However, entering a buck or a doe’s bedding area can still get you a crack at a racked buck if you play your cards right. You just have to think about it a bit, and then time your entry. You see, it is not IF you should sneak into a deer’s bedroom–but WHEN. Let me explain.

By late summer a buck often has several bedding options open to him. His choice to bed in the planted pine plantation on the side hill on any given day may depend for example on wind direction, food supply or the absence of the neighbor’s barking dog. He may bed there two or three days in a row, and then bed down by the creek to get out of the wind for a couple of days before taking refuge in the uncut corn lot. You put a full court press on him early in the season, and he will definitely abandon any one of these bedding areas until he is sure it is safe for him to return.

However once the rut kicks in, he will abandon each of these sites for progressively longer periods of time, whether he feels safe there or not, to search for estrous does. And when he hooks up with a hot doe he will stay with her for a day or two, feeding where she feeds and bedding where she beds until she is ready to be bred. Then he will strike out in search of another willing female.

You have a window then of seven to 10 days before breeding actually takes place to sneak in and around a buck’s bedding area with relative impunity. And if you have not yet had a shot at him, or can pin-point his pre- rut travel entrance/exit routes through scrape lines and rub lines, then maybe this is the time you put conventional wisdom aside.

I was thrilled the first time I caught a trophy buck bedded down. He was indeed safe, but alert and ready to spring at the first hint of danger. I watched in awe until the buck casually looked over in my direction, did a double take (I was kneeling getting ready to shoot less than 30 yards away), and then disappeared over a nearby knoll snorting loud enough to wake the spirits!

Bucks like to bed down in heavy cover - often you'll find them sleeping right on the border of heavy cover and an escape route. Photo By Bill Vaznis

Pick a day when the weather is in your favor. A blustery morning for example will quickly disperse your airborne scent to the four winds, and help mask any unwanted noise. During or soon after a soaking rain however is my favorite because it reduces to near zero the likelihood I’ll snap any dry twigs.
Know how a buck beds. A single buck for example generally prefers to bed on the highest ridges facing downhill with the wind to his back. Nearby escape cover in the form of uneven terrain or thick brush is almost always present. This scenario allows him to see danger from below, smell danger from behind, and hear any approach through the thick stuff. All it takes is one leap, and he is gone.
Thus, you do not want to approach a suspected bedding area from below or anywhere where visibility is good. As for the wind, sneaking CROSSWIND along the edges of ravines, hollows and thick cover will offer you your best chances of blind-siding a resting buck.

The buck I mentioned above for example was bedded on the edge of a mountain laurel thicket where a quiet approach from behind was nearly impossible. The wind was to his back, and he could see downhill quite a ways. I caught him resting by keeping the wind to one side of my face.

Learn to look for a bedded buck, not one standing behind a blow down! They are much more difficult to see in this position, but one feature always stands out—the rack! A buck will turn his head at the slightest noise, and it is his set of antlers that you will initially see moving around especially if it is white or contrasts sharply with nearby cover.
Although a mature buck usually beds alone, he may have company. If you spot a bedded buck, this other set of eyes my foil any further approach.

Finally, once you see bucks up and about during the middle of the day, invading a doe’s preferred bedding site is a good strategy to consider. However, if you want to catch a love-sick buck in his bed, one that is throwing caution to the wind, try still-hunting those high places down wind of the doe’s bedding area. This is where a resting buck can use his nose AND his eyes in his search for a doe in heat! I once caught seven or eight bucks in such an area already with a hot doe, and arrowed a 180-pound eight pointer right where he lay!

Check out this cool video of a big buck bedded down.

Answer:
It is best to be in your stand a good hour and a half before you expect any movement to occur. This will allow you to get settled in and not risk bumping into any deer. This means you need to be out there at least three hours before sunset. Specialized clothing will allow you to stay warm for this length of time. First, pay particular attention to your hands and feet. One of the neatest products for your hands is the Hand Blanket from Ice Breaker. It is a large insulated muff that attaches around your waist and keeps your hands very warm. A good pair of warm pacs are a must.

Meritt is right of course–experience is the best teacher. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t learn a trick or two by listening to the advice offered by others. Take these two gems for example, gleaned from a conversation I recently had with John Grab, co-owner of NorthCountry Expeditions, a “dream factory” for sportsman based in Stowe, Vermont.

“Each year,” said Grab, “we get hundreds of inquiries from archers looking for good bowhunting camps. We know that bowhunters have special needs, but we also know that not every “bowhunting” camp is suitable for the serious bow & arrow hunter. You see, some outfitters invite bowhunters, but in reality they know no more about bowhunting than the man in the moon. They just figure that if a bowhunter wants to hunt from their camp, they’ll let ‘em!”

“Fortunately,” added Grab, “a good booking agent will know which camps are best for bowhunters. Remember, his business depends on many satisfied customers. Aside from that, bowhunters should check an outfitter’s references carefully by asking lots of questions. And they should keep asking questions until they are satisfied the outfitter does indeed understand their particular bowhunting needs. You don’t want to arrive in camp and find your tree stand 100 yards off a game trail!

“Secondly, bowhunters should not balk at the extra costs involved in attending a bowhunting-only camp. Outfitting is often a numbers game, and for an outfitter to make a living by catering exclusively to the relatively small number of bowhunters, he has to charge a couple hundred dollars more per man.”

Finding Bucks
Larry Myers is one of those fortunate men who has a job that compliments his love of deer hunting. Larry is a retired regional wildlife biologist for the state of New York, and as such has some interesting data to share with the landowner/bowhunter who wants to manage a few hundred acres of whitetail habitat.

