Whitetail tactics #1

Share your deer hunting knowledge, give tips on how to hunt deer. Ask any questions you may have about deer hunting.
Forum rules
Please stick to deer hunting tips and tactics in this forum.
Message
Author
User avatar
Shadowhntr
Posts: 4614
Joined: Wed Feb 10, 2016 4:47 pm

Whitetail tactics #1

#1 Post by Shadowhntr »

Im going to give a layout of a method and thought process here, that most hunters either dont think about, or dont believe enough in to adhere to in order to really see the benifits it can bring. If you are 100% happy with your whitetail hunting success, you can hit the back button as this would not be for you.

A little history on me...I went a good number of years chasing whitetails with only marginal success. Finally, as fate would have it, I met a man and later, became a mentor, that taught me how to get deer in front of me as consistently as any method I know of. I followed his method that had been passed on to him, and the difference was night and day from my old ways of thought and approach. As time goes, I will add to this and build the method for those that want to change or enhance their luck, but we first must build a foundation to work from.

We all know of a whitetails best defense...his nose. So lets talk a bit about that, and some things to think about pertaining. Fooling a whitetails nose is really a fantasy. There is no such thing. We can hunt the wind, but that doesnt fool the nose, it is simply hiding our scent via air current pushing it away from noses. A whitetail doesn't think its made a mistake on even one molecule of human scent. They may want to know more about you...as in location, distance, and so on, but once they have caught scent, they wont be ignoring it very often if at all. The older and more experienced the deer is, the more quickly they respond and the more sensitive they become. For now, think of a deers nose as being better then a bloodhounds, because the fact is, they really are. So I will quit for now, but I ask you in departure, when you hunt, are you approaching things as if they were packs of wild bloodhounds in the forest? We will take this up in a day or two...
The element of surprise can never be replaced by persistence.

Carpdaddy
Site Admin
Posts: 9469
Joined: Tue Dec 31, 2013 7:36 pm

Re: Whitetail tactics #1

#2 Post by Carpdaddy »

Well you got my attention anyway, this old dog is always willing to learn new tricks.

Captainkirk
Site Admin
Posts: 12787
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2014 8:19 pm

Re: Whitetail tactics #1

#3 Post by Captainkirk »

In fact, a whitetail's nose is over 10,000 times more receptive than a human's nose. That sounds like a big number, yeah...but put it in perspective. Imagine one penny in your hand. Now imagine 10,000 pennies. Whoa...that's a lot more than a big number now....and that's what you are up against, boys. A Super Sniffer.
One well-known writer proposes that for every deer you see in the woods, 9 have scented and avoided you without being detected. Chew on that a little.
The whitetail's sense of scent is their most powerful weapon of defense. The deer you spooked in the woods at 10:00 am left 'alarm scent' on the ground via his interdigital glands that other deer can smell for up to three days. It tells them to avoid and re-direct. And you wondered why your stand was a bust the rest of the afternoon?
Sorry, Jason...did not mean to hijack your thread. Carry on.
Aim small, miss small!

Kybownut
Posts: 825
Joined: Wed Jan 28, 2015 5:30 am

Re: Whitetail tactics #1

#4 Post by Kybownut »

I'm listening!

User avatar
Shadowhntr
Posts: 4614
Joined: Wed Feb 10, 2016 4:47 pm

Re: Whitetail tactics #1

#5 Post by Shadowhntr »

Thanks for the post guys!

So....I had left you with the question, if when you hunt, do you approach things as if there were packs of wild bloodhounds in the forest? As we go, you will soon know as to what depth you take that.

Im not here to cover whitetail basics. You all know you should hunt the wind, and if you don't know that...well, you need fundamentals. We will cover things today like impact on the woods, cover scent, timing, effects of greenery and wind, and effects of topography and wind. If I get so my fingers have had enough, we will pick up tomorrow where I leave off. K?

