Opening day

[44man]

I went out and sat on my board seat just at day break. It was foggy and hard to see. Soon I seen a huge body go by at about 50 yards. I only have about 20 yards for a deer to walk at that spot so he was gone behind junk before I could even turn the red dot on let alone cock and get him in the sight. I could not see his head but he walked like a buck. I thought it was a draft horse! :o
Soon after a doe went through following him, still no shot. That was it while guns went off all around.
Soon it died down so I got up to walk around because I knew where the doe would be. I eased into the thicket and some got up but it was thick. I stamped my foot at them and they just went behind tree and scrub one after another within 30 yards or so. They walked off out of sight. I went up through and spotted another smaller doe looking at me at about 60 yards. THICK. I played with her, stamping my foot and moving back and forth to see her better, just like a deer will do. I took my JRH out of the holster, turned the dot on and aimed at her, put it down and stamped at her more.
She walked right to me and when she got to the only opening at 30 yards, I shot her.
OH MY! The .500 JRH made her leap long and slam to the ground flat out. She got up and ran over the hump in the ground and dropped. I hit her in the neck, back to destroy a shoulder and the boolit came out in front of her ham. When I opened her everything, heart, lungs, liver, stomach and some guts were all mush, what a mess. It took a lot of water to flush her. Internal grenade!
I cut her today and she is in the freezer.
OK, all of you have read that the foot stamp is a warning and deer leave a "fear" scent on the ground so another deer will never go there. Did any of you fall for that hogwash? :kidding:
The stamp is a recognition signal and you better not freeze. Answer them and move. Duck your head, move side to side with your upper body and stamp more. You can actually walk around, kneel down, get the bow or gun ready, stamp your fist if kneeling.
Deer will come to you and feed all around you with out paying any attention to you at all. They think you are another deer, their eyesight sucks. They can't hardly see each other without the white tail up.
Yes, I make revolvers shoot but just maybe I know deer better then anyone in the world so toss the "expert's" books and become a deer yourself. It has worked for me forever and it worked yesterday. You don't know what it is like to have deer come to you.

[subsonic]

:bigsmyl2:Good deal!

[Frank]

Congratulations on the fine harvest. The JRH made her 'leap long and and slam to the ground flat out.' Doesn't sound exactly like picking vegetables. :groner:

[white eagle]

way to go

[44man]

I made a bold statement about knowing deer, I know how it sounds. I don't remember all the scientific junk and don't care. I have learned from interaction with deer and really paying attention to them for many, many years. In season or out, I play with them. Wild deer, not in pens.
I have been amongst as many as 17 deer feeding within 10 yards and could move around without spooking them, they never even looked my way. I bumped a large doe from her bed at 10 yards, played with her and she came back and laid back in her bed. She was licking her side as I looked at squirrels all around.
I can tell you all about camo and how useless some of the stuff is, making you look like a black, out of place BLOB. They can't see those patterns that make money, they are PEOPLE camo or better for birds. A pair of jeans and a white "T" shirt is as good. The very best camo in the world is blaze orange. You can sit a tree stand with all white or gray. Spend money on camo that is WORSE for deer. I was in the store once with racks and racks and I would not pay a cent for any.
Skyline or ASAT or just plain clothes will do it. That Realtree stuff just makes money.
Since I have tried to get published and sent so much out I have seen a change happening with lighter and larger patterns but they are still behind Skyline. ASAT will absorb foliage colors around you.
You are better off looking like the sky then a big stump that was not there yesterday. Blaze orange can make you move out of a trail so a deer does not step on you. Learn to enter a deer's living room without changing what the deer knows is there. No matter, dark, tight pattern camo is a mistake. If a deer can't see a stick or a leaf on you, you have been taken for a ride to get your money. Maybe they like the snakeskin stuff better! [smilie=1: Camo on an arrow??? They charge more! Next they will have eyeball paint!
Face masks! I have all kinds but I have to wear glasses and they interfere. I found when archery hunting that they can't see my face. They will focus on the wrong camo and a blob in the tree. I quit wearing masks and will not paint my face, waste of time.
Scent sprays! WHAT A HOAX to get your money. I can count the times I have been scented in a tree on one hand. I take a shower with Zest and use deodorant. No special stuff. I have never had a deer scent where I walked in but never put an article of clothing or your pack on the ground.
Pee in a bottle, how silly! You can pee in a scrape or out of the tree stand!
I can go on forever about the money making stuff forced on hunters.
How about deer scents? I have found 2 that work. Nacina (spelling) in Ohio sells real doe in estrus pee in a LARGE bottle and it works. Then the scent sold for the old Jon-e hand warmer would make bucks flip in the air but alas, it is gone.
The rack of junk like Tink's at Wall Mart are a waste. I used a whole bottle once up a trail and in front of me but not a deer even smelled the stuff. The Jon-e stuff would have a buck on the trail before I could get in the stand. The buck licked every single drop.
The Nacina pee would have all kinds of deer track it up a trail and come to me, a whole herd.
Those tiny bottles just make some rich. Walk away and save your money.
Fawn in distress call. YES! One day I was calling fox in my woods with a Burnham mouth call. I seen a doe out in the field on the other side of my fence. I just blew through the call, different then a rabbit. She flew over my fence, stopped right in front of me looking for the fawn. After a while she turned and walked away, I blew again and she came back. I did that 3 times.
I think I can use up this sites memory talking about deer.

