-Early Season Deer Hunting 

-Scent and Scrape Control

-Understanding Moon Phase 

By Forrest Fisher

At this time of year, sportsmen that live to hunt deer with a bow crave the sweet dreams of active outdoor weekends.  For archery hunters, every weekend is a hopeful time for finding the deer in their reproductive rut and in full disregard for hunters and hunter mistakes.  If only it could be!

In the archery woods, the deer-watching action is at full throttle way ahead of the season or the rut.  In New York, the early archery season opens for six weeks starting October 1^st, this year that’s 6-7 weeks ahead of the predicted fall rut cycle.

While the bucks always seem ready to mate, experts teach us that the doe’s need the recipe of shorter daylight hours, the changing low angle of the sun and the full moon plus seven to 10 days (after), to allow their hormone system to reach fertile.  After that, they become more commonly know as “hot doe’s” or the deer that bucks are looking for.

From opening day until about one week after the full rutting moon, the deer often appear unaware that their survival-oriented mating season is coming up.

The deer meet in local open field food plots, oak tree groves and apple orchards each afternoon just before sunset and seem to have a sacred conversation of sorts.  It is their habitual social ritual and they are perhaps discussing the sweet delight of sugary apples.  It’s fun to watch them, it’s a time that hunters often learn quickly that too much calling will usually cause the deer to flee. The deer gather like that in groups until they break up just before the full rut.

The formula for when the full rut should happen is complicated, but most folks that hunt with arrows believe in the Alsheimer theory and this year, that means the rut will peak after the full moon in November, so the full rut will occur in the middle of November.  False rut occurs in the moon prior to the rutting moon when bucks think they should be mating, but the doe’s are not ready.  Scrapes, rubs, lots of deer action can occur in the woods and it’s a good time to get out there if you can.

Peak rut is the time when rutting bucks chase doe’s that are actually ready to mate, with some doe’s literally screaming for their buck to find them using their high-pitched bleat call.  Indeed, their gesture to signify immediate need to mate.

During this October, a month before peak rut this year, the bucks can become frustrated, providing vulnerability for the deer and adding to hunter advantage with the proper use of downwind location and use of scent attractants. It’s a hot time to be in the hunting woods if you can accurately place an arrow on the mark of your aim.  That’s what young hunter, Alessio Gulino, 23 years old from Clarence, New York, did last weekend.

Using a Grim Reaper broadhead and Diamond compound bow set up for a 65-pound draw, Gulino dropped the buck at 30 yards with a clean heart shot.  Gulino says, “The deer did not even take one step, he simply crashed on the spot.”

Gulino adds, “Since October 14^th, I have seen signs of false rut.  I have had a few smaller bucks come around my food plot leaving their scent behind.  Making rubs and scrapes, it been a joy watching the little ones.  On the day I got my buck, I switched to a stand in a more wooded area.  When this buck came out his behavior was different.  More of a strut as he walked, neck was swollen and nose to the ground. That was my false rut experience, I have also been monitoring the moon phases, as well as the weather.  To me, the biggest things that matter about the rut, false or full rut, are moon phase and temperature.”

Many experts will say, “Yes, very true.”

Mid-day scouting and a quiet walk around your hunting terrain in search of tree rubs and ground scrapes can help identify active buck locales.  The bucks that made those rubs and scrapes are not far away and they usually return to check for tell-tale signs of a hot doe at least twice a day, just before sunset and again in the morning sunrise hours just before they head to their bedding area for a daytime snooze.

Once an active buck zone is located with the rubs and scrapes, there are a number of things to take advantage of the location.  Savvy hunters set up in a tree stand downwind and wait for the buck to check his area, though in the meantime, you may have to willingly pass on multiple doe’s traveling the area because of scrape and rub marks, and the smell scent left by the buck.

This is where use of scent lines can offer honest advantage to bring the deer right to the hunter.  There are two ways to think about using scent, one is to attract a buck by use of hot doe scent, also known as “doe-in-heat” or “doe-in-estrus” scent, and the other is to upset the buck and trigger him into a more aggressive mode with the use of “buck scent”.

The use of buck scent is working when you see the buck come back to his scrape and then start a violent surge of attacking the ground all around his scrape.  He is upset.  When that happens, you know this buck is upset and considers this area “his area” and thinks he is the dominant buck there.  On the other hand, if he knows he is not the dominant buck, the buck scent may cause him to bolt away and never return, so you gotta be careful with buck scent if you are willing to settle for an ordinary six-point buck.

