Comments on: Have We Forgot How To Hunt Deer?

By: 2-Hollows

2-Hollows — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:21:18 +0000

The discussion is important, but sadly I see not getting a lot of activity. Don and Gerald I too remember the day..(I started in 1965 at the age of 10)as my dad’s apprentice. He taught me during the whole season, and if we were lucky, I got to help drag a deer several miles to our back porch steps. One important thing he taught me which I still hold dear is that if you want to see deer, you need to walk like a deer. Get off the beaten paths to where the deer are.

I hear too many fellow hunters who ride their wheelers to their tree stand complaining about how bad hunting is now. How they hardly ever see anything. It’s sad too that they complain about seeing “too many hunters” as if this is the reason they don’t see anything. I remember up until the mid eighties hunters walked in the woods, and yes you saw them, but you also saw a lot more deer in a day too. Why is it we see less while at the same time biologists are telling us there are more deer?

It’s because the deer are smart enough to know they can lay low all day and nobody will come near them. Hunters are riding the wheelers, and walking the logging roads, and watching meadows, and the deer are just up there, out of sight.

In Vermont we have a youth season that the wildlife people claim is essential to recruiting and retaining new hunters. It makes no sense to me though, and in fact what is accomplishes is it gives first crack at our deer herd to inexperienced shooters who wound and watch them run away, mentored by neo hunters who drive to the stand and have no idea that if it runs away it doesn’t mean you didn’t kill it.

To make it even more fun, the wildlife department enacted a headhunter law that protects spikehorns from everybody but the youth hunters. This of course is to commercialize hunting, to grow bigger racks to get out of state dollars. Forget about the spiritual or the meat hunting aspects. Lets teach our kids to hunt for all the wrong reasons, and lets only let them hunt with us for a couple of days before the deer season begins.

By: Justin

Justin — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 07:26:28 +0000

No, not all of us young hunters are that naive. I’m 25 and have been hunting since I was 8 with a minimal, hodge podge collection of hand-me-down, mis-matched camo and gear. While, all of the cool new gadgets are admittedly, tempting and sometimes invoke thoughts of inadequacy, ultimately none of them have been necessary for me or my family to take nice deer year after year.

Thanks for a nice site. This is my first time stopping by and I expect to be back.

Justin

By: Victoria

Victoria — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:55:04 +0000

Hi there. I see it’s been over two year since your last response, but I would enjoy a response from you.

I am researching the cons of using the latest technology while hunting. I am looking for someone with some insight on the pro’s of gimmick-free hunting.

Ideally, I’d like to see a outfitting group who’ll focus on old school hunting techniques. Someone you can rely on to TEACH you how to perfect your hunting skills, (Just like the man who worked with your dad) rather than take you on a trip and let you rely on the gadgets you’ve brought along.

I would greatly appreciate any information (wisdom) you’d care to share with me on the topic of the “pro’s of old school hunting”.

Thanks
- V

By: cally

cally — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 02:07:36 +0000

my husband got his first turkey a couple of years ago, in upstate NY. wearing blue jeans and a gray sweatshirt!!! He did have 2 decoys and a call.

By: John

John — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 02:38:58 +0000

Guys,
I don’t think you have to spend money on expensive camo and other devices. I will tell you that the deer live on that property you hunt. You know what your neighborhood smells like. If you have taken a deer while smoking a cigarette, holding a cup of coffee, and eating a limburger cheese sandwich, you were a lucky man. Oh yeah, and you were downwind. Your habits (smoking, etc.) will cost you deer. Even a blind squirrel gets a nut, but that nut is up wind. Be quite, be still, and don’t stink, that will get you a deer.
Best of luck.

By: Scott W Swigart

Scott W Swigart — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:28:26 +0000

I use ASAT camo, a PSE 175 lb crossbow and Scent Away.

Saturday I was out in the field/woods for about 45 minutes and two bucks walked up on me. I watched them come in and was amazed at their beauty, and the fact that they COULDN’T SEE ME!!!

They came within 15 to 20 feet of me, not yards but feet! They didn’t know I was there.

The only problem was I let them come in two close before I realized that my crossbow was pointing off to my left and the deer were in front of me. Rather then having to reveal my ‘ambush’ site I stayed still until they left, in the direction that they came from, directly in front of me. Had they walked to my left, Bambi would be in the freezer now.

I say all this as a ‘novice’ deer hunter. I have never killed a deer yet. Should either one of those two walk out in front of me again, I’ll make sure to point my crossbow in their direction long before they get close enough to lock me up again.

Due to the ‘advanced’ scouting, of the day before, I knew exactly where I wanted to set up. I’m not looking for a ‘pig’ or a huge buck. I just want to meat in the freezer. My wife and I like the taste of deer meat.

It doesn’t take an Einstein to locate deer. It’s not rocket science. I don’t know why you try to make it seem like it is. It’s really rather simple to locate them, their food, their bedding areas and their trail and escape routes. Read a lot before going to the field. You will be successful quickly. This was my second day in the field for the 2009-2010 hunting season.