First, cover scents. Let me start by saying, I do not use them of any sort, nor do I subscribe to their effectiveness, and here is why. The best way to get the idea across, is to associate something of likeness that we as humans have experianced. Now remember, how much better is a whitetails nose over a bloodhounds, (at least 3x better), and how much better are they both then ours? How many times have any of us walked into a bathroom, and was greeted by the oh so great smell of lilacs...and poo? You know what I mean, the perfumed poop that somebody sprayed to try and cover up the odor? Well, how great does it smell? Smell just like lilacs?...or can you still smell other? Do you, oh hominid, detect poo a midst the flowery smell? Do you recognize it, you hominid, even through the flowery potpourri for it as it is? How about this..... Wifey cooks you a dinner. It's steak, and homemade bread. Can you recognize those differing smells? May be a little tougher for some, but indeed, you CAN take in several smells and odors at a single whiff, and know in a short time, what those smells are. Now....think whitetail. At any moment, without thinking about it, they can take in hundreds of different odors, and translate them in an instant, and pick out the molecule of human odor. They smell the cover scent, but they also smell YOU...easily I might add. So if you are hunting UP wind or in shifting winds, and depending on cover scents to keep you hid....you got another think coming, and I know some of the problem of why the whitetails aren't coming around. Not only that, deer not only are leery of human scent....its anything different, that is outside of normal for that area. Even if they don't just high tail it for the back 40, if some scent is detected and considered out of the norm, they will investigate farther. They may approach, but the last thing we want to do is shoot at a deer on alert and leery...thats how the "string jumping" happens. We only want relaxed deer to shoot at. Cover scents, no matter the claim, are not natural, and are not normal in the deer woods. Remember, that deer knows it's woods better then we know our own house.

On to one of the most important yet overlooked factors that causes so many hunters grief in successful whitetail hunting......Impact.
So, I will give a scenario to start. We carefully ease in to the tree/stand, the wind is right coming out of the North. We had to cross a couple of light used deer trails and sacrificed it, to get to the heart of the action for a close shot. Low and behold, we see a lot of deer that first night, but it just doesn't work out for a shot close enough. At dark, we depart, undetected when all is quiet. We cannot go hunting tomorrow for prior engagements...so we go the second day. Again, everything looks in line, north wind, so we slip in quietly and take stand. We still see deer, and have a couple right next to the stand, but they won't offer the shot. They eventually slip off, and night falls....we depart, but we can't help but notice the deer sightings were greatly reduced from the last time...must have been the barometric pressure, or just an off night. Can't go again until next weekend. The weekend comes and goes with North wind, and all weekend we see 1 deer, that skirted out around our location never coming close. What the heck is going on? So, we try again, no deer,,,and again,,,,no deer. What happened? They must have changed feed patterns, or moon phases, or, or , or....,,,,,,,,,,,, or maybe they knew you were there! Sound familiar anyone? Do the deer just vanish? You did your part and hunted right, so it can't be you!.....or was it?

Remember the bloodhound? How long after you take a certain path, do you suppose a bloodhound can follow you? Minutes? Hours?...How about 3 days? Indeed, they can track you for 3 days... What do you suppose happened after you left hunting? In the night, when deer are moving freely, the winds shifted from north to south, and right to passing deer. With each visit, more and more deer pass by even when you are not there, and detect your presence. More and more deer avoid that area as a result. Your scent is left everywhere you go, it falls off us like a water fountain. Don't be fooled into thinking you can stop it, and don't be fooled into thinking if you don't touch things you won't leave scent. It falls off us like running water, always. It falls, and clings to things, and is moved around in the breezes. Granted, the environment does begin to degrade it, but proof it's strong enough to recognize even for days, is the bloodhound. So, in other words, every single time we enter the deer woods, no matter how perfect the execution is, we negatively impact the deer herd. If you are on location, The first hunt will always be the best, and every hunt there after will degrade from there. The more we walk around....the more we impact the deer negatively.. the more we hunt a location, the more we impact the deer negatively,....every time we enter, we reduce our chances. So, how do we battle this phenomenon? With common sense. The trick, is to prepare as many locations for stands and blinds, not on one piece of ground for the same deer, but for as many different deer herds as possible. Pick one or 2 of the very best spots of each area, prepare them before hand well ahead of season so the deer have time to go back to normal routine. Then wait until peak movement times towards prerut when winds are steady (we will cover this more later), and to your advantage. Plan on hunting each stand once or twice. Do not take chances, if it isn't right wind direction or time of year, don't go to that spot, no matter the temptation. Try to find as many good spots across your range, for different winds so you always have somewhere to hunt...the more fresh stands and untouched deer, you increase your odds by huge amounts. Impact......something we cant avoid, but need absolutely to be aware of, and prepare for it...or success will be minimized. This is the difference in trying to be as scent free as possible... extending your time of hunting per stand by a day. Figure the best arrival/departure routes to and from stand, to minimize the effects of impact. That comes in varying degrees. Some stands I can approach in such a way of crossing no deer travel at all, and if I get nothing but prevailing adventageous winds, I might get 4 or 5 hunts before they get completely spoiled. Other stands are such high risk, the impact is so great that one hunt blows it. But then again, one hunt is all it takes, if done wisely. Be wise, be aware of your impact.