“Radio tracking studies have shown that does have smaller home ranges than bucks,” said Larry. “In fact, an adult doe is often the dominant deer within her home range. It has been found that these mature females commonly push yearling bucks around until the bucks are forced to establish their own home range–usually at some distance away from their birth place.

“Now,” said Larry, “consider thephilosophy of some landowners that forbid the shooting of adult females. What are the ramifications of such a practice? Well for one, if some of these older does were removed, yearling bucks might stand a better chance of staying in the area; i.e., they would not be driven away to area farms by the dominant doe. Ironically, the periodic harvesting of mature does might give landowners what they really want-more bucks on their property.

“Of course,” adds Larry, “that same research has shown that bucks have more extensive home ranges than does, and that during the rut bucks will move great distances in order to find a hot doe. Now, if you are after a particular buck, your chances of success are probably greater during the prerut when that deer’s daily feeding and bedding schedules are more predictable. Once the breeding season gets underway, a mature buck could be miles away for days on end servicing estrous females.”

If bagging a particular buck is “easier” during the prerut, how do you go about pegging one in the absence of rut sign? The key is food. During the lazy days of summer, herds of deer can often be found feeding in lush farm fields and wide open meadows. However, by early fall deer often leave the fields and turn to other food sources, such as acorns, beech nuts and apples. The trick is to find these new preferred food sources btfore the deer do! How? Try a pair of binoculars. Let me explain.

Apple trees blossom in the spring, a time when you can easily locate dozens of these potential fruit- laden trees simply by glassing hedgerows, old farmsteads and abandoned orchards for their distinctive pink and white blossoms. Binoculars can likewise be used to keep track of the local mast crop. Here in the east, you should glass hill sides during mid summer to insure your prime hunting grounds are not over run with gypsy moths. Keep in mind that two years of heavy caterpillar infestation can kill a mature oak. Finally, I like to walk through known stands of oak and beech just before the season opener, and glass the tree tops for growing nuts. Deer flock to these areas as soon as the mast starts to fall– usually with the season’s first big wind.

Bow Tuning

Steve Van Zile, a hunting advisor for PSE, advises all archers to tune their bows to broadheads as soon as possible.

“To get the best performance from your bow,” says John, “pick a model that maximizes your draw weight. For example, if you’re comfortable drawing 60#, then choose a bow that peaks at 60#. That is, one with a 45-60# range–not a 60-75# range.

“Bowhunters should also make sure all their hunting equipment is attached to the bow before tuning begins–and then they should not make any changes. “Perfect” arrow flight can quickly go awry if at the last minute you switch from a cable slide to a speed slide, alter the angle of the cable guard, or even add some “muff” to the arrow rest.

“Finally,” says Steve, “bowhunters should sight their bows in only after achieving wobble free arrow flight. Trying to tune arrows to an existing set of sight pins is often nothing more than an exercise in futility.”

Steve Lamboy, VP at Realtree Camouflage and past president of the Sight-Right Company, a manufacturer of spcecial deer targets just for bowhunters, agrees with Van Zile.

“Once your bow is properly tuned and sighted in,” says Steve, bowhunters should practice on life-size animal targets. This helps them hone their yardage estimation skills, and teaches them to pick a spot before shooting. Too many deer are missed because an archer was deficient in either of these two skill areas.

“In addition, bowhunters should avoid head-on and quartering-in angles,” says Steve, “and opt instead for a broadside or quartering-away shot. These latter two angles really expose the heart-lung region –especially if the deer’s near fore leg is fully extended.”

Hunting Tips

Bill Page of Page Archery Pro Shop in Hamlin, New York, believes bowhunters would get more shots if they used greater care approaching their tree stands.

“Deer are very sensitive to any intrusions into their bailiwick,” says “So much so that it often only takes one mistake to ruin a good stand. In fact, scent and unnatural sounds can spook an unseen buck as fast as a near MISS with a scatter gun.

“Therefore, the last thing you want to do,” explains Page, “is to let the deer know you’ve been snooping around. To keep the upper hand in this matter, always wear rubber boots, and choose a route to and from your tree stand that deer are unlikely to cross. These two steps will go a long ways towards reducing your ground scent.

“To minimize the noise factor,” adds Page, “try sneaking in and out of your tree stand under the cover of darkness. Deer feel more secure then, and sounds are not as disturbing.”

My pal Mike Bleech, wildlife photographer, outdoor writer and columnist for the Warren Times Observer likes to have water near his tree stands.

“Even a small puddle.” says Mike, “will suffice. I wash my hands and boots there, and then apply some Dr. Juice Hand and Lure Soap to keep my human scent at-bay.

“For a cover scent, I prefer apple. I have found that deer sometimes bolt when sex and other food attractors are used, but the aroma of apple seems to be universally acceptable. I have never had a buck shy away from the odor of apple.

“In fact,” adds Mike, “I like apples so much I stuff a few in my pockets to help keep me on stand as long as possible. They satisfy my hunger, quench my thirst and clean my breath, too.”

After The Shot

Jim Poole, the archery pro at Creekside Gune Shop, one of the largest sportsmen’s facilities on the east coast, believes the real hunt doesn’t begin until after a broadhead has been released.