So, we know how to hunt, we do the scouting, look for the well-used trails, the acorn trees, berry bushes, young maple trees, water sources, bedding areas, and we apply all of this to give ourselves the best chance possible of intercepting a doe or a buck.

Of course we know how to hunt. What do you want us to do, kill them with our bare hands or a spear. That’s is illegal in Ohio by the way.

By: Lee

Lee — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 04:27:19 +0000

Just getting into deer hunting for the first time and I have to say that I’ve been feeling pretty overwhelmed by all the advertisements and gizmos available to the modern deer hunter. Overwhelmed to the point of thinking that I needed to wait a couple of more seasons to start so that I could put together a hunting kit sufficient to prevent being looked down on by more experienced and better equipped deer hunters. I feel more confident after reading your article that my old military battle dress uniforms and boots will suffice for now and that my focus should be on hunting, observing, and reading about deer, not on whether or not I have all the appropriate kit. Thank you. I would appreciate your views on hunting techniques as well. I have no experience with tree stands or blinds and no one to show me yet. Are there other ways to hunt deer without a stand or blind and be successful? Best Regards, Lee

By: Don

Don — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 04:08:08 +0000

@Gerald – First, thanks for stopping by. Second, I couldn’t agree with you more. That’s a nice site you have, I encourage everyone to go and browse through it.

@JM – thanks for stopping by and commenting. I agree. According to all the companies out there today, we didn’t know how to hunt deer before they came along. How did we ever manage before they came along and saved us from our heathern ways?

Every year I seem to go to the field with less and less gear. A weapon, grunt call (I have called them up by mouth though), binoculars, knife, compass, rope, etc. If I’m hunting close to the vehicle, I don’t even take all that.

Maybe there’s a movement out there to throw off all this uneccessary junk the companies are pushing on hunters? Who knows. Not all the young hunters can be that naive? Can they?

Don

By: Jm R

Jm R — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 00:31:59 +0000

I can’t agree with you more on the subject matter here Don. When I learned to hunt in the late 70′s, I also had nearly nothing for outfitting in style and or camo for cover. To this day, I still have not harvested as many deer as I did back then. It goes back to the idea of basics, or KISS, (keep it simple stupid theory). We tend to feed on the frenzy of the newest and cleverest ideas to help us obtain more deer in the freezer. When in reality all we need is warm clothing, food for the longer days in the field, and a weapon of choice. Back in the early days of hunting people did not have all the gadgets of today. Yet they brought home the meat and needs to feed a family. It is the advertising industries marketing strategies that make us desire these items. Popular shows on hunting channels make us feel that we are not up to par or well equipped without there goods. To be a successful hunter we need all the camo cover, scents, and other items to be a great hunter. I agree that if we spent more time reading the patterns of the animal we are hunting, we would have more success without all the gadgets in their bag of tricks they sell us. I look forward to your next posting on this subject matter.

By: Gerald Dodd

Gerald Dodd — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 12:27:42 +0000

Don,
A wonderful take on today’s mega hunting craze. I remember the times I used skunk scent so heavy all I got was a headache! And I remember the first time I saw tree bark camo. What a sight it was. You are right about the fact that the face of hunting has changed. Unfortunately another important difference between today’s deer hunter and the older deer hunters I grew up with is what I’ll refer to as a sense of “jealousy” or perhaps “selfish” better describes it. Many (though thankfully not all) of today’s deer hunters are far to occupied to get kids involved with hunting. How many are willing to take their own kids hunting. What about the neighborhood kids, especially the ones from single parent homes who don’t have an active dad to introduce them to hunting. Unfortunately for all of us, most simply won’t take the time. And that fact is going to reach up and bite us unless we wake up. The number of kids who are becoming involved with hunting is declining. Many studies document the fact that the average age of hunters is increasing rapidly. Fewer and fewer hunting licenses are being sold. When the anti hunters you mentioned outnumber the hunters at the ballot box, you are going to see the face of hunting change forever. And today’s hunters’ attitude is going to ultimately be the straw that breaks the camels’ back. We are too self centered as hunters, caring too much about the contents of the “bag left home” that you mentioned, rather than the intrinsic value of the hunt itself. The challenge. I’ve always wanted to take a deer while wearing a pair of blue jeans rather than camo. The challenge of it! We have not only lost sight of the challenge of hunting, as you so well put it, but we have lost sight of the importance of bringing in replacements for us as hunters. The kids of today are far too involved with video games, drugs, gangs, etc. They need to become indoctrinated into hunting! And hunting needs them just as much! Take a kid hunting today. And visit http://www.savingourhunting.com to see how some people are giving away free lifetime hunting licenses to kids in order to reduce one more hurdle to parents who can’t afford a hunting license for their kids. Thanks for your time and for a well thought out essay on some of the problems facing hunting today. Gerald