Lessons from 2021...
Wisconsin
1st lesson... First time in my life I've ever taken 2 weeks off for hunting. I've spent way to much time working in years past. Make sure you take time to smell the roses in life...It goes quick.
2nd lesson... Rattling and grunting. I called in multiple bucks this year again. Like always. But the thing I noticed is how suspicious even the young bucks are getting. I rattled in I'm guessing a 2.5 yr old in the big woods. He literally came out of the swamp looking up in the trees... The yearlings use to come right in but even they are stopping at 40-50 yards and circling for a wind advantage. These deer are coming in and hunting me... No more rattling and calling for me. Next season I'm going to really start messing around with licking branches. I'm now of the belief silence is golden when hunting big deer....
3rd lesson... I'm of the belief that residual ground scent is saving more lives of big bucks than anything else. Once again I'm seeing much different behavior in young bucks than years ago. Years ago they would pay attention to it but accept it. Not anymore. I had yearling bucks this year go on high alert when they came across ground scent 24 hours old...Again the young deer are learning. Old does have no sense of humor anymore either... I'm of the opinion that there's no way to stop a deer from knowing where you walked. Remaining ground scent poses a real problem for those hunting small tracts which is the majority of hunters.
4th lesson... Stickbow hunting continues to remind me what the real fun in archery is. And that's seeing how close I can get.... instead of how far away I can be... I long ago pulled out of the how many...and how big.... race. Best hunting decision I ever made. Your mileage may vary....
Any lessons learned this year that you will apply next??????
Good post Retro. First lesson, is take time off for whatever you enjoy. We enjoy hunting, and I took off 26 days myself lol. Done too early honestly, but man did I get all my things done before winter, and talk about enjoying the hunt. Way more, when you know you're not likely to shoot a deer, unless it's a lone doe, and I didn't "hunt" hard. I'll say it again. If you're going to take time off, the last week of October has been the best for me.
Rattling and grunting. These deer are literally pinpointing the sound they heard, because their ears are incredibly tuned like radar dishes. It has always been best to call from the ground, or call blindly. Your best chance is having them hear it just in range, so I like to call when deer are likely ready to be on their feet. I will always have a call, and I will continue to rattle. It's just too effective not to.
Ground scent is the killer. It burns up more stands or locations than anything. Hunt too little or too much? That's a very fine line. You have to hunt to kill a deer, and you have to consider burning up your stands. Here it is lol. Hunt stands that offer observation, limited opportunities, but still might let you connect. This way you're in your stand, and you can still take inventory. I was that guy who hunted too much. The other thing you might consider (I hunt private), is get as many stands out there as possible. I have 23 ladder stands at my spot. I set most of them up for our prevailing west wind, but I also have a couple for the other winds. This year early, there was a lot of east wind. Above all, don't hunt a stand if the wind is wrong, and rotate your ground scent by hunting a new stand every hunt. Cellular cameras are a huge plus for limiting ground scent as well.
I haven't plunged into traditional hunting......yet! I threaten the idea. But still, I hunt very close range. In that respect, i love getting close myself. I applaud anyone doing it the harder way.
What were my lessons? You still have to be lucky, even when you're good. Right place, right time, right deer, good shot. Of course planning and practice counts for something, but ultimately you are on the deer's terms. Decoying is a must for me, and if you've never done it, you're doing yourself a disservice. I've beat this horse to death, but your reed on your grunt call 100% needs to be sanded down to make the reed reverberate easier, and make the call lighter. Using it how it's designed from the manufacturer is flawed within itself. The barrel on the call is in my opinion best removed, and gripping the reed to the board with your teeth allows you to sound like a deer, not a pig or an angry (very loud) deer. I believe sounding less intimidating is the key.
One more lesson to be learned. There are people who want to contest your every action. Well, everything we do defines us as a certain or "type" of hunter, but hunting in itself defines us as hunters (all encompassed). You will never agree with anyone on anything. That's okay.
This year I started placing my cameras real high up using a climbing stick. I no longer get any pictures of deer noticing the camera. Granted, even when I had deer noticing the camera, they mostly seem curious and don't seem scared by it, at least younger deer.
Number 2 I learned long ago, unless you hunting 2 year olds.
