Hunting

The phone rang just after dinner. One of our favorite clients had finally arrowed Ol’ Whatever They Called Him, the 160-class buck he had been watching for the past three years. He had hit the buck “a little back” and the hunter was despondent. “Would you bring Radar and give me a hand tracking him?” I said sure, and we grabbed our tracking dog and headed out the door, after calling the game warden to give him a heads up. He ... Xem chi tiết

It’s always interesting to ponder a bow when you’re sitting in a tree stand or ground blind, or it’s interesting to me. I mean, it’s a simple contraption that has been around for centuries: Stick, string, pointy stick that flies toward a target. That’s the basic version, of course. Stick. String. Pointy stick. Fwingggg! We’ve come a long way since those early days of wood, sinew and rocks. Some guys still hunt with wood, ... Xem chi tiết

The most eye-opening learning experiences that I had in my early years were when I started branching out from my home state of Wisconsin. Falling on my face a few times while trying to improve and manage new deer hunting properties taught me very swiftly that few things work everywhere. Deer all have their own personalities, the habitat changes from fence line to fence line and the specifics of each area are quite different. ... Xem chi tiết

It’s amazing how deer can sometimes be guided to do what you want them to do. We’re not talking about “deer whisperer” hocus pocus or anything like that; we mean making subtle changes in a deer’s environment that encourages them to take specific and desired courses of action. Probably 10 years ago, I wanted to set up a hunting spot behind the house that was quick to get into after work. Sometimes, especially after daylight ... Xem chi tiết

White-tailed deer have an elaborate system of communicating in dense cover. Before and during the rut, they use rubs and scrapes to communicate dominance, identity, reproductive condition and other socially important information. Buck rubs serve a special role because they are long lasting. Even in the absence of the maker, rubs carry messages that have physiological and psychological effects on other deer — and hunters. Why ... Xem chi tiết