With “doe-in-heat” scent, you will attract whatever buck is making the scrape and by dragging a scent line from the scrape to your stand location, can win the prize of a possible perfect shot at a range of your choosing.  Sounds easy right?

It can be at the right time of year, like now, when bucks are in heavy search for estrus doe’s and not finding many. It’s a nice time to drag a scent line tied from to your boot from the scrape area to your stand area, with the scent line loaded up with “doe-in-heat” liquid lure.  Use a small piece of rag tied to a 6-foot string line for the scent line (drag line).

So which “doe-in-heat” scent lure to use?  Some hunters will say they are all good, that may be true.  In Western New York we have at least one source of natural “doe-in-heat” lure that is bottled from local deer herd stock specifically for hunters at Pines & Tines Whitetail Farm. This is a deer farm with over 60 live deer animals located at 7852 Lewis Road in Colden, about six miles south of East Aurora.

While commercial store versions of “doe-in-heat” are sold in one or two ounce bottles at $12-$14, most of these are chemical equivalents of the real thing.  Pines & Tines sells an eight-ounce bottle for $10.  Yes, that is a buy. This real nature local product has worked for me and many hunting friends for the last several years and we just never told anyone where we bought our hunting attractant scent. Well now the secret is out!  Call Eric and Cheryl Lafferty at 716-655-5007, or stop in, there is a sign on the door that will direct you to the refrigerator stock of “doe-in-heat” and “buck lure”.  Use this stuff sparingly to help you set the stage for deer hunting success.

One of the other well-proven local scent formulas made in East Aurora, New York, is Kishel Scents. Their mock scrape kit is among the most effective ever made.  Born from the experience of a young boy as a trapper, several of my close friends have used the Kishel Mock Scrape Kit to harvest trophy deer in the past few years.  There are other companies that make similar products, but for some secret reason, the Kishel Product Kit lasts for weeks and deer keep coming back.

Not saying other products are ineffective, we have all tried many of them – they do not all work, but this local Kishel Mock Scrape Product Kit is quite amazing.  To visually see how a mock scrape is made, go visit this link on You-Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8irLbm7kCs.  Without the kit, get out there, find a scrape line, set up your fixed or climbing tree stand down-wind and drag the scent line from the scrape area to your preferred tree stand location.

Gulino was hunting on his own land and using a safe, metal, fixed ladder stand with a full body harness for fall protection and safety.  He put on his patience hat, sat down and relaxed until the deer of his choice showed up, took his time and made a very clean kill shot.

Prime time is at sunrise and sunset, most hunters know that.  Don’t forget your full body harness to stay safe when you go vertical, anything less than a full body harness is asking for trouble. The most exciting fun of the year is between Friday’s and Mondays if you can settle your honey-do chores before hitting the outdoors.

Good luck to everyone on the water or in the woods!

-Learn Science and Skills to Hunt

-New 267 Page e-Book

-Written by QDMA Field Experts

By Forrest Fisher

There may not be an organization in the outdoors that has done more to allow hunter folks to learn about how they behave and what to do about becoming a more effective hunter than the Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA).  They have recently provided to the public a well-written learning guide in their newest book, QDMA’s Guide to Successful Deer Hunting.  It is available as an e-book for purchase or as a free graduation gift to all who complete their hunting safety course at Hunter-Ed.com, providers of Internet hunting safety courses for more than 45 states.

“Many of the students from Hunter-Ed.com were asking for more information on how to hunt deer, and we were asked to contribute materials that could help them,” said QDMA Director of Communications Lindsay Thomas Jr.  “Our staff responded by producing an entirely new and complete guide to deer hunting that will be provided free to all Hunter-Ed.com graduates across the country. They’re certified safe hunters now, and our e-book is designed to help get them into the woods and on a path toward a lifetime of successful deer hunting.”

“When it comes to the ‘what’s next’ beyond basic hunter education, Kalkomey relies heavily on partners such as QDMA,” said Mitch Strobl, Vice President of Business Development for Kalkomey, the parent company of Hunter-Ed.com. “We want our students to have access to the best resources out there, and this new e-book is a prime example of just that. Through strategic partnerships, we’re able to help our students along from initial interest to total participation, thus helping achieve our recruitment, retention and reactivation (R3) goals.”