I pretty much fly by the seat of my pants ever year. #1...I have not shot a buck in a few years and when both my boys were here for the weekend a couple weeks back, I took a smaller buck than I normally hunt for. We had a great meal and a great time that evening so I would not change that. Next year I will probobly hold out for a while longer. I enjoy some late season also. #2...Rattling has never been good for me so I will give that up next year, maybe. lol #3...Biggest lesson learned and repeated every year is, if I put enough time in the woods my chance will usually come for seeing a nice bucks. The last 2 weeks have been tough to watch the hunters and being tagged out. #4....enjoy every minute out there whether you are successful or not, not everyone is able to do it and I was fortunate to be able to this year. Whether it is shared with a family member or a friend or by yourself it is a special time of year we all get to enjoy. #5...a tip I got from droptine last year, if you hunt from a ground blind and have poor eyes (as I do) try a sight lite. What a world of difference in low light. Good luck to all sill at it!
Just like waterfowl retro. They get decoy shy as season progressed. I'd have to believe deer catch on faster and retain those experiences longer
I agree Trickle. With the reactions I'm seeing in younger deer, a 5 yr old must be rolling on the ground laughing.....:>)
I do plenty of texting while in a stand and hate cold fingers. I now use a pen with a texting pad that looks like an eraser. That allows me to use gloves and make far less typing errors. Might be common knowledge but glad can use. Good recommendations from veteran deer killers.
Pete, I think I've tried every grunt call on the market. I've never found one that even remotely sounds like a real deer. I know deer come to them, but they all sound incredibly fake to me. Does sanding the Reed make the tone more realistic?
Retro, absolutely yes! I was a duck hunter. Shaving the reed is something you did, so it "broke" sooner. The same thing with a diaphragm call for elk or turkey. There are cuts you can make to the reed, to get different tonal value. So now, if you take the reed and remove it from the board by pulling out the cork or rubber stopper, you want to leave one factory polished side of the reed alone. This is the side you want to keep in contact with the board, and the sanded side upright, and where your teeth make contact to the board. Yes, you remove the barrel when you call. I have a flextone that has a rubber tube, and I will almost always pinch this shut, blow from my diaphragm by "breathing" across the reed and board making the grunt reverberate into that rubber echo chamber. Sand the reed with 2000 grit sandpaper. Sand at the tip of the reed more than the rest, making a (under magnification) wedge shape. Remember you want your cork or rubber stopper to hold the reed in the keg, so make sure you don't sand the entire reed. You need that thickness at the bottom of the reed, so it holds in that grip of the stopper. By sanding the tip of the reed, it will reverberate easier with less breath, and it will be more like a rattle instead of deep guttural tone. Sand it down until it sounds right. I promise I will adjust every call I use to some level, because the factory reed being so rigid takes heavy air to break it from the board, hence they normally sound like crap from the factory. In 3,2,1, "but call A is perfect". No it is not. I can slide my teeth up and down the board making crybaby sounds like a fawn in distress all the way to a tending grunt. It makes an incredible predator call as well, as coyotes cannot resist that fawn squeal, found at the tip of the reed. I'd never leave home without one.
Just like people, all deer are not born with the same IQ. Perhaps that is at least partially why they can have much different behavior.
Pete you are a wealth of knowledge.
When I get more time. I will talk about the things I picked up on.
I will say that #2 is a topic I brought up last year because of camera intel proving that my blind calling was not helping me. I had alot of guys disagree. I grunted very little this year, a few blind calling that yielded no responses, but did turn a spike into range. Next year I will again play the waiting game. Grunting does work on mature bucks. I believe a certain combination of calling techniques is what convinces them because they have heard grunts from hunters before. Southern Wisconsin public will send a buck for cover quick.
Nocturnal, I can spot the difference in a real grunt versus a grunt tube. Why? Mostly it is loudness, but just as important is that rattle that's missing in that sound. I heard 20 live deer vocalizations this year. They sound nothing like a manufactured device. I'm sure hunting pressure has a tremendous affect on the effectiveness. The personality, age, time of year, light condition, and how it's used has so much to do with it. It's not a magic pill, but I'm never afraid to call at a mature deer that is going the wrong way either. Turned too many, not to have one. This off season I will put a video together on how easy it is to modify. We can talk and I can send it through messenger or something?
#1 Find a perennial movement corridor. The buck I killed in MN this year came from a narrow ridge that funnels deer movement - they are either in an open field or on a narrow bench in the woods. I killed 3 P&Y whitetails from that spot, one with my longbow, and 3 additional bucks that didn't make the book. I am gonna seriously scout some local public land, trying to find East/West and North/South corridors that have some canalizing features that I can capitalize on in future seasons. I thought the ridge behind my house was such a corridor - but I think there are too many nearby houses that make the corridor less palatable to large bucks. Great thread - thanks for the thoughtful posts.
