Sauté the chopped onion and celery in bacon drippings. When the vegetables are tender, add 1/2 cup water, and simmer for five minutes. Stir in stuffing mix and crumbled bacon. Dissolve bouillon cube in 1/2 cup hot water. Add 1/2 cup red wine to bouillon. Add the bouillon-wine mixture to the stuffing mixture, and stuff the turkey. Transfer the turkey to a roasting pan. Lay 4 slices of bacon across the breast, and wrap a slice of bacon around each leg. Cover pan with foil; then place lid on pan. Bake in a 300-degree oven for 4 1/2 hours. Remove cover and foil. Pour remaining wine over the turkey. Baste every 10 minutes while cooking an additional 40 minutes. Yield: 12 to 15 servings.

Marinated Wild Turkey Rolls

No matter the holiday or special gathering, a hors d’oeuvre made from a wild turkey is made from the heart. Marinated Wild Turkey Rolls, a recipe from Gary L. Crafton of Coffeeville, Miss., is easy to prepare and a tasty treat. Whether you’re hosting a dinner party or friends over to watch the big game, everyone will love snacking on these. Once cooked, the rolls will easily stay warm in an oven on the lowest setting until serving time. The rolls also may be frozen (after the initial cooking). Just defrost them in the refrigerator and heat them in the oven before serving. At a dressy get-together, serve this meaty fingerfood in a silver chafing dish, or use a terra-cotta cooker as a serving container for a more casual affair. Enjoy!

1 (5 lb.) wild turkey breast, deboned
12 ounces commercial Italian dressing
12 strips thickly sliced bacon
toothpicks

Cut breast meat along the grain into long, thin 1/4-inch-thick strips. Submerge strips in dressing, cover and marinate in the refrigerator for three to six hours. Drain. Place a strip of bacon onto each sliced turkey breast strip, cut the bacon/turkey strip 4 inches long, roll into a pinwheel, and secure with a toothpick. Place in a large non-stick skillet and cook over very low heat for about an hour. (You may also try baking them at 350 degrees for approximately 20 minutes.) The turkey roll is done before bacon browns. Yield: 6 servings

Southwest Shrimp, Turkey and Rice Soup

4 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
½ cup onion, sliced or diced
½ cup celery, diced finely
1 cup instant long grain rice
1 tbsp. cooking oil
several cloves of garlic, minced
½ tsp. crushed red pepper
¾ pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
¾ pound of turkey, cooked, in bite sized pieces
jalapeno pepper, sliced
green onions, sliced
cilantro, chopped
lime wedges

In a large saucepan, combine broth and water and bring to a boil. Add onion and celery and cook for 2 minutes; add rice, bring back to a boil then cover, remove from heat and set aside.
Heat oil in a skillet. Add garlic, red pepper, jalapeno (optional), shrimp and turkey; sauté just until shrimp are done (they will turn red); about 3 minutes. Stir the shrimp/turkey mixture into the rice/broth mixture.

Divide the soup evenly among 4 to 6 bowls. Top each bowl with a little chopped cilantro and green onion and serve with a wedge of lime.

Wild Turkey Dijon

2 pounds boneless turkey breast
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup green onions, finely sliced
sliced mushrooms, morels preferred
¼ cup Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons dry sherry
1 cup cream

Slice the turkey breast into serving size pieces and pound gently with a meat mallet (or the edge of a plate). Season with salt and pepper. Melt the butter in a large skillet and sauté the turkey, turning once, until done. Remove to a warm platter. Add garlic, green onion, mushrooms to the pan and sauté until onion is tender (add more butter if necessary). Stir in mustard, lemon juice, sherry, and cream and stir over simmer until slightly thickened. Add turkey to sauce until heated through. Serve with rice or noodles. About 4 servings.

Answer:
Your dealer didn’t mess up and your limbs aren’t getting weaker. The bow lost draw weight because with a different string, the wheel is now rotated differently. In order to give you a shorter draw, there is less string wrapped around the wheel so when it is drawn it will hit the let-off sooner. At the same time you won’t be wrapping up as much of the cable, so the limbs are flexed less producing lower poundage. With your existing limbs there really isn’t anything you can do to get the weight back if your limbs are already bottomed. You can, however, to order heavier limbs. Your dealer can do that for you. Bows with modular draw length adjustments (elements are attached to the wheel) are designed so that the draw weight is not affected when the draw length is changed by swapping modules. But, even these bows will lose poundage if the string is twisted to shorten the draw.

