As I said in my last deer hunting post,there is no substitute for boot leather in the field,you have to get out there and scout,you have to locate bedding areas,water sources, food sources,and deer trails.
You also have to plan ahead because ag fields get harvested,and the summer/early fall food sources change. What deer are feeding on now,and in the opening weeks of bow season will change as soon as local ag fields are harvested.
Once acorns drop-that's the primary food source,deer will eat white oak acorns above all other foods in fall. Apples are a close second. In NE Ohio,the crabapple becomes a food source when other foods aren't available.
When you pick your stand/blind sites,you have to consider multiple things,first are bedding areas and water sources,then food sources,then comes trails leading to and from these areas.
You have to be able to get to your stand/blind without spooking bedding deer,there are two ways of doing this,first is to get to your blind long before deer return to the bedding area-which means in the dark,at least an hour before legal shooting light.
Second is to locate your blind/stand far enough away from the bedding areas,that you don't spook deer.
This approach is best for afternoon/evening hunts,as the idea is to catch the deer leaving their bedding areas to drink water and feed.
You may have to go to your blind on one trail,and leave on another to avoid spooking deer-figure this out now.
It's best to pick several sites,so you can hunt no matter which way the wind is blowing.
If you are hunting on a ridgeline/rise in the land,remember that in the morning,as it warms up,air moves from low to high,it does the opposite in the evening,so pay close attention to the wind direction,if it's parallel to the ridge/rise it's okay to hunt,if the wind is blowing at your back-pick another place to hunt,wind in your face means the wind will carry your scent over the ridge,and it will go to the bottom behind you,and not the bottom if front of you,so you're good to hunt that site.
Same with any other blind site-keep the wind in you're face,so it's carrying you're scent away from any approaching deer.
While you are hiking through the woods now and in early Sept,take binoculars with you,and scan the tops and branches of the oak trees,find a few with more acorns than the rest,and use these trees to set up your stand/blind near.
Another great stand/blind location is what is known as edge cover- the brushy areas between woods and fields. This is where bucks make rubs year after year,look around and you should be able to spot last year's rubs. If there's a lot-put a stand/blind near the edge cover,preferably just inside the woods,where there are known buck trails.
Locate another stand right on the field edge,pick a spot where there's a few small trees with branches about the height of a deer's head,then pick a couple more so you can hunt the edge cover from either the field side or the woods side in any wind direction.
Once you've got your blind/stand sites picked out- take a small rake,a folding saw,and a pair of hand pruners with you into the woods. Clear any branches that you would brush against,or snag your pack,bow,or clothing on. then rake the leaves and debris from the trail. You'll have to do it again after the leaves drop,but it's much easier to rake the leaves away if you've already cleared your trails.
Do this now,or real soon,as deer notice changes in the woods.
Starting the last week of October,make a two or three fake scrape lines,pick small trees with a branch the bucks can reach that's toward the open area/field.
Rake away all the dead grasses,leaves and debris in about a 3' semi-circle under the trees,use a stick,or old deer antler to make marks in the dirt like a deer was scraping it's antlers to clear debris from the scrape.
Make a line of these,4-6 to a line,and either use a scent like Active Scrape,or drink a lot of water before you head into the woods and piss in the scrapes yourself-I've done it for years,and it works just fine.
Starting the last week of October/first week of November,hunt the scrape lines every evening hunt.
I'll start hanging scent wicks with doe in estrous scent near the scrape lines starting the first week of November. I do not leave them out-I use bottles with a wick that can be re-capped and reused all season,you just have to add more estrous urine every so often.
These are what I use...
Tink's reusable scent bottles
The whitetail rut in NE Ohio hit's the peak around the 15th of November every year,breeding starts around the first of November. This is when you want to hunt for a big buck,if that's what you're after.
The last week of Oct. until the last week of Nov. is the time to rattle and use a grunt tube and estrous bleat call.
Pay attention to the rut,because any does not bred in Nov. will cycle back into estrous 28 days later-in Dec. then in Jan. there's a much smaller period of breeding.
I'll do a post on rattling and using grunt tubes doe and fawn bleats and estrous bleats before the rut hits.
The guys who get a deer every year are the guys who get out there and scout,get their hunting spots picked out/set up long before the rut hits,and stay in their blind/stand once they get to it.