QDMA’s Guide to Successful Deer Hunting is 267 pages long and includes 15 chapters written by eight different contributors, all QDMA staff members. Major subjects are expanded upon in 18 embedded videos produced exclusively for the project by Primos Hunting. Dozens of full color photos also help illustrate the chapters, and links to external resources and articles allow readers to explore every topic in greater depth as desired.

“Will Primos and his team produced a fantastic series of supporting videos for the e-book,” said Hank Forester, QDMA’s Hunting Heritage Programs Manager. “The videos cover some of the more complex subjects, like choosing a rifle or using deer calls, and they really round out the usefulness and interactivity of the project. For those readers who don’t have someone to teach them how to hunt or take them to the woods, our e-book will be a terrific help.”

QDMA’s Guide to Successful Deer Hunting is also available for purchase on Amazon, and you can download and read it on any device using the free Kindle app. Gifting the e-book to new or aspiring hunters is easy through Amazon. All you need is the e-mail address of the gift recipient.

QDMA’s Guide to Successful Deer Hunting is the first e-book in QDMA’s library. Previously, QDMA published Deer Cameras: The Science of Scouting and also Quality Food Plots, the highest selling book on wildlife food plots ever published, in addition to other educational booklets, maps and posters. Visit QDMA’s online store for more information on these other titles.

-Real-Life Close Encounters 

-Tradition and Wisdom = Proven Advice

-Building Steady Nerves

By Forrest Fisher

Big bucks and big doe’s too, are at home in thick mature forests.  On very windy days where gusts are creeping up to 35-40 mph and more, look for sunken creek beds in gorged out valleys to find the larger whitetail deer, even groups of larger deer, which many of us are looking for.

It only took me 50 years to find that out on my own, but then I have not been able to afford to hunt on game farms and fenced private hunting camps with massive food plots.  Of course, I honestly respect those who can do that, but for many the truth is – besides not being part of their budget, they simply say, “That’s just not real hunting.”  Game farm hunting is more a test of your shooting skill for bragging rights, many say.  You know the deer are there, you know you will get a shot at some point, the only question you have is simple, ”Is a 4-1/2 year old buck old enough to harvest?”

That’s not really a question for me and the tens of thousands of hunters like me who rarely even see a two or three year-old deer with all the hunting pressure we have in New York State.  In the end, while I have passed on many two-year olds, I take the deer of my choice when I feel that the time for hunting season is running out and I need some venison in the freezer.

In my family, venison is the only essential red meat subsistence we eat.  Venison is healthy, nearly fat free, high in protein and high in organic electrolytes and staples from the vegetarian diet without fertilizer and pest control products that deer consume as found in the natural wild.  That’s the kind of meat we seek. So eventually, even if the deer is not a four-year old, I need to take one or two.

For most ordinary hunter guys (like me), hunting is usually done on small private tracts of 50-100 acres or less, and on public lands in New York State known as state forests.  There are many state forests in New York, some as large as 5,000 acres and many in rugged and unforgiving terrain locations where only the “very fit” might consider the possibility for access and hunting.  Many other state forest tracts are common with hills and grasslands, mixed with conifers and deciduous tree variations, good for young hunters and slow-moving oldsters alike.

For folks with little time for hunting and an adequate supply of funding, game farms are one way to go.  For other folks with little time and a limited supply of funding, welcome to my world.

Pre-season weekends are used for exploring new hunting lands and setting trail cameras.  We use the Wildgame Innovations CLOAK™ 6 LightsOut™ cameras that capture 6-megapixel images and daytime or nighttime videos, these have a stealthy 36-unit high-intensity black LED infrared flash that is invisible – all for well under $100.  My budget can afford these.

I use the trail cam’s where I can see visible sign, but no deer, then try to identify what deer and how much deer herd activity is in that neighborhood before and during the season.  It helps my hunting family to better manage where we focus our hunting efforts.

Wherever we go, we do know that we will likely have to work hard to succeed.  There are fewer farmers with corn fields, an increasing supply of housing developments and fewer areas to hunt than ever before, but the bottom line is that we know we will enjoy the preparation for the hunt, researching the new brands of archery gear, firearms, optics and accessories, and we will enjoy the adventure of the hunt because we hunt together as a family and a team.  On certain days, we may spend hours in quiet conversation with the great wind from the north, but that is just part of the nature community and our non-game farm hunting community.  It is the reality of the natural world.

