Hunting Fishing Blog

Over the weekend I shot, according to my standards, a subpar Whitetail Buck.  The short version of a long story is that he was trotting at a moderate pace through the woods at 85 yards when I shot him and he appeared to be a respectable 8 pointer.  When I got up to him and put my hands on him, I learned that I had shot a perfectly balanced 6 pointer with no brow tines.  Immediate disappointment flooded me.  It was overwhelming that I had just shot a buck that was much smaller than many other deer I had let walk this season.  After some time of feeling down-and-out, I decided that what had happened, had happened and that I had best accept it.  So, the search for the silver lining began.  Suprisingly, there were many silver linings, and one of them led me to write this blog entry.  Here is the list:

1.  He is going to taste great!

2.  I won't have to worry about my increased work schedule affecting the outcome of my season.

3.  The $24 I paid for my Firearms tag won't go to waste.

4.  He is still a mature deer.

5.  I'm saving money that would have been spent at the taxidermist.

6.  His inferior genetics have been eliminated from the gene pool.

The last reason is the focus of this blog entry and is debateable.  I have heard that if a 3 1/2 year old deer doesn't have brow tines, he never will.  Others have told me that maybe he will have brow tines at some point, but will probably be a maximum of 1 to 2 inches long. I've been told that this is a genetic trait and it should be eliminated from one's hunting area if they didn't want bucks around with little to no brow tines.  Indiana's regulation of 1 antlered deer per year leaves little opportunity to cull deer with poor antler genetics.  So, I found comfort in knowing I had done my part in removing this undesireable antler trait from the local herd.

So, I'm now at peace with taking such a small antlered buck.  Sure, I'm getting a lot of teasing from my buddies, but I'm okay with it.  It will also give me a lot of motivation to do my homework during the offseason and my wife is happy that I will be able to focus on things that need to be done around the house.

Hopefully, you all kill record book bucks and don't have to relate to my list of reasons for being okay with killing a genetically inferior buck.  But if you do, rest assured that it isn't the end of the world, and there are a number of reasons why you can be okay with it.

A Buck’s Nose may be to the Ground, but its Eye is to the Sky (2/2)

Ok, so now from my previous entry to the juicy stuff! “How does all that mumbo jumbo science terminology and technical stuff help me find and kill larger deer?” Once a hunter has a firm understanding and grasp on a whitetail deer’s behavior, movement, or patterns it swings balance of power (or advantage) from the deer’s keen senses back to a more even playing field. This dramatically increases the odds of seeing and harvesting larger more mature deer.

The rut cycle ebbs and flows like a wave from one phase into the next. This year the rut is predicted to appear “normal” or more accustomed to what one might expect. It will hit heavy and hard, and die off rather quickly, unlike last year. Expect to see a lot of deer on their feet in late October through mid-November (add roughly a month for Southern States) barring any suppressant activities (I’ll discuss this later). So to balance the scales on this season’s “rut”, the most opportunistic times of each phase of the breeding cycle will be listed below based on the moon calendar.

The best days predicted for white-tailed deer hunting for the Northern States this year (2011) will be between November 13 & 18. For the Southern States, December 12-17^th looks to be the prime time to be in the woods whitetail hunting.

• Seeking Phase Northern Hemisphere: Starting in late October [26-30th] but peaking by the end of the first week of November [6-10^th]
• Seeking Phase Southern Hemisphere: Starting in late November [28-31^st] but peaking by the end of the first week of of December [6-9^th]
• Chasing Phase Northern Hemisphere: Overlapping the end of seeking phase in November [9-12^th] but peaking in the middle of the second week [13-17^th]
• Chasing Phase Southern Hemisphere: Overlapping the end of the seeking phase in December [8-12^th] but peaking in the middle of the second week [13-16^th]
• Tending Phase Northern Hemisphere: Moving through the chasing phase in November [15-20^th] with the main breeding taking place [21-24^th]
• Tending Phase Southern Hemisphere: Moving through the chasing phase in December [15-19^th] with the main breeding taking place [20-23^rd]

“Suppressants” can alter the predicted whitetail rut schedule, so there are several things to remember when planning your time to be in a treestand. Most hunters know that warm temperatures will put a damper on deer activity during hunting hours rather quickly as the animals will turn nocturnal to stay cool. If this happens play to that and hunt early morning and late evening in areas that you’ve seen your query. Increased hunting pressure will also cause deer to become weary and pursue mostly at night.

As a hunter we always bring our “A” game, but in case you need to pull out the stops: Take every extra precaution with scent, noise, and repetition to prevent that monster becoming suspicious of your presence. If you aren’t seeing the deer you’re accustomed to spotting, consider a possible change in food source that you didn’t account for. Did the farmer plant a different crop? Or did the crop not do as well for any number of given reasons. As the rut intensifies, deer burn an extreme number of calories. During their quick replenishing period they may be in a different area cashing in on the highest nutritional food available. Finally, nothing will induce them faster than low light conditions. If during this expected “rut” period a large storm front moves in that constantly is producing dark hazy days and cloud covered nights, look for the action to pick up early. This is especially true if the front is accompanied by a cold front! Watch out and be prepared!

Hope these pointers help you in your pursuit of a trophy! Let me know how accurate these predictions are in relation to the areas you hunt!