So get out there,find your stand/blind sites,get your shooting lanes cut now,clear your trails to and from your blinds now and you'll be way ahead of most deer hunters.
Showing posts with label deer hunting techniques. Show all posts
Showing posts with label deer hunting techniques. Show all posts
Sunday, August 28, 2016
Saturday, August 27, 2016
Deer Archery Season Less Than a Month Away in Ohio- Some Deer Hunting Basics
First-
Now's the time to step up your target practice.
I go from my 18-36 arrows a day all summer,to shooting 36 arrows twice a day,morning and close to last legal shooting light,which is one half hour after sunset here in Ohio.
You have to go by the ODNR's sunrise-sunset tables-not other sources,their tables are the legal hunting times,if you use the times in the newspaper,or online sources,then you may be off by several minutes.
That could lead to large fines and/or suspension of hunting license/right to hunt.
Plus,if your hunting privileges are suspended in Ohio-they are also suspended in the rest of the U.S. except for two states-New Jersey and Nebrasaka- due to the Interstate Wildlife Violater Compact
Your blind or stand should be already set up if you hunt private land,shooting lanes cut,and blind/stand "brushed in" using the branches you trimmed for your shooting lanes.
Now is also the time to start putting out corn if you feed the deer where you hunt.
You should have had mineral blocks out since early spring,as it helps with antler growth,and provides deer nutrients that are lacking in the natural foods available.
I keep blocks out all year,in spring I put out one of the "rack rock" type blocks made for antler growth. In fall,I put out apple,sugar beet, and acorn scented blocks. Once the rut is over,I add blocks as needed,but switch to stockman's blocks available at your local feed store-or farm supply,Tractor Supply,etc. This helps provide the newly pregnant does with a boost in nutrients.
If you put out corn,and don't use a feeder,spread it out,rather than make one big pile,as it will help prevent deer from passing diseases to other deer when spread out. If you just dump corn in a big pile,the deer can transmit diseases to other deer.
I hunt a 70 acre or so private property,and we do mange the deer as much as possible,which is why we put out food and mineral blocks. Over the years,there have been some monster sized deer taken there,both in body size,and antler size. There's only 4 people who regularly hunt the property,and another 4 guys we let hunt gun season. Usually it's no more than 4 people hunting on any given day of the season.
The property is surrounded by ag fields-most years it's about half corn,half soybeans-this year for some reason,it's all soybeans.
That's good for us-the beans will be off the fields before the rut kicks in,and there will be no standing corn during gun season.
I also put out apples from the time they start dropping off the trees,up until the end of muzzleloader season in Jan. since I get them for free from a neighbor. If you have local apple orchards,ask the owners,they'll usually give you extra or bruised,wormy,etc apples for free or a really reduced price.
I freeze a bunch for use later in the season,the deer still eat them,and when there's snow on the ground,some apples spread around 30 yards or so from your blind will draw hungry deer in from all over the area.
I hunt a lot on public land,where you can't put out any kind of bait,no corn,no apples,no mineral blocks.
No big deal,deer travel the same trails all the time,the key to finding deer on public land is to find the major trails,then find the bedding areas,the water sources,and the food sources. Deer have to drink water at least twice a day,usually soon after they move from their beds,and again after feeding.
When you find the trails,anywhere from 5-15 yards from the main trails-you will find smaller,less used trails.
These are the older buck's trails,yearling bucks usually still travel with the does up until the rut begins.
Find a spot near a water source,a food source,or on the trail the deer use to get to the bedding areas.
Deer feed all night during hunting season,if you set up near a bedding area,and are trying to get a deer heading to bed-you have to be able to get to your blind long before first light,and do it without spooking deer.
I usually use the opposite approach-I set up far enough away from the bedding area that I can get to me blind any time during the day,and try to get the deer as they move out of the bedding area.
If you find the food source,pick a spot that's either still back in the woods a little,or right at the edge of a field.
When there's a lot of acorns on the ground,deer aren't going to eat much of anything else,so concentrate on water sources and trails to and from bedding areas.
The single most important thing you can do is get out in the woods,and see what the deer are doing where you hunt,there's no substitute for scouting-none.
I don't use trail cameras,because unless you own a huge farm/property,and have dozens of cameras,all you'll find out is where the deer were,not where they are,where they're going,what they're eating,where they're bedding-which are the things you need to know to be where the deer will be after you get in your stand/blind.