Answer:
Generally, it is best to be at least 15 feet up in order to get above the sight line of deer. It is likely that your friend has become a master at placing his stands in locations with natural cover to hide in. No doubt he’s learned to remain motionless while on stand and only moves to draw his bow when deer are looking the other way or are screened by cover. With a lot of discipline this will work. If you hunt down low make sure to wear good camouflage, including a face mask.

One disadvantage to hunting below 15 to 18 feet is that deer only a short distance downwind will scent you, whereas if you were sitting higher in the tree your scent would blow over them. On the subject of shooting lanes; if you cut them well in advance of the season you will be alright. Keep them small and unobtrusive. The scent you leave when cutting the lanes is actually more detrimental to your chances than the actual cut branches. Otherwise, try to avoid cutting things down, aside from trimming a few small branches around your stand.

Answer:
The best solution we’ve found to date is to remove the string’s monofilament and replace it with Fast Flight serving. Reserve it as tightly as possible. Also, wrap a second layer (Fast Flight strand material from an old string works well) around the part of the string contacted by the release aid. This will help protect the serving from the release. When the serving begins to show wear, replace it. Some release aids cause less wear than others, so you may wish to experiment with a few. To our knowledge, no bowstring is currently on the market that possesses serving which can stand up to years of shooting with a release aid.

A M.A.D. Planner

Tools of the deer-hunting trade; a topographical map, compass, grunt tube, arrows with razor-sharp heads...and a bow, too!

“Mark,” I said, “Mark Drury. What are you doing here?”

“Tad and I are up here bow hunting for a week. What about you?” he replied. “Carol and I are doing the same thing,” I remarked. “We’ll talk to you sometime this week.”

As most of you know, Mark Drury founded M.A.D. calls and has produced outstanding hunting videos for several years. His deer videos have captured on film his crew taking many outstanding bucks, all in the wild. Everything I had seen regarding Mark up to this point had been positive, but I’m always wondering exactly what kind of a hunter a guy really is. Does he take big deer because his hunting locations are so great he has to shoo bucks out of the way as he goes to stand, or does he succeed through sound hunting methods and persistence.

An excellent hunter. I found that out real quick when we visited with he and Tad that night. Mark had been hunting this area for a few years, and had his stands set well ahead of time. Each stand site was numbered, the location was duly noted, and what wind direction would be required to hunt each stand was also recorded. Every detail of their hunts was planned out well in advance–and more importantly, adhered to. It didn’t surprise me to see them fill their tags with nice bucks fairly quickly.

Carol and I, meanwhile, had our opportunities. She missed a great non- typical which would have scored in the 180s. I passed good bucks, but never had a crack at anything top end. We did this despite the fact we had never been to the region before. We had to obtain permission to hunt, then quick decisions as to stand placement had to be made. Still, we did have a plan we followed, and so should you every year.

Locate an inside corner in your land's terrain and you can bet the family farm that deer will use that point for heavy travel.

Seven-Phase Attack Plan
1. First of all, you must recognize your strengths, especially in the time of year to hunt. If you have been bow hunting very long, this should be fairly easy. My strength lies in rut hunting more so than in early season or late season deer hunting. Because of this, I plan my time off to fall near or in the rut. If you’re better at late season hunting, be sure to plan your vacations then. And always remember almost all of us, regardless of our vocation, have limited time we can take off. It may be a few days, a week, or two weeks, but rarely longer than this.

Because of the limited amount of days most of us have off, it is critical to take them at the right time. I know tremendous numbers of hunters here in Indiana who take a couple of their vacation days on October 1st when our bow season comes in. “I just couldn’t wait. I had to get out there!” is their common statement. Most don’t even see deer because of the heavy foliage. They would have been far better off to wait until the rut to hunt, when deer are moving better and visibility is great. Of course this takes patience, a trait you can definitely develop.

2. Determine where you are going to hunt. If you want a high scoring whitetail, this may mean going out of state. That’s why we and Mark Drury and Tad were in Iowa–big deer. If you hunt locally, it’s still important to list–on paper or in your computer– every place you might possibly hunt.

3. Obtain plat, topographical and aerial maps of every place you have listed where you might hunt. This is what Carol and I did before we went to Iowa. This enabled us to find landowners so we could obtain permission to hunt, and to then key in on hot terrain features quickly with the topo maps.

When the wind is right, set up at the base of a hilltop funnel. Bucks will chase does and travel in these areas regularly.

5. List the wind direction(s) you need to effectively hunt each stand site. You can do this by standing at the stand site with a compass in your hand, or you can even do it by placing a compass on your aerial or topographical map and determining the wind directions most desirable. And since all of you are reading this on a computer, I’ll share a neat little trick I discovered.

