For years there are hunters (not me) who believe Moon Phases are important in determining the best time to hunt mature whitetail bucks who can be seen moving in day light. These hunters are some of the best in the world. Yet studies are showing that the bulk of mature buck movement still occur at dawn and dusk (known as crepuscular activity) according to QDMA (Quality Deer Management Association) and a myriad of deer and buck studies. See below. Join QDMA Today!

https://www.qdma.com/10-things-know-mature-buck-movements/

Ok after reading that, does it change your mind? Maybe so.  If you hunt by the Moon Phase and are successful are you going to stop using the Moon in your hunt calculations. Perhaps not. But the article and studies add to our knowledge base as hunters. Some of what I have read is simple common sense. Don’t muck up your deer stand before prime time. But if everyone else is mucking it up already, count your mature buck as nocturnal, no moon phase will change that. I found an area that had lots of deer activity, but it was all at night. Every other tree had a treestand in it. My cameras captured a buck at night…like a ghost in the distant blackness. There were very few deer taken there if any and narry a decent buck.

Years back I saw a trail of deer activity heading up a hill behind homes where I could not hunt, so I hunted the base of the hill. At pre-dawn I was on the ground waiting for light when footsteps approached and stopped just 25 yards from me. We both stood in silent darkness waiting for each to move. Finally the deer continued up the hill and I could not see him just hooves shooshing in the leaves. The following week I hunted afternoon with my recurve in a treestand not far from the encounter. It was a nice 8 point buck that came down the path but just out of my recurve kill range. I watched him get to an Oak tree with lots of nuts beneath it and could hear him gobble the acorns with the speed of lightning and darkness arrived. I sat for a few more minutes in the blackness listening to the buck eat like there was no tomorrow. As quiet as I could, I got down, the buck stopped eating, likely hearing me. I let the place cool off for a few day but did not see that buck again.

The QDMA report reinforces that bucks move at dawn and dusk. In my case above in late October the buck movement was at pre-dawn, before light and he was not chasing a doe. He was bedded before dawn, a nocturnal deer, almost.

I have killed several bucks, all without any Moon knowledge, all during the rut before November 10th except one on the 26th. One was rattled and grunted in, another was enticed out of his bed with scents, and the other 2 bucks were near does and nearby key trails where they appeared in mid morning and caused them to stand and move. I believe the buck was bedded so he could smell anything approaching. And two bucks I called in to bow range with a deer call, one a bleat and the other a grunt, both fell to a well placed broadhead.

In all cases, the November deer were killed during the day and not far from the does. I have seen 2 does on separate occasions go into buck bedding areas. One doe headed in at 9AM and the other at dusk. I believe seeking to be mated. I mean the ladies were just going right into their bedroom.

A mature buck according to QDMA is 4 1/2 years or greater. I have never seen a mature buck but once in New Brunswick, Canada and he bested me. He was huge of body, full neck and brisket, a bit of a pot belly and a solid set of antlers, usually more than 8 points. Like the image below.

Photo Getty Images.

New Hampshire deer are not as numerous as in New Jersey and Pennsylvania by a long shot and tend to be harvested in the southern part of the state as 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 year old deer and a few 3 1/2 year. Yes there are 4 1/2 year old deer down here but you will likely never see them. Deer in the northern part of the state require great effort and that is were you find the 4 1/2 year old bucks who cover lots of territory. Hunt them in snow looking for large buck tracks like the Benoit’s for success but be ready to walk miles and drag your 250 pound deer for miles. These are places where hunting partners are a necessity.

I am now interested in Moon Phases as novelty but one thing is for sure, if you believe something will happen, as in seeing a mature deer because a Moon chart says so,  then your senses are keen, sharp and observant where otherwise you may walk within feet of a bruiser and never see him.

If moon charts increase your alertness then maybe that is all you need, a belief that it will happen. There will be many times where you see little or nothing, so having an edge perhaps helps.

Places like Alberta and Saskatchewan place corn to draw deer and bucks from far off places so you hunt often from a blind. If the years previous was good for deer then you will be in luck without any moon or in years past where there was heavy deep snow the herd took a beating.

Deer, particularly bucks that know they are being hunted are very very wary indeed. It is food and the urge to mate in the Rut that is their major Achilles heel in making them occasionally visible. If, during the rut, there are does nearby and buck scrapes, where bucks place their calling card of urine and tarsal gland then in NH non-urine based deer scents are suggested as a great tool to create curiosity or I have taken a baggie and small spade with me and collected dirt from local scrapes and freeze it. Snow laden beds and scrapes are places to collect deer odors too.

A recent NH deer kill at a check in station may be a place to ask a friend who is checking in their deer for a tuft of tarsal gland from a buck or doe.

