The Thrill Of The Hunt: Extra Bow Hunting Gear

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So far in the Thrill of The Hunt we have discussed bow hunting equipment and what to wear. In this article we will discuss the extras that should always be with you on the hunt. Many of the items I will discuss are important for bow hunting or rifle hunting.

Baby Powder

Always carry a small squeeze bottle of baby powder to determine the wind direction. A hunter can fool an animals eyes and ears, but you will never fool its’ nose. I plan to write an entire article on this topic soon, but until then always make sure you know the wind direction. I carry a small bottle of baby powder in my front pocket on all hunts except bird hunts. I check the wind religiously every 10 minutes on calm days. I like baby powder because I can smell it and see it. Give the bottle a good squeeze and watch it drift with the wind.

Cover Scents

While we are on the topic of scent and I promise to cover this topic in more detail in future articles, just know there is not a cover scent or clothing made on the planet that will hide your scent. Debate this topic all you want, but the bottom line is that if you breathe you make scent. So leave the elk urine cover scent and expensive scent blocking clothing at the store, because it is all a waste of money.

Boning Your Animal In The Field

Years ago I came to the realization that gutting an animal and dragging it out whole is a complete waste of time. Why do I want to lug an entire critter home to only throw away the bones and hide? Why not leave the bones and hide in the forest for a critter to snack on with joy? I also process my own meat so having a bag of meat already boned and ready to process saves a lot of time.

To bone an animal in the field and I promise to cover this topic in more detail in future articles, I need a 10 ft. sheet of plastic, several plastic garbage bags, a gallon size, zip-loc bag, two sets of plastic gloves, a few wet wipes, and knife.

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The sheet of plastic provides a nice work area free of dirt and grime.   I like to use plastic gloves to keep my hands somewhat clean after deboning the animal. I bring two sets because plastic gloves have a tendency to rip. Wet wipes are handy for cleaning up after taking care of the animal and for an emergency bathroom stop. After deboning the animal I use the garbage bags to store the meat for the hike out and in my freezer if I don’t process the meat right away. Don’t put hot meat into the plastic, garbage bags. Let the meat cool down on the sheet of plastic before putting it in garbage bags. Use the gallon size zip-loc bag to put the sheet of plastic, gloves, and your knife after deboning the animal to keep things tidy.

Hunting Knifes

There are many types of knifes on the market, but I am a huge fan of the Kershaw brand of knifes with interchangeable blades. The last thing I want to do while deboning an animal is sharpen my knife. I carry four spare blades and a saw blade to remove the horns. It will normally take two blades for a deer size animal and four blades for an elk size animal.

Water

Always carry plenty of water. I started with a plastic bottle of water and after years of experimenting with all kinds of fancy bladder and tube contraptions I am right back to using a plastic bottle of water. A water bottle is no fuss, no muss, and easy to clean. Plus it is harder for the water bottle to freeze in cold weather as compared to tube water systems.

Food

Always carry plenty of food. Hunting burns a lot of calories and it you don’t want to end a hunt early because you are hungry. God forbid you get lost, but extra food is handy to have just in case.

I like to carry 50 ft. of climber-grade rope. Rope is always handy for a variety of uses.

Camouflage

Camo is a very personalized item. I don’t like anything on my face unless it is cold. I find any type of cloth face camo can interfere with my bow draw. I like to use a small, camo compact with three colors black, green, and brown. I can take three fingers, each with different color and quickly apply it to my face. The compact also has a small mirror so I can check to make sure my face is covered adequately. A hunter does not have to completely cover every inch of skin, military style. Just break up any solid color of skin.

Backpacks

Backpacks are also a very personalized item. Over the years I have been through a lot of backpacks. I personally use the Dwight Schuh, Fieldline, Mega, plastic frame backpack. For most day hunts I only use the bottom section of the pack. If I get an animal down I can pack out a deer with this pack or get the first load of an elk packed out. This is a major over kill of a backpack for a day hunt, but it is so nice to take load a meat to the pickup from the kill site. I find this pack to be very comfortable and I really like the multiple tie down points and flexibility that this backpack offers.

That pretty well covers what a bow hunter needs for equipment for a successful hunt.

In the next article we will discuss bowhunting elk.

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The Art Of Slow Stalking

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Up to this point we have been discussing hunting in general terms. Now it is time to dig deeper and fine-tune our skills. The old saying goes 10% of hunters kill 90% of the game.

One of the skills that this elite group of hunters must be proficient at is stalking. No matter what type of hunting you are doing at some point you will have to stalk your game. Stalking game correctly and effectively is an art form that takes years of practice.

Overview

I don’t know how many times I have heard hunters say, “Wow, what a long day! We must have walked 10 miles.” My response is always the same. Why? Why in the hell would you walk 10 miles? If your out for a hike then it makes sense to walk this much. If you are hunting it makes no sense to walk much over three or four miles in a day and that includes some walking to get to a desired area rich with game.

