Deer Hunting – Stalking Deer

Deer hunting is not a sport to me…it’s a passion.  The heritage and traditions of deer hunting have been passed down to me by several generations of hunters.  I look forward each year to the leaves beginning to turn, the temperature starts to fall, and I get ready to battle the wits of one of nature’s grandest trophies.

There was this whitetail deer that I hunted for days but could never get close to him. I had misjudged his smarts or his warning signals and every time he would always get away. And it is good to remember that the whitetail deer do not use one bedding location all the time. They have many locations for bed. Remember what you have to take care of when stalking the whitetail deer. The directions of the wind and storm or even the slowly blowing air can alarm the whitetail deer. They better sense odor than the sounds.

I recall a particular whitetail deer which used such a location and I stalked his bed four times in one week in an attempt to bag him. He was there each time, yet I failed to get a clear shot. Each time that I jumped him, he used the same escape route, following a trail for at least a quarter of a mile. So I decided that, since I couldn’t bag him alone, I would station a friend on his escape route and when I jumped him, one of us would be sure of a shot. I tried this procedure, but I underestimated the whitetail deer’s intelligence, or its warning system, and when I started him he went in a northwest direction instead of northeast, as he had other times I jumped him. I never did get that whitetail deer.

As a rule, whitetail deer do not use the same bedding location day after day. They have many of these locations over their range and use one that is near the area where they are feeding. If they stay several days in one part of their range (which is unusual) they might use the same bedding location while in that area. If I should jump a whitetail deer from its bed on one day and if the signs indicated that the same whitetail deer was in the same section on the following day, that bed would be the first location that I would look for him.

While many of these bedding areas are almost impossible to stalk successfully, the knowledge of their location will often enable the deer hunter to bag a whitetail deer by waiting in the late afternoon for the animals to leave their beds for their feeding grounds. If he is stationed in the right location, his chances of sighting a whitetail deer are good. I have shot several which were leaving one bedding location that has been in almost continuous use for a good many years and that I have never been able to stalk successfully. I do not enjoy hunting in this manner, simply because I lack the patience to wait without the assurance that whitetail deer will come my way.

When stalking the whitetail deer, the most important thing for the stalker is to avoid the possibility of his scent alarm the animal. The only sure way to do this is to face the wind while hunting. Sometimes it is possible to approach an animal across the wind if the wind is quite strong and steady with no cross currents and eddies. If there is no apparent air movement, it is sometimes possible to approach a whitetail deer down the wind, if the deer hunter is able to move towards the animal faster than air carries his scent towards the animal.

Noise is the next signal which the deer hunter must avoid if he expects to stalk whitetail deer successfully. I know deer hunters who think that noise will alert a whitetail deer as quickly as scent, and perhaps they are right; but I am sure in my own mind that whitetail deer can identify an odor with more certainty than they can a sound. Very few men can travel the woods without making quite a bit of unnecessary noise. The breaking of dead branches instead of avoiding them is an unconscious habit with many men. Holding living branches until the deer hunter has past and then letting them swish back into location, makes more noise than most men realize. Try to a
Avoid this noise by keeping the hands away from trees and limbs except when necessary to protect the face and eyes.

It is often impossible to avoid body contact with trees and brush; however, the noise of such contacts may be minimized by wearing the proper clothing. Woolen cloth is the quietest material for woods wear and hard-finished cotton, corduroy, leather and rubber are the most objectionable.

Stalking the bed areas of this whitetail deer is almost impossible. Therefore the deer hunters have to location himself in such locations where he can stalk into those areas and at the same time have a good knowledge of the possible next bed areas of the whitetail deer. This can help him to spot the whitetail deer much easier.

So going into the deer woods with as little noise as possible is very vital when stalking the whitetail deer. It is impossible t avoid noise but you can always minimized it. And the kind of clothes and shoes that you put on can also comes into important factors.

Always be sute to put as many of the odds in your favor as possible, while beging responsible and ethical in your deer hunting practice.  These magnificent game animals deserve our utmost respect.  Be responsible, be safe, and always be an ethical hunter.f them.