You have to pay close attention to wind direction-and have more than one stand or blind set up so you have another choice if the wind is not blowing towards your stand or blind. I have 4 locations,so I'm covered every day I hunt. The public land that I hunt-I also hunt different spots when the wind is from different directions. The best public land was hit with a severe EHD outbreak in 2012,we didn't see a single deer hunting that gun season at the Ladue public hunting area,and we hunted it for 5 days. This year should be good there,as the 2013 fawns will be 3 1/2 now,2014 fawns 2 1/2. Next year will probably be better at Ladue,as there should be plenty of 3 1/2 and 4 1/2 year old bucks.
I'll probably hunt there at least 2 days of gun season this year,just to see what the deer numbers are like.
Deer can smell you from a long ways off,unless you are hunting in an area where they are used to people-like the suburbs-they aren't going to come within bow range if they smell you.
Use the wind to your advantage,I also will take a trash bag into the wods with me a couple weeks before hunting season,and pack it full of leaves and twigs from the area I'm going to hunt.
Then I put the leaves into paper bags,and put them in plastic bins with all my hunting gear.
I've been doing this for years-it works,I've had deer walk right by me when I'm in an ground blind and the wind shifted so it was blowing at my back-and they still didn't smell me.
I don't use the scent control clothing or products-my method has worked just fine for over 40 years-why change it now?
I would rather spend the $$$ I save by not paying extra for scent control clothing and products on new broadheads,arrows,and crossbow bolts.
Wear camo that matches your surroundings-wearing solid earth tone colors is better than wearing something like woodland camo in Ohio in November.
Either wear some kind of face mask,or use camo face paint-deer recognize the shape of a human face-so hide your face.
Don't hike around the woods during the day once deer season starts-stay put. As long as you picked a good location,the deer will come to you. If you are hunting public land,there's enough people moving in and out of the woods to push deer right to you,another reason to sit still,stay in your blind.
Pack enough snacks plus a lunch,bring plenty of water,and if you're like me-pack a thermos of coffee.
Make sure you have some surgical gloves,hand soap-I use an empty one of the 99 cents at the qucikie mart hand sanitizer bottles filed with Dial antibacterial hand soap-plus hand sanitizer,and a towel/washcloth to wash your hands after to field dress your deer.
Either buy a deer drag,or make your own-I just use an 18" piece of 3/4" oak dowel rod that I tie my rope to,makes it much easier to drag the deer.
Ohio deer hunting regs/info...
The statewide bag limit is six deer. Only one may be antlered. You cannot exceed an individual county bag limit.
No more than two deer may be taken from a two deer county during the 2016-2017 deer hunting season. Both deer need to be tagged with an either-sex permit. The antlerless permit is not valid in a two deer county.
No more than three deer may be taken from a three deer county during the 2016-2017 deer hunting season. The antlerless permit is not valid in most three deer counties. Check the antlerless permit map on this page to determine if the antlerless permit is valid in the county where you hunt. One deer may be tagged with an antlerless permit in specific three deer counties, and two deer may be tagged with either-sex permits. The antlerless permit is not valid in specific counties after Nov. 27, 2016. Three deer may be tagged with either-sex permits if the antlerless permit is not valid or not used.
No more than four deer may be taken from a four deer county during the 2016-2017 deer hunting season. One deer may be tagged with an antlerless permit and three deer may be tagged with an either-sex permit. The antlerless permit is not valid in specific counties after Nov. 27, 2016. Four deer may be tagged with either-sex permits if the antlerless permit is not used.
I'll do a post on stand/blind site selection in the next day or two.
If you haven't been out in the woods yet,get out there,boot leather in the woods and fields equals venison in the freezer.
Ladue should have decent deer hunting this year for those of you around here...
More info on Ladue here
Now's the time to step up your target practice.
I go from my 18-36 arrows a day all summer,to shooting 36 arrows twice a day,morning and close to last legal shooting light,which is one half hour after sunset here in Ohio.
You have to go by the ODNR's sunrise-sunset tables-not other sources,their tables are the legal hunting times,if you use the times in the newspaper,or online sources,then you may be off by several minutes.
That could lead to large fines and/or suspension of hunting license/right to hunt.