So be alert, be ready! Moon or not! Think hunt the Rut where rattling grunting and scents work the best. I have purchased a non-urine based scent called REALDEER™ and bowhunters I spoke to in Ohio say it works as an attractant and cover scent.  I will be using it this year. I can’t say it works for me yet but time will tell.

Good Hunting!

© 2018

Back in 2014, Dr. Dave Samuel’s (wrote for Bowhunter Magazine and an acquaintance of mine at a Hunter-Ed workshop) who is a bow and rifle hunter as well as a PhD Wildlife Biologist wrote a piece that is worth reading. Bergman’s Rule is that the body size must grow larger as you go north. Is that true for antlers too?

https://www.grandviewoutdoors.com/big-game-hunting/are-the-biggest-antlers-farther-north/

Quote from Dr. Dave Samuel article; “The fact that many south Texas ranches do not allow bucks less than 4 or 5 years of age to be harvested is one of the reasons that area produces some really good bucks year after year. Managing bucks so that you get older age classes is one reason that, relative to antler size, Bergmann’s Rule falls flat in Texas. Management trumps latitude.

Throughout deer range, soils and good feed explains antler size more than Bergmann’s Rule. Hunters, leasers, land owners and land managers can do a lot to get healthier and heavier bucks and does on their properties, no matter where they are. Managing habitat and the deer is why we find big bucks and healthier deer scattered all over whitetail range.” end quote

So Texas ranches are sort of like counties in northern states. They run from a few thousand acres to 80 thousand acres or more. They often manage cattle along with whitetails and other wild game.

Making money is a capitalist thing to do. If you can manage food and cover and a healthy “wild” land, you can hunt birds, Turkeys, Havalina, Wild Boar, Whitetails and Mule deer for hunters and make a good living from the Earth and lifelong friendships too.

My hunt style is to use the Rut to Rattle in a wary buck! I want to hunt him naturally…so we are on a more equal footing. There lies the challenge and if I do my part, the reward as well, will come. Maybe a big antlered buck has your name on it.

Common in south Texas is the prickly pear cactus (formally Opuntia), a food source for whitetails including many oak species of acorns and browse. Supplemental feeding and feed crop growth keeps them healthy, though if your a true purist you will find your true wild spaces are shrinking rapidly unless you have the funds.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia with fruit.

Spending money here in the USA is also a great thing for our Economy!

Good Hunting!

© 2018

Today NH Fish and Game strongly urges that you not use bottled natural urine based deer attraction scents to prevent Chronic Wasting Disease in NH. So do your homework if you use scents New Hampshire. There are many synthetics on the market. Having said that; I have used scents all of my deer hunting life. And I still do, just avoid the urine based scents. See update below if you are planning to ship your meat or cape home. Rules apply!

https://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/wildlife/cwd/facts.html

http://cwd-info.org/map-chronic-wasting-disease-in-north-america/ 

As my readers know, I am off to Texas in late October for a Whitetail Trophy Hunt of a Lifetime. I have been thinking about my hunt ever since in booked it a month or so ago. We all like to think we are great hunters and we are, but the deer are better at it than you and I. We can only do our best and Study Up!

First and foremost for me is to FIND JOY IN THE HUNT and in the new friendships I will encounter. Have Fun with new friends and surroundings!

If the Spirit is right and you are willing, and you do your part, all will come together for great memories.

Having said that; I must put my student hat on and find out as much as possible on Large Racked Texas Whitetails and the way in which I intend to primarily hunt them. I prefer being an active hunter trying to do things such as Rattling and Grunting in combination with scents when the rut is just beginning. Having knowledge of prevailing wind, bedding areas and travel routes of both bucks and does can help put me in a favorable wind position.

Find the does and their bedding areas my friends and you will find the bucks not far away. Many of you are aware that Texas put “Antler Rattling” on the Whitetail Map of North America decades ago but few northern hunters use it well. I have used rattling and grunting for years and have had success taking New Hampshire Bucks. A secret piece of the hunting in Texas is that many Trophy Hunter use the position and phases of the Moon in their hunt plans. I have not used the Moon in the past but am becoming a believer, but, even with that skill,  being scent free is perhaps one of the most important parts of hunting mature deer.

Your scent is your worst enemy!

Stay clean, your boots inside too as well as outside. New science places bacteria at the core of the odor issue. Your hair, your hat, your face washed, back of your neck, arm pits, groin and feet need special attention. I believe body pH plays a part too. I killed a buck that walked near me (20 yards) after I doused myself and some in my hair with baking soda.  Suppress and eliminate bacteria caused odor and you will be miles ahead. Do your own research too, don’t take my word for it. Mouth breath with bacteria can alarm deer, some folks use hydrogen peroxide to rinse the mouth and kill bacteria, I use it when brushing my teeth. Now I will use it in the woods too.