I need to cut more shooting lanes. I'll be thinking about what could've been until next season.
Pete, would you send it to me also?
Of course. I put it together once for Tweed and put it on YouTube many years ago, but I literally cannot find the video for the life of me. I've searched it every title I would have called it.
Some good info here I think we could all learn something here, Pete maybe you will have to host a get together for a boot camp lol , Speaking of Tweed has anyone heard from him He started the harvest thread but have not heard from him since, I sent him a PM but he has not responded , I visited him at his remote camp last year during the gun season up at Dunbar ,Was a nice visit Hope he is doing well
LOL, boot camp! RR, he's the smart one if he said enough.
Yes pete, I really want to give that a try. I will reach out soon.
After a 3 year lay off I got out again. I had a tia that pretty much wiped out the vision in my left eye and as a left handed shooter it has been a problem. I just lost interest in the whole thing but I have a friend that gave me the encouragement I needed and I got out again. I figured out the whole shooting thing but not how I imagined it would go. I went to a couple of archery shops and was told they could fix me up with a different weapon. In my opinion that's not archery . Coming back to bowsite, I see a different set of trolls are here. Working with my gear I found my catquiver mini could use some attention. Anyone have a source for the foam in the bottom? We've also started looking for some woods within 25 miles of River falls. I enjoy cutting buckthorn and honeysuckle...character flaw? My goal is taking a nice buck for my 70th birthday (2022).
For me? never ever will I let my vacation during the fall get taken away again. Too old, too much time, and lost a year of hunting. Shot a doe, but never got into a roll or found anything real descent to hunt. If anything, I need more time off, like retirement!!! I hear ya on going back to a traditional bow. I don't think I have ever enjoyed archery or bow hunting more since I went back. Just a total joy. Has not stopped or prevented me from taking animals either.
I'm intrigued by this reed sanding. I was just discussing how what I hear in the woods and what the call sounds like are not all that similar.
Darin, I'll invite you to the boot camp. We can decide who we give the boot to lol.
Lol This is becoming enjoyable, you can mimic that vocalization with your mouth no need for a call.
Bow hunting boot camp could be fun.
See Pete I told you it was a good idea lol
I continued to hunt strictly on the ground, using my Millenium tree seat as much as possible for my set ups. The best wind indicator is my small bic lighter. Carried as little as possible. I use no calls or cameras. I continue my scent control regime, and using Carbon Synergy, on my clothes. I carry nothing that will make noise.
I agree with RD, and have logged lots of miles, looking for such a set up. Easier to find in the bluff country of Vernon County, than the large wood mass in the UP. My farthest shot this year, was 30 yards. I was able to harvest 5 deer. No Wis buck though,,,,,,,,,
I passed a few, and blew a few shots also. Most bucks seen were in SW Wis, that is a buck factory down there, yet not alot of does. I am wondering, why the doe population seems smaller there.
I hunt both private and public, and its only on private I will hunt a spot multiple times, due to the acreage available. On our private, if the wind is not right, I go off to the public. On the public, I never hunt the same area twice, and move several times during the day, once late October comes.........
It amazes me, the stuff other hunters carry in, and I watch quite a few, and set up in the area, they never notice me, but I can always here them, especially setting up their stands. They are done before they get set, in some places.
The better areas in the UP, are those with the fewest deer, that I have learned, The sign of some really good deer, is there, the chance to get one, is decent, since there is almost no one in those areas.
Again this year, 2 deer, were deep in. That is why I carry good cord. I cut up the deer, and hang what I had to, and make two trips. My cart gets loaded, usually by some logging road. Lesson to be learned, is never be in a hurry.
Its not so much how you hunt, but where you hunt, so if you have primo land, thats a huge advantage. Public land deer have herd and seen it all. Noise and movement is more of an issue than scent.
Now is the time, where the areas have not too deep snow, is to be out, and about, in your public areas. I built a nice ground blind yesterday, all natural. However I do not make them as obvious and big, as I use to,just as natural as I can, and only on spots, that I know, have been good on a consistent basis.
I retired this year so I finally was able to hunt at a leisurely place. First lesson was that a leisurely pace doesn't mean more hunting but getting back to enjoying the outdoors much more. 2nd lesson would be that although I hunted more evenings than I ever had I still prefer the experience in the morning. 3rd lesson would be that knowing what deer are feeding on ups your opportunity to see and harvest a deer. Lastly although it isn't anything new playing the wind ups your possibilities greatly. I hunted lesser stands because of the wind but probably saw more deer because I was willing to hunt smart. No scents and almost no use of a call doesn't seem to matter if the wind is in your favor.