We work together to improve our hunting trip efficiency – staying safe as possible, but we know we always can be better.

We work toward fulfillment at the next level – seeing more deer and harvesting bigger deer.  Hunting with our hunting family is a win-win for everyone across the board.  Hunting season dates and plans are exciting times because while we never talk about it, we know that the bonds we form with nature and each other are powerful, satisfying and timeless.

We share our thoughts and questions often.  We sense too, there is that magical link to our ancestral past – hunting is sacred to us in that sense.  For hunters everywhere, many of us are irrepressibly drawn to the woods to ponder the challenge and vulnerability of the whitetail deer we seek.  Without spoken words, there is love and affection for the species, and there is dilemma there too – all at the same time.  Simultaneous satisfaction of this sort seems hard to define, yet it is real.

Entering the woods together, it is easy to affiliate with the spirit of the hunt as we develop a renewed sense of kinship and reverence with all the life we find in the deer woods.  Hunting in the wilds of a non-fenced natural area is an extraordinary experience in these modern times and it will become even more extraordinary as time goes on.

Share life with others, make new friends in the outdoors, lead by example.

-Food banks and individuals are thankful for hunter generosity

-Hunters Help Communities across America in Many Ways

By STOadmin

When you’re passing the turkey and stuffing around the Thanksgiving dinner table, here’s a story to tell–one that would not be possible without the thoughtfulness and generosity of hunters.

A new study commissioned by the National Shooting Sports Foundation and conducted by Mile Creek Communications reveals that last year 11 million meals were provided to the less fortunate through donations of venison by hunters. Nearly 2.8 million pounds of game meat made its way to shelters, food banks and church kitchens and onto the plates of those in need.

“Given our challenging economic times, hunters’ donations of venison have never been more important to so many people,” said Stephen L. Sanetti, president and CEO of NSSF, the trade association for the firearms, ammunition, hunting and shooting sports industry. “These contributions are just one way hunting and hunters are important to our way of life in America. Learning about these impressive figures makes me proud to be a hunter. I have donated game meat during the past year, and I urge my fellow hunters to strongly consider sharing their harvest.”

The study revealed that donations were largest in the Midwest and the South. The Midwest provided 1.3 million pounds of game meat, amounting to 46.1 percent of total donations, with the South close behind at 1.25 million pounds and 45.7 percent. The Northeast contributed 7.2 percent of total donations and the West 1 percent. Though lower than other regions, the West’s contribution still accounted for 108,520 meals.

“Certainly the Midwest, South and Northeast benefit from having large populations of white-tailed deer,” said Jim Curcuruto, NSSF’s director of statistics and research. “These figures are from confirmed sources, but annual donations could easily be double this amount if ‘direct’ donations from hunters to friends and family are included.”

Curcuruto added that NSSF commissioned the study to better understand the size and scope of these venison donations.

Groups often cooperate to ensure a successful donation program. In Georgia, according to the Athens Banner Herald, the Georgia Wildlife Federation pays for the meat to be butchered and packaged at state-licensed processors, the state Department of Natural Resources oversees the program and the Georgia Food Bank Association coordinates distributions. Additionally, the game meat satisfies shelters’ need for nutritious food items. Dave Williams, who manages food resources for a northeast Georgia food bank, said in the Banner Herald that he is focused on acquiring more nutritious items and noted, “Deer venison is such a low-fat, high-protein item, agencies greatly appreciate getting it.”

Another recent news report out of the Indiana-Kentucky-Illinois area pointed out that one deer can feed up to 200 people. Ground venison is a versatile food, with cooks using it in pasta sauces, chili, tacos, meatloaf, burgers and other dishes.

Individual hunters donate game meat and even pay for processing, though many hunters choose to work with organizations dedicated to the cause of helping the hungry. Many of these groups were sources for the NSSF study and include Hunters for the Hungry, Farmers & Hunters Feeding the Hungry, Hunt to Feed and Buckmasters, among others. Visit this website for more information about groups active in various states.

And don’t forget to tell this heartwarming story ’round your Thanksgiving table.  There are many ways to create memories that will be cherished for a lifetime.