Once you are in an area that has game and you should determine this based on past experience or pre-season scouting then it is time to put the brakes on and go into full on stalking mode.

Your goal is to see the animal before it sees you. A calm animal that has no idea you are around presents the best type of shoot to enable a quick and humane kill.

Clothing

In previous articles I have discussed the importance of quiet clothing. Whether you are bow hunting or rifle hunting you need to wear quiet cloths. Quiet means you can brush up against something and you will not make a sound or if you do make a sound it is very minimal. Wool, cotton, and fleece are generally quiet fabrics.

Don’t overlook the noise factor surrounding your boots. I have read many books about hunters that carry a pair of thick socks to wear when stalking into close range. Some hunters carry fleece booties that go over their boots to silence their steps when stalking into close range of their intended target. I think both ideas are a waste of time. Just buy a quiet pair of boots and leave them on during your stalk just in case your intended animal moves and you must move quickly to pursue your target.

Binoculars

To stalk effectively you will need a set of binoculars at the ready. I prefer a shoulder holster that keeps my binoculars on my chest for easy use. Make sure to shoot your weapon while wearing your binoculars and backpack to get used to the feel.

Smell

The wind must be in your face at all times. There is not a product on the market that will hide your scent. Don’t waste your money on trying to cover your scent, just keep the wind in your face at all times. You can’t fool an animal’s nose.

Hearing

Most game animals have amazing hearing. However, you can fool an animals hearing by stopping your movement and holding perfectly still. After about five minutes the animal will lose interest in what they heard and go about their regularly scheduled program.

Sight

Animals are constantly on the look out for movement. Once they catch some movement they will focus on the movement until they can process what the movement is all about. Fooling an animal’s eyesight is relatively easy. Just stop moving. After a few minutes the animal will lose interest and continue their regularly scheduled program.

Read the rest of the article at: http://thethrillsociety.com/the-art-of-slow-stalking/

Boning Your Animal In The Field

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I hear this complaint almost everyday during hunting season. We had a great time hunting, but it was so much work dragging our animal to the pickup. My question is always why did you drag your animal to the pickup?

Overview

Hunters have it ingrained in their minds that they have to gut their harvested animal and then drag it whole to their transportation. It is very difficult lifting a whole animal minus it’s guts into the back of the pickup. Then hunters generally want to hang their animal. The idea is that it will be easier to skin the animal, which it is, and perhaps age the meat. Aging the meat can be argued either way. However, most hunters do not have a way to hang the meat. Hanging an animal like a deer is work in a normal size garage, but an elk will require a large shop.

The first thing a hunter does is skin the hanging animal and either throw the skin away or trade it for a pair of crappy gloves at the local recycle center. Next they carve off all the meat leaving a bunch of bones to discard. So why do hunters drag the hide and bones home just to throw them all away? I have never understood that.

Here is a better solution. Always hunt with a pack frame on your back. Sure it is clunky, but many of the pack frames out their today are made on a flexible plastic frame. You don’t have to fill the whole pack. Just carry the items you normally would put in your day pack. The reason you carry a pack frame with you all the time is because after you shoot your animal you might as well take a load of meat to the pickup instead of going to the pickup empty, grabbing your pack, and walking back to the animal. Lots of walking and you haven’t packed any meat.

Equipment Required

Carry a knife with changeable blades. You will not need a saw using my method unless you plan on taking the horns and if you do many knifes have saw blade attachments. Kershaw makes a wonderful knife with changeable blades, as do many knife manufacturers. Then you will not have to carry a knife and a saw plus a sharpening stone.

Carry a 10-foot sheet of thin plastic that you will use as clean spot to bone your animal. I place this sheet of plastic right next to the animal. I will secure the plastic to the ground using nearby rocks.

Bring along a gallon size Ziploc bag with two pairs of plastic gloves. The Ziploc bag will be a great place to put the 10 plastic sheet and bloody plastic gloves after you have boned your animal. I also include small travel pack of wet wipes to clean my hands after the animal is processed.

Carry a second gallon size Ziploc bag to place your saw or knife blades after you are done boning your animal. In this second Ziploc bag you can store several garbage bags. How many garbage bags you bring will depend on what size an animal you are hunting. For a deer two garbage bags should be fine. For an elk you will want at least six garbage bags. The garbage bags will be used to hold your meat and keep the inside of your pack nice and clean

So we are next to our trophy with our 10-foot plastic sheet secured with rocks, garbage bags out on the plastic sheet along with spare knife and saw blades, and now its time to make the first cut.

Boning The Animal In The Field

Forget about the belly area. We start at the base of the skull and slice the hide down the neck and backbone to the tail. Next slice the hide from the backbone straight down to the knee joint of the front leg. Cut the hide completely around the knee joint. Do the exact same thing for the rear leg. Start at the backbone sliced hide and cut straight down the back leg to the knee joint.

