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CD Denmons's Column
By C.D. Denmon Deer Standology "DeerStandology" is defined in the C.D. Denmon dictionary as, "The study of stand selection, preparation, and placement as it pertains to whitetail deer hunting." Now I'm sure you are thinking, "Man this guy really takes this stuff seriously" and all I can say is, "you bet I do!" For many of the hunters across the nation, stand preparation and placement comes at the same time after only one or two scouting sessions and to some it may even happen all at one time. I have seen this over and over again as hunters prepare for the coming season a day or two before the season opens, scout for a few hours pick a spot then place a stand at the chosen location. It is these same guys that I see walking away at the end of the season with most or all of their tags still left unfilled. For me this process of finding stand locations, prepping the area and placement is a never ending cycle. From season to season all throughout the year I am constantly evaluating the deer sign I find and choosing the best ambush locations based on what I have learned over the year and what I have learned from previous hunting seasons as well. Within this process I have certain guidelines that I try to adhere to as much as possible. Standology is not just a term for me it is a very detailed process which has also become almost a way of life for me. In this article I won't get into how to choose a location to hunt whitetails from since every situation is a little bit different. I'm also not going to go into detail about how to properly set up a rifle stand. I will cover a few basic fundamentals about rifle stand setups, but primarily I will delve into proper bow stand preparation and setup. Once you know how to set up a bow stand properly since they are the hardest, you should have a pretty good idea on the requirements for a good rifle stand. Before I get into the details I will tell you two golden rules for stand setups. Many of you may think that these are obvious and really they are, but I have seen even professional outfitters make these mistakes. The rules are these; never place the stand directly over a deer trail and be sure shooting lanes are free of any limbs that can deflect an arrow or bullet. The addendums to these rules is that rifle stands should be backed off further from deer trails than archery stands and the shooting lanes should be longer. Site Preparation When I have chosen a good location to intercept deer and I have determined what the prevailing wind currents are for that area I then choose the best tree that will suit my purposes. The tree that I choose must have an ample of cover for movement, have an ample amount of back drop to keep me from being silhouette, and be large enough to support myself and my equipment and won't sway under any of my movements. Once I have these requirements fulfilled from a particular tree I can then move on to the next step. Deciding stand height really isn't as critical of an issue that many make it out to be. I have killed as many whitetails on the ground as I have from a tree stand so the need to go 30 feet above the ground really isn't that important if you have the location of the stand set up the way you should in regards to prevailing wind currents, thermals, possible swirling air currents, and direction of sunlight. The first important thing with this is to be at a height that allows a good view of the surrounding area so that you can see that animal coming and still give you ample time to prepare for a shot. The second most important thing to remember is that the height of your stand will allow you clear shooting lanes and provides low angle shots. I hate steep downward angle shots and attempt to avoid them at all times and you should too. It is important when combining the last step and the next step to be able to have a little insight on the finished product when stand preparation is complete. It is important to keep in mind that you may be able to trim some of the surrounding limbs to provide with clear viewing and shooting lanes instead of the whole limb. The key to this step is to avoid over-trimming an area without compromising your shooting lanes. When I set up my stands I like to have one side of me that has plenty of limbs, brush, or other trees to serve as a barrier. This side is my safe zone where I don't have to worry about deer sneaking up on me and seeing me before I see him. I usually attempt to make that side the downwind side of my stand if possible. Since I can view three sides of my stand with only the turn of my head, I opt for this setup. Not all of my stand locations offer this scenario, but most of them do. The next step is critical in my setup. This is which side of the tree that I will actually position my stand. There are two main factors that dictate this; one is which direction I expect the deer to approach from and the other is how open the area is surrounding my stand. If the area is especially open I will always place my stand on the leeward side from which I expect deer to approach from or on the opposite side of the tree from the deer trail. If the area is thick around my stand I can opt to put my stand facing the deer trail if it offers me the best shooting lane and doesn't compromise my movements while positioning myself for a shot. Once I have determined that, I can then prepare my shooting lanes. This is often a faltered technique amongst mainly novice hunters. In their attempt to have every shot opportunity possible to them, they prune and prune the trees surrounding their stand until the area is severely changed, which will alert deer to the area and will accentuate any movements because all the available cover has been removed as well. One key to remember when doing tree trimming for a stand site is time of year. A stand site that is set up in late summer may look totally different once the foliage has dropped to the ground in the fall. If you do set up a stand while it is still full of green leaves is to visualize the limbs around your stand without the leaves. Some of these limbs that are only a slight inconvenience at the initial time of the season may not be a problem at all once the leaves have dropped. The same goes for stands that are set up during the seasons when there isn't any foliage. If you leave some limbs and then during the early season there is an abundance of leaves hanging in your shooting lanes it may require a few more trimmings. The key is learning the ability to visualize the finished product for the time of year that you plan to hunt out of that particular stand. Pruning Tools I use several tools to complete my stand setups. Tools such as pole pruners, hand pruners, rope with weight, folding saw, and climbing spikes are a few of my principal tools and any or all of these tools may be employed when I set up a stand. Some of these tools may be used while on the ground while other may be used while in the stand. I use hand pruners for limbs that are 7/8" or smaller while the small folding saw is used for the larger limbs. The pole pruners are employed when nuisance limbs are out of reach. These are great tools to have because they offer both a pruning tool and a saw, all in one. A rope that has a weighted bag is an essential in my tool bag. The rope consists of a 3/8" nylon rope with an arborist bag. This is a small canvas bag that is filled with sand and has a ring on it. This allows me to throw the rope with accuracy over a limb that I need to pull down for a little trimming. I use this mostly if a pole pruner is not available. I use the climbing spikes for climbing up nearby trees that have limbs that should be removed. It gets awful tiresome putting in tree steps in trees that you don't plan to hunt out of just to remove one limb and you won't damage trees unnecessarily. The aid of tree climbing spikes and a safety belt are of great use for this and they are a great tool to have for scouting as well. Whenever I am setting up a stand I try to pay special attention to every detail. It is whenever a minor detail is missed that things can and will go wrong. Although bad things can always happen, I just try to prevent that as much as possible. One way that I attempt to do that while setting up is to look at it all from a deer's perspective. One of the best ways to do this is to leave a hat in the tree at the height where your head would be while in your stand. Then get down and step into the "killing zone" where you expect the deer to approach from and then be at the moment of truth. Crouch down to the height of a deer's eyesight as well as where the deer's vitals will be. Crouch down as you move past your stand, all the while looking up into your stand paying special attention to the hat you left there. I use this technique on every stand set I make and you would be surprised on what you may have missed. Everything looks different from a human's line of sight and once you move down to a deer's line of sight, a new picture emerges. Limbs that may be in the way or stand placement on that particular tree may be slightly wrong, this will help you correct any possible problems. I do this while scouting and I do this for stand setups as well and you would be surprised at just how many times this techniques has saved me from making a mistake that would cost me later. Whenever I make a cut on a limb that is larger than 1/2" in diameter, I will darken the remaining stump with dirt. The whiteness of a freshly cut limb stands right out against a dark woodland setting and could draw attention to a wily deer or another hunter passing by. If you have a person that you can trust with your secret hunting spots, use them. Ideally the less intrusion into an area the better so one person is better than two when setting up a stand right? Not really. My father and I usually team up when setting up our stands and work together to reduce the work load, clear lanes and listen to each others ideas. By having another person helping with the setup you can be able to stay in the stand and have the other person make the necessary limb trims around your stand as you direct them to the ones that need to be removed. By doing this you can reduce the amount of time, sweat, and noise that will be at that location. This will help prevent deer from becoming spooked by excess human scent, just be sure that your partner is as self conscience as you are or more when it comes to