Plus,if your hunting privileges are suspended in Ohio-they are also suspended in the rest of the U.S. except for two states-New Jersey and Nebrasaka- due to the Interstate Wildlife Violater Compact
Your blind or stand should be already set up if you hunt private land,shooting lanes cut,and blind/stand "brushed in" using the branches you trimmed for your shooting lanes.
Now is also the time to start putting out corn if you feed the deer where you hunt.
You should have had mineral blocks out since early spring,as it helps with antler growth,and provides deer nutrients that are lacking in the natural foods available.
I keep blocks out all year,in spring I put out one of the "rack rock" type blocks made for antler growth. In fall,I put out apple,sugar beet, and acorn scented blocks. Once the rut is over,I add blocks as needed,but switch to stockman's blocks available at your local feed store-or farm supply,Tractor Supply,etc. This helps provide the newly pregnant does with a boost in nutrients.
If you put out corn,and don't use a feeder,spread it out,rather than make one big pile,as it will help prevent deer from passing diseases to other deer when spread out. If you just dump corn in a big pile,the deer can transmit diseases to other deer.
I hunt a 70 acre or so private property,and we do mange the deer as much as possible,which is why we put out food and mineral blocks. Over the years,there have been some monster sized deer taken there,both in body size,and antler size. There's only 4 people who regularly hunt the property,and another 4 guys we let hunt gun season. Usually it's no more than 4 people hunting on any given day of the season.
The property is surrounded by ag fields-most years it's about half corn,half soybeans-this year for some reason,it's all soybeans.
That's good for us-the beans will be off the fields before the rut kicks in,and there will be no standing corn during gun season.
I also put out apples from the time they start dropping off the trees,up until the end of muzzleloader season in Jan. since I get them for free from a neighbor. If you have local apple orchards,ask the owners,they'll usually give you extra or bruised,wormy,etc apples for free or a really reduced price.
I freeze a bunch for use later in the season,the deer still eat them,and when there's snow on the ground,some apples spread around 30 yards or so from your blind will draw hungry deer in from all over the area.
I hunt a lot on public land,where you can't put out any kind of bait,no corn,no apples,no mineral blocks.
No big deal,deer travel the same trails all the time,the key to finding deer on public land is to find the major trails,then find the bedding areas,the water sources,and the food sources. Deer have to drink water at least twice a day,usually soon after they move from their beds,and again after feeding.
When you find the trails,anywhere from 5-15 yards from the main trails-you will find smaller,less used trails.
These are the older buck's trails,yearling bucks usually still travel with the does up until the rut begins.
Find a spot near a water source,a food source,or on the trail the deer use to get to the bedding areas.
Deer feed all night during hunting season,if you set up near a bedding area,and are trying to get a deer heading to bed-you have to be able to get to your blind long before first light,and do it without spooking deer.
I usually use the opposite approach-I set up far enough away from the bedding area that I can get to me blind any time during the day,and try to get the deer as they move out of the bedding area.
If you find the food source,pick a spot that's either still back in the woods a little,or right at the edge of a field.
When there's a lot of acorns on the ground,deer aren't going to eat much of anything else,so concentrate on water sources and trails to and from bedding areas.
The single most important thing you can do is get out in the woods,and see what the deer are doing where you hunt,there's no substitute for scouting-none.
I don't use trail cameras,because unless you own a huge farm/property,and have dozens of cameras,all you'll find out is where the deer were,not where they are,where they're going,what they're eating,where they're bedding-which are the things you need to know to be where the deer will be after you get in your stand/blind.
You have to pay close attention to wind direction-and have more than one stand or blind set up so you have another choice if the wind is not blowing towards your stand or blind. I have 4 locations,so I'm covered every day I hunt. The public land that I hunt-I also hunt different spots when the wind is from different directions. The best public land was hit with a severe EHD outbreak in 2012,we didn't see a single deer hunting that gun season at the Ladue public hunting area,and we hunted it for 5 days. This year should be good there,as the 2013 fawns will be 3 1/2 now,2014 fawns 2 1/2. Next year will probably be better at Ladue,as there should be plenty of 3 1/2 and 4 1/2 year old bucks.
I'll probably hunt there at least 2 days of gun season this year,just to see what the deer numbers are like.