Fingers starting to hurt....see you tomorrow.
The element of surprise can never be replaced by persistence.

Captainkirk
Site Admin
Posts: 12787
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2014 8:19 pm

Re: Whitetail tactics #1

#6 Post by Captainkirk »

Excellent points! However, this can be a 'variable' situation, based on how that particular deer or herd view humans!
Consider my last hunt on the PHL state park which had never before been open to hunting, nor subject to hunting pressure. Do you really think I would have gotten that close to as many deer (eyeball to eyeball at one point, at 12 yards!) in a heavily hunted PHL zone?
I'd love to flatter myself and thump my chest and crow to you all about my superior hunting prowess and stealth. But hey...you guys know me. Busted!!!
No, truth is, those deer smell humans on a daily basis, and while natural instinct tells them to be wary and avoid contact, they did not necessary connect that fear with impending death. Generations of deer in that area have been around humans walking dogs, bicycling, hiking, and doing other non-threatening activities for generations. I wonder what the difference will be next year if hunting is allowed? I'm guessing a rather radical change for those survivors. They will now view human scent/sightings as "fly-or-die" scenarios.
The more hunted a herd or area has been, the more Jason's points will apply.
Aim small, miss small!

User avatar
Shadowhntr
Posts: 4614
Joined: Wed Feb 10, 2016 4:47 pm

Re: Whitetail tactics #1

#7 Post by Shadowhntr »

Thanks for posting kirk!

We hunt an area similar to like you are describing. What we have figured out, is the people the deer are use to in the state park, are on a routine. Not so much in timing but patterns...in other words they are always on trails and road ways doing their dog walking, horse riding, hiking and so on. The deer seem to keep their distance from them, but do not get overly alarmed. Yet i can ease quietly through the timber, and they will spook like crazy. With these particular deer, we are out of the normal, and the walkers are considered normal within their routine and loosely accepted as a result by the deer. Me on the other hand, im the devil.
The element of surprise can never be replaced by persistence.

Carpdaddy
Site Admin
Posts: 9469
Joined: Tue Dec 31, 2013 7:36 pm

Re: Whitetail tactics #1

#8 Post by Carpdaddy »

Good thoughts; I do make efforts to be as sent free as possible but know it is impossible, can't hurt though. If somebody is in their house (the woods) they tend to figure it out quickly either by sent or seeing something out of place. I agree that it's best not to over do your welcome by frequenting the same place. If you break into Kirks house and steal his Timberlane don't move his furniture, drink his bud-dummers, use his toilet, or sign his guest book. If you do he will figure out that someone has been there and it's only a matter of time before he figures out that his $100 bow is missing and panics.

Captainkirk
Site Admin
Posts: 12787
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2014 8:19 pm

Re: Whitetail tactics #1

#9 Post by Captainkirk »

Imagine filing THAT insurance claim....
"So, Mrs. Kirk, how much was your husband's missing bow worth?"
"Oh, he said it cost $100.00....."
:shock:

That's right...I paid more for a Sage than a Tamerlane. Riiiiiiight....
Aim small, miss small!

Carpdaddy
Site Admin
Posts: 9469
Joined: Tue Dec 31, 2013 7:36 pm

Re: Whitetail tactics #1

#10 Post by Carpdaddy »

Just keeping you safe in case the boss reads. Lol

Post Reply

Return to “Deer hunting tips and tactics”