scent control. I always scout, and prep stands as if I were hunting which includes unscented showers, odor eliminator sprays and more. When I have completed my stand setup I will then spray my entire stand, tree steps, and tree trunks that I have touched with an odor eliminator spray. I will also carry cut material away from my stand location and stow it in an area where deer are least likely to come into contact with. By doing this I not only prevent the deer from becoming alerted to sudden changes in the area, but it will also help prevent other hunters in the area from becoming aware of your stand set up. Limb debris that is left behind is perhaps the most obvious sign that signifies that a stand is nearby, which may alert another hunter to a possible hotspot for a big whitetail. When When you ask a group of hunters when is the best time to prep an area and set up stands you'll probably get any number of answers. When it comes to time of year, I'll prepare an area for a stand the first chance I get after I have located a good ambush site. I may prep an area right after the season has ended, which will leave only some minor touch up when the next season rolls around. What does remain constant in my stand setup schedule is that it doesn't take place the last two weeks before the season opener. Anytime throughout the year I will prepare stand sites, but in my mind I MUST have all my stands set and ready for action within that time frame. Some may say this is too late, but I have seen to negative effects to this schedule. The difference between me and the some of the other hunters is that I try to do all my scouting and stand setups while it is raining. By doing this in these conditions it will help keep scent down to a minimum and keep noise down as well. In addition to this I time my intrusion into the woods at certain times of the day. If I am setting a stand in a transition zone or other travel corridor I will opt to do my stand work during midday hours. This will put most deer already in their bedding areas. If I am setting a stand near to or in the forbidden bedding area, I will opt to do my work earlier in the morning before they arrive. Take these tips the next time you head out into the deer woods to prepare and set some stands your life will become just a little easier. Escape Route Whitetails There are several different strategies for hunting whitetails successfully. You can hunt feeding areas, bedding areas, anywhere in between the two, or even drive them to waiting standers. There is one tactic that many hunters often leave unused or are used without them even realizing they are using them. That tactic is hunting the whitetail's escape routes. The whitetail deer has an uncanny ability to avoid detection when it wants to or escape danger when presented it. What makes this easier for deer is that they often have trails that are not part of their regular travel patterns. These trails are mostly only used when deer are trying to escape danger, but there is also another time when deer will use these trails under calm conditions. Those times will usually involve a big buck. What does this mean to a deer hunter? It means that during the heat of the rifle season, when other hunters start pushing deer all over, the deer go into survival mode and you can capitalize on that. Throughout the deer season deer will utilize these obscure trails to avoid becoming part of a hunter's "cookie bag". It also means that during the rifle season and throughout the early archery season, big bucks will utilize these trails as well. These big boys have learned how to utilize these areas to their advantage and will use them year round to avoid detection. It is up to you to capitalize on that survival instinct. When I use the term "escape trail", I use that term loosely. I say that because it may not appear to be a deer trail at all and sometimes there very well may not be one present. Sometimes it is just a slight variation in a terrain feature that may dictate a change in movement patterns to avoid humans or other predators. A slight depression in the ground, stream bed, a dense stand of timber, or even a single line of trees may be all that deer utilize to escape. The real key with these areas is the ability to identify such areas when you see them. Sometimes overlooking these areas is very easy, sometimes you almost have to try to get inside the deer's head to determine where he is going to go when the pressure is on. Where to go? The first question you will probably ask yourself when you decide you want to hunt escape trails are, "Where do I go to find their escape routes"? The first step to answering this question is the same as always. Go to your topographical maps and aerial photos. These scouting aids will help point you in the right direction, but won't always give you what you are looking for. Only time spent in the field will give you that. On your maps and photos you want to find areas that deer find favorable for escape. Such areas as long draws on mountainsides, strips of timber dividing fields, slight depressions in an area, and others. Deer are lazy by nature and will take the easies route, but when heavy pressure is on, they will take the easiest route that offers the most cover. Most of the time these areas that deer use to escape hunters are the denser or wetter areas that other hunters usually avoid. It is those same hunters that are often hunting the main deer trails and over looking the lesser traveled trails in the background that will often yield a trophy class animal. The hard part is locating these trails. It may take several seasons of hunting an area to pinpoint these trails. As you hunt an area you will see deer running or sneaking through a particular area where you may or may not have expected them to be. It is important to log this information down so you can investigate these areas later. When you see deer using them in the heat of the hunting season, you know that it isn't by coincidence that they went that way. Deer in any given area have learned from their ancestors and from other deer in the area what will usually work for survival. So unless the habitat changes drastically from one year to the next, deer will utilize the same escape trails year after year. What to do? When you do find them, the question is, "What do I do with the information I have found"? Before that question can be answered there is some other information that you must acquire first. You must find out exactly what escape trail in question is being used only for. There are a few different scenarios as to the trails preferred use. One is that when deer are being pushed by rifle hunters and they are only trying to get away and using it to get to another piece of thick cover. The second is that the deer using it are more mature animals and are using it on a regular basis to sneak to and from their bedding areas. The third scenario is that the trail is being used for both reasons mentioned above. I have found that the areas that have a single line of coniferous trees in the open hardwoods will more likely be used during heavy hunting pressure. While areas that are surrounded by thick cover will likely be utilized for both reasons and will usually contain a few mature animals coming through the area at some point or another. Hunting the Trails Hunting these trails successfully will be determined by how you like to hunt and the effort you put into it. If you are rifle hunting, the more open areas may offer some success. Shooting lanes will be further, but the amount of deer you see may be somewhat less than other areas depending on where you are located and how much and where other hunting pressure is located. You will also be afforded more time to prepare for a shot on a deer. If you are looking for more deer sightings, head for the thicker terrain. These areas are great for archery hunting since shot distances are much closer anyways, you can capitalize on the close quarter's terrain. If you decide to hunt these areas with a rifle you may see more deer, but shot opportunities may not be all that great since deer will be able to sneak by in just a little bit of brush and you will have to be on your toes as shot opportunities may come and go quickly. Hunting these areas with a rifle can be tricky since shooting lanes are much shorter and you really don't want to open them up too much either. If you over trim shooting lanes, just like anywhere else, you can have a detrimental effect and change a deer's travel pattern. Extreme care must be given when pruning in these areas since deer are hypersensitive to change in these areas. As a final note, pay close attention to personal scent control. This is something that you should pay great attention to no matter where you hunt, but in these areas deer are extremely aware of their surroundings and with the possibility of deer being much closer, it is very important to be as scent free as possible. Keystone Whitetails America's Upcoming Trophy Hot Spot It was a cool crisp morning in November as I slowly made my way to my perch for the day. I had waited for conditions to be prefect before venturing back into this stand that was placed in a bottleneck between a swamp and some dense laurel. I had waited for a steady northwest wind and when fresh scrapes opened up in the area I knew the time was right. I was making a scent drag for the final 300 yards into my stand which would go past the active scrapes near my stand location. I knew this was an ideal setup for this location as I had bagged a nice 8 point at that location the previous year. Once I arrived on location I added the realism to the setup with some territorial buck scent as well as having the estrous scent. When daylight arrived I then throughout a few doe bleats followed by a few trailing grunts for ultimate realism. The season was entering the last week of Pennsylvania's archery season and I was after one of the big bucks that I had seen and also recorded on my remote cameras over the previous months. I knew of a big 10 point trolling the area as well as several 8 and 9 point bucks. I had dreamed of killing the big 10, but realistically I had my sights set on the "G-2 buck" which was a very nice 9 point that had a forked G-2 like a mule deer on his right antler. I had better hopes for the "G-2 buck" as his travel patterns were more predictable that the 10 point. Twenty minutes had passed since I made the series of calls and movement had caught my eye. A