Month: December 2021

If anything hinders deer hunters, it is using the same tactics all season long. Deer habits change significantly over the course of the hunting season and this episode I talk about how to adjust your strategy to give you the best chances for latest season success.

Take Aways

• The hunting season is a marathon, not a sprint. Learning how to hunt every phase of season both improves your odds but also enables you to hunt the phases you enjoy most.
• Everything changes between summer and winter. Food, cover, bedding, habits, patterns, etc. It all changes. So the hunter must change also.
• The late season can be a great time to hunt deer, but not the same way you hunted any other time of the season.
• A big factor people miss is that there are now fewer hours of daylight and more hours of darkness, which means deer can more easily wait out the day to move under the safety of night.
• To hunt late season deer you need to understand how they act in your area during the late season.
• Early morning hunts become less and less productive and evening food sources because the best places to locate deer.
• Listen to the episode to hear about the 5 tips.

So you are hunting and seeing way more does thank bucks. Should you try to reduce the doe population to better balance the herd? On this episode I share some basic deer management principles along with some of the biggest misconceptions.

Take Aways

• Ideal doe to buck ratios are somewhere between 1 to 1 and 2 to 1.  A 1 to 1 ratio is so idealistic it is almost unrealistic. But a 2 to 1 ratio is certainly a reasonable goal.
• Statistically speaking, the ratio can almost never get more lopsided than 5 to 1 prior to the hunting season due to birth rates.
• Whitetail deer births are about 50% does and 50% bucks. So even if every buck in the woods was killed off last year, you would still end up with about 4 to 1 ratios depending on your area and survival rates.
• Public land hunts where many does are seen without any bucks are more often the result of not hunting proper buck habitat or movement areas, or heavy hunting pressure.
• If total deer numbers are low, it is best to take no does in order to build the herd
• If deer numbers are high but ratios are heavily lopsided, it may be a result of habitat being skewed toward does.
• Habitat is the number 1 factor impacting deer numbers and ratios, assuming the deer are not over hunted.
• Before you begin harvesting surplus does, make sure you have a sound plan so none of the meat goes to waste. Often the meat can be used to help the less fortunate via donation programs like Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry. 
• Do not just use the number of deer management tags you receive and assume you should take that many does. That could decimate your herd.
• Listen to the episode to learn much more.

There are many different ways to field dress a deer and a lot of equipment you could use. On this episode I talk about the knives and tools that are really needed for the new or cost consciences hunter.

Top Tools

• A Sharp Knife – Any sharp knife that is approximately the width of your hand will work great.
• Should Length Plastic Gloves – Cheap and works great to keep you and the rest of your gear clean.
• Nitrile or Latex Hand Gloves – Cheap and keeps your hands both protected and nimble.
• Two Zip Ties – One to close the Butt and one to tie your tag on.
• A Plastic Bag – To put everything in once you are done.
• A Pen – To fill out your deer tag

Items You Do Not Need To Start

• A Fancy Knife – It just has to be sharp, a fancy knife can come later.
• A Back Pack – You don’t need enough gear to require a backpack to start.
• A Set of Knives – One small sharp knife is all you need for deer and elk.
• A Saw Of Any Kind – Cutting through or breaking the pelvis is only helpful in rare circumstances, usually you are better off on multiple levels by not doing so.
• A Deer Butt Out Tool – They are cheap, but a knife and zip tie do the job just as well and you have one less thing to clean.
• A Field Dressing Kit – Kits are usually overpriced and filled with things you do not really need. Either way, you don’t need one to start.

How To Field Dress A Deer – New Hunters Guide
 
Listen to the episode to hear more and to get the explanations and details.

Seeing a big deer walk into range after weeks or months of anticipation can cause a major adrenaline response that makes it hard to concentrate or take precision action. On this episode I talk about how to keep your cool when big game walks out and what you can do year-round to prepare for these moments and avoid common hunt ruining problems many people experience.

Take Aways

• When we are extremely excited or pushed out of our comfort zone, our body often reacts by dumping adrenaline into our blood stream to prepare us for a flight or fight response.
• Staying calm, still, and focused in these moments can be very difficult without practice and experience. Performing complex or unfamiliar actions can be very difficult.
• Many hunters, even experienced ones, have missed easy shots, to the point where they fired at the antlers instead of the body of the deer and did not even know that they did it.
• Fortunately, you do not necessarily need to practice this only while hunting to improve in this area. There are many other things that can benefit a hunter outside of the woods.
• From public speaking to sports to working with deadlines, there are many activities you can use to sharpen your skills for dealing with pressure and adrenaline.
• The more time you spend outside of your comfort zone, the more comfortable you become outside of your comfort zone.
• Listen to the episode to learn more.