August 22, 2006 - Tracy (click here for his web page) is sponsored by Mercury Outboards, Nameoki Village Marine, Guaranteed Graphics Granite City Illinois, Dock Side Cafe in Carlyle, Save Phace, Super 8 Motel all in Greenville Illinois
Getting Ready for Deer Season
It is getting close to the start of Bow season, and I have a few Tip's that you should follow for safety and to improve your luck in the wood's.
If you are hunting out of a home built stand you need to check the stand for wear and tear before the season begins, with all the bad weather we have had in the past month or so you need to make sure that your stand is still in good condition. (NEVER CLIMB INTO A HOMEMADE STAND THAT YOU DID NOT BUILD)
1. You should have started scouting your area the day after last season ended, and you should have been scouting all summer. If you are going to place hang on stands in your area you should do this a few weeks before you plan on hunting this area. This will give the deer time to settle down from all the activity in the area.
2. Check your equipment when you get in the stand, not when a buck walks out. Is your scope clear, will your bow draw back properly, shell in the chamber, etc. etc.
3. If you are going to hunt a large field or food plot, hunt it in the evening.
4. Deer love heavy cover. Try clearing a path through the cover that would be beneficial to the deer. A deer usually would prefer the easy route. Once the path is established hunt over the path in a tree stand.
5. If you don't have any faith in a deer call, afraid of scaring deer away, only use it after you see a deer that you are not going to shoot! You will get to see that it doesn't scare them and get to see their reactions. Make sure to use the appropriate call though or you might confirm to yourself that they don't work.
6. Always make sure your equipment is in good condition and you should always practice shooting your bow and gun before the season begins.
7. When hunting a new area, it pays in the long run to hunt a new stand each day for awhile. This is the fastest way to learn the deer movement patterns.
8. If you shoot a deer and you jump it up a short distance from where you shot it then back off and give it time to die. Wait overnight if it was shot in the evening!
9. For bow hunting it amazes me that people will spend untold hours shooting their bows from the ground and then hunt from a tree. I shoot exclusively from a tree stand when its within a month of bow season.
10. Why so many pins. I only use one pin. I find it easier to aim high or low on the deer than to try to remember to use a certain one when the big one walks out.
11. Many bow hunters have their bow poundage set to high. Not too high for the bow but too high for their arms. It's one thing to be able to pull it in practice and quite another to be able to hold it steady for
30 seconds waiting for the deer to step out from behind that bush.
12. Never approach your stand from the same route every time you go into the woods. Have two or three ways in and out of your stand if possible or a big buck will pattern you, just like you pattern him.
13. Always use a rope to pull your gun and bow into and out of your stand. Never carry it on your back and always unload your gun before you pull it up or let it down out of your stand.
14. Always wear a safety harness in your tree stand. Even if you are only 6ft off the ground wear you safety belt.
I hope these tips help you bag that trophy buck.... but always remember SAFETY is the most important thing to practice. You can't hunt that big buck if you are in the hospital.
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Check your stands for defects before the season starts and periodically during the season. This might just save your life.
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