large racked buck was approaching my stand, the same exact way the buck had done the previous year. As he walked in stiff legged and with a swelled neck from his rutting activities I placed an arrow behind his shoulder at 12 yards. I knew he was a good buck, but I would soon learn just how good. When I walked up to him I learned that the animal before me was the big 10 point from my remote camera photo, but to my surprise though he had 11 legal points and 2 additional points that weren't quite long enough to be considered legal points. I was hoping for a buck like this on the trip to Wisconsin that would take place in two weeks, but instead I had killed this record book deer in one of the places most hunters wouldn't think of killing a book deer- Pennsylvania. When every serious whitetail hunter envisions places to hunt trophy whitetails, they usually envision the mid western plains states, notable western states like Montana and Idaho or perhaps Canadian providences further north. Very seldom do they think about states on the eastern part of the continental United States, but sportsmen from across the United States are starting to take a second look at Pennsylvania as a big buck hotspot- mostly due to the states regulations on antler restrictions. Historically, Pennsylvania has a deer population that has expanded to over 1million animals with doe populations far exceeding those of bucks. In addition to these facts hunters harvested at least 75% of all bucks with 75-85 percent of them being only 1.5 years of age. Big bucks coming from this state were few and far between and even then record book animals were even fewer still. For years I have been advocating that if Pennsylvania had some antler restrictions that there would be no need for residents to go to other states in search of "book" deer. Large remote areas coupled with agricultural areas, suburban areas, swamps and all intermixed with an abundance of hardwoods across the state make for some ideal habitat for whitetails. The abundance of high protein food in most areas and a great amount of dense cover has the potential of growing some phenomenal bucks as this state also has the genetics possible to grow large bucks. All that is needed is the mindset in the hunters to let those bucks reach older age classes. Pennsylvania has been steadily growing in the interest of quality deer management practices as many landowners and hunting clubs have been under this practice for over 15 years. These groups of dedicated hunters have had some impressive results in their practices. Finally, Pennsylvania has initiated an antler restriction law and is now going into its third year of practice. The eastern part of Pennsylvania was set under a 3 point on a side minimum while the western part of the state was slated for 4 points per side restriction. They set these minimums by survey results that were compiled by game biologist visiting butcher shops across the state for several years before the antler restrictions. From those results they determined what would be feasible antler restrictions based on that data In addition to the abundance of forested and agricultural land in those two regions. If you think that Pennsylvania doesn't have the genetics and could never produce a trophy buck, think again. From the data that was collected, biologists found that Pennsylvania was producing an abundance of 1.5 year olds that were already sporting 8 or 9 points. In the area where I am from, historically a 3.5 year old buck would score around 120 inches. This year for instance my father harvested a 2.5 year old buck that gross scored 121. The buck had a symmetrical 8 point frame and had a 21" spread. Does Pennsylvania have trophy potential? You bet! I have been selective at the bucks I harvest since the millennium and a majority of the hunters I associate with have been practicing this as well before the state made it a requirement. In addition I have been keeping records of body weights and ages of deer harvested since that time. What we are finding is that since Pennsylvania has had a more liberal doe harvest we are now seeing larger body weights of deer, better rutting activity and healthier doe populations. Now with antler restrictions also in place the recipe has been made for long term success. At one time a 120 class buck was hard to find, but now every year I can find at least 4 or 5 bucks that that have a minimum score of 120 without a problem. Twenty years ago the average weight of a deer harvested in Pennsylvania was 120 pounds live weight. Now averages are pushing between 140 and 160 pounds for both males and females with many mature bucks pushing over the 200 pound mark. In November 2002 I had harvested what was a fairly good buck for Pennsylvania. He was a 16" 8 point that had a field dressed weight of 140 pounds and he would have probably pushed 160 dressed prior to the rut. In November 2003 to the exact date of the prior season I harvested the whitetail described at the beginning of this article that field dressed 180 pounds and officially gross scored 147 Pope & Young inches. The difference between these two bucks is even though the first one was a decent buck by old Pennsylvania standards, he had not yet reached his maximum potential as he was only 2.5 years old. The 2003 buck was aged at 6.5 years old and was an exceptional deer anywhere in the world. This buck would have 21-1/2 inch spread and sport 11 scorable points. Both bucks were taken with broadside shots at a distance of 12 yards with 90 grain Muzzy broadheads. Both of these bucks were harvested in mid November during the peak of the rut and were lured in by the use of a scent drag near active scrapes. The larger of the two bucks was lured in by the use of an estrous doe scent drag in addition to a territorial scent being used on location and a mixture of doe bleats and buck grunts. As Pennsylvania's age structure and buck to doe ratios improve the use of scents and calls are becoming increasingly effective. Another occurrence took place with a friend of mine in 2002 while hunting a 200 acre farm that had been practicing QDM for the previous 12 years. It was Halloween and Steve Craig had settled in for an evening hunt in search of a doe for table fare. He had been on stand for less than an hour when movement caught his eye. A large buck strolled past his location at a distance of 30 yards and Steve released his arrow. The buck went only a short distance and Steve collected a buck that scored 187 1/8" Pope and Young. The buck had 6- 1/2" inch bases, 23 points total with 19 of them being scorable points and an outside antler spread of 27 1/4" inches. The buck also field dressed at 205 pounds and would become Pennsylvania's #5 non-typical taken with a bow. What do all these scenarios have in common? The continuity is that those scenarios are increasing in numbers each and every year that Pennsylvania continues with an ample doe harvest and antler restrictions. Not only are antler sizes becoming larger, but body weights are increasing and fawning periods are not as late and don't last as long due to healthier buck to doe ratios during the rut. A few bucks coming out of Pennsylvania are being scored at over 200 inches and from the record books, a substantial jump in entries has occurred over the past two years. I suspect that this trend will continue as long the Pennsylvania game Commission continues on the path it is currently on. Last year I ran a volunteer check station during the first day of the rifle season to check ages and weights of both bucks and does. I also took antler measurements of the bucks that were brought in and categorized them by age classes with the data I collected. I also added the data from my archery buck which was taken less than three weeks before. In total I recorded 38 deer. During the data collection process I took data from 4 females and 34 males in age classes ranging from 6 months old to 6.5 years of age. Of those deer over 76% of the deer passing through my check station were 2.5 years old or older as compared to Pennsylvania's past history of that equal number being only 1.5 years old. Out of the total numbers of deer passing through the check station, there were 13 deer that were 2.5 years old, 8 that were 3.5 years old, 2 were 5.5 and one was a 6.5 year old buck. The heaviest buck field dressed at 180 pounds and two of them scored nearly 150 inches. The average antler widths of these averaged nearly 13" for 2.5 year old bucks, over 15" for 3.5 year olds and nearly 20" for 5.5 year olds. The widest racked buck that came through the station had an inside spread of 24" which is pretty nice anywhere especially in this area of the country. Record book deer are popping up everywhere over the state. Many of them are reaching into the 120 class mark at just 2.5 years of age and as unbelievable as it is for the keystone state, more bucks are now entering into the 170, 180, and 190 and even exceeding the 200 inch benchmark. How has this state becoming such a Mecca of large bucks? The strong interest in quality deer management practices has taken a strong hold by many hunters. Hunters are now realizing what kind of habitat is required to build deer with larger antlers and bigger bodies. They are also realizing that to achieve these goals, they need to harvest an ample amount of does and provide quality foods through the planting of food plots. They are also beginning to realize how important the quality of the first year of a deer's life will affect what that animal will become in the future. A late birth from a poor sex ratio coupled with a poor diet can stunt the deer's growth for future years to come and sportsmen are realizing what is required and putting the extra effort into building a quality deer herd. The great thing about Pennsylvania is its abundance of public hunting grounds. There is over 1.4 million acres of state game lands, 2.2 million acres of state forests, and an additional 4.5 million acres of private ground that is enrolled in the states public access hunting program. This is also coupled by the 510,000-acre Alleghany National Forest as well as other federal land holdings that are open to public hunting. In total there is a minimum of over 8 million acres of ground open to public hunting and just like anywhere in the country, some areas are more prone to have greater concentration of deer and carry more big bucks but with a little research you too can find big success in Pennsylvania.
