Grow the Hunt

The 10-Minute Rule

-By Brandon Wikman

Wisconsin is best known for 3 things. . . Cheese, Packer Football and, most importantly, deer hunting!

This past weekend a barrage of 650,000 hunters sporting blaze orange freckled the state of Wisconsin. Opening weekend of firearm season has been a Wisconsin family tradition for years, hunters with buck fever and good times makes the season unforgettable. I’ve been fortunate enough to score big whitetails for the past five years during gun deer season. This year was no different, but I must say, a little luck and the use of a good rule-of-thumb put a giant whitetail in the crosshairs just in the nick of time!

The second day of gun season began with a boom, literally. The blasting usually begins at daybreak and slowly piddles down by noon. I was hunting with Bluff Bucks Outfitters, once again this year as I have for the past three years. We were overlooking a vast marsh, which was surrounded by towering bluffs. The only tree that was suitable on the entire 200-acre swamp for a tree stand was a crooked cottonwood.

The cameraman and I planned to sit until noon before going back to the cabin to defrost our frozen bodies and grab a snack. The morning was rather slow, although consistent shots ringing from the nearby bluffs gave us enough confidence that deer could potentially barrel down the side of the hills and vanish into the tall weeds, cattails and bogs where I called home, for the time being.

The marshy sanctuary was where I shot my buck during archery season. It’s one of those sweet spots where only time will tell whether you bag your buck or not. Without any deer-sightings other than a few doe during daybreak, our minds began itching for the cabin. By 11, we were cold from the brutal winds, considering there were no windbreaks in the valley. I looked at my cameraman and he had the same look I had; it was go time. We began packing our stuff when something told me to give it a little more time. If I wasn’t going to make it to noon, at least wait it out for a few more minutes. I did just that, wincing and wondering if I was making a good decision or not. My purple hands told me I wasn’t, but a couple years of experience told me I was right, sit it out!

We both gave it another ten minutes, but no deer crossed the empty marsh so we began our way down the tree.

As we got down, I looked across the other side of the marsh and saw a doe crashing through the brush running. I was back in my stand within 30 seconds with my gun ready when out stepped a gnarly, 6 ½ year old buck that called this swamp home. He trailed the doe with his nose on the ground completely unaware of my presence. At 100 yards I put the crosshairs on his chest and fired a bullet into his vitals.

If I learned anything, let this be a lesson for all hunters: You aren’t going to shoot a deer back at camp or in bed. Sometimes putting your time in goes a long way, and your chance of killing a buck increases more than you realize. I always cringe when I have second thoughts about putting my time in; if only I were in the stand 10, 20, or 30 minutes longer.

There’s always a chance to shoot a deer in the woods. You never really know when your moment can happen, be ready, be prepared and most of all be there!

Scouting Camera Tips and Techniques

Here are some helpful tips and techniques so you can get the most out of your digital game camera:

• Make sure to mount your game camera waist high, level with the ground, and aim away from the rising or setting sun.
• Use an SD Card for additional memory. The latest Moultrie scouting cameras can hold up to a 4GB SD card, giving you thousands of pictures.
• Choose the right digital game camera for your needs. If security is a factor, purchase a game camera with an infrared flash like Moultrie's I-series cameras.

Staying in the GROOVE

-By Randy Cooper

“The rut is over and I didn’t get a buck, now what am I going to do?” This is what I’m hearing over and over right now. They could call in a psychic. Better yet, these hunters could simply “stay in the groove,” get back to the basics and not feel that the season is over because they didn’t score during the rut. The rut is THE time when bucks go from survival mode to Romeo, throwing caution to the wind. They do really crazy things during this time and get very careless, which gets them killed.

What I’ve seen in the past couple of weeks is almost all the scrapes I’ve been watching have gone cold and filled with dead leaves. I’m still getting pictures of bucks visiting the scrapes as well as does, but not the kind of frequency as a month ago. Food sources are still good and water oak acorns are still falling like the leaves. Bucks are with does in Georgia right now. In two weeks (the first of December), the does that either didn’t get bred or didn’t conceive during the first rut will once again come into estrous. I’ll see a flurry of activity and the scrapes that are being ignored now will open up again; it will be the chase phase all over again only not as pronounced.

If I still don’t score during the second rut, a third will take place around Jan.1st. Now is a good time to do some in-season scouting. The areas you’ve been afraid to look at for fear of bumping a buck are places you should look now. Be extra cautious and use all of your scent elimination techniques. These bucks, love sick as they may be, aren’t stupid. If you make the careless mistake of blundering into a bedding area and scaring him off, or touch a rub with your naked hand, you probably won’t see that buck again. You have just educated him that YOU are in his home. They are a little distracted, but they’re not in a coma. You still can’t get away with being sloppy.