[1Shirt]

Think I would like to sit around and jawbone over a cup of coffee with 44Man. Find that I agree with most of the things he posts most of the time, and that includes this posting. I am in Cabellas, and Scheels, and when in areas where they have them, Gander Mountain stores. In addition, am in and out of stores that carry "sporting goods". I am amazed at the HUGE quantities of camo clothing sold at umongus prices in these stores. I even bought some of it in times past, but tend to wear military camo, and most of it I buy in thrift stores (cause among other things I am cheap). As to calls, do know that under some circumstances they work (but not all-depending on skill of the caller). Do believe a grunt call will usually stop a walking/grazing buck, and may attract some. Also believe that over calling is worse than none at all. Any how, good post 44!!!
1Shirt!:coffee:

[44man]

Think I would like to sit around and jawbone over a cup of coffee with 44Man. Find that I agree with most of the things he posts most of the time, and that includes this posting. I am in Cabellas, and Scheels, and when in areas where they have them, Gander Mountain stores. In addition, am in and out of stores that carry "sporting goods". I am amazed at the HUGE quantities of camo clothing sold at umongus prices in these stores. I even bought some of it in times past, but tend to wear military camo, and most of it I buy in thrift stores (cause among other things I am cheap). As to calls, do know that under some circumstances they work (but not all-depending on skill of the caller). Do believe a grunt call will usually stop a walking/grazing buck, and may attract some. Also believe that over calling is worse than none at all. Any how, good post 44!!!
1Shirt!:coffee:
Yes my friend, some calls work, some fail and it just depends. I have had a doe run in with a buck grunt with a buck behind. I have watched bucks that did not even look with a grunt. Fawn calls only work once in a while. Nothing is set in stone, it is an animal not programed to what the TV shows tell you. I just leave most junk at home and go hunting. Less can be more.
I have to relate a story about a friend. We both can do the deer squall. Not a snort but more of a scream. He was up a tree when he seen a nimrod sneaking along nearby. My friend let out a squall and the guy dropped down grabbed a few of the pile of deer calls he had around his neck and snorted, grunted while he jerked this way and that looking for the deer. My friend broke up and almost fell from his stand. The guy looked up and shook his head, then walked away.
You just don't know the fun we have had and most was from others, not only deer.
Once, during a muzzle loader hunt, a black man was sneaking around a field with a deer skin draped over his body. How he is still alive is a mystery but the hunters somehow knew something was wrong.
This same friend from the squall and I found a natural lick. We dug a pit blind and set all the branches around it. I put him there and soon a HUGE buck came but my friend made a noise. The buck walked over and looked right down on my friend, 2 feet away!
I have a million stories. All I can say is that I would never give up a single one.

[44man]

I have a little to say about those that want secondary projectiles from bone. Does not sound right. This .500 destroyed large bone in the shoulder and none left it. The mess was in one spot with shattered bone. A gory mess with bone shards I had to remove. Mashed meat around the bone. No bone fragments past the spot.

[white eagle]

I truly have thought that the scent elimination scent killer products and clothes is the biggest scam out there
ever try and buy camo without not likely
I use wool ...nothing better
deer scents make sense but you need to get them from the deer not the store
have had bucks literally following my scent trail nose down rite on my track
any rabbit in distress can call deer just a different way to blow it is all
since when did it become that you need a back pack to go deer hunting
just to put all the junk in you don't need like a woman's purse

[waksupi]

Hunt the Rockies some time, you might get to liking those back packs in some areas.

[saz]

Yeah the mountains are a whole different animal, aren't they? If you have crappy or ill fitting boots you are through. You will be walking in eggshells for weeks after.

[white eagle]

yeah I guess its a regional thing
mainly referring to hunting in my area
b.i.l. is a gadget man has to have all the stuff that they say he needs

[atr]

its all good ! and its all a learning experience, hunting deer that is...
For years I hunted mule deer in the California Sierra Madre....I got to a good point where I knew and understood how they reacted and how to hunt them. When I moved to WA state it was a whole new experience learning to hunt black-tails and then white-tails. Thats the part I like about hunting, being able to learn new techiques for the different species. Even off season I like to "hunt"...hunt in the sense that I am trying to find the critters and outsmart them. And I do agree that alot of the stuff sold to hunters is unnecessary. I think it would be more to a guys advantage to spend less money on "stuff" and more time in the field.
Have a great Thanksgiving all
atr

[44man]

I had a funny morning down in my woods. Seen 9 deer but I just could not make up my mind on any. I had a few at 10 yards too but if I bundled them all, I might find 100# of meat! [smilie=l: I don't know where the big ones are. Some of those little deer had a fawn.
I didn't see a thing last night but the rain finally stopped.
I went to my target, had a bottle of water left there so I shot the 5 shots in the gun. Coffee time!