The Fundamentals of Quality Deer Management Every year hunters head for the woods with hopes of tagging one big whitetail to put on their wall. Most of these hunters however, settle for the first buck that comes by them, but lately this trend has been diminishing by leaps and bounds. Why? It's because of the practice of Quality Deer Management that has caught the attention of sportsmen all over the country. The philosophy of QDM is to allow younger bucks to live to reach a more mature age and to level the ratio of bucks to does. This is a practice that began in the Southeast United States and Texas. It was once believed that you needed to own large tracts of land to be successful at QDM, but as of lately this has been proven to be false. While practicing QDM on large parcels of property will certainly make it more successful and easier, it isn't necessary. It is possible to help establish a quality deer herd on as little as 100 acres. Even sportsmen that own only a few acres are getting co-operatives going by getting adjoining landowners to work together and restrict what deer they harvest and how many. This is a practice that has really taken off through out the country and has shown great results. In an area that I hunt there is such a co-operative working right now. Between several landowners and hunting clubs there is approximately 3000 acres under a quality deer management program. The program entails having a minimum antler restriction, harvesting mature does, and planting quality food plots for deer to forage on. Several years ago before this was practiced the average buck was a 1-1/2 year old spike. Now the average buck is carrying 6 or 7 points with several deer ranging in size from 8 to 13 points. This year alone I observed three 8 point bucks on the property that ranged between 120-140 class Boone & Crockett while others had the opportunity to observe a 10 point and the13 pointer. Not bad for Pennsylvania. Once you have a property established to practice QDM, what does it take make it successful? The answer is dedicated hunters. Without having hunters who are willing to pass up smaller bucks when the moment of truth has arrived, the program will never work. Everyone must restrict their harvest and trust the others to do the same. For many areas practicing QDM, the minimum antler size must be a 6 point with a 12 inch spread. These restrictions allow for most of the 1-1/2 year old bucks to be passed by. Another important factor is to harvest only mature does. This allows for more of the younger does to breed and reduces the chance of button bucks being killed mistakenly for young does. This allows a greater number of bucks to make it to the following year. Once a young buck has been allowed to survive past his 1- 1/2 and 2-1/2-year-old mark, there is an excellent chance he will age even longer since he was allowed to smarten up a little. This is where an antler-spread restriction is helpful. It is very possible and in many instances there are 1-1/2 year old 6 point bucks but their antlers are somewhat narrow. As they become older the antler spread will increase so by having a spread restriction in addition a point restriction the chances of a larger racked 1-1/2 year old deer making it to the following year will also increase greatly. Can QDM work on public ground? The answer is yes. In areas such as Dooly County, Georgia quality deer management practices have been in place for quit some time and has had some exceptional results. Dooly County's minimum antler size of a 15-inch spread began in 1992 after nearly a decade of debate. As predicted, the first year of enforced antler restrictions, buck harvest dropped nearly 25%, but that number rebounded the following year. On the third study year there were 29 bucks taken that were 2-1/2 years old and 64 that were 3-1/2 years old or older. These numbers compared to a total of 124 bucks taken prior to the restrictions explains the success of Dooly County. Studies also concluded that harvested bucks that were 2-1/2 years old or older increased by 50% under these new guidelines. Before the County's new laws were in place 2 out of 3 hunters agreed with the idea of an antler restriction. At the end of the study 9 out of 10 hunters wanted the antler restrictions to remain in place. Dooly County also increased the length of their doe season in addition to the buck antler restrictions. At the end of the study the doe harvest was slightly lower than prior to the study. What did change after those three years was the fact that nearly 50% of the doe harvest consisted of does that were 3-1/2 years old or older. While the yearling kills were reduced by nearly 50% as compared to pre-study years. Also, in a few State Forests in Pennsylvania DCNR has established Quality Deer management programs and are seeing a substantial increase in the harvesting of bucks ranging from 3-1/2 to 5-1/2 years old. These older bucks are not only older but have exceptional racks to go with them. These programs also include an increase in the antlerless harvest. These special regulation areas are seeing a similar result that Dooly County had several years ago. There are three things deer need to reach a trophy status. Age, Food and Genetics. Organizations like the Quality Deer Management Association emphasize on these three essentials to have quality bucks. Age of course is the most important. If a deer is not allowed to reach maturity or near maturity his potential will never be known. Allowing those younger bucks to go by will give that buck another chance to reach that potential. Food is the next most important. Without high protein foods, deer can never maximize their body weights or antler size. In addition to protein, bucks especially need calcium and phosphorous to aid in antler growth. One important thing to remember is that as a buck grows older a certain percentage of his diet will go into increasing his bodies bulk while the rest will go into antler development. Once a buck reaches maturity and his body has reached its peak weight, those additional nutrients will go into his antler development and hence the buck will produce more antler mass. The last is genetics. It was once believed that "once a spike always a spike". However, many studies through out the country have proven that this is not necessarily the case. A few extra years with good feed could turn that little spike into a wall hanger. Even if a spike buck bred a doe it is not necessarily true that the offspring would have inferior genetics and be a spike like that of the sire. Even if the father never becomes much more than a spike, the offspring may still have the potential to reach trophy class relatively early in life. Studies have indicated that the doe carries 50% of the genetics that will determine the buck's antler potential. So if the doe was an offspring from a Boone And Crockett buck, those genes can still be passed down. Just like in humans when certain physical traits skip a generation and then re-appear later. The same thing also happens in whitetails. In coming years these same types of proposals will come to the Pennsylvania hunter as well. What is being discussed right now is an antler restriction and an October doe season to replace the December Doe season. Most sportsmen understand the fundamentals behind the antler restriction but why a doe season in October? Yes, one of the reasons is to harvest more does earlier in the year. This will in turn intensify the rut and allow does to be bred closer together and earlier in the year. The reasons for making does breed closer together and earlier are quite simple. The earlier a doe is bred, the earlier it will give birth. This will allow more time for the fawns to reach peak weights before entering their first winter. With the nutritional stress being reduced off the young bucks they will produce larger antlers their first full year of antler growth. The Idea behind having most of the fawns being born close together is a tool against predation. The longer the period is that fawns are being born in, the more opportunities that predators have to kill these young fawns. If the fawns are born close together there would be too many fawns at one time for predators to reach and more fawns would be able to reach the speed and stamina levels to outrun such predators as coyotes. For some reason the idea of quality deer management has been slow moving in this region of the country. Nearly every other part of the country is practicing QDM and all are having successful results. Maybe it's because old traditions and habits are hard to break or perhaps some hunters fear any change at all. One thing to remember with any quality deer management program is that the first year or two will be hard on the hunter and he may not fill his tag at all. But, the rewards later on can be phenomenal. With the feed and genetics that are present in Pennsylvania, there would be no need for hunters to travel to far away states in search of trophy bucks. There would be plenty right here in Penn's woods.