Look for rub and scrape lines that will tell you the general pattern the bucks are using in the places you’ve wanted to see. Don’t be afraid to move your stand to an area that looks like it is getting a lot of attention. Hunters, including myself, get complacent and will hunt one stand to death rather than move it or try somewhere else. Rotate hunting different stands and don’t let the deer pattern you. Use different approach trails if you can so that deer don’t detect a scent at the same place every time they pass that area. Does will continue to browse, so a good bet is to look for food sources and the trails that lead to them. Everywhere the doe goes now, the buck will follow. Putting up a stand along one of these trails is a good tactic late in the season.

Happy Thanksgiving

Moultrie would like to take this time to wish you and your loved ones a Happy Thanksgiving Day. Your continued support provides us with reason to give thanks each and every day. We realize that many of you will be traveling and hunting over the long weekend, please be safe and good luck! Happy Thanksgiving!

Treestand Safety

Treestands have become an essential part of the hunt for many deer hunters. They provide many advantages, but also carry an element of danger. The following safety tips will help make sure you make it back for that big buck time after time:

• Always read and understand the manufacturer's instructions and warnings
• Inspect your stand before each use
• Always use a full-body harness when using a treestand
• Take your time, never hurry in a treestand
• Make a plan, tell someone where you are going and when you should be back

Crazy times, Bigfoot and Tunnel Vision

-By Randy Cooper

With holidays just around the corner, I thought I’d lighten things up with some stories from my hunting camp. I’ve been thinking about all the years I’ve been deer hunting and some of the insane things I’ve done and people I’ve run into. I’ve shared a deer camp with just about every kind of person you can imagine. I’ve learned a lot of lessons from the experiences I’ve shared with them. You have to be about half crazy to hug a tree trunk in 40 mph winds or go out in sub-freezing temps on purpose to pursue your passion.

One of the first lessons I learned is that if you play a joke on someone, prepare for retaliation. We have always tried to be safe at deer camp. We made an elaborate box that sat up off the ground on 4 X 4 posts about chest high. It had a locking door on it that had a topo map of the property overlaid with everyone’s stand location inside. Hunters were required to sign in and mark their stand location along with the time. That way, if they were unusually late, we would know where to search for them. I was in a dollar store one day and saw a rubber snake that looked just like a copperhead. That little light bulb turned on above my head and an idea was born. I waited until my friend Steve and I were going hunting together in early September. It was hot and snakes were crawling. We signed in at the box as usual and went to our stands. I looped back around and put the rubber snake in the box. I got out of my stand early and hid in the bushes to see what would happen when Steve opened the box to sign out. Needless to say, Steve was quite surprised. I’ve never heard a grown man scream so loud!

The snake went missing after that only to wind up on Jon’s third screw-in tree step from the ground at his favorite stand site. He didn’t fall far when he reached for the step and got a hand full of rubber snake in the dark. He was a little rattled though and he chased me around the camp as well. I was afraid to go to sleep in the same camp with those two after all that. I got to thinking that I would wake up in the middle of the night with a LIVE copperhead in my sleeping bag! They tried to get me back in a different way.

Jon and Steve both know about me fascination with Bigfoot. I bought a 4-wheeler that year. Man, I thought this was the answer to everything. Boy was I in for a rude awakening. Instead of walking to my stands anymore, I could now ride at about 30 mph. I didn’t sweat or wear myself out either. We did well that year. During the holidays we piled up at my house to exchange gifts. I was in for the surprise of my life. The last gift given was from Jon to me. It felt heavy. Just before I opened the crudely wrapped package Jon asked, “You remember where we always parked and unloaded the 4-wheelers? On about 20 different occasions I left you something that I just knew you would eventually find, but you never did. Now you can open the package.” What I found stunned me beyond words. There were two BIGFOOT TRACKS that he had spent hours honing to perfection with a die grinder. They looked absolutely real, a matched pair. He said that for the entire season he had put the tracks in the sand where he knew I would go. Where we unloaded, the entrance to the trails that led to my stand sites, everywhere!

I never once saw them. We laughed so hard that I thought I was going to pass out. What I learned from this lesson was that when I got the four-wheeler, I went from A to B without seeing, hearing or sensing anything. All I had on my mind was my destination, nothing else. I was a victim of tunnel vision in the worst way. I finally sold the ATV and began once again to read the book on the forest floor. It was another hard lesson learned, but a fun one.

I’ve just scratched the surface of the crazy things I’ve been a part of in deer camp. It’s been hilarious. I wouldn’t advise doing any of the above, but I wouldn’t change a thing that’s happened either. Your luck might not be as good as mine was. My wish for all who read this is that you can have FUN while pursuing your passion like we have. The friends and memories you make and times you share in deer camp last a lifetime. I know mine will.