If you buy a topographical map on a CD, such as from Maptech, there is a route marker setting on the map. By clicking on the topographical map at the place where you want to place your stand, you then can move the route setting arrow around and you can determine the best wind directions using this method. It sounds harder to do than it really is.

6. Determine the best entry and exist routes to your stand. This is tremendously important. You want to disturb the whitetails in the region as little as possible. For example, Carol and I almost always go to our stands just before daylight, at daylight, or even a little later. This surprises many hunters. “You have to be there early,” they say. Not really. Our best entry to many of our stands is through fields where deer feed. It’s foolish to walk through deer to get to stand. It’s much better to wait until the whitetails clear the fields, then ease into the stand site.

There are exceptions to this, of course, such as getting to a deep saddle in the hills before the deer arrive there. Even then, however, arriving late doesn’t hurt you on a morning hunt. Over 70% of the trophy deer we kill are taken between 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. This brings me to the next point.

7. Determine how long you are going to stay on stand. If you only have two hours to hunt in the morning or evening, there’s no major decision here. If, on the other hand, you have all day to hunt, then you need to determine how long to stay. This decision most often will be determined by the time of year. During the late pre-rut, rut and post-rut, boomer bucks can be moving at any hour. We do make some draining all day hunts, although most often we hunt from daylight until 1:00 p.m. then from 3:00 p.m. until dark. This gives us a little break. The best three hours of the day for us, as previously mentioned, is 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.

Again, this is where making a game plan and sticking to it will really increase your success rates. By saying you are going to hunt until 1:00 p.m. no matter what, you have made a commitment to stay there. Even if you don’t have confidence deer will move at noon, by trying this time a few days, you will see it happen, maybe even take out a bruiser. This builds both confidence and patience, important ingredients in the successful trophy hunting recipe.

Putting It All Together
Once all this information is recorded, make sure you hunt the stand locations offering the highest odds of success. Don’t hunt with the wrong wind, thinking you will “get lucky”. You will ruin all your days of preparation if you do. Yes, this may mean you will spend time setting in secondary stands feeling sorry for yourself some days. Despite this, doing so is a breakthrough. You are on the road to being an outstanding deer hunter, and you will be rewarded.

To show how a plan can work, I’ll share a typical hunt I made. The day was November 7, 1998. The late pre-rut. Getting out of bed at 5:15 a.m. I checked the wind direction with my weather radio–southeast. Going to my list of stands I could hunt with a southeast wind, I found three. I knew a good buck was using the Bench Funnel Stand area, so decided to hunt there. I planned to stay until 1:00 p.m.

After driving for forty five minutes, I arrived at my hunting spot. Once again I checked my weather radio. The weather direction was holding. If the wind direction predictions had changed, I would have gone elsewhere. I waited until it was breaking light before I walked about three fourths of a mile through the middle of a picked soybean field. Finally reaching the stand location (the tree stand was already in place), I crossed a small pasture and eased into my stand. I had to cross a major deer trail to do this, something I detest. There was no other way

By 9:30 a.m. the sunny day had warmed the temperature into the low 50s. I had not seen a deer. Then the woods came alive. A yearling buck was chasing a doe; a 2 1/2 year old buck was chasing a doe; then silence. Time passed. Was it over?

Not even close. At 11:45 a.m. I took out a 150 gross 12-point who was out taking a midday stroll. Incidentally, the wind was perfect, still being from the southeast, the only wind direction I could hunt this stand with that day. It’s a good thing, the buck stood only 10 yards away when I released the arrow.

Yes, if you’re the man (or gal) with the plan, you are going to find yourself tagging deer much more frequently. Learn all you can about tactical hunting in this magazine (use the archives), then map out your game plan as described. Then remain true to your plan. Be patient; be smart; be persistent; be confident; be successful!!!

Answer:
There are a couple of philosophies when it comes to tackle for 3-D shooting. Many hunters use the tournaments primarily as a tune- up for hunting season. They are not that concerned about winning, but rather in testing their skills with their hunting gear. Archers with this goal should stick almost entirely with their hunting set-ups and that probably means some form of hunting release aid.

Other 3-D participants are in the sport for the competition and the chance to place well, or even win a tournament. In this case, specialized equipment is in order. Though you may choose to continue to hunt with your caliper release, you will want to try a couple of the back-tension style releases that have spilled onto the 3-D scene from target archery. The only time these styles will be a handicap is on windy days or under extreme pressure. The wind for obvious reasons – the pressure situation makes waiting out a pure surprise release tougher.

Release styles that feature thumb triggers are also very popular among 3-D shooters. With the right technique they can be shot either a surprise release or a command release very accurately. They are probably more flexible for most shooters that pure back- tension surprise releases.