Following Up On Your Shot By C.D. Denmon In nearly every hunting magazine on the market today, there are articles giving details on how to take a deer, but few lend any advice on how to find the deer once the shot has been made. Most sportsmen today have no trouble in finding deer and most of those hunters are successful at taking a deer. Hopefully the shot was perfect, but what if the shot was less than perfect? Do you have the knowledge and capability to track an animal for long distances successfully? Most hunters would say yes, but unfortunately their sense of pride may override their actual ability to track an animal successfully. Questions Like, "How long do I wait to begin tracking? How can I determine where I hit the animal?" and "What signs do I look for to help me find my deer?" All are valid questions that many hunters have today. The idea of loosing a deer because of a poor shot is a scenario we all fear and strive not to live through, but unfortunately things happen. So here are few tips to help you find your deer if something bad happens in stand this year. 1. Always wait in your stand. Never push an animal too soon. Give them ample time to bleed out. Note the direction the deer headed and where you saw it last. 2. First go to where the deer was standing when you shot it and look for an arrow, blood and hair. Study the types of blood and hair you find and this will help indicate where the animal was hit. 3. If you know the animal was gut shot, wait 6-8 hours before tracking. A deer hit in this area of anatomy has the ability to run for miles and will often times die as a result of poisoning from the digestive fluids than from actual blood loss. 4. Always move very slowly and quietly when tracking wounded game. 5. Always follow to one side of the blood trail and mark where you find blood so you can return to it later if you loose the trail. 6. Check the sides of trees, bushes and high grasses for signs of blood, (this will also tell you the height of the wound on the animal). 7. Check which way the blood is splattered to determine which way the deer is traveling. This is a good clue if the deer doubles back on its own trail. 8. Look for abnormal scuffmarks and overturned stones where perhaps the deer may have stumbled. 9. If you loose the blood trail, mark the last spot you found blood and begin a circular search pattern. Begin with a small circle and continue to increase the size of the circle until you find blood again. 10. If there is no blood where you shot the deer, move in the direction where you saw him last. If there is still no blood begin a circular search pattern. 11. Just because you haven't found blood doesn't mean the deer hasn't been hit. The bleeding may be internal and if the shot was high it may take a while for the chest cavity to fill before it begins to leave a blood trail. 12. A vitally wounded deer will most often run down hill when possible. Although there are exceptions to this rule. 13. A gut shot deer will most often seek out water. 14. Wounded deer will head for heavier cover to bed down. 15. A wounded deer will most often run with its tail down. 16. Keep help to a minimum. The help of more than one or two hunters should be avoided. To many people trudging through the woods can deter finding the deer by destroying valuable sign. 17. Use such tools as lanterns and spotlights to help find blood and hair. The use of trailing aids like game finders and products that make blood fizz or glow in the dark are also great ways to help find your deer. 18. Never give up until you feel you have exhausted every effort to recover the deer. Blood Sign Lung hit: Blood that appears frothy with bubbles. Liver or Kidney: Very dark blood. Gut or intestinal: Blood that has particles of vegetation. Heart and arteries: Blood will appear a dark maroon color (like the liver or kidney). Flesh wound: Blood will appear a light red. Deer Hair Side and neck: Hair is short and fine (1-3/4 inches) brown with black tips and gray near the bottom. Brisket: Hair is curly, up to 2 inches long, stiff and are whitish-gray with black tips. Shoulder: Hair is wavy up to 2-1/2 inches long with two bands of black near the tips and brown through the rest. Heart: Long and fine usually 3-1/2 to 4 inches in length, black tipped, tan below and the rest gray. Stomach: Hair is slightly wavy, coarse and up to 2-1/2 inches long and will usually be all white. Hindquarter: Wavy hair usually 1-1/2 inches long with brown and black tips, gray below that and gray at the bottom. Chest: Hair is fine and wavy, usually about 1-1/2 inches long. They are black tipped with black or tan, followed by a tan and a grayish-white at the base. Happy hunting.
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Linda Burch's Column
By Linda Burch, FireTacks And the Bears Laughed Stupid Bears. On second thought, since I had spent so many hours this year hunting bears who clearly had me patterned better than I had them, I'm probably the dumb one for hanging in there after getting skunked for so long. I hate to lose. When I want something, I intensely pursue it, using every ounce of brain matter I can muster. With each defeat, I pop back up swinging with a repertoire of new strategies, together with a renewed attitude. It's a good thing I'm undaunted by failure or Id be a nut case. It had become evident that the rascally bears had won again. I am sitting here in a ground blind, typing on my laptop on this penultimate day of Minnesota bear hunting season. It rained all day for baiting, moving stands and working around camp, and only let up when I got settled in my blind. This ground blind is the last in a series of tactics I've tried to outwit bruins who seem to be more clever than I am. Besides the ground blind, I brought both my rifle and my bow, and I'm hunting over a "dummy bait". This wee bait is the haute cuisine of what I know these bears like, with barbeque beef, venison, a mallard, hot dogs, butter, honey & breads The dummy bait is 100 yards from my main bait and situated on the bears approach trail. My Mom, always the biggest fan of my critter hunting, sent along a concoction of grease and ham drippings which burns in the distance. I did a bacon honey burn while setting up the baits and blind, as a dinner bell to announce the chow, since its been four days since I was able to hunt last. I think I've become the worlds first bear hunting expert who never actually killed a bear. I certainly must be the most tenacious and creative bear hunter. I'm secretly thinking I might even be the stupidest for continuing on with what seems to have become a comically hopeless mission. Besides being a great wind block, the ground blind allows me to move around without being detected. The version I have is one of those "up in five seconds" jobbies, but the manufacturer could give warning that the blind snaps open and startles the new user like one of those spring snakes in a can. A brisk wind can send them flying too, with the hapless hunter giving chase, tripping over logs and briars to catch the blind before it launches like a camo weather balloon. And best not to use the three legged stool that comes with the blind unless you like tipping over and getting folded up in the thing. Besides a deer snorting at the sudden appearance of my camo teepee, the woods was again devoid of bears tonight. Tomorrow there is snow in the forecast. Baiting began August 10th and tomorrow, October 14th, the season closes and with it I will have logged over 150 hours of stand time. Perhaps I should have quit long ago, when the reality of nocturnal bears was a certainty. However, I have a couple of very large bears on my infrared camera and just knowing they were there spurred me on. Also, were back to that "hate to lose" thing again. The nearly two months of bear hunting in Minnesota cover an amazing span of climatic conditions. Baiting begins at the hottest time of year, our dog days of August. The woods is lush and thick, tropical, mosquito infested, and very green. Staying scent free is a challenge but it is easy for a hunter to disappear into the landscape of a thick woods. By Labor Day, summer screeches to an brupt halt and the chill of Fall snaps at our fingers and toes while on stand. By October, the trees have shed their leaves and the forest takes on that stark pre-winter look that makes tree stand and hunter stick out like a sore thumb. This year I figured I did everything right and hence felt confident I would shoot a bear for sure. After all, last year I did everything wrong and saw a bear the second week. Talent and ingenuity are great, but if the bear isn't there, you can't kill it. This year, I did bacon burns, honey burns, and burns of various other concoctions. I tried no burns, thinking the bears associated burns with my presence. I hung small scent rags with various bear and deer lures. I hung deer sausage from the trees. I used a radio or one of my stinky t-shirts at night to tempt the bears to come out during the day. I tried every combination of