Deer can smell you from a long ways off,unless you are hunting in an area where they are used to people-like the suburbs-they aren't going to come within bow range if they smell you.
Use the wind to your advantage,I also will take a trash bag into the wods with me a couple weeks before hunting season,and pack it full of leaves and twigs from the area I'm going to hunt.
Then I put the leaves into paper bags,and put them in plastic bins with all my hunting gear.
I've been doing this for years-it works,I've had deer walk right by me when I'm in an ground blind and the wind shifted so it was blowing at my back-and they still didn't smell me.
I don't use the scent control clothing or products-my method has worked just fine for over 40 years-why change it now?
I would rather spend the $$$ I save by not paying extra for scent control clothing and products on new broadheads,arrows,and crossbow bolts.
Wear camo that matches your surroundings-wearing solid earth tone colors is better than wearing something like woodland camo in Ohio in November.
Either wear some kind of face mask,or use camo face paint-deer recognize the shape of a human face-so hide your face.
Don't hike around the woods during the day once deer season starts-stay put. As long as you picked a good location,the deer will come to you. If you are hunting public land,there's enough people moving in and out of the woods to push deer right to you,another reason to sit still,stay in your blind.
Pack enough snacks plus a lunch,bring plenty of water,and if you're like me-pack a thermos of coffee.
Make sure you have some surgical gloves,hand soap-I use an empty one of the 99 cents at the qucikie mart hand sanitizer bottles filed with Dial antibacterial hand soap-plus hand sanitizer,and a towel/washcloth to wash your hands after to field dress your deer.
Either buy a deer drag,or make your own-I just use an 18" piece of 3/4" oak dowel rod that I tie my rope to,makes it much easier to drag the deer.
Ohio deer hunting regs/info...
White-tailed Deer Hunting
| Species | Opening Date | Closing Date | Daily Bag Limit | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archery | September 24, 2016 | February 5, 2017 | The statewide bag limit is six deer. Only one may be antlered. You cannot exceed an individual county bag limit . Refer to the Deer Hunting Section for details on zone and bag limits. | |||
| Deer Youth Gun | November 19, 2016 | November 20, 2016 | ||||
| Gun | November 28, 2016 | December 4, 2016 | ||||
| December 17, 2016 | December 18, 2016 | |||||
| Muzzleloader | January 7, 2017 | January 10, 2017 | ||||
The statewide bag limit is six deer. Only one may be antlered. You cannot exceed an individual county bag limit.
No more than two deer may be taken from a two deer county during the 2016-2017 deer hunting season. Both deer need to be tagged with an either-sex permit. The antlerless permit is not valid in a two deer county.
No more than three deer may be taken from a three deer county during the 2016-2017 deer hunting season. The antlerless permit is not valid in most three deer counties. Check the antlerless permit map on this page to determine if the antlerless permit is valid in the county where you hunt. One deer may be tagged with an antlerless permit in specific three deer counties, and two deer may be tagged with either-sex permits. The antlerless permit is not valid in specific counties after Nov. 27, 2016. Three deer may be tagged with either-sex permits if the antlerless permit is not valid or not used.
No more than four deer may be taken from a four deer county during the 2016-2017 deer hunting season. One deer may be tagged with an antlerless permit and three deer may be tagged with an either-sex permit. The antlerless permit is not valid in specific counties after Nov. 27, 2016. Four deer may be tagged with either-sex permits if the antlerless permit is not used.
- OR - Up to three either-sex permits. |
- OR - Up to four either-sex permits. |
||
I'll do a post on stand/blind site selection in the next day or two.
If you haven't been out in the woods yet,get out there,boot leather in the woods and fields equals venison in the freezer.
Ladue should have decent deer hunting this year for those of you around here...
More info on Ladue here
Sunday, December 27, 2015
Ohio Deer Harvest
According to the ODNR,the 2015-2016 deer season harvest is up slightly...
Up by 3,742 over last year,however,the deer season was changed,there was no
Oct. doe only muzzleloader season
plus there's an extra two days of gun season,tomorrow and Tues.
The muzzleloader season is a week later than last year as well.
Jan. 9th-12th is this year's muzzleloader season.
We hunted 5 of the 7 days of gun season,and never saw a deer in gun range.
We hunt in Ashland county,the harvest there is almost the same as last year,
there's an eight deer difference.
