Grow the Hunt

5 Tips to prepare for Deer Hunting season

Most deer hunters live the entire year preparing for those too-short days in the stand. Here are a few things you can do now to up your odds of scoring on that buck of a lifetime this fall.

Add a Deer Feeder
If you haven't already, even if your state doesn't allow hunting over feeders, the extra nutrition is welcomed during the off-season. Mix one bag of soybeans with two or three bags of corn to provide protein. Good feeder companies manufactures all sizes of deer feeders to suit your needs, whether it's a big 55-gallon barrel tripod or a petite 6 1/2 gallon bucket style.

Create Mineral Licks
Yes, it's a little late, but better late than never. With a few late summertime thunderstorms the minerals will wash into the dirt. Deer need the extra nutrition that comes from mineral mixes.

Make Trails
Now's the time to alter or create trails that bring deer right past your stand. Felling trees across a current trail will alter its path, as can dragging limbs and brush piles to block the way. Clipping the top and/or bottom wire of your fence will create a crossing.

Reassess your hunting land
Go to an aerial photo web site such as www.teraserver.com or Google Earth and download an image of your hunting land. One exercise is to look at it as if you'd never seen it before and see if anything new jumps out at you.

Scout your herd
If you've never experimented with a scouting camera, now's a good time to begin. You'll be amazed to see deer you had no idea were living their whole lives right under your nose. And what a great way to get pumped for the season!

Here is a bonus tip... Be sure to take and apply plenty of bug spray to keep ticks and chiggers at bay as you make final preparations for the season. Also take along plenty of water and, just like hunting, let someone know where you're going and when you expect to return.

Hunting With Adventures Wild Outfitters

-By Brandon Wikman

I recently returned from my archery antelope hunt in the thirsty sagebrush hills of southeastern Colorado with my very first pronghorn.

If you've never experienced an antelope hunt, I strongly suggest you at least try it. It's got to be one of the most interesting and challenging hunts I've been on. Unlike a deer, turkey or duck hunt, this particular ordeal sets the standards on hunting an extremely wily game from a blind offering shots far past your average 15 to 20 yards.

The first day we attempted to spot-and-stalk these water-roaming critters. It didn't work so well. Basically, you must spot a goat that's bedding on the downside of a ridge, creek bottom or behind a heap of yucca bushes if you even think you can get close. I felt like Elmer Fudd sneaking through the open country to only get spotted from 300 yards.

The next day we attempted a more original and tactical plan of simply sitting in a blind over a waterhole. Well actually, it isn't so "simple." Marinating away in 100 degree Colorado summer heat within the confinements of a windless blind isn't the most enjoyable way to spend your day, especially when there's no telling what time they'll show up.

As luck would have it, I ended up harvesting a goat during the hottest period of the day with temperatures hovering over 102 degrees. As cautious as they are approaching and drinking out of waterholes, I found that it just takes a lot of mental energy and patience to battle through the obstacles throughout the hunt.

Southeastern Colorado has a mess of pronghorn running around; heck, it truly is "where the deer and antelope play." Adventures Wild has some of the most amazing whitetail and mule deer I've ever seen and in my opinion can be matched with Iowa, Kansas, and Illinois brutes…don't believe me? I'll be back there in November!

Wildlife Feeder Maintenance Tips

If you own a wildlife feeder, I am sure that you want to make sure it is always running in tip-top condition. This video has a few really good tips on how to keep your wildlife feeder running like new.

Preparing for Opening Day

-By Randy Cooper

Everything a dedicated deer hunter does throughout the year has only one purpose and that is to prepare for the opening of deer season. I want to share with you a few of the things that I have done and am still doing to TRY and get ready. It seems like every year something will jump in my path that makes getting ready a major chore, making me wish I had at least another couple of weeks left. Our season here in Georgia opens on September 8 and runs through January 31st.

I'm strictly a bowhunter and by nature a perfectionist and a tuning freak. I've spent the spring and summer tuning my bow, going through my arrows to see which ones group well with the others while practicing and testing which release, arrow rest, vanes and sights work the best with my set up. Now, this is just getting the bow right. For me, I'm so particular that it takes a lot for me to be satisfied. Everything must fit just right from my anchor point to the pull poundage and the way it feels. Only bowhunters can understand what I'm about to say, but I've lost plenty of sleep when I run into a tuning problem that I couldn't fix right away or the bow was doing something funky and I just couldn't tune it out.

My best advice is when it gets to that point, just put the thing down, go watch a good movie and get it all off your mind for a while. Take a day or two. Believe me, when you least expect it you'll think of something that was staring you in the face the whole time that you didn't do or adjust and you'll have your answer. You go back and make the adjustment and five minutes later you're shooting a perfect bullet hole through the paper tuner and you're sighting the bow in. You're a lot more confident than before too.

I'm kind of hardheaded sometimes and can remember trying to tune out a problem and shooting so much that I was sore for three days. That wasn't too smart. When you do something foolish, like shoot about 200 times in one session, your form starts to fall apart because of muscle fatigue and you only compound the problem instead of fixing it.

Archery and bowhunting are supposed to be FUN. I absolutely love it and take it more seriously than most. My wife will tell you that for me it's an obsession. I guess I could have worse obsessions. I've always felt that if you are going to be really good at anything, you have to do it seriously all the time and be dedicated. I'll shoot every evening for about an hour. I shoot every shot with a mental picture of the non-typical of my dreams in front of me. I tell myself that I only have one shot and if I don't make it, he'll wind up in front of someone else that will. I have one chance and so I put that much pressure and seriousness into every shot. The name of this game is consistency. For me, that means that I have to do exactly the same thing shot after shot after shot. The same speed pull to my anchor point. The same picture when I look through my peep sight. The same feel of my release hand against my face and my hand on the grip. After a few thousand shots it becomes an unconscious habit like pointing your finger. NO, NO, the index finger not the middle one!

Getting the bow tuned and sighted-in for me is a huge confidence builder. Don't stop practicing when the season starts. You'll lose your edge. I know, I've done it. This is only one part of the puzzle however. Next time I'll tell you about some of the other pieces I put together to make it happen on opening day.