“The biggest mistake bowhunters make after taking that hard earned shot,” says Poole, “is going right after the deer. They see a lot of blood, and immediately assume their trophy is laying dead in the leaves some fifty or sixty yards away. Unfortunately, that’s not always-the case. For example, the blood trail from a gut shot buck often peters out rather quickly. If you happen to push that deer too soon, he may just run off into a distant thick and disappear forever.

“What should you do? Well, there is much disagreement as to what to do after a broadhead has drawn blood,” says Poole, “because every shot is a little different. There are however three things you can do to minimize losing the blood trail altogether.

“One, know where the vitals are BEFORE you shoot. Study charts and diagrams provided by your state’s game department or hunter education programs. Be careful however with shots shown on various commercial hunting videos. Once in a while a gut shot or kidney shot is described incorrectly as a lung shot.

“Two, know where your arrow hit. Try to remember what the sight picture was before you released the arrow, and then imagine the arrow’s entry and exit paths. Bright fletching/nocks can be helpful in this regard.

“Finally, if you are not sure where the arrow hit, WAIT at least a half hour before trailing. If you are an inexperienced tracker and don’t find the deer with 150 yards, the best advice is get some experienced help.

Group Effort

Wildlife biologist David Kosowski is one of 45 dedicated bowhunters who work for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) in Region 8. Since 1988, the group has averaged 14 deer per year for an annual success rate of 31 percent. This enviable ratio was achieved despite the fact that some of the archers hunt only trophy bucks, and therefore may not take an animal in any given year.

“To be successful,” says Dave, “one has to master the basics. First, you have to have confidence in your ability to harvest a deer with a bow & arrow. The best way to do that is to practice with your equipment under simulated hunting conditions. For example, I train in my back yard by shooting with broadheads, shooting dressed in my hunting garb and shooting at various angles and distances–including shooting from a treestand.

“Second, you have to understand the biology and behavior of whitetails. You do this by year round scouting, observing deer in the field and by actually hunting. The more time you spend watching deer, the more you learn about them. “Third, you have to respect a deer’s sniffer–it is after all his best line of defense. I try to remain scent neutral by first washing my hunting clothing (three sets) in scent free soap. After airing them outdoors, I place my camouflage in plastic bags with baking soda. The rest of my equipment is then wiped clean with scent free soap and stored in the wood shed. When it comes time to hunt, I take a scent free shower, and then avoid all family pets. When I reach my hunting grounds, I don knee-high rubber boots which are stored with baking soda in a scent free cooler in the back of my vehicle–I don’t wear my boots while driving.

“Finally,” said Dave, “grunt tubes have brought many bucks into bow range for us. We found.that a buck might ignore our grunts one day, and then come in looking for a fight the next. When a buck does come in, it’s important to stay still and take your shot angling away.

Big Wood Bucks

Bowhunters are most successful in farmland areas where deer densities are high, and where bucks can easily be patterned. Conversely, bowhunters are least successful in large tracts of big woods where deer and deer sign are relatively scarce. Ironically, it is in these wilderness areas that some of the biggest whitetail bucks often thrive.

According to Mark Eddy, owner of the Moose River Company in Old Forge, New York (315/369- 3682), bowhunters can consistently score in the big woods–if-they know where to look for deer. “The key,” says Mark, “is food. Here in the Adirondacks, deer feed heavily on beech nuts. Bowhunters who are routinely successful spend their free time checking out the many hardwood ridges for mast. If they can find a concentration of nut-bearing trees, they are often rewarded with not only a relative abundance of whitetails, but a chance to take a trophy size black bear as well.

“However,” adds Mark, “big woods bucks are not as predictable in their travel routes as their farmland cousins. There are no man-made hedgerows in the big woods to funnel bucks onto the hard wood ridges. Instead, these bucks get from point “All to point “B” by traveling through wide wilderness corridors. Therefore, if an-archer hopes to tag a trophy buck in the big woods, he must also learn to shoot accurately at ranges up to 40 yards.

The Most Important Tip!

Every bowhunter I interviewed for this article agreed that bowhunting–and hunting in general–has become a hot political issue. If your state or provincial game management program is led by political appo intees, you must be aware that these people are not necessarily committed to scientific game management programs. You see, there are lot of misguided people out there actively seeking alternatives to hunting, and if they can muster enough votes, hunting will be outlawed. Why? Political appointees rarely back a trained biologist’s opinion in the face of overwhelming adverse public opinion. The solution to all the anti-hunting propaganda however is simple: get involved. Join a nearby club, join a national pro hunting organization, join the NRA. Join something–or these 25 bowhunting tips could soon be ancient history in your neck of the woods.

Whitetail deer are fascinating for many reasons, not the least of which is the wide variety of places where they can be found. Each habitat type brings a separate set of challenges and opportunities. So much of what we read about deer is geared toward classic scenarios: wood lots and timbered draws of the nation’s corn belt or big woods of the northeast, southeast and Canada.

While these settings may be fairly predictable and familiar to many of the continent’s deer hunters, there is first-rate hunting in places that seem a world away – places like North Dakota. When you hunt a location as unique as the northern plains the pieces of the puzzle get shaken up and you have to start from ground-zero as you try to put them back together again.

North Dakota lies between the wide-open plains of South Dakota and big bush of central Manitoba. Large grain fields represent much of the agriculture in the state with deer cover coming in small doses: river bottoms, a few scattered blocks of rolling timber and many nooks and crannies out in the prairie. North Dakota’s deer live in a most diverse environment. You might encounter sand hills bordered by oak savanna only a few hundred yards from a cattail swamp. Solving the puzzle of deer movement in a place like this takes more than a little study.

