Mistakes deer hunters make (Part 3)

© By Othmar Vohringer

In this edition of the mistake series I would like to discuss with you what I consider to be the third biggest mistakes hunters make: The over dependency on equipment.

As I have written in an earlier article, The Science of Hunting and the Good Old Days, hunters have come to rely too much on modern technology and gadgets in exchange for true woodsmanship. As technology improved and kept pumping new products onto the market that promised to get the job done for us, hunters became lazy.

Why scout if all I have is to use that magic potion in a bottle that I can spray around my stand and have all the bucks come running? Why watch the wind direction if I can wear a suit that makes me undetectable to a dear’s nose? Why drive along the back roads to check how many deer are in the area if I can hang up cameras on every tree that do the scouting for me?

As the modern gadgets kept flowing on the market we became more dependent on them. We began to believe and trust the advertising and all the new theories that scientists have come up with. So much so that we now believe that these things are more important than gathering first hand knowledge from the animal we pursue and the land animals call their home. We believe that with all that new-fangled technology we can’t fail yet more hunters than ever do fail and so does modern technology if solely relied upon to do all the work for us.

It is then no coincident that hunters start to blame equipment if he fails to kill an animal. Excuses like, “I did exactly as the chart said I should do.” or “The scent I used did not work” have become all to common excuses. We have heard of hunters that filed lawsuits against hunting product companies, claiming that the product did not produce the hoped for hunting success.

The problem is that deer do not read hunting magazines. Neither do deer read product advertising. How should they know what they are supposed to do and how to behave? If deer could read all the stuff that is written about them and the products that are sold they probably would laugh at us for all the fuss we make about them.

The simple truth of the matter is that there are no short cut and gimmicks to hunting success. Products and gadgets are an aid, nothing more and nothing less and they will only improve on our success if everything else is done right too. Most of the scent products and calls will work sometimes when the conditions, timing and location are right. When all these elements are perfect, is for you to figure out. Gadgets can’t do it for you. None of the modern products and science works all the time in every instance. Too much of a dears habits and behavior depends on so many different circumstances that it is impossible to generalize.

Scent elimination products only work if the hunter takes all other necessary precautions such has having a shower before each hunt and wearing clean clothing and still being mindful of wind and thermals. Modern products can be a great asset to the hunter that combines them with knowledge gathered from actually observing deer and scouting. Depending on modern technology and science alone is a big mistake that will cost you hunting success.

Tags: Deer Hunting Tips, Hunting Products, Deer Scent, Hunting Tactics

Read related articles:
Mistakes Hunters Make – Part 1
Mistake Hunters Make – Part 2

Mistakes deer hunters make (Part 2)

© By Othmar Vohringer

(The “Mistakes deer hunters make” is a series of several post on this blog over the next few weeks in my new column “Smart Hunting Strategy Tip of the week”. Last week we discussed how important it is to know the habits and behaviors of deer)

In this weeks Smart Hunting Strategy Tip of the Week I will write about what I think is the second biggest mistake hunters make. Scouting! Scouting is the most misunderstood word in the hunting world. For some hunters it means going for a walk in the woods a week or two before the season opens and then hang a stand along any trail that looks good.

Scouting is the most important ingredient to a hunters success. In fact it is so important that I consider it the actuall hunt. If I do my scouting right then all I have to do is to be in the stand at the right time and shoot a deer. It’s not quite that easy but you will understand what I mean at the end of this article.

Proper scouting starts right at the end of the hunting season and never stops until rhe end of season, only the way we scout differs slightly as the season progresses. At the end of the hunting season is where I gather all the basic information I need to get me started on the right foot. Armed with a map, camera, notepad, GPS and pencils in different colors I walk the woods noting everything I find on the map and the notepad. Deer trails are red, food sources are green, buck sign are colored brown and hunter trails are colored black. On a post-season scouting trip I do not have to worry about spooking deer, they won’t remember my intrusion come next fall. But the information I gather will be the most useful to me of all scouting trips. So much so that all future scouting trips are based on the findings of my post-season scouting.