The ODNR apparently listened to us hunters at the meetings they held last year,
when we said there were way too many does being harvested,and deer numbers
were way down from the year before,and have been dropping for the years-as
antlerless permits were only sold in ten counties.
2015/16 Deer Harvest Totals
The 2013/14 and 2014/15 deer harvest totals here
There's still plenty of time to get a deer,and get some venison in your freezer,
we have the 2 days of gun season,the four days of muzzeloader season,
and the archery season is open 'till Feb 7th.
What's important to deer now is food and cover,they need more food because
it's colder,and the bucks are still recovering from the rut.
For morning hunts,set up so you can catch the deer coming back to the
bedding area,for evening hunts,set up so you catch them going from
bedding area to food source. If there's a water source between the bedding
area and the food source-that's the perfect spot ot set up-as the deer will
drink water on their way to the food source and on their way back to the bedding area.
Read.
Learn.
Train.
Do more PT.
Up by 3,742 over last year,however,the deer season was changed,there was no
Oct. doe only muzzleloader season
plus there's an extra two days of gun season,tomorrow and Tues.
The muzzleloader season is a week later than last year as well.
Jan. 9th-12th is this year's muzzleloader season.
We hunted 5 of the 7 days of gun season,and never saw a deer in gun range.
We hunt in Ashland county,the harvest there is almost the same as last year,
there's an eight deer difference.
The ODNR apparently listened to us hunters at the meetings they held last year,
when we said there were way too many does being harvested,and deer numbers
were way down from the year before,and have been dropping for the years-as
antlerless permits were only sold in ten counties.
2015/16 Deer Harvest Totals
The 2013/14 and 2014/15 deer harvest totals here
There's still plenty of time to get a deer,and get some venison in your freezer,
we have the 2 days of gun season,the four days of muzzeloader season,
and the archery season is open 'till Feb 7th.
What's important to deer now is food and cover,they need more food because
it's colder,and the bucks are still recovering from the rut.
For morning hunts,set up so you can catch the deer coming back to the
bedding area,for evening hunts,set up so you catch them going from
bedding area to food source. If there's a water source between the bedding
area and the food source-that's the perfect spot ot set up-as the deer will
drink water on their way to the food source and on their way back to the bedding area.
Read.
Learn.
Train.
Do more PT.
Saturday, November 28, 2015
Whitetail Deer Hunting After the November Rut
As the month of November draws to a close,the rut has passed-(at least around NE Ohio)-bucks seem to vanish.
The bucks are exhausted from the rut,as they've spent a couple weeks acting like horny teenage boys with a non-stop supply of horny teenage girls wiling to do the deed.
They don't vanish,they do rest a bit more,but the big bucks are still on the move-they have to drink water at least twice a day,and as it gets colder,they have to eat more not only to stay warm,but to replace the weight and muscle lost during the November rut.
The key (s) to finding bucks now is food sources and bedding areas.
Set up on a trail near a food source,either one going in for afternoon/evening hunts,or a trail going from a food source to a bedding area for an early morning hunt.
Something a lot of hunters don't concentrate on are the two secondary ruts.
The first begins 28 days after the peak rut in your area,as around 10% of does do not get bred during the main rut.
These does go intro estrous,and get bucks chasing after them-just like the main rut-but a much,much smaller version.
Once you figure out the approximate date of the peak rut,you can begin using doe in estrus scents,estrous bleats,and grunt tubes 28 days later.
The buck I got last year came in to a combination of doe bleats and grunt tube calls.
I did have some scent wicks out-but he came in from the wrong direction to have been able to get wind of them.
That buck didn't have much of a rack-he was a big bodied deer,and likely the dominant buck in his area,judging by how busted up his rack was,and the newly formed scars he had.
The buck began the season as a high-racked 6 point,by the time I shot him on Dec. 6th,he had a broken brow tine,3 points on one side,and two on the other.
He went down after a 30 yard or so shot from a .45caliber 240 gr Hornady XTP mag jhp bullet in a .50 caliber sabot-pushed by 2 50gr Triple7 pellets. I prefer the .44 cal 240 gr XTP's in a .50 cal sabot,as they are much easier to load,but my brother and I had split a box of 20 of the .45 cal XTP mags.
My preferred load is the .44 cal XTP pushed by 95-100 grains of Triple 7 FFFG,as it's a higher velocity load,and accurate out to 150 yds.