This month’s super stand is found in a pocket of North Dakota’s rolling timber which Minnesota bowhunter, Lee Murphy, discovered while hunting shed antlers several years ago. After striking up a relationship with the landowner, Lee was invited to bowhunt the property.

Since that day, Lee has made a lot of trips to North Dakota in an attempt to pattern the area’s big bucks. In the process, he’s learned that North Dakota deer are especially sensitive to hunting pressure and that opening week offers the best opportunity in the places he hunts. During the last three years, Lee’s hard work has been rewarded with three fine bucks all arrowed on September 2 – the second day of the season. Lee Murphy’s success is more than just coincidence. It’s the result of a solid strategy and a much better than average stand.

Water Is The Key
Most years North Dakota is beset with semi-desert conditions by late summer. Even some of the cattail marshes turn to mud flats. Water is in short supply and deer hit available sources both morning and evening. After scouting his hunting area carefully, Lee found a small trickle of water from a natural spring located along the edge of an alfalfa field. It was obvious that this was the hub for all the early season deer behavior in the immediate area.

The first buck Lee took from the stand fell to his arrow on September 2, 1995. “I always get to my hunting area a couple of days before the season starts so I can glass the alfalfa fields,” Murphy said. “I want to see where the bucks are coming out and when they’re moving. I was glassing on the morning of September 1 (North Dakota’s bow season doesn’t open until noon that day) when I saw three bucks I figured to be solid shooters leaving the field near the spring.

“The wind wasn’t right for the stand so I hunted a different area that evening,” he added. “I saw a few smaller bucks but no shooters. I didn’t hunt the water-hole the next morning either. It really isn’t a good morning spot because you’re likely to move deer from the field or the spring when approaching. The last thing I wanted to do was take dumb chances and mess up my best stand.

“The temperature had been about 90 degrees each day, so when the wind cooperated on the second afternoon, I headed to the water-hole wearing only a pair of shorts, my rubber boots and a Scent-Lok suit.

“The heat was stifling. Once I got on stand, I waited for as long as I thought I dared before finally pulling on a thin pair of coveralls. Does and yearling bucks started coming out about an hour and a half before sunset, but it was a good hour later before five rack bucks stepped into the corner of the field 25 yards away. 1995 had been very hot and dry, and the deer were water crazy. Most of them hit the waterhole before feeding, but for some reason the bucks began feeding out into the alfalfa field instead of coming to water.

“Normally, everything funnels between a small island of trees and the field edge where my stand is located. But for some reason these bucks began feeding away from me. By the time I had glassed them and brought my bow up, the biggest one was 37 yards away. My arrow caught him right through the lungs and he ran 100 yards in an arc back toward the woods I was sitting in before falling.

A Plan For Entry And Exit
Does often bed very close to the alfalfa field, so Lee Murphy has worked out a careful access route. A grassy swale through the middle of the field serves to keep him well hidden until he reaches the cover of timber. On afternoon hunts, Lee also goes to his stand very early – two to three hours before most of the deer start coming out – just in case a few should happen to be up feeding early.

As is often the case when hunting an evening feeding area, getting to the stand without alerting deer is a whole lot easier than getting out clean. Murphy’s stand is set up on the same end of the field where most of the deer enter and it is back a few yards into the timber from the field edge. He can wait until every deer has fed past him out into the central part of the field and quietly climb down. Lee sneaks out by sticking to the woods and heading east before swinging back north to his vehicle parked along a nearby field road.

When The Bucks Are Late For Supper
Opening afternoon of the 1996 season found Murphy right back in his water-hole stand. Only this year no good bucks showed up. Lee figured the big boys were arriving after dark and knew he had to change his plan. While shed antler hunting on the farm in past springs, Lee had located an area where most of the mature bucks bedded. It was to the east of the water-hole, across a wooded area and on the other side of another alfalfa field.

“I have a stand along the other alfalfa field near the buck bedding area,” Murphy said. “It’s really my morning spot. Bucks coming from down by the water-hole in the morning usually don’t get back to this area until after daylight. But I knew it would also be a good stand for bucks that were slow to get out of their beds and head for the water-hole in the evening. It takes a south wind to hunt the stand in the evening, something we rarely get in early September. But I got lucky. On the second afternoon the wind was dead out of the south.

“The big buck was only the second deer to come out on the field,” Murphy added. “It was at least an hour and a half before sunset. The buck was feeding in my direction but didn’t get within bow range for 30 to 40 minutes. I had plenty of time to study his big, velvet-covered rack. When he got close I could see that he was getting antsy. Finally, the buck shook himself and started loping in the direction of the water-hole.

He was still at a fast walk when he went through my shooting lane at 27 yards. I made a fatal hit and the buck was into the timber and out of sight in only two jumps. I heard him stop and walk slowly away so I waited and came back and recovered him later.” Murphy’s second buck was using the same water-hole pattern, but getting him required a little improvising. After the velvet was stripped months later, the antlers netted 157 6/8 points.

“The first week of the season is a time when deer are still patternable and not yet disturbed by pressure of man.”

After two straight tough winters in the northern plains, it was obvious in late summer that the herd had suffered from the deep snows. While glassing before the season, Lee saw fewer good bucks and less deer overall. But despite the die-off, it was once again the second afternoon of the season when a good buck approached the water-hole. The eight-pointer was carrying a velvet-antlered rack that later scored 124 points.