For years 'n years 'n years...decades actually, come bow season and I was off like a rocket...hunt hard, mornings and evenings from day one in September...every weekend and numerous days during the week, after work. Mama, get out of the way! I'm going hunting! Yeah, and I killed a lot of deer. Venison galore! For me and my family. Then age caught up with me. And somewhat too, something new for me, I seemed to feel I didn't need so much to kill another deer or get another rack of antlers. It was OK if I didn't tag a deer this year. Two years ago I slowed down and didn't take one at all. Could have. Plenty of opportunities. Just didn't take a shot. Hmmm, this was something I had never done before, on purpose anyways. I intentionally did not kill a deer. I asked myself why did I go hunting? Never really gave myself a good answer, but I knew I had to go. It was in my blood. It was what I did. Just came naturally. Fall wouldn't be fall without time in a treestand. I had to hit the woods. Even if I would come to full draw, put the pin on, and then let my sight picture follow the deer out of sight and out of range. It was OK. Then fall 2021 came. I took a relaxed approach and did not hunt much at all until late October. So I hunted then, and into November. On eleven two I took a buck and decided I was done for the year.
So all that was my situation through the years and up to and including last year. I learned and my lesson was that I was a different sort of bowhunter now. I knew I had to be in the woods. I had to go out there. Fight the bugs and insects early and then the cold later on. I had to do it for me. It'll be a lot harder this fall at age 78 and the challenges will mount. They'll come more often too. But my lesson is, I need to do it. What I lack now in physical abilities I'll try to make up for with expertise and cunning. The other day I ran into someone I had worked with years ago, probably back in the nineties. He asked if I was still hunting? I looked at him, hesitated, and said, "I don't think I know how not too."
#1 it's getting really hard to find a broadhead that isn't a one and done.
#2 vacation for me always falls on the 1st week of Nov. Hard for me bump into October but I'm trying.
#3 bow strings don't last nearly as long as they use too despite costing twice as much.
#4 finding light colored camo is extremely hard and few stores even stock anything now.
Jake you hit a good point on camo. I also like the lighter colors. One reason I wear tan carhart pants. I have also purchased white light hoody with zipper, like for snow goose hunting, and with leaf desgins, and spray paint, both in black and grey, made my own patterns...... dark designs seem to stand out, once the leaves are down......
Using a compound this year, found the Rexpid, 2 blade head, fixed, to be excellent in both flight out to 60, (practice only), and ziipped right thru, with lots of damage. Very easy to touch up , and resharpen.... They come very sharp. This was out of a 48lb bow. Although I do touch them up, they are so sharp,, out of the package, its scary.
GoJakesGo, There's tons of quality heads out there that will last until you lose them. Ace, Zwickey, Simmons, VPA,.... and the list goes on. I agree that today's market is flooded with overpriced junk.
Safety first was my hard lesson learned. Late July early morning, 80 & humid, god awful mosquitos and deer flies. Attempted to hang an elevated trail cam, slipped off a branch and fell about 5ft and rolled my ankle up on the base of the tree. Spotty cell service and a 1.50 mile hump out. Walked 150 yards through the brush to get back to the gated trail and proceeded to roll it again. The deer flies and mosquitos absolutely destroyed me, ankle hurt like hell....hands down my worst wilderness experience to date. I've got thousands of miles backpacking the Rockies under my boots, been 33 miles out from a trailhead out west, what's the game plan if things go south in that situation? This was an eye opening experience for sure. If that was the result of a 5ft fall, imagine what a 15ft fall onto frozen ground would do? Hunt safe, hunt smart and make it home to your family is my number 1 goal going forward. Bought a safety harness for my climber for use in fall and used it every outing. I learned that I'm not invincible, and that S$@# happens when you least expect it
Ground hunter - I too have made my own camo using spray paint. Esp. on my blaze orange,...I use flat black and just spray a few irregular lines on front, sides, & back. Usually do this in the summer. Wash the garment a few times and let it hang outside for a bit. Wash again & repeat. Then maybe once more. The smell dissipates eventually and it's all good to go. I've also used this to "refresh" severely faded camo. Works well there too. I've brought back to life old favorite garments whose camo patterns were gone, I saved 'em by using spray paint. It works well, no harm done.