The additional bonus of post-season scouting is that the land lies barren before me. I clearly can see the terrain and structure of the land. The cover, unlike in the fall, stands now clearly out from the surrounding terrain and so do the secondary less traveled buck trails that connect doe feeding an bedding areas. After I have gathered all the information and logged it on my map and in the notebook I start to formulate a game plan for the next season.

As I said, this is the beginning. Scouting never stops, it is an ongoing process throughout the year and the hunting season. It is vital, especially during the changing season of before and during the fall and winter to keep close taps on deer movement. In the summer my scouting is non-invasive. All I do now is once in a while glass open fields from a distance to see what, and how many deer are in the area. That is all I want to know at this point. Some hunters think living practically with the deer and knowing each one personally is the way to scout. The more time you spend in the woods trying to pattern deer you run the risk that deer pattern you.

In the late summer, early fall I am back in the woods checking on woodland food sources and agricultural crops. I am not interested in what the deer do now. I am interested to know where the deer are going to be when the hunting season opens. To know that I have to check up on the availability of the food source. The oak tree that was loaded last year might be barren this year and the farmer may have rotated the crop fields. If I don't check on these things I can’t predict travel patterns and thus I will not be able to hang stands that will bring deer my way when the time is right.

If I do my scouting right and check on the food sources that are available to the deer at the opening week of the hunting season I can set up stands with confidence for the early season. As the hunting season progresses food sources change, influencing deer travel patterns and so does the mounting hunting pressure. As I hunt I scout. On my way to and from the stand I take different routs constantly checking, carefully with binoculars, for changes and new sign popping up. Here a new rub, there a new or reactivated trail. As the season progresses I adjust as the deer do, always trying to keep on top and ahead of deer movement patterns and selecting new stand sites or readjust existing stands as needed.

Scouting is like the work of a profiler. You don't try to figure out what is going on now but what will happen next. Where will the deer be in a few days or a week from today? You can’t gather all that information by scouting only a day or so before the hunting season opens. If you do not scout properly and learn the habits of the deer, you will be left guessing at the deers next move. In other words you will be behind rather than ahead of the deer. As I said in the beginning, proper scouting is the actual hunt. Do your scouting right and the deer will never know what you’re up to because you’re ahead of them. Do it wrong and your hunting success will depend entirely on luck. The common denominator of all successful deer hunters, the ones that shoot every season their deer, is that they are good scouts.

Tags: Deer Hunting Tips, Smart Hunting Strategy Tip Of the Week, Scouting, Post Season Scouting, Deer Movement Pattern, Deer Sign

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Making the right treestand choice

© By Othmar Vohringer

It often happens that readers send me emails in regard to a post I made on one of my blogs. Some of these emails are comments and others are requests for more information or advice on the subject. One such advice seeking email came in after I posted the article Buckle up on Outdoors with Othmar Vohirnger. The email writer wanted to know what treestand model and brand I would recommend for him. Before I go any further let me explain that I am always hesitant to make recommendations without knowing the area hunted and the physical condition of the person. There are many variables that should be considered before parting with hard earned cash to purchase a treestand.

In the following article I will try to explain the most important considerations that should influence the choice of treestand that’s right for you. Basically treestands are divided into four models. These are: fixed position stands, climbing stands, ladder stands and tripod stands. In a moment I will discuss each model in more detail with you but first lets talk about what all stands should have in common and what they require regardless of model and brand.

All treestand models require some agility and strength on the part of the person to transport, install or set up. In the many years I hunt from treestands I have yet to find a model that is easy breezy to set up and transport. Even the lightest models, which are usually of the fixed position type, can have a considerable weight when combined with climbing sticks or screw in steps. A light quality stand weighs around 10 to 14 pounds but add to that the weight of the steps at around 6 to 8 pounds and you could end up with close to or just over 20 pounds that you have to haul on your back to your stand location.