Murphy was surprised when the buck showing up at a range of only 15 yards walking through the timber to the south of the natural spring rather than out in the field. In five seconds the opportunity would be over. Lee had to decide quickly whether or not to take the buck. Given the fact that big buck sightings were so hard to come by, he chose to shoot. The double-lung hit resulted in a quick and humane kill.

Conclusion: While hunting a single early season water-hole pattern in the northern plains of North Dakota, Lee Murphy has taken three velvet- antlered trophies during the past three years. And all of them were arrowed on September 2. Unbelievably, Lee has taken two other Pope & Young class bucks on the same date: one from Montana and the other from a different part of North Dakota.

The first week of the season is a time when deer are still patternable and not yet disturbed by pressure of man. If you can find an especially strong draw during this time (be it a waterhole or a preferred food source) you have a good chance at taking a trophy. Spend some time glassing during the late summer in the area where you hunt. You may be surprised at what you’ve been missing. And maybe you’ll even find a stand as good as the one Lee Murphy found in North Dakota.

Answer:
We like to get between 15 and 20 feet up. We know hunters, however, who take deer consistently from stands much lower than this. Tree stand height should really depend upon conditions. In locations where you are trying to keep your scent above deer, or in relatively bare trees, you need to be 20 feet, or more. With plenty of cover – and if you can keep from moving – you can get away with being lower. Also, try the new climbing sticks (portable ladders) and large fixed position tree stands to make tree stand hunting more comfortable for you.

These safe areas are called staging areas, and they can often be identified by the concentration of buck sign located in the immediate vicinity, such as rubs, rub lines, large tracks or freshly browsed second growth. A stand of conifers, a wooded ridge, an uncut corn lot or even a small over grown field can all function as a staging area to a time-conscious whitetail buck.

Still-hunters would be wise to mimic a buck under these circumstances, and remain poised but out of sight in their own staging area until it is time to “sneak and peek” along a route a buck might take. Here are a few examples to keep in mind the next time you are afield.

Make sure your staging area is down wind and out of sight of any nearby deer.

The trick is to position yourself in your own staging area near the buck’s bedding grounds well before sunrise. Choose your staging area carefully however. You must be able to reach your “safe area” without crossing any active deer trails or spooking any nearby deer—and you must do so in the dark.

A cluster of rubs near a feeding area is a dead giveaway. Bucks use this section of the woods as a staging area.

My favorite early season staging area however is the down wind edge of a deep woods feeding area, like an abandoned apple orchard or stand of acorn bearing oak trees. Bucks, especially mature bucks, will sometimes sneak in to feed here before sunset if there is plenty of nearby cover.

Plan on waiting patiently just outside the feeding area until 45 minutes or so before dark, and then sneak in yourself to see what’s there. If the orchard or acorn grove is indeed attracting whitetails, even a racked buck can be difficult to spot however. So stop often and scan under the trees, dropping down to your knees if necessary, for a long look-see. Examine the cover carefully for a piece of a deer, like a rear leg or a bobbing set of antlers. Keep your ears open, too. Bucks munching on apples and acorns make a soft but very distinctive noise!

Pre-Rut
It is best to change tactics when scrapes and scrape lines begin appearing in your deer woods. Bucks are more active now during daylight hours making them more vulnerable to a ground attack.

The trick here however is to first determine when the scrape lines are being checked by the buck—early morning or late afternoon—and then be there the very next time you expect the buck to appear.

Generally, scrape lines found near feeding areas are best still-hunted in the morning, and those located near known bedding areas are better left until later in the evening. Nearby rubs, tracks and the direction the forest duff was tossed out of the scrape can confirm your suspicions.

I like to position myself in my own staging area down wind or even cross wind of the scrape line, but in sight of the scrapes. You must see the buck first before he sees you, and the only way you can do that is to always keep the line of scrapes in sight. I will still-hunt the line ever so slowly, taking an hour if need be to check out the line, beginning at first light if it is a “morning” scrape line or just before dark if it is an “evening” scrape line. The plan is to again time your arrival with that of the buck.

Rut
The real fun begins when the rut peaks. This is when bucks are moving about all day long in a never-ending search for a doe in heat. Your best chances of intercepting a buck now are to zero in on the does.

In the morning, position yourself in a safe area adjacent to a feeding area preferred by does before first light, but choose a knoll or high vantage point. This will let you glass the area carefully for bucks as they crisscross the field searching for does.

One morning I watched from a hilltop as a buck worked a green field for does, then disappeared just behind a group of does and fawns along the far side of the field. I could see tails flashing every now and then indicating that buck was probably having a field day with those does, then nothing. Reasoning the buck was cavorting about in a nearby overgrown orchard; ideal for still-hunting I tucked my binoculars inside my jacket, and slipped quietly into the orchard for a quiet look-see. It was very thick, but a half- hour later I caught that same buck bedded down on the far side of the trees, unaware of my presence. That nine-pointer’s rack now hangs proudly in my den.

Conclusions:
As you can see, staging areas allow a bowhunter to keep tabs on his still-hunting route until “prime time”—the time a buck is likely to be positioned somewhere along that route. Only then should you be “sneaking and peeking” along that particular piece of turf. Good Hunting!

Check out this great short clip of some bowhunters stalking (still-hunting) for whitetail deer.:

One, locate scrape lines because they could occur in the same place next season.

Two, look for rub lines because they help you unravel buck travel patterns.

And three, always be on the look out for cast antlers because they let you know the quality of bucks that survived the firearm’s season, and if you are scouting in the early spring, those bucks that survived the rigors of winter, too.