Next start skinning the hide back away from the hind leg. Once you have the hind leg totally skinned you can remove the hind leg if you are working on a deer or if you have an elk you can start boning the hind leg still attached to the animal. The hind leg is attached by a ball joint and can be removed without a saw. Simply lift the leg and start cutting where the leg connects to the body until you hit the ball joint. Once you have cleared all of the muscle away from the ball joint, the hind leg should lift easily off the animal. Place the hind leg on the plastic sheet to allow it to cool.

Move up to the front leg. Skin the hide away from the front shoulder. The front shoulder is not connected by a ball joint.  How this works without a ball joint boggles my mind, but it works. Just like the hind leg, lift the leg and start cutting the front shoulder off the animal. Once the front shoulder is disconnected place it on the plastic sheet to cool.

Next we will remove the back strap. Go to the where the neck connects to the body and start a cut right next to the backbone all the way to the tail. Start cutting the back strap off the backbone in one large piece all the way to the neck. This procedure should be exactly what you are familiar doing with a hanging animal. Place the back strap on the plastic sheet to cool.

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How To Increase Your Rifle Hunting Success

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Many of the techniques we have discussed for bow hunting in previous articles will also benefit rifle hunters. Although it easier to harvest an animal with a rifle than it is a bow, often times rifle hunters face stiff competition for hunting areas. There are more rifle hunters in the field than bow hunters. For some reason game animals tend to become more cautious after the first shot of the rifle season is fired.

Get Comfortable With Your Rifle

Before the season starts make sure you sight in your rifle in with the exact ammunition you plan to use during the season. I will tape the ballistic information on the side of my rifle butt for various distances out to 500 yards. This is information can be very useful when used in conjunction with a range finder.

Find you comfortable range. Your comfortable range can be found by placing a paper plate on a target and shooting five rounds at the target. If you can group all five shots inside the paper plate that is your comfortable range to shoot an animal. Keep shooting at further and further distances until you are no longer grouping all five rounds in the target. Do not shot at an animal past your comfortable range. It doesn’t matter how big the horns are, you need to show some respect for your target animal by killing them quickly.

How much practice should a rifle hunter do before the season starts? That depends on the ability of each individual, but shoot as much as possible. You will want to be comfortable with your weapon, make sure it is functioning properly, and can group in your comfortable range.

Get In Shape

In some areas there is a lot of competition for hunting ground. Generally speaking if rifle hunters can get ½ of mile from a road they can eliminate 95% of hunting competition. Find areas that are without roads or in National Forest areas have gated roads. Be sure to exercise months before the season to give you the edge of getting away from the roads. Hunters that drive the roads will spook animals into areas with no roads that hopefully you will be occupying.

Wind Checker

Be sure to always carry a small plastic bottle with baby powder to check the wind. Shooting distances are often greater with a rifle than a bow, but it is still essential to know the wind direction. Animals that catch your scent will flee even from several hundred yards.

Read the rest of the article at: http://thethrillsociety.com/how-to-increase-your-rifle-hunting-success/

Bow Hunting Large Whitetail Bucks

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This article is all about bow hunting large whitetail bucks. A large buck can be a very challenging to harvest. As a buck gets older, he increasingly grows smarter and often times more nocturnal. If it wasn’t for the rut, harvesting a large whitetail buck may be nearly impossible.

Image credit: “AugustBucks2011” by Woodlot

Overview

I have stalked elk and even mule deer, but have never had any luck sneaking up on a whitetail buck. That is not to say it can’t be done, just saying I have never done it.

Generally speaking whitetails hide in dense cover, which means the spot and stalk technique is not useful with whitetails unless your a ninja.

That leaves us with planting our butts and letting a big buck come to us. We can do that on the ground or in a high vantage point like a tree stand or hunting tower.

Whitetail Flaws

Luckily large bucks have a few flaws or nobody would ever kill them. Bucks get crazy and throw logic to the wind during the rut. They live in a small area of approximately a square mile. Plus they tend to follow patterns. All three of these flaws can be used against a large whitetail buck.

Preseason Scouting

Preseason scouting is crucial in harvesting a large buck. Because bucks generally live in a small area a hunter can learn a lot about how bucks will move. In a couple hours of scouting a hunter should easily be able to identify bedding areas of thick cover, water sources, and food sources. A scouting trip will also educate the hunter on trails, rub areas, and scrape areas.

Image credit: “Quivira-Whitetail-Buck” by Jerry Segraves

Where Do I Make My Stand?

The location of where you plant your butt is crucial. A hunter will have little success setting up in a random spot. After a good preseason scouting session a hunter should have a pretty good idea where to set up.

Generally speaking a buck will spend the day in a dense cover bedding spot. To leave this bedding area a buck will generally follow a path to their favorite eating or watering spot.   The trail connecting the bedding area and eating or watering area is a great place to set up.

During the rut a buck may leave his bedding area more frequently during the day to police his area for does in heat. He will often follow a trail and leave plenty of sign behind like scraps and rubs. Near a scrap or rub is an excellent place to set up.

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