I strongly recommend going with a stand that has been manufactured by a member of the Treestand Manufacturer Association (TMA). Members of this organization periodically undergo unannounced product safety and quality checks to guarantee quality of the materials used and the workmanship. Stands of TMA members usually are a little bit more expensive than those of non TMA members. In my opinion, on matters that could mean the difference between life and death, it is well worth spending the extra bucks.

A good treestand has a decent sized standing platform of at least 22 inches by 29 inches and a comfortably sized and padded seat. There is nothing worse than sitting perched like a crow on a branch for up to six or more hours. An uncomfortable seat will make treestand hunting a battle of endurance and lead to fidgeting around in the stand and this in turn alerts deer to your presence.
Personally I have a great dislike for small standing platforms. When I stand up to take the shot I want to be able to move my feet around without having to look down where I step. The platform should be big enough that I will be able to shuffle my feet without the toes hanging off the edge.

The treestand has to be easy to install and hang onto the tree. It is a very different matter to hang a stand onto a tree with both feet on the ground compared to 15 feet or more off the ground with the feet balancing on a narrow metal rod step and the person tied to the tree trunk. I like fixed models that can be positioned on the tree with one hand while the other hand is used to strap the stand to the tree trunk.

In a climbing treestand I look for the same things as in a fixed stand: comfort and a decent sized standing platform. In addition I like stands that can be quickly and quietly assembled with only a few bolts. Again it is easy to assemble a stand in daylight with lots of different nuts and bolts using a wrench, but try that same task in the dark and it will became a frustrating task to find small nuts and bolts. Forget it if you happen to drop a small bolt in the dark, you never will find it again.

Once I have attached a treestand in its final position on the tree it has to be rock solid. I hate stands that wobble or squeak and make popping noises each time that I have to move. In short, a good quality stand wears the TMA seal of approval, is comfortable, easy to install and quiet. The brand of the treestand is of no consideration to me– what is important is the model design. All manufactures that comply with TMA standards provide a safe quality product. Discussing brands is like discussing cars. Each person has his or her favorite. There are those that like Fords and others that hate them. It’s the same with treestand brands.

Now lets look at the different models of stands. What stand model suits your needs best depends on what you’re comfortable with but to an even greater degree on what habitat you hunt. If you hunt brush country then a fixed hang-on stand or a climbing treestand would be useless and so would be a ladder stand, because there is no suitable tree to mount the stands on. In brush country, grasslands, cornfields or cattail marshes the logical choice would be a tripod stand. Tripod stands are heavy and need two and sometimes three people to set up depending on the model and size of the stand. A tripod stand is the least portable of all stands. They are heavy and require many parts to assemble. Once set up these stands cannot just be picked up and transported elsewhere without disassembling them completely.

If your hunting area consists of big old Ponderosa pines a climbing treestand is out of the question because most climbers only accommodate trees of up to 18 inches in diameter. Here the typical choice would be a fixed position or ladder stand with extendable fastening belts or chains.

In a river bottom with gnarly willows or other areas consisting predominantly of bent and gnarly tree trunks a fixed position or ladder stand would be the best choice as well. On places with slim straight tree trunks a climbing stand is the way to go. Overall the climbing stand is in my opinion the easiest stand to set up and very mobile but its application is very limiting due to the fact that you need straight trees of a relative small diameter without lower branches that could interfere with climbing up the tree. Climbing stands require considerable strength and agility from the hunters. Not only do you have to move the weight of the stand up the tree but also your own body weight. Because of that I would recommend a “sit down stand up” climbing model rather than the models that require you to hold the climber part above your head and then pull the stand with your feet up while having all the weight held with your arms alone.