Considering the remarkable olfactory capabilities of whitetail deer, it’s amazing bowhunters take as many bucks as they do. This is especially true of old, wise whitetails in the 3 1/2- to 7 1/2-year old range. These are seasoned bucks that have lived long enough with man to fear him. They know man’s pungent odor, and other unnatural smells associated with him.

A deer’s nose is so sensitive it’s incredible it can ever be deceived or avoided by even a modern, careful hunter. Tests have shown, for example, that a trained police dog can smell narcotics hidden inside a full can of gasoline. Incredibly, even the strong odor of gas can’t hide the drug smell from a canine. A deer’s nose is at least as sensitive as a dog’s, so it’s logical to believe that deer can scent man odor through even the most powerful “masking” scent. Furthermore, biologists have learned that bears can detect odors from many miles away, which helps them locate food. And reportedly a deer’s sense of smell is at least as good as a bear’s—and big game know how to use their nose trump card.

For example, one fall while hunting in Texas, a fellow hunter watched big- rack bucks come from upwind to his bowhunt areas from nearly 1/2-mile away. Invariably, though, at about 400 yards out, the bucks circled until they were downwind. Never would they venture close to scrapes he hunted except from downwind. Even does and yearlings were conditioned to using the wind to their best advantage.

Working The Wind
“Texas whitetails—all deer in fact—are so ‘wind oriented’ it’s smart to have several stands in place in a hunting area so you can work a prime spot no matter what direction the wind is blowing,” explained my knowleable sidekick. “Never hunt a place when the wind is blowing toward the area you expect deer to approach. Not only will deer spook and not come within range on that particular day, but old, wise, big bucks learn humans are in the area and that may alter their travel patterns for many days, making the place unproductive.

“I wear all-rubber boots because deer are so scent conscious, and rubber doesn’t absorb unnatural odors like leather boots do. My knee-high rubber boots are on the outside of my pants legs, because worn this way they offer the most scent protection.

“I use cloth knife sheaths and cloth belts, too, and my bow sling is made of nylon—not leather. A bowhunter needs every edge he can get to arrow a good buck.”

Keep your clothes clean, too, and make sure they’re washed in quality non-scent detergent, like “Scent-A-Way,” by Hunter’s Specialties. Many hunters insist air-drying hunting clothes outdoors is the best way to eliminate scent. They say static-eliminators in some clothes dryers leave a lingering, unnatural aroma.

Non-scent soap for personal bathing (like H.S. Scents “Scent-A-Way Green Bar Soap”) is smart, and don’t use fragrant deodorant or after-shave. Although early-season deer hunting can be like mortal combat with mosquitoes, yellow flies, chiggers, and other insects, plenty of hunters shun the use of repellents because of the unnatural odor they have. Instead of using repellent, scent-conscious outdoorsmen wear head-to-toe clothing, including gloves and face masks to ward off bugs.

One of the more innovative modern systems to beat biting bugs without smelly repellents is the unique “Bug Tamer,” made by Shannon Outdoors in Louisville, Georgia. The Bug Tamer is a suit—pants, mitts and parka, complete with hood and face shield. Instead of “repelling” bugs or even killing them as some sprays claim, the Bug Tamer sort of insulates the wearer from biting critters. The Bug Tamer’s fine camouflage net mesh is stitched to a wide weave cloth mesh that rests against the skin. Bugs like mosquitoes and deer flies land on the net mesh, but can’t bite into the wearer’s skin because the wide weave cloth mesh under the net elevates the bugs too far away from its human target. The suit is ingeniously designed with openings in mitts for hunters to wiggle out fingers when it’s time to shoot.

The hunting advantages of the Bug Tamer are numerous and obvious. First, because no repellent is used it’s odor free, a godsend for close-range bowhunting. Also, the nature of the garment is cool, because the close-weave net mesh rests above the wide-weave mesh, which makes for superb ventilation. In addition, in very hot weather, the entire suit can be saturated in water, wrung out, then put on, which makes for cooling evaporation while wearing.
 
More Keys To Staying Scent Free
Some “scent neutralizer” spray products are helpful in ridding unnatural scents on hunt clothing. Some bowmen use such sprays daily on their boots, outer garments, caps, even tree stand parts. They’re especially careful to spray their waist, crotch and under-arms before each hunt.

Some successful deer hunters are so concerned about a deer’s keen nose, that they only wear hunting clothes when they’re in the woods. They carry camo clothing in a tightly sealed plastic bag, which protects it from contamination from unnatural, human-associated scents. They wear street clothes at home or in hunt camp, as well as in restaurants and vehicles. Once in the woods, they change into hunting garb.

This sounds like a lot of trouble, but it’s smart when working for hard-hunted bucks, especially on public areas, and particularly during warm weather when human body odor is most prevalent.

Quaker Boy Game Calls Ernie Calendrelli swept this monster Iowa buck off its feet with the use of both buck lure and scent elimination devices.

Some hunters keep body odor to a minimum by dusting themselves with a mixture of baking soda and kitty litter. Put a 50-50 mixture of the stuff in a knotted sock, and dab it around on your skin, clothes, hat, boots, etc. In early bow season when it’s hot, make a habit of using a new hunting cap every couple days, since the inside sweat band absorbs odor (be sure to “dust” it regularly with baking soda-kitty litter). Many hunters are convinced fox and raccoon urine cover scents work well, and I use them habitually on boots, with excellent results.
 