Here is a youtube video that is one of the best I have seen for reducing scent.

Below uses anti-microbial silver with carbon. Wow! Gonna give this a try.

Good Hunting!

Don’t stink in the deer woods!

I just love whitetail antlers especially symmetrical antlers, what we call “Typical” antlers. Non- Typical Antlers are often a mish-mash of points having little symmetry. Some like it, but I am not one of them.

I have taken bucks that were 8 or 9 points and a number of lesser bucks and many does. We eat everything we kill and so do my hunting friends.

I am not a quote unquote trophy hunter per se but when I run across a big buck, I don’t hesitate.

I am going to the Lone Star State to try to bag a big-un’ according to Boone and Crockett where the average mature whitetail antler rack is much larger in size on average. This is due to great management practices which include three factors, age, genetics and food.

https://wildlifesystems.com/whitetail.html

I get to bring home the meat too and have 2 doe management tags.

These deer are older and wiser at 4 1/2 and 5 1/2 years and sport average racks of 130 points and there are enough deer to see a few 150 and 160 class deer. It is up to you to be ready if or when the chance arrives.

So here you are on the hunt and you are in pop-up blind and it is an hour from sunset. The does are coming from all around to feed in the field you are in. There are two nice bucks in the 130 class that are feeding with the does and check them out. Your thinking about taking one of these…

Your guide say’s hold on, there may be a  bigger buck coming. What!

Your heart-rate just jumped and adrenaline is pouring into your body. Now only 1/2 hour to darkness and two more deer enter the field. Are they bucks? Yep. They look the same you say?

Maybe not!  It is here that homework may help in quickly judging your trophy deer before the last photons of light are swallowed by the night.

Field and Stream has a great article to help you quickly judge;

https://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/gallery/kentucky/2006/07/how-judge-buck-can-you-guess-score-these-10-bc-trophies#page-6

Outdoor Life has a great article too; https://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/game-changers/deer-hunting-4-things-look-when-snap-judging-buck-field

Practice, Practice, Practice!

Maybe look like this buck from the same ranch last year, all smiles by Randy Bailey.   Photo from Wildlife Systems website above.

Or maybe this one taken by Bill Ewanis! Photo from Wildlife Systems website above.

Maybe me this fall with my Weatherby Vanguard Weatherguard in 6.5 Creedmoor, Nosler AccuBonds and my favorite scope, a Leupold VX-6.

Good Hunting!

© 2018

The importance of a campfire in a camping experience was brought to my attention as a boy growing up and later on my African Hunting Safari years ago. In Africa, the campfire had true meaning to hold at bay the creatures of the night who wanted to eat you. Just out of the light they lurked, a twig or branch that snapped really got your attention. “Hurry, put another log on the fire!” you said! The campfire gave you a measure of safety from the night and a place to cook your food.

To look into the flaming pulsating embers of a campfire, is to look back in time nearly a million years ago when our ancestors used the fire not just for light and protection from the night, but also for story telling, dreaming, reminiscing and entertainment.

Hunters who gather after a day afield get to tell the story of their day. This is true for most all outdoor people as well but my focus is on the Hunter. It is here that humor is created at a missed shot and the dumb things we sometimes do. It is also a place to revere bravery or a clean shot on wild game by the hunter. In essence it can be a place to bond and unwind from the day as well as protect you from the night.

Here in New England during my childhood, my family like all others at the time did not have air conditioning or could not afford it. Families often cooked and lived outside in the heat of summer. It was a social time that was essential for my outdoor upbringing. At night as kids we often ate marshmallows, made samoas with chocolate and graham cracker sandwiches of a warm and often burned marshmallow over an open campfire. We told stories too.

Later as a downhill skier in the back woods of New Hampshire we created a fire for warmth and food at night deep in the backfield slopes of my neighborhood. I loved to cook my hot dogs on a branch that I cut with my own knife. A basic woodsman’s skill my dad taught me.

As a father and grandfather it is a pleasurable experience with grandchildren to sit around a campfire, cook marshmallows and hot dogs and grin a happy grin.

So don’t forget the value of having a campfire for yourself or your family. It is a place also to grow and dream about far off places and adventure.

Good Hunting!