molasses, honey, maple syrup, brown sugar, restaurant grease, powdered sugar, fruit loops, gummy bears, red licorice, anise, vanilla, liquid smoke, pastries, donuts, bread, donut holes, watermelon, canned apples, my homemade applesauce, tomatoes from my garden, venison and mallards from last years hunts, scrap from my deer kills this year, french fries, corn on the cob, soy sauce, bacon, dog food and beggin strips, peanut butter... and that's all I can remember off the top of my head. I tried moving the bait, moving my stand three times, and making a portable bait crib out of logs. I tried the two man fake where someone dropped me at my bait and drove back to camp on my ATV. I tried hunting from early, mid and late afternoon, always staying until I could not see to shoot. I used scent free shampoo, body wash, clothing and rubber boots. I tried fox urine on the boots. I tried leafy wear and various other camo patterns. I always tried to enter and exit my stand in silence so they would not detect me. On week three of hunting, and after baiting four days before, I anxiously wheeled my ATV up the muddy north trail to my bear bait site while the diminishing rain pattered on my hat brim and yellow rain suit. As expected, the logs over my bait pit were strewn about like tinker toys and several inches of water stood in two foot deep hole. I shoveled out the water, replaced the bait platform, and filled the hole with donuts and sweets. Replacing the logs was precarious in the mud, but once done I decided to trace the bears approach trail in hopes of locating another stand near his staging area. After twenty paces, I heard a low sustained guttural growl 30 yards ahead in the thick swampy cover. I stopped in my tracks, my hair standing on end as I stifled the urge to wet my pants. I had no gun, no knife...what was I thinking? I have no fear in the woods, but realized I had been just plain stupid to not know that this bear had claimed ownership of my bait pit and would certainly be bedded nearby. I backed away slowly, did a hasty about face and tried to walk normally back to my ATV. In my mind, I wanted to run like one of those cartoon characters with the whirling legs. Beads of sweat began to form on my neck, and once aboard my ATV, I hauled back to camp to get ready for the afternoon hunt. My rifle looked much more comforting than my compound bow after getting growled at by my intended prey. The rain picked up again, so I donned rain gear and began my 1/4 mile stealth approach to my stand. The final 200 yards took me 15 minutes to traverse in absolute silence. Once settled in my tree, the rain became torrential. There is something strangely comforting and peaceful about sitting in a tree stand in pouring rain. The rain let up and gave way to a few rays of sunlight and hoards of voracious mosquitoes. As the woods grew dark, I called it a day and walked without a flashlight back to camp. I imagined at one point that my bear was following me, so took the safety off my rifle and poised the firearm for a quick dispatch if the need arose. Hunting continued into weeks four, five and six. But you know, when those big old bears are nocturnal, its darn near impossible to coax them into coming out during the day. I am the poster child for that fact, and I have the healthiest well-fed bears in Kanebec County to prove it. They had me pegged and would stage in the swamp and wait for me to leave. I had become a zookeeper.
Dare To Be Stupid By Linda Burch Thankfully I was hunting alone this particular weekend so there were no witnesses. I couldn't go to sleep the night before because I was so excited about the following mornings archery hunt. Reaching to smack the snooze button on my alarm clock, I got an unexpected adrenaline rush when I instead connected with an inverted trail marking tack. Stupid tacks. After the bleeding stopped, I scurried about like a red squirrel to get into my cammies on and gear loaded for the morning archery deer hunt, only slamming my shin once. Rain the night before had turned to mist and the walk to my stand was silent, close and very dark. Once into the deep woods, my trail tacks had virtually disappeared from the moisture, with only a couple of my FireTacks being visible. I returned to the FireTacks many times to get my bearings, but after 45 minutes of wandering around lost in the dark unable to find my stand, every deer for miles undoubtedly knew there was a fool in the woods. As dawn brought clarity, I found the stand I had placed a month before, near a funnel along a thick tag alder swamp. I got in quietly and was determined that my luck would change. Once settled, I promptly sliced my thumb on a broadhead, the first time ever. Bleeding like a stuck pig, I sat there sucking my filleted digit till the sun came up, wondering if there was any truth to the rumor that female blood worked as a scent lure for whitetails. My question was soon answered as several curious (and I'm sure laughing) deer downwind of me wheezed and bolted. Of course I forgot band-aids, so after wrapping the lacerated appendage in toilet paper, I sat and mused at the dead silence of the woods, wrought by my numerous and audible blunderings. My own blood and I are good buddies but fortunately, a high pain threshold keeps things in perspective. One benefit of being deep in the woods when a tree drops on your leg, a hammer connects with your thumb, or a limb whacks you in the head, is the unbridled freedom to express the pain via primal screaming. Plus, the hyperventilation of a good sustained howl quickens the endorphin rush that numbs the pain. More than once, my local adopted grandpas who own land near me, have come tearing up my road on a tractor or ATV to be sure my death cries weren't real. I don't cuss and swear, but hollering to high heaven is therapeutic for pain much like the Bradley method is to childbirth. I have the same patterns of cuts and bruises on my shins at age 49 as I did when I was 10 years old. My dear non-hunting husband just shakes his head and chuckles when I come back from up north and do a cat walk to show off my latest contusions. The Mountaintop Kansas Turkeys 2002 Old Man Winter, with a former might and icy bite that shocks your breath away had surrendered and given way to the genesis of spring. Morning thunder announced his demise. Looking out my office window, the geese were taking turns executing graceful skid landings on the pond as they performed their mating dances and squabbled over hierarchies. A great blue heron fluffed and folded his wings, gracefully stepping in the periphery of sagging dead cattails. This visual drama held me spellbound, but my thoughts were somewhere else because spring held new meaning this year. I was going turkey hunting. I pulled into the tiny Kansas town, where our lavender painted motel sat at the junction of two cattle truck routes. Representing five States, our six-member hunting group was organized by Blaine, a friend and business associate from Ohio. He and his buddy Terry were on a mission to see that I got a turkey. We assembled for scouting by 10am, and by 4pm we were all out hunting in our respective areas. We hunted hard, and by the second day, two in the group had each harvested nice gobblers. The second evening I took a stand alone, and finally had the guts to practice my diaphragm call. To my astonishment, four gobblers pursuing a hen came racing by me at 60 yards, stopping twice when I called again. I saw 16 turkeys that night and nearly called one within range at final legal light. My curiosity and excitement were mounting. By the third day, it was pouring rain. We trudged a half mile through various muddy fields and took a stand under oak trees at the edge of an old corn field over sown with wheat. Blaine started calling, and within an hour, five gobblers answered and came through the woods, stopping at the field edge 15 yards to our right. Obviously educated to decoys, they spooked and did a hasty retreat back into the woods. I shoot both left and right handed, and began the slow motion process of switching to shoulder for a left handed shot. The gobblers made a second appearance, only to retreat again. By now, 25 minutes had elapsed, and the fever pitch of my excitement was starting to make me burn inside. Our intended prey made their third appearance at the field edge and I was ready. I steadied my shotgun, elbows on knees, with the lead turkey's lower neck in my site picture. The first birds stepped into the clear, and I began to slowly squeeze the trigger, just as I had done a few days before when patterning my shotguns up at my hunting shack in Minnesota. My first turkey hunt and I was ready to get a turkey! My heart rate was aerobic, but I willed myself still. Steady, steady, I pulled the trigger and CLICK. It was the loudest click I ever heard. My gun had misfired! Blaine thought I had not chambered a shell and frantically waited for me to reload, but the gun was jammed. I whispered "shoot, SHOOT, my gun misfired!" He yanked his shotgun