Of all the treestand models the fixed position and ladder stand are the most versatile that can be used in a wide variety of treed habitats. Ladder stands are very safe and usually very comfortable too but they tend to be quite heavy to transport and require two people to set up due to their weight and bulkiness and the rather elaborate assembly required for most models. The fixed position stand is quick to set up with a little practice but not as mobile as the climbing stand. A fixed position stand, unlike the climber, is not a “set up and hunt right away” stand. The assembly of a separate ladder or installation of screw in steps takes up considerable time. Once the ladder or steps have been installed the stand needs to be placed in position, taking up more time. Typically a fixed position stand is set up well in advance of a hunt, so is a ladder and a tripod stand.

Each of the different stand models has its advantages and disadvantages. A serious treestand hunter should own at least four fixed position stands that are installed well in advance of the hunting season at different locations. This permits the hunter to quickly change locations from one stand to the next without any delay to wherever the deer action is. To this arsenal of fixed stands, depending on what we have discussed above, I recommend that that you also should own at least one climbing or ladder stand. Owning several stand models gives you the opportunity to use stands in a wide variety of situations and that often will make all the difference you need to be a successful treestand hunter.

Read related articles:
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Treestand Hunting Tips

Tags: Treestands, Treestand Selection, Treestand Hunting, Choosing The Right Treestand

Mistakes deer hunters make (Part 1)

© By Othmar Vohringer

(The “Mistakes deer hunters make” is a series of several post on this blog over the next few weeks in my new column “Smart Hunting Strategy Tip of the week”.)

In the over 16 years that I have been hunting and studying whitetail deer, I have come to an opinion of what I feel are some of the biggest mistakes bow and firearm hunters make that will cost them opportunities of killing a deer. When I say, a deer, than I mean any deer not just trophy bucks.

This week’s column will deal with what I consider to be by far the biggest mistake.

Failing to understand deer.

As a deer hunter I have long ago realized how important it is to study deer. For the past 16 years I have become a student of whitetail deer behavior and the more I learned about the habits and behavior of deer the better a hunter I have become. Despite the knowledge I gathered over the years I am still constantly reminded of how little I know. Without fail, whenever I think that I have finally figured deer out they prove me wrong. The learning never stops.

It always has amazed me to a point how many hunters expect to be regularly successful if they don’t learn all they possible can about deer and then get upset if at the end of the season they have failed to shoot a deer. I have lost count of how many deer hunters feel that if they read regularly hunting articles it will improve their success rate. While I admit that reading about deer is important to improve your knowledge – otherwise I wouldn’t write about it – nothing is better than getting out in the woods and fields and learn from the animals you hunt.

You need to read deer signs, watch the animals and how they behave, where they travel or where they have traveled. What caused the reaction you observed? What makes this deer do that and another do something else? A successful hunter is one that always asks why and then follows up to find the answer. It’s like detective work where you look for clues and then try to find the answer to it. In the end the puzzle of answers are matched up and will become a picture. It’s an endless search for answers that always will produce more questions and the more you know the more questions you will have.

Without fail when I ask hunters on one of my seminars, what is the preferred food source right now? They will answer promptly. But when I ask what is the next available food source it is silent in the room or someone pipes from the background “I don’t know.” If you don't know what the next food source is how can you predict future travel patterns of the deer? I used to hunt a particular spot where deer at a certain time of year crossed a farm road. Each day hunters would ask, “What makes the deer do that?” but none of these hunters ever bothered to find out why. I did and as a result I shot a dandy buck.

In order to become a successful deer hunter I first had to become a deer detective. The answers and questions are endless. But the more you observe and ask the more you learn, and the more you learn the more knowledge you will gain. Successful hunters have all one thing in common, they are all knowledgeable about deer and they never stop observing and learning.

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In next week’s “Smart Hunting Strategy Tip of the week” I will discuss the improper scouting with you, which is also very high on the mistake scale of hunter.

If you’re interested in booking my seminar “Mistakes deer hunters make” or would like more information about my other deer and turkey hunting seminars please contact me.