I learned that if public land in Burnett County had as few guys from Minnesota as their state forum does on Bowsite that this would be PARADISE. No matter how hard I try, how far I hike, or how sneaky I try to be in finding a secret spot, when I get to it there there's almost always blue plates waiting. LMAO, because what else can I do?!? In all fairness I get it, Minnesota sports suck, their politics and taxes is worse, and don't even get me started on the driving habits there; so I can understand why they jump the border every chance they get. :)
The other lesson I learned, after experimenting with no-till rye, is that I much prefer to be a hunter than a farmer..
Bushwack, I ruptured my Achilles tendon in late winter and couldn't walk for a time. I had slipped and got my foot stuck in some boulders. I could not get free at first and thought I might not get out. After some effort, I was able to free my foot and walk to my truck, not easy and with much pain though. Much therapy and a walking boot most of the summer. In hunting season I stepped wrong and reinjured it a but bit but recovered enough to walk. Lesson learned. I bought a Garmin InReach mini. Sends SOS signal and texts world wide along with other features. The mini is used with your smart phone. If you don't use a smart phone, they have several models of GPS units that work alone with InReach.
The system uses Iridium satellites, not cell towers so it works everywhere.
I don't go out without my Garmin InReach now. I also no longer use tree stands so stands, ladders ropes and harness' remain stored. I going back to hunting from the ground.
This is what my friend learned this year. He is also pushing mid 70;s, and put down his heavy bow. 1 nice compound at 40lbs, with arrow and coc head, will penetrate and kill anything,,,,,,
Smokey - Good call on the InReach, I've been considering one of those for a few years now but haven't pulled the trigger (kind of spendy). If I'm solo and get hurt that's one thing, but if I have my son with me and he's depending on me to get out of the woods safely, that's a whole new ball game. My wife and I had a moment of clarity backpacking in the Bob when my son was two. It was our first big trip since having a kid, and it was a totally different mindset from the "wild and free" years. We were at the midpoint of our loop, hadn't seen anyone in 3 days, and we had the "what if one of us gets hurt" conversation. No good option, the one hurt hunkers down in camp and the other goes for help....which would've been a two day hump through griz country. Thanks for the reminder man, definitely investing in a beacon before heading west again.
Some of the beacons only transmit your location. The InReach also uses texts for communication and sharing information. I think some of the new Apple watches might also work that way.
While I was bear hunting this past year in Minnesota a friend of mine somehow accidentally while turning his phone off pressed the SOS, it wasn't 1 minute later and he received a call asking if he needed help.
I was given a SPOT, but have not activated it yet. Have to buy a subscription, not sure though, if it still is viable, with all the new stuff, will have to check into it.
With the Garmin units, the SOS button is covered by a door so it cannot be accidentally pressed.
MJF, did your friend have an InReach system along with the phone or just the phone? Phones alone need towers, the InReach system uses Iridium satellites and no towers.
Intrigued by Pete's post on grunt call. Since so many hunters grunt and rattle blindly or to deer that are downwind I haven't grunted in well over a decade as I've seen how educated/wary of them. . I usually have 1 on me, but, will only use on a deer I want to shoot and cannot get downwind without having to go the whole way around me - likely being in range. For this reason - it is very seldom that I get the set up. Sometimes I forget my grunter and don't care. But, I'm still interested in having 1 if the situation presents itself, for sure. I've seen Pete describe this before. Interesting!
Cameras, some like them, some think they are cheating. All I can say is I killed a 179-1/4” deer that none of my 11 cameras ever took a picture of. What I learned is the only way you might find out what is out there is by being there!
MJF- iPhones are tricky like that. When you hold down the buttons to shut it off, it presents you with multiple messages. Turn off phone or SOS. I’ve accidentally hit SOS a couple of times now, and had fun convincing law enforcement everything was ok.
Biggest lesson learned? The WDNR is in no shape or form a hunter’s ally. Sad times for a sportsman today, especially those of us who hunt the Northwoods and Have spent a lifetime enjoying our passion of deer hunting.
So sad but true Musky. I truly love the north country, but the DNR has really F'd it up in many ways and has no balls and is so liberal now, they will not do anything to fix it. As I said many times, glad I got to live the good days when there was plenty of game and fish for all and people actually hunted and fished. Also when the DNR did things for conservation and were not part of the political system. We are now seeing the impacts of there's and others decisions in the deer herd and the fisheries in the state. It is sad to have to see knowing what it was before.