off his lap and as the birds simultaneously busted us, he downed the largest one. It flapped wildly so he bolted to catch it before it escaped. He held it upside down till it was quiet, cutting his hand on a spur, and then laid the gobbler down. Walking up to him, I reached out to shake his hand in congratulations, but my feigned happy face wilted when I saw his look of utter disappointment. We were both so stunned that the gun misfired. "This does not feel good. This is your bird", he said, getting misty eyed and choking back tears. "Its OUR bird", I replied. "TEAMWORK is why you shot it... better this bird, than NO bird. You did great! " We hunted for another hour in the rain but our demeanors were as gray as the sky. The silent dusk walk out through monstrously huge fields was like walking a moonscape, and the accompanying relentless rain mirrored our sentiments. Day four and the sun was out. After an uneventful morning, we were headed for a new spot near open fields bordering roosting trees along a meandering stream. Our stand tree was ensconced by gnarls of branches and brush, perfect for ground concealment. We both agreed; it just felt right. The sun was at our backs and the tree was surrounded by a secluded meadow full of grasshoppers. This was a good sign. We started calling. Before two hours had passed, Blaine indicated that there was a gobbler at my 10 Oclock position. Since he had been like a pesky little brother playing on my gullibility, with kidding and bugging me during this trip, I thought he was joking and whispered "You're joshing me, right?". I turned slowly and let out a gasp... "Oh .... OH ! ". WRONG! There was a turkey... a big turkey, at 35 yards straight off my left shoulder. This meant I would need to turn and do an off hand shot, and since I was shooting a borrowed gun, I just prayed I could pull it off. The bird then turned and started straight for us... bad since this gun had an extra full choke and a close shot might miss or not be pretty. Now in position, my turkey hunting mentor whispered "shoot - shoot!". His line of site was clear since he was sitting 90 degrees away from and about 2 feet higher than I was. My line of site was obstructed with the twisted branches, but the tom was making his way to my left. Feeling like a pretzel at this point, an off hand shot was going to be a challenge, and might even send me to the chiropractor. The bird was moving away now and I was quickly losing my opportunity. FINALLY he stepped into an open shooting lane. Totally focused, I squeezed the trigger of the Remington 11-87 and dropped the gobbler in his tracks. One wing flapped for a moment as Blaine did a sprint to the kill site. The final day, as the coyotes barked and howled just yards from me at daybreak, I hunted out of a T-3 Double Bull Blind with my Jennings Rackmaster Light bow and carbon arrows, but didn't see anything. As far as the overall TF, or what I call "Thrill Factor", I still rate Bears #1, and now Turkey as #2 and White Tail Deer as #3. The sustained TF of turkey hunting was unlike any other hunting I had ever done. This was a trip of contrasts, with many elements indelibly etched in my mind. There was thrill and disappointment. There were hot sunny days and cold rainy evenings. One realized their relative insignificance in the universe while standing alone before God under a big sky in the center of a thousand acres of croplands, or in climbing to the top of the huge hills in the area for an eagle eye view. There was laughter and tears. We were adults, but with the wide eyed excitement and appreciation of children. Binding it all together was the comradery and mutual acceptance of each member of the group. It was a privilege to be in their ranks.
Legacy of the Duck Property As I merged my F-150 onto the northbound freeway, my two way radio suddenly cackled with a chorus of frantic duck call quacking. I radioed back a belly laugh, together with a cacophony of my own duck calls in response to my son as he followed me in his truck. We were heading up to the family duck property for the waterfowl season opener and our excitement was electric. Our quacking radios were one of those great moments that will remain indelibly etched in my memory. Duck hunting has become a serious pursuit at our house. Several nights before opener, I camouflaged my canoe, and when my non-hunting husband came home and found me under the deck with spray paint cans and a flashlight, he just chuckled and shook his head. "The Duck Property." My Dad spoke of it often when I was small, and in later years when I was grown. It had been in the family nearly 50 years, and with it, the countless hunting memories of several generations. Last year, Dad gave us The Duck Property and all the family hunting photo albums. His Alzheimers Disease had gotten to the point where he could not remember things anymore and he knew it was time to pass this legacy on to us. I intimately know every inch of this land, and we have tried archery deer hunting there in previous years, but the lay of the land was just not suitable for that. Duck hunting here now was both exciting and bittersweet. Last year, I called Dad on my cell phone from the middle of the lake to the north. He bubbled with a childlike thrill and vicariously enjoyed the experience through us. My son has inherited my Dads natural hunting and shooting ability so it is almost like hunting with Dad, something I never got to do as a child. Women hunters do run in the family, however. Though genteel ladies, both Great Gram and Grandma were deer and duck hunters, as well as anglers. Grandma and grandpa were hunting buddies and soul mates, a patently unique and to me, enviable relationship. They honeymooned on this very property during a duck season in the roaring twenties, and old photos of them together bear out their love for each other and the outdoors. It took me until I was 38 years old to become a hunter, but when I did, it was a passion fulfilled after many years of longing. To finally be hunting on the family land has brought the legacy full circle again... and sometimes even put a tear in my eye. The quarter mile access strip into the duck property is a roller coaster of gopher mounds and potholes. You hunker down for the ride in unless you want a concussion, and you secure your morning coffee unless you want to wear it. Upon arriving, we often meet up with the other family who owns the property with us, four brothers who are my Dads age. We plot our various ducks blinds on the 114 acres of wetlands, and excitedly recount previous hunting seasons. The guys have a ritual of giving me the business about shooting a coot my first year. They tell stories of the old days, of capsized canoes and swamped shotguns, of practical jokes and grandpas signature wheezy laugh, wrought by years of smoking too many cigarettes. Grandpas dilapidated wooden canoe still lies upside down at our launch point, and each time we duck hunt, I cant help but stand for a moment and think about the history of that old weathered craft. After pulling on waders, and loading the canoe, we paddle to our blind to wait for legal shooting time. In Minnesota, the opener is at noon on the first day. We downed several ducks before the day was through, but lost a couple in the thick cattails. We have no hunting dog, so we are the dogs, forging through the swamp grasses but having little luck with retrieval. Perhaps my favorite part of duck hunting, aside from connecting shot with the incoming birds, is the pre-dawn trip to our duck blind. There is something strangely appealing about paddling the canoe in total darkness, over the various pockets of still glassy water and through the beaver runs that snake among the cattails. The sound of the paddles dipping in the water, the stars or moon glistening on the waters surface, the smell of dead grass and mud and even placing our decoys, all contribute to my intrigue with the sport. Stepping into the swamp in my waders, I like the water pressing against my legs, of sometimes being in it waist high, pulling the canoe to a resting spot and then sitting quietly to wait for the dawn and the first flights of ducks. Another facet of duck hunting, quite different from deer hunting where solitude and total silence are key, is being able to make a little noise. My son and I yack a lot, work out our differences, rib each other, talk about life, get mad at each other, and laugh when the other sounds really pathetic blowing on their duck call. I imagine these same scenarios were played out with my Dad, his father, and my great grandfather, and sometimes it's almost as if their spirits were present encouraging our camaraderie. The legacy of the duck property lives on. My son will have this land when I die, and will pass it on to his progeny. Then mine will be a spirit there present to encourage their camaraderie, hovering over the waters, dancing through the cattails, dressed in a gossamer moon and riding upon the wings of waterfowl as they flare to land in the decoys.
