By Jim Dickson | Contributing Editor
The time to prepare for deer season begins at the close of last year’s deer season and preparations intensify as the next season approaches, a fact that many devoted deer hunters accept as the true reality.
For some in the West, the seasons are already underway, and elsewhere are about to kick off.
Preseason scouting of the hunt area is crucial to success, and this is true even for hunters who focus on late seasons, or the second part of split seasons. You have to know exactly what the deer are doing, where they are, and what routes they take to get there at any given time of the day.
While this is subject to some change over time it will remain basically the same. You want to do all your scouting before deer season so that you don’t spook the deer during the time you should be trying to bag one. Also you will not be ruining other peoples hunt by tramping all over creation while they are trying to stay quiet on their stands. Your presence may temporarily spook the deer but you are not hunting and they will settle down after you leave.
You need to identify all the deer bedding areas and feeding areas as well as all the trails they use to go back and forth. In the process you can pick the best spots for your blind or tree stand. Anything visible to the deer should be constructed far enough in advance of the season for the deer to get used to it and get over their caution towards anything strange and new in their world.
Deer are creatures of habit but they can alternate their routes or destinations. The man who continuously scouts year round will quickly learn what the alternates are and how likely they are to be used at any given time. There is simply no time to do all this properly once the season begins. You should be just as familiar with the land and the deer’s habits thereon as the deer themselves and that takes time and effort spread out over the whole year.
When the time comes to take the shot many hunters fail because of lack of practice. Often this consists of firing a few sighting in shots off a bench rest. Well who has a bench rest when you are shooting at a deer? You need to practice shooting the way that you will be forced to shoot in the actual hunt. For most shots at deer that means off hand shooting. This requires practice and special attention should be placed on firing as soon as you have a sight picture as the deer may not stay there while you fiddle with adjusting your aim, let out half a breath of air, and slowly squeeze the trigger. Deer are not stationary targets at Camp Perry and game shooting bears little resemblance to target shooting. You have to shoot fast and accurately from whatever position you happen to be in when the deer is spotted.
Steady offhand shooting requires trained muscles and this is naturally accomplished if you shoot several hundred rounds each day. For those of us that aren’t made of money and can’t afford all that ammo the solution is to hold your gun with the sights steady on a mark until it gets shaky from fatigue several times a day every day.
The steadiness of the gun plays a bigger role than most folks can imagine. Most guns are not that inherently steady and depend on the shooter making up the difference. You will never achieve the best results this way as you are going to need everything in your favor if you are going to shoot minute of angle offhand groups at 100 yards with iron sights.
A telescopic sight may make the target appear closer but make no mistake about it. It cannot improve steadiness of aim. Making the target appear closer so you can get a better look and be sure it has antlers is worthwhile but it is not everything as so many seem to think.
Many deer are lost because they are here and gone too fast for the hunter to use his sights or their bounding leaps prevent a sight picture being taken in time. The solution to such encounters is instinct shooting as taught by the late Lucky McDaniel. Lucky taught his method to the U.S. Army at Fort Benning, Georgia during the Viet Nam War and they called it the Quick Kill instinct shooting method. The Daisy BB gun company marketed a civilian version called Quick Skill. Whatever you call it the skill of hitting without sights is crucial to bringing home the meat. Far from being inaccurate the instinct shooting method permits far more accuracy than can ever be attained by the use of artificial sighting devices. This is a skill that has to be constantly maintained though. You can’t just master it and leave it off for months then pick it back up where you left off.
Footwear should be well broken in before the hunt and you should wear them enough before the hunt to get your feet used to them again. Boots can wear on your feet somewhat differently than your everyday shoes and far too many hunts of a lifetime have been ruined by blisters.
One of the most vital skills a hunter can have is the ability to track game. Deer are famous for running the hundred-yard dash when shot even if the bullet destroyed the heart and lungs. Since they don’t necessarily run this in a straight line you are left with a huge area that they can be in before they pile up dead. The time to practice tracking is during the off season as this is both an acquired skill and one that needs maintaining. There is nothing more frustrating than losing game that you know is down and dead because you can’t find it. You also run the risk of it making it to another hunter’s stand who will shoot it and claim it as his own.
The risk of losing game causes some folks to use really powerful guns like Blaney Percival who was famous for shooting everything in Africa with his .600 Nitro Express. As Blaney said, “Game shot with a .600 NE doesn’t travel very far.”
A semi-auto can often enable you to put multiple follow up shots into a running deer provided you have practiced on moving targets, another critical hunter skill.
Knives should be sharpened before you take them afield and you should carry something to touch up the edge with you as a deer that has been rolling in sand will have enough sand in its fur to dull any knife fast. Too hard an edge is no good for the hunter as the really hard ones can be virtually impossible to touch up in the field and are also prone to breakage. Anywhere from Rockwell 55 to Rockwell 58 on the Rockwell C scale of hardness will give good service in all conditions.
Knife design today often reflects what is cheapest and easiest for the factory to make instead of what works in the field. This is epitomized by knives consisting of just a blade with some handle slabs riveted on like a cheap kitchen knife. You need a proper guard to protect your fingers from the blade when your hands are cold and numb.
As for design I suggest you look at the designs used by frontiersmen and natives throughout history as men who lived in the woods had the most knowledge and experience in things pertaining to hunting knives. It is worth noting that in WW2 the Army and the Navy had success with 7-inch blade knives for general purpose use but the soldiers and sailors found the early 5-inch blade knives unsatisfactory. As for skinning and butchering game, just look at the big knives used in slaughterhouses and butcher shops. No 4-inch blade drop point double hollow ground knives there. Plenty of really big knives though with blades up to 15 inches long. These men skin and butcher for a living and they know what works and what does not.
Never put a knife back in its sheath with blood on the blade. Clean and oil it before sheathing. I have seen expensive custom knives turned into a rusted mess by blood. Remember that even stainless steel is only rust resistant and not rust proof and blood with its salt content is a most aggressive corrosion agent.
Clothing for the hunter should be layered as it may be plenty cold staying motionless on a stand waiting for the sun to rise yet get hot around noon time. A heavy goose down arctic parka has sufficient comfort range to keep you warm until it is time to take it off. A canvas brush buster jacket and pants will suffice after that. You should always have a poncho in case it rains. You don’t quit hunting just because it rains.
If rain is a possibility, then you should lubricate your gun with Ballistol oil. This was developed for the German Army before WW1 and forms an emulsion with water. As long as that emulsion is at least 5% Ballistol the water will evaporate off without causing rust. This is the oil we needed in the Pacific in WW2 and in Viet Nam but they would not adopt a German oil. It is available in the U.S. From Ballistol U.S.A.
If you are serious about getting a deer, then you will be on your stand before daylight and not leave until dark unless you get a deer. My wife, Betty and I always took a WW2 army musette bag with a roll of toilet paper and 2 MRE’s and two 2-liter sodas in it for our lunch. You will need to order the MRE’s and possibly the surplus musette bag well before hunting season as you don’t find these at your local convenience store.
Every hunter should carry a compass and a map of the area he is hunting even if he is familiar with it. A Bic lighter and some water proof matches will insure that you can build a fire if needed.
Most folks don’t get a deer during deer season but you can stack the odds in your favor by careful preparation. The alternative is to depend on luck. Do you feel lucky? I prefer to depend on skill, experience, and preseason preparation.
