In this two part series, I will pass along details about how I had a successful hunt during Michigan's 2006 firearms season for deer. Think about how you will hunt this year and try to decide if this tactic could work for you.
By: Ray Hansen
On November 17, 2006 I killed an eight-point, two hundred pound whitetail buck by seeming to confuse the deer. I was hunting in the "old way". This means walking very slowly, watching carefully, taking advantage of opportunities, and creating the illusion that a doe was "rut-ready". This hunt took place in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, using tactics that anyone reading this article could have used with similar results. This part of Michigan has hundreds of thousands of acres of “semi-wilderness” open to public hunting, and using the strategy detailed here has provided me with successful hunts for many years. Similar tactics will work throughout the Midwest. I’m writing about it early enough for you to get any materials you’ll need, well before the season, if you feel this tactic may work for you.
This is what I did: After bowhunting for several days, I switched to a rifle when the firearms season opened on November 15. On the morning of the 17th, I was very slowly making my way through the woods when I spotted two does crossing my intended path about one hundred yards away. When they were out of sight, I laid a scent trail from where I was to where I first saw them. This was done by tying a felt pad soaked in two different commercially available scents to a six-foot stick and dragging it parallel to my trail while slowly walking. The pad itself was a twin-tailed white felt, packaged in a re-closable type clear plastic bag.
One scent was billed a "synthetic deer urine… that lasts for months, not hours.” The other was a “combination rut, food, territorial infringement” scent. None of this made any difference to me. All I wanted to do, was present enough “scent bomb” to confuse a buck long enough to stop him and give me a chance at a shot… and it worked!
Reaching the spot I last saw the does, I jammed the stick into the ground and picked a spruce thirty-five yards away, downwind. Sitting on a small folding stool I carry, and concealed behind the pine branches, I made several soft "doe bleats" on an adjustable tone deer call. After that, I sat back to wait.
Come back tomorrow for part two of this deer hunting strategy. This information may help you enjoy a better hunt this year.
Copyright Ray Hansen, 2008
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