In recent years special camouflage suits made with space-age, scent-absorbing carbon technology have helped bowhunters win the scent game. “Scent-Lok” has been around for some years and many bowhunters swear the garments virtually eliminate human odor because small carbon elements in a Scent-Lok suit “cleanse” air molecules before taking to the air and spooking game. “Scent-Lok” now is available in camouflage, making it an even more versatile outer wear garment to reduce human scent.

Browning also is making an excellent carbon suit designed to help deer, elk, bear, caribou, antelope and other big game hunters avoid olfactory detection.

“As a bowhunter perspires and releases odor, the carbon membrane in a Browning ‘Scent Sorb’ suit absorbs the odor and it doesn’t escape from the garment, explains Travis Hall, of Browning. “A ‘Scent Sorb’ suit also is made with a very quiet exterior material that bowhunters love. It’s machine washable, and the scent absorbing carbon elements are reactivated simply by tossing the suit in a clothes dryer. You wear it and use it just like regular camouflage, except that it eliminates human odor.”

Veteran bowhunter Mike Fine’ of Springfield, Missouri is a big believer in using doe-in-heat scent to attract rutting bucks. But he is so concerned about the acute senses of deer, that he only puts the potion in small, sterilized plastic film canisters having only natural cotton to absorb the liquid.

“Bleached cotton isn’t as good as natural cotton because the bleached stuff is full of unnatural scent,” states Fine’, a bowman with several bow record-book bucks to his credit, including an arrowed Boone and Crockett whitetail. “I’ve shot a lot of bucks over doe-in-heat scent, but I’d never use it with regular, bleached cotton balls.”

Two-time world turkey calling champion and expert Alabama deer hunter Larry Norton is awed by the ability of a deer’s nose, too. Norton makes “mock” scraps to attract bucks to stand locations, but when making such scrapes he’s careful not only to wear rubber boots and scent-free clothing, but he also wears arm-length rubber gloves.

Advanced Buck Foolery
“I don’t want to contaminate a ‘mock scrape’ site with my bare hands or arms,” he says. “If you touch the ground, or a tree or bush, your scent stays there for many hours, even days in some conditions. Rubber gloves eliminate that problem.”

Many experienced archers know from long experience that the first or second time they try a “hot” stand often is the best opportunity of taking a good buck. It’s largely believed this is because hunting a spot too often alerts deer from man scent that contaminates the place. This is an important consideration while scouting. When you locate a great place to hunt, set up right there, rather than risk walking around too much in the area and spoiling the site with human scent. Also, too many hunters walking and scouting a place can ruin a spot faster than a single hunter working on his own.

Bowmen who spend much time chasing mountain game have special scent problems.

“Thermal air currents that swirl around rolling hills and mountains can be difficult to figure when bowhunting,” says Paul Meeks of API Treestands. “I’ve learned to rely on API ‘Windfloaters’ which are small, feather-like fibers that come in a small dispenser. By releasing a ‘Windfloater,’ I can quickly learn wind direction, then choose my stand site or stalking direction accordingly. Often the wind blows from one direction in the morning, but the exact opposite in the afternoon. Other times the wind is so light and swirling, that without a ‘Windfloater’ you can’t tell exactly what it’s doing.

“Another trick that’s helped my bowhunting using ‘Windfloaters’ is I check wind directly periodically from my tree stand, when I set up on a bugling elk. Even a subtle change in wind can ruin a hunting spot because your scent may blow where you expect to see game. If the wind changes in favor of game, I’ll immediately hunt from a different location. You can’t waste time hunting a spot when the wind isn’t in your favor.”

One trick well-known New York hunter Dick Kirby has used effectively for bowhunting draws in mountains is to work outside creek bends, or horseshoes. This works to keep the wind in his favor, even in flatland country.

“I pick a creek with a deep ravine and a good trail beside it, and place my stand on the opposite side of the creek from the horseshoe,” says the owner of Quaker Boy Game Calls. “Deer travel the path of least resistance, so they usually walk parallel to the creek, wind in their face. When they hit an outside bend in the creek they turn with it, so the wind is now crossing, and they can’t possibly smell me. “I’ve shot a lot of deer with my bow using this wind tactic setup across from outside creek bends.”

Veteran hunters who have watched deer, bears, elk and other big game use wind to “nail” hunters and avoid detection are amazed at the cunning and stealth these remarkable animals possess. Bowmen who have not yet observed this in big game and find such slyness difficult to believe are short-changing the sensitive noses of their quarry. They’re also surely bringing home less meat from the field than archers who work diligently at being “scent smart.”

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I knew where a huge 12 pointer was spending part of his time. My buddy had seen him at sixty yards from his bow stand the year before and said he was the biggest buck he’ll ever see – a real world-class hog. The farmer had seen him a couple of times during the summer and a logger saw him cross the road into my hunting area during the season. I only hunted that buck two or three times, never getting very far out on the long brushy point where he bedded. I truly think I was careful to a fault. I was so afraid of spooking the buck that I suffered from paralysis by analysis. Sometimes you have to take a few chances. You’ll never kill a big buck if you don’t hunt him!

When To Go On Offense
Ok, so how do you hunt a big buck in his core area; how do you decide when to make your play? Jim Hill is one of my hunting buddies and a highly successful trophy bowhunter from the Minneapolis, MN area. Jim has made taking monster bucks a habit. In 1992 he took a gnarly 160′s class buck from a medium-sized property in a heavily hunted region of his home state. A year later he took another huge buck, again scoring in the 160′s from a completely different area. And then in 1995 he took an unbelievable third 160+ buck from another Midwestern state.