© 2018

Most whitetail hunters go to Texas for a chance at a Big Rack Buck, me too, I hope, but not to the detriment of the hunt itself which should be a challenge. I hear and see on video that the elevated stand challenge in many cases is in choosing the right buck and having him in a position for a kill shot without injuring other deer. It does seem simple but after watching 40 deer over the hunt, adrenaline has been rushing all over the hunter for most of the trip just as it was on my South Africa hunt. It is just not that easy! The hunter must maintain control and remain outwardly calm to make the shot. Perhaps so, but I want more…I want to call in a BIG BUCK with rattling antlers and a grunt call in such a way that his eyes are wide and nostrils flared and ready to fight to the death for rights to mate.

Lets say for fun that you were a large handsome 10 point buck and you have been hearing other bucks spar lightly with each other for days in early October. Sparring is a half-hearted fight to see who is bigger or badder and no one is injured. So you (the 10 point) continue to lay there in your bed chewing your cud, but instead of hearing tines tick you hear grunts followed by smashing antlers “big antlers” with all heck breaking loose. Then you hear silence…nothing! So you the big 10 point get up out of your bed to see what all the fuss is about… and walk towards the sound of the fight from a downwind angle to catch scent. And you smell buck tarsal gland and some doe in estrous perhaps. What does that 10 point think? A. that the bucks stink. or B. that a doe is in estrous and the bucks are fighting over her. I would certainly choose B.

What this means to the 10 point is that two other bucks have found one of “his” does in estrous and are fighting to the death for mating rights.

Scents can do this without antler rattling too as I killed a large NH 8 point just this way near his bedding area. Stiff legged the 10 point lowers his antlers and walk at the sounds determined to intervene. I killed my second NH 8 pointer and shot him at 20 yards as he came at me after a rattle grunt sequence with fight in his eyes till a 300 grain bullet from my muzzleloader struck his shoulder.

I may have to rethink a large racked Texas deer though and just attract him with a large set of  rattling antlers and no calls. If antlers smashing together are large, then this, some say will keep the lesser bucks away and draw in larger racked deer.

Your guide is your expert! And you need to listen to your guide.

In New Hampshire just getting any buck is a good deal and a lesser set of rattling antlers can work.

The first does come into estrous in mid to late October in this Texas area and increase in mating activity as November ensues.

November or more exactly mid- November is the near the peak of the whitetail rut. More importantly hunters want to know when it begins in earnest. My research in Texas finds that different areas; North, South, East and West have different start and peak times according to Texas Wildlife Biologists. I believe strategically that the best time to hunt and get the drop on your buck is just as the rut begins and does each day increasingly come into estrous. Often a cold snap or weather front can influence its start but is largely dependent on when the doe comes into estrous.

Instead of being wary, bucks are obsessed with finding a doe to mate with, and some caution goes out the window.

In my Texas hunt area the beginning of the estrous rut is measured at around October 15th and peaks around November 18th according to biological studies.  This is just as it is in my home state of New Hampshire give or take a few days. My hunt dates can’t be any more perfect in late October.

https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/hunt/planning/rut_whitetailed_deer/table/#prairies

Your best bet in finding a nice buck in Texas is to locate the does, just like New Hampshire.

The largest antlered bucks did not get large by being stupid.

They will often wait till the does are feeding in an open area and as darkness begins, they will come out, often at last light if at all. Many of the largest antlered bucks are nearly nocturnal. So the hunter gets exposed to lesser bucks, 6 and 8 point and must pass on them to get an opportunity at a larger antlered deer. Deer that I would shoot at home at 6 and 8 point, should likely be passed up if possible.

The chase, is important to me so rattling from a blind or camo set-up makes good sense for me and the lesser yet nice 8 point bucks may end up on my meatpole. Getting the drop on’em unaware that you are not another buck is really exciting and YOU ARE the hunter.

Before you arrived your guides know where the big bucks are seen and it is often the case to follow your guides strategy given your desires.

Scentless Body Sprays etc. – In prep for a ground hunt you need be scentless. Shower and keep hunt clothing and boots in a plastic container. Use state of the art scent removing products that destroy odor and gasses from bacteria, new products with silver in suspension are some I would consider. Most work pretty well, but it is what you eat and breath that also contribute to smell and body odor too.

Breathing and Throat Clearing – So breath issues perhaps should be considered l if I am in a ground blind. “Dead Down Wind ® makes a mouth spray that eliminates odor yet reduces coughing and the tendency to clear your throat. I use a bite of tart granny smith apple chunks to bath my throat and keep from coughing and clearing my throat. This should be addressed as vitally important.

Wind detection spray powder helps in a setup and to understand wind patterns around you. Get some for your pocket!

Binoculars are a must. I am a fan of Leupold products. I like the BX-2 Tioga 12×50. They are cost effective. https://www.leupold.com/binoculars/hd-binoculars/bx-2-tioga-hd-12x50mm

Good Hunting!

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