Hog Wild "Bow-wow-wow yippee oh yippee yay, bow-wow yippee oh yippee yay". The bass beat of Atomic Dog rattled our windows as the truck gobbled up a freeway lined with oil well pumps and cattle on this road trip to Oklahoma. Deb did the Cabbage Patch to the down beat and I had laughed myself hoarse. We were both getting slappy from the long drive, but totally stoked to be heading to our first wild hog hunt. The 14 hour trip had gone quickly and so was our sanity at this point. At a recent stop for gas, the clerks Southern drawl was as difficult for me to understand, as my Minnesota twang was for her. "Were not in Kansas anymore, Toto" I quipped, once back at my truck. Deb had arrowed a small boar that evening, and with one of the owners, we tracked the animal through several hundred yards of thick spiny brambles. Deb got her Leafy Lite Suit hung up on the thorns so many times its a wonder she made it out of there dressed. With the help of the owner Matt, we found the hog and struggled to get it out without getting completely lost in the thickets. Matt lacerated his eye on a thorn and one point, and had to go to the emergency room the next day for repairs. Back at camp, I field dressed my hog and spent the rest of the evening around the campfire with our group, sharing our respective hunting stories, past and present. The owners of Shiloh Ranch had an overabundance of pigs this year, and allowed each hunter to shoot another small pig the next day for no charge. I decided to sit on the same stand, and was fortunate enough to arrow a small orange colored pig (named Twinkie) the second evening. Several of the other ladies had success with larger pigs, so I decided to drag my little boar back to camp in the dark until the ATVs caught up with me. I had forgotten rope, and used my camo bandana as a drag, looped on my wrist and around the pigs two front hooves. 100 yards from my stand, I had the uneasy realization that I was being followed. I stopped in my tracks. The sounds of number of animals in the dark woods also stopped. I started again, going quickly and then slowly, as my followers kept pace with me, their sounds getting closer. The bandana slipped off the pigs hooves, and I stooped to fixed the tether, fumbling with my flashlight. The sounds in the woods were now all around me, and I was suddenly struck with the thought that I might be the prey instead of the predator. Now, I am not afraid of the dark and in fact like it. However, being alone and surrounded by who-knows-what, while dragging a bloody dead animal in the pitch dark just didnt seem very smart at that moment. Not wishing to be the unwitting meal of whatever was following me, I let out several loud primal growling noises and waved my flashlight about wildly. That scared them back a few yards. I radioed our hosts about my situation, and within minutes ATVs were speeding up the trail. The mystery critters zoomed off. I have been on hunts many times with many groups, but this was by far one of the more unique hunts of my life. This was in part because of the hogs we were hunting, but also because of the hunters in the group and our hosts. I have been a serious lady hunter for many years. In my social and business circles, I am regarded as a bit of an oddity, not only because I hunt, but because I pursue it mostly alone, independent of other hunters. I have to, because of my personal requirement to hunt a LOT! I had hunted with other groups of ladies, but this group was patently unique. These were not only hunters, but serious, experienced, passionate, addicted, focused, and accomplished women hunters. I have sat around a camp fire with hunting chums many times over the years, but here I was sitting around a campfire with women, sharing our stories, our histories and the inexplicable hunting addiction that linked us all. No offense to my favorite male hunting buddies, but this experience was in a totally different class.
When I Was A Man I felt that old gag reflex snaking up my throat as I stood at the center of a half circle of boys, all about my age. A bead of sweat trickled down my back, wrought by the combination of a hot summer day and the repugnant task at hand. Wanting to join the boy's neighborhood gang, I was now required to eat a live goldfish as the acid test of my fortitude and worthiness. The group's leader grinned wryly as he plucked the fish from its small round tank and then dangled its twitching glittery body mere inches from my face. I was staunchly determined to eat the slimy critter in order to join this group of rag tag neighborhood scalawags. But, I was even more determined to mask any indication that this ritual bothered me. "Chick-ken!" sneered my tormentor. My fists clenched, anger suddenly replaced my apprehension with a steely resolve. "I can do anything these boys could do, and maybe better," I thought to myself. With squinty eyes and a wicked grin, I wiped my dirty right hand on my pants and grabbed the fish. Sticking my tongue out at Chicken Boy, I threw my head back and gulped it down whole. The small group erupted with laughter and applause and closed in on me with backslapping, a candy bar chaser and a little hand written certificate to indicate that I was official. My gang name was "Bonerack". Funny... they had the certificate written ahead of time. I was a seven year old girl, but by golly, I could be a boy too if I wanted. Boys seemed to have more fun anyway. They were ingenious, daring, and adventurous and always had some secret plan... just like me. They would get mad, punch me in the arm, and then be my friend, unlike girls who would stick the knife in and turn it for weeks. I liked boys. They were uncomplicated and forthright. After I played dress up and dolls with my girlfriends, I would always go join the boys for some real fun. l eventually had my stint as leader and signer of official certificates, as blood brother, and as orchestrator of wars on the other kids forts. Our family moved to the country after that, which began another adventure... the advent of my love affair with the forest. Part of the reason I have no gender boundaries dates back to the goldfish days, but also it is because of the encouragement of my mother, who always told me I could do anything I put my mind to. This encouragement launched me into buying and restoring old houses in my twenties, and later pursuing my passion for hunting. I am a female McGiver type and Mom always said I was one chromosome away from being a man. I once told a hunting buddy that I must have been a man in another life, which he said, was scary. Actually, it's not so scary and I am not unique in this regard, as I know other women who have the same proclivities. But, I learned something long ago from my childhood chums. If you make up your mind to do something, and if you see past the obstacles, you can do anything you want, even though you may have to eat a goldfish or two along the way. This is where women differ significantly from men. They regard some obstacles as insurmountable problems and often turn away. Men regard obstacles as challenges to be conquered, with solutions to be discovered... and so do I. At age eight, with a haircut like Nancy from the "Nancy and Sluggo" comic strip, and being skinny as a stick yet strong and fast, I did not significantly differ in appearance or ability from the boys I played with. I had pet snakes, tore the legs off frogs, built tree forts, crawled through the woods on my belly to spy on perceived enemies and could often out think most of my peers. Ah yes, When I Was A Man, things were very simple and oh so much fun. A few things are different now, but I still prefer the thinking and company of men where hunting and being in the outdoors are concerned. And, when I am decked in camo head to toe, I still do not significantly differ in appearance from my hunting chums either. I do have one female friend who is my true outdoors soul sister, but the majority of similar minded die-hard hunting junkies like myself, are males. We get mad, punch each other in the arm, and stay friends. Uncomplicated and forthright. I like that.
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