Jim likes to hunt individual trophy bucks and was hunting these particular deer when he got them! Jim’s secret to success is to hang back and observe, scout carefully, spend a lot of time thinking, and then move in when the time is right.

Passive hunting is best early and late in the season when deer are patternable. But during the rut it pays to become more aggressive because bucks travel long distances and may only remain in your hunting area for a short time.

I asked Jim what he looks for when deciding the time is right to switch from defense to offense. “Basically, if I know (rather than hope) the buck is in a certain area I go in after him. Your odds are never high when hunting a big buck, especially if he isn’t there! But your best chance of taking a real trophy is when you first realize he’s in your hunting area. That way you don’t contaminate things needlessly by hunting the core area at the wrong times. You give him every opportunity to show up and then you go in after him.” Jim’s advice sounds simple but you would be surprised how many times people hunt an area hard before the most productive days of the season. Of course, the hardest part of Hill’s approach is knowing when the buck is around.

Make Sure He’s There First
Continuing, Hill adds, “I rely on a lot of second-hand information. Usually the farmer or a neighbor has seen the buck recently. Farmers are outdoors a lot during the fall hunting season harvesting crops, and they know where the deer are. I also look for big tracks going into cover but not coming out. Tracks crossing open fields and soft gravel or dirt roads are easy to spot and carry a lot of valuable information – like when, what, how, etc. If I don’t know a buck is in one of the sanctuaries, I stay out of it and wait. Some seasons it never happens.”
  
Low Impact
It’s very possible to hunt and hunt hard without alerting the deer in the area. A big factor in your ability to mask your presence is scent-free clothing and scent-blocking clothing like Scent-Loc

The big 12 pointer Jim took in 1992 is a classic example of his hunting technique. “I was hunting a farm in western Minnesota that has a sanctuary on it,” he said. “It’s an island in the middle of a swamp. I had left this spot alone all season, hunting other parts of the farm.

“I knew this big buck’s prints because I had hunted him for two years, and they were huge! The farmer told me he had seen the buck cross an open field heading toward the swamp from a big section of CRP grass to the north. I couldn’t find his tracks heading back north so I knew he was still around. I could have hung back and tried to play with him but now was the time to go in after him. The approaching rut could take him away the next day and I would never have another chance.

“I put on my hip boots that afternoon and snuck through the reeds in order to get on the island and into my stand. Once the first deer activity of the evening began, I started rattling. Just as soon as the tines touched together I heard the buck walking through the water toward the island from his bedding area on one of the several root clusters that form hummocks out in the swamp. The big buck kept coming until he was 32 yards away. That’s where I shot him. I really don’t think I would have gotten the buck without moving right onto the island with him, but obviously you have to be extremely careful not to be seen, heard, or smelled. I’ve been using Scent-Lok clothing for years now and feel it improves my odds of hunting a spot like this without ruining it,” stated the veteran.

“If I feel like a big buck is still using an area after several days,” Hill added. “I’ll continue to put the pressure on him. If you know he’s there, that’s the absolute best time to try to take him.”

Be More Aggressive During The Rut
Buck behavior changes as the season progresses. Early and late in the season they’re somewhat patternable around their food sources. However, during the rut everything is chaos and there’s neither rhyme nor reason to their movements. What the bucks are doing is a great indicator of how aggressively to hunt. For example, during the peak of the rut you can push a whole lot harder and hunt more sensitive areas than you can before or after.

Think back over all the rut hunting you’ve done. How many times have you seen the same big buck more than once at this time of the season? I can only remember three times and I ended up arrowing two of those bucks the second time I saw them. In every other case I’ve never seen a trophy more than once. This should tell you something: when you see a big buck, do everything you can to get him that day or even that hour because you may never get another chance.

Suppose you see a big buck cross a field as he heads into a thicket in late morning. Get over there and carefully put up a stand on the most likely exit route the buck will use to leave. You may get lucky and he’ll come right past later in the day. Do your best to be stealthy, but even if you spook him there’s very little lost. He probably wouldn’t have been anywhere near your hunting area the next day anyway.

“You can hunt sanctuary areas harder during the peak of the rut than at any other time.”

You can hunt sanctuary areas harder during the peak of the rut than at any other time. I start hunting bedding ridges around November 4 every season in my part of the Midwest, because the local bucks that have been using them all summer and fall are probably off somewhere else. And the bucks I see are much more likely to be nomadic cruisers. As long as I do my best to get in and out clean, who cares if I accidentally spook one of them – it’s likely a one-shot deal anyway.

Just keep in mind that you’ll eventually educate all the does too, which can have a negative affect on your buck hunting during the rut. When you start seeing fewer and fewer does from your stand it’s time to back off or move on.

Conclusion
Trophy whitetail hunting is a balancing act between too much pressure and too much caution. During most of the season it makes sense to keep your distance from the places where you think bucks may be living and hunt their travel routes in and out. But, there are two situations in which it pays to be aggressive.
 When you know a big buck is using a particular part of your hunting area and the rut is closing in, your risk vs. reward will never be better. It’s worth the risk of contaminating the area by hunting it when you know the buck is there and may soon be leaving.

The second time is during the peak of the rut when bucks aren’t staying close to home anyway. Many of the bucks you run into at this time are nomads – here today, gone tomorrow. You’ll rarely see the same one twice. If you spook them by putting on the pressure, so what? At least you gave it your best shot. You can actually be too careful at times like these and let opportunities slip away.