Okay,back to late season tactics-after the 10% of does that didn't get bred in the peak/main rut have been bred-usually in early to mid December,depending on timing of main rut-there a third,but extremely small percentage of your local deer herd that go into estrous around the first or second week of Jan.
That very,very small third rut-( maybe 2-3% of the local deer herd)- is generally yearling does coming into estrous for the first time.
This very minor rut coincides with Ohio's January muzzleloader season.
I've had success during this period using estrous bleats and a grunt tube sparingly.
Some stuff I've learned about whitetails over the years...
Bucks use grunts,and does use bleats a lot more than most of us realize-several years ago,I had a 2 year plus long series of surgeries done on my leg,in the nice weather,I would sit on our deck most of the daylight hours-hell,I couldn't do a whole hell of a lot during the first year and a half of that period of torture-(see pic on sidebar of landing page @ starvinlarry.com).
During that time,I watched does with newborn fawns,does with fawns as they grew up their first summer,bachelor groups of bucks,bucks making rubs and scrapes,bucks chasing does,and bucks and does during the rut.
As I watched the steady procession of deer emerge from the woods that are the Cuyahoga Valley National Park,what I heard was almost constant vocalization,bucks grunt all year 'round,does and fawns bleat all year 'round.
After the bucks have rubbed the velvet from their antlers,sparred with the others in the bachelor groups,and the bachelor groups have broken up-their grunts change.
They get louder and longer,there are more snort-wheeze challenges made when bucks spot other bucks,and then the bucks start fighting in earnest.
Once the pecking order has been established,and the dominant buck has beat up on all challengers,the bucks start making scrapes and rubs in earnest.
Most scrapes will be made under a tree at a field edge,or where thick cover turns to small trees.almost every scrape has a branch hanging down that the bucks can reach-they lick the branch,and rub their heads on it-(there's scent glands in the buck's head).
As I've said in other posts about deer hunting-make a fake scrape line-and be sure there's a branch hanging within the buck's reach over the scrape.
All you have to do is clear all the leaves,branches and other debris in a half-circle/oval shape under the tree-make a bunch-I usually make a line of 6-8 fake scrapes.
**** Great new technique****
Something I tried for the first time this year is using the branches I cut when I cleared shooting lanes-tying some OD color paracord between trees that had no branches hanging down that a buck could reach,and zip-tying the branches to the paracord.
Holy shit-the bucks tore those branches up-I'll be using that again next year.
You can use scents such as Active Scrape-(or just piss in the scrapes yourself-but be sure you're hydrated so your piss is clear),or add some doe urine in the early fall,then a few drops of estrous doe urine starting around the first week of November-don't use estrous scents any earlier-or you'll spook the deer,they know that's not normal.
Then as the leaves turn colors,and nights get colder in late October/early November-the first does start coming into estrous,and the bucks are on their feet chasing those first estrous does for much of the day-and all of the night.
This goes on for about two weeks most years,despite weather,the peak rut remains fairly consistent year after year.
In Ohio,there's probably more deer killed the second week of November than any time except the week-long gun season.
For the best chance at a late season buck-get out and hunt the really old days,hunt the days a low pressure system is moving in,hunt in the rain,if it's not cold enough to snow.
Other than the rut (s),I've taken most of my big bucks on days with a cold drizzle or light rain.
After that,the day before a big snow hits is always a good day,as is just after a big snow.
The bucks are still there-it ain't rocket science to find 'em-know the deer trails in the areas you hunt-the big trails are almost always doe trails-look 10-15 yards to either side of the doe trails,and most of the time,you will find a much less traveled trail-these are the trails the bucks use.
Know where the bedding areas and food sources are-never try to hunt a stand or blind near a bedding area in the afternoon/evening-you'll get busted-the deer will see and/or smell you.
They choose the bedding areas for a reason-they can see any danger approaching from a long ways off. Hunt near bedding areas really early in the morning-get in to your stand/blind well before daylight,and you have a good chance of catching a buck coming back to his bedding area after feeding all night.
Those who live in areas with large stands of mature timber,and huge hunting areas can take big bucks by tracking them in the snow-search for Larry,Lanny,and Lane Benoit-an entire family of some of the best deer trackers who ever lived.
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