[Lloyd Smale]

rattling is another one. It may work in tx or somewhere that the buck to doe ration is about 1to1 but ive tried it while crop damage shooting a few times with deer within sight and 9 times out of 10 the bucks will pack there bags and leave and the other 1 will continue eating and pay no attention to it.. Im sure they know that theres plenty of does for them and running off to fight another buck will just have them abandoning the does they got allready. I once started rattling the edge of a field that had maybe 20 does and two 8s and a 6 in it. The first time i tried it the deer looked up. the second time all three bucks took off in differnt directions. Think of it this way. How many drunks in a bar get into a brawl with another guy over a girl when they allready have 3 hanging all over them. The only sucess ive ever had with grunt calls was stopping a buck crossing my shooting lane once but i probably could have done the same thing by swearing at it.

[white eagle]

I have had some spectacular rattling hunts
BIG,BIG deer responded and boy were they ready for a fight
it works but it all depends on the b/d ratio and time of year I do believe

[44man]

rattling is another one. It may work in tx or somewhere that the buck to doe ration is about 1to1 but ive tried it while crop damage shooting a few times with deer within sight and 9 times out of 10 the bucks will pack there bags and leave and the other 1 will continue eating and pay no attention to it.. Im sure they know that theres plenty of does for them and running off to fight another buck will just have them abandoning the does they got allready. I once started rattling the edge of a field that had maybe 20 does and two 8s and a 6 in it. The first time i tried it the deer looked up. the second time all three bucks took off in differnt directions. Think of it this way. How many drunks in a bar get into a brawl with another guy over a girl when they allready have 3 hanging all over them. The only sucess ive ever had with grunt calls was stopping a buck crossing my shooting lane once but i probably could have done the same thing by swearing at it.
We are not making movies so some of that stuff just fails. I have grunted at bucks to no avail and tried rattling to to no avail. The few times I had luck with a grunt, the doe came in first.
One time up a mountain---or steep hill here, I heard a grunting coming my way. Very deep and constant. It was a DOE!
You need to understand that a doe will track a buck if she is in estrus the same as turkey hens will go to a gobbler. Then she will drive the buck nuts, running all over making him chase her.
If the doe are not ready and a buck sneaks on them, they will feed until he sneaks close, then bolt across the field to feed more. He will try to get close again and the doe will bolt back to the other side. He will get frustrated and go tear up some bushes.
You really need to watch them and learn. You can beat your brains out with antlers without the buck looking your way at all. A grunt will not stop a buck either.
Just how much film has been used to convince a hunter he needs to buy something?
Sometimes all the doe have headaches! :-)

[waksupi]

Some years rattling doesn't seem to work all that well, but on the years it does, look out! I had 14 bucks come in on one day a few years back. Lots of them will put the sneak on you, and come in slow and quiet, and you have to really look to pick them out in the brush. Other times they come in at a full run. I think the buck to doe ratio has a definite effect on how well it works.

[44man]

Here is another tidbit. Dogs can not see standing deer, even a herd. Only motion or white tails moving. It has been fun when I take my dogs for a ride in my little utility vehicle and stop to point out deer. They just can't see them until they move. Like a ghost I guess.
Deer have to be highlighted in an open field or something but movement is what a dog keys on.
Deer have trouble seeing each other. Watch them walk across a field near dark. Single file with all the deer in front with tails up, waving back and forth like bowling pins but the last deer has her tail down.
If you have a strange deer in front of deer moving towards it, or a deer decoy set out. The deer will not pass the strange deer or the decoy. They stay just off and feed but refuse to pass.
One time I played with a small deer when I was on her trail. She wanted past me but would not approach more then 20 yards. Back and forth she went. This went on for an hour until she went back to another trail that went around me.
Some deer that want to pass will slam their hooves real hard. They want that way and get real agitated so they slam their foot down HARD. It is fun to watch.
Observe and learn, books tell you nothing.
Sometimes I feel like I was an Indian in a previous life, I walk like one and worked with an Indian that told me I walk awful straight for a white man. I can walk in my house without a sound while everyone else thumps the floor. My heel never touches first, my toes are straight ahead, not the splay foot of most white men. I am almost silent in the woods but a cracked stick is no cause for concern, deer break sticks all the time.

[44man]

Some years rattling doesn't seem to work all that well, but on the years it does, look out! I had 14 bucks come in on one day a few years back. Lots of them will put the sneak on you, and come in slow and quiet, and you have to really look to pick them out in the brush. Other times they come in at a full run. I think the buck to doe ratio has a definite effect on how well it works.
It might. But a lot might have to do with doe in estrus. If none are, bucks might come to a fight that would be over a doe. But just try to pull a buck from a doe in heat! :bigsmyl2:

[USSR]

Shot a large doe on opening morning with my S&W 25-5. She folded right up and never got up again. Load: Starline brass, WLP primer, 18 grains of 2400, and my hand cast 265gr SWC HP. Have shot several deer with a .357, but I'm just loving this .45 Colt for deer.

Don