The Drop-Tine Pursuit

-By Brandon Wikman

I arrived back home from my Illinois archery hunt Tuesday at 2am – just in time to make a head-on collision with my pillow and be back on my toes before my 8am class.

I’m extremely exhausted, considering I’ve done this for the third weekend in a row. It’s becoming frustrating and stressful trying to balance school with the pursuit to harvest the largest whitetail of my entire life.

Picture this: Nestled in the breathtaking countryside of central Illinois, a buck that scores well into the Boone & Crockett category roams the woods. He has remained undetected, mystifying each and every hunter that attempts to bag him. With no actual visual sightings of this buck other than the remnants of his shed from last year, he has literally captivated every emotion and feeling I have. His gnarly, root-like shed antler sports a base that looks like a melted lava spill; a drop-tine stooping off his main beam more than 7 inches and a cluster of brow tines that truly gives this buck a unique quality that tempts the hearts and emotions of all hunters alike.

During the summer, I hung ten sets of stands to kill this baffling creature of the woods. I even set out a security system consisting of 4 scouting cameras on the property I believe he roams. Yet the only sign of hope I’ve seen this fall has been his massive rub-lines and scrapes all over the property. When the drop-tine buck makes his presence, he makes it known.

This past weekend I drove 8 hours to hunt two days in anticipation that’d I’d have a crack at this giant of corn country. The first morning I didn’t see a deer. Not one. It was more depressing than anything. I remained calm and sat the rest of the day to only see a few scraggly bucks and a doe the rest of the evening.

Sunday, I sat in the same spot. My confidence of even seeing a deer was as low as ever, but I remained persistent to my original plans of hoping this buck would cross through the pinch point, which connected two large woodlots surrounded by a picked cornfield.

At 3pm I saw the drop-tine buck!

With junk dangling from his head, and a neck that would probably be twice the size of my waistline, he snuck through the downwind side of the field with his nose sniffing each dried corn leaf for the remains of an estrous doe crossing. I grunted at him, snort-wheezed, bleated and nearly everything else I could possibly do in the 10 seconds of glory I had face-to-face with this legend. But nothing fazed him. What would? A buck of this caliber will probably die of old age. In fact, I can almost count on it. His sighting was a significant achievement alone and getting him on live video for my show was a gift in itself.

I don’t know if it’s his 10-inch drop-tine or 180-inch frame that really makes me tremble, or perhaps the rarity of fortune I have of being the only person to lay eyes on this loner. All I really know is that seeing something like him has changed my perspective and appreciation for what hunting really is. It is truly something indescribable.

Varmint Proof Your Solar Panel

Raccoons, squirrels, oppossums - to hunters these animals all have one thing in common, they're varmints that tear up feeders. Solar panel wires are often the food of choice for these varmints. An easy way to protect your solar panels is to buy conduit tubing from your local hardware store. Simply slip the solar panel wires through this protective conduit and attach to your feeder as normal. The covering will protect the wires from varmints, saving you aggravation and money.

Yearling Buck Dispersal and Doe Management

-By Randy Cooper

I was part of a great bow-only club in middle Georgia while it existed for 18 years. It’s still a club in the technical sense, but everything standing was cut down and destroyed three years ago. While it lasted, it was the most fantastic place I’ve ever hunted and will last in my memory forever. I harvested my two biggest bucks there and many other hunters did the same. We had a true buck factory. We tried to follow QDMA practices and harvested as many does as we could. We focused on what I call the “ALPHA DOES”. These were the very oldest girls in the herd. You could always tell them apart from the rest because of their long head and enormous body size. You didn’t have to look twice to know which one you needed to take out.

The doe groups on a given piece of property all operate the same. During spring, older does will give birth to two, and sometimes as many as three, fawns. Some of the buck fawns will disperse on their own and others will be forced out before the next rutting season 18 months later. This is nature’s way of preventing inbreeding. The ones who try to stay with the doe group experience a hard time. They do alright up until the spring the next year. At this point they start being harassed, dominated and even rejected by older does in the group that are pregnant, including their mother.

The yearling buck jumps right out of the frying pan into the fire when he tries to find a place of his own in the woods. The young buck tries to make his way and locate a new home only to get his butt kicked and run off by older bucks when he enters another buck’s home range. Radio-collared bucks have been tracked after dispersal and found to travel from two to 20 miles and, in some extreme cases, 100 miles in search of a new home range. The facts: Does on a property have the absolute best cover, food and water in their home range. The bucks sharing that property have to settle for what is left and that’s where dominance between them rules.

Our club came up with a plan that wound up working. We saw what was happening and did research on the findings of the Quality Deer Management Association. We thought our best bet of keeping really good bucks on OUR property was to remove as many older age class does as the law would allow. In doing so, we provided a place for these otherwise dispersed bucks to live and thrive to older age. This tactic, along with supplemental feeding all year and established food plots, not only kept bucks from dispersing and leaving our property as much but also attracted transient bucks from our neighbors’ properties. By no means did we run out of does to harvest. What we did by removing these does is adjust the buck/doe ratio to such a point that more deer signs than ever began to show up. There were fewer does to each buck and the competition for breeding rights was dialed up tremendously between them. Bucks started to respond to calling and rattling more than ever before. Our theory was that they must have thought a fight over an estrous doe was taking place and they had a chance to come in and make off with a girlfriend. They usually didn’t make it anywhere after they showed up.

Harvesting older does has been a tried and true tactic that made a handful of North Georgia bow hunters more successful than we ever thought possible. After two to three short seasons, we began to see the benefits of our labor. We let the little bucks walk to live for another season and harvested does like there was no tomorrow. We practiced QDMA proven tactics and it made us the envy of a lot of other clubs. That place is gone now but the remaining club members have turned it into a gun club and STILL continue to fill their buck tags each season since the clear cut took place. Seems to me, even with the woods all gone, the bucks still know where to come to find a girlfriend and free lunch. The members still supplement feed and plant food plots. These deer remember a good thing and keep coming back. Try these simple but effective tactics on your club or private land. You don’t have to have the neighbors doing the same. What will wind up happening is that all the great bucks they are seeing on their land in the early season will wind up in the bed of your truck during the rut and beyond when food gets scarce in the woods. Write me back and let me know if this works for you!

Calling Deer with Class

-By Brandon Wikman

Deer calls have been used for years to coax whitetails into range. It’s a standard deer vocalization that’s been mimicked and reproduced by nearly every outdoor manufacturer in the industry today. From plastic to rubber, and squeeze to blow, deer calls come in all shapes and sizes and by tomorrow they’ll have a new design. As much as I love using the grunt tube, often times mature bucks seem to pick up on that old-familiar gurgle that’s been tossed at them hundreds of times. This fall, especially during this time period, try mixing your calling up a bit by using a variety of tricks that mature bucks aren’t accustomed to.

During the rut I use my grunt tube, snort-wheeze, can call, and rattle bag all at once. In fact, this past weekend I called the biggest buck of my life out of a cornfield. Unfortunately, he was on a hot doe trail and did not have any ambition to make the extra hundred yard jaunt to my stand. Either way, he showed interest, emotion and a sense of curiosity, which is a deadly combination to drag a whitetail into close bow range.

I’ve learned through many outdoor experts and writers how to call. A lot of it is personal preference and trial and error. I use a method slightly different than others, but fortunately enough, I’ve had much luck with my calling technique.

Instead of being like every other average Joe in the woods, I make a point to be different. Before I clobber a set of antlers together and cough out a bunch of grunts, I make sure there’s no deer already on their way. Secondly, I tip over the can call, which makes that sweet seductive estrous doe bleat. I follow that up by a few immature buck grunts. I cast each grunt in every direction to cover the entire area’s sound bubble. Now that I’ve established a role-play or mock situation of a young buck chasing a doe, I slide my finger down to the mature buck grunt. This sets the mood for a definite fight as soon as you snort-wheeze. After pausing for a few seconds to take one more look around for any deer, I slowly tickle the antlers until I am comfortable enough to really bang, pop and grind them together.

I only rattle for a minute and end the battle with a long tending grunt, which sounds almost like a moan. This concludes the scene and wraps up the battle. At this point my bow is in hand and binoculars at eye level.

A few points to remember about calling:

1. A buck will circle downwind of your calling 9 times out of 10. Be sure to have the correct wind and terrain blocker for your setup so he can’t get downwind of you. Use a river, field edge, steep bank or tall fence line to steer him in the position anywhere but behind you.
2. Never call to a deer that’s already on his way. Your position will be revealed to him as fast as you can say “dang-it”! The trick is to give him a direction, not your address.
3. Be sure to use mature buck grunts for calling in big bucks and young buck grunts to pull in younger bucks. Otherwise, you’ll simply scare them away.
4. Never overcall. Period! Have you ever heard deer yapping away every other minute of the day? Absolutely not, live in a deer’s hooves for a minute and then take your approach.
5. Calling in whitetails isn’t a surefire method that’ll work everytime. In fact, you’ll probably find that it doesn’t work just as much as it will work. Be creative and unique with your calling to establish a different sound that the buck hasn’t already heard of from the neighboring hunters.

Calling has its positives and negatives just like everything else we try to use to attract whitetails. Whether it’s a scent lure, bait or a secret trick; hunting wouldn’t be a sport if you didn’t have challenges.