What are your tips?

[BobT]

With the upcoming deer season I thought it would be a good time to share some tips. Here’s my tip.

When you take a shot at a deer, take a few minutes to pause, have a cup of coffee or cocoa, have a smoke, say a prayer, whatever trips your trigger before going after your prize. Don’t even walk over to the point it was when you shot at it. Stay where you are because many times they haven’t gone very far or even out of eyesight and your presence can spook them into running.

The rule of thumb I use is a minimum of 15 minutes but preferably a half hour or more. In my years of hunting I have at least twice come across evidence of hunters following a blood trail only to discover the carcass of their deer less than a hundred yards of where they stopped tracking. Give your deer time to lie down, bleed, and stiffen up before going after it. I usually try to pause a little even if I see it drop because adrenaline can give a deer unforeseen life when you least expect it.

Finally, when tracking a wounded animal, by all means take your time. The harder you push the longer he’ll be able to keep going on adrenaline. Let him stop to rest and when he does he’ll relax and then give it up. It’s amazing how often wounded animals are not found simply because they were pushed too hard.

Bob

[Meat-Run]

Good tip BobT. I will take that to the bank as I hope to fill my tag this weekend.

mr

[Scott M]

Great tip! BobT is cold as ice! j/k. I can just see you sitting up there in that stand with your game face on pouring a cup of coffee from the thermos and waiting it out.

I can't wait to do the same.

[irvingdog]

Hold still.

Shut up.

Hunt the wind.

Don't snore.

[fishwithteeth]

Good topic!

I have two tips. When pheasant hunting:

1. With new hunters to a group, remind them we don't shoot anything on the ground or flying low to protect our dogs.

2. Give everybody hunting in your group a bottle of water. When they thank you, let them know it's for the dogs and not them. This way on long hunts your dog will have plenty of water.

[TrophyEyes]

Wear blaze orange and don't wear your antlers into the woods. I have seen it a hundred times.

In all seriousness.

1. Know where the other hunters are before walking into the woods. On state land, this may mean waiting until first light on the first morning. Have a flashlight, and don't be scared to let other hunters know where you are. Nothing recks your day worse than getting shot.

2. Don't climb in and out of your tree stand with a loaded weapon.

3. Please put a safety harness on. I will really be unhappy if I have to carry you out of the woods because you broke a leg.

[Scott K]

Dress for the weather, if cold out wear lots of layers. If its warm dont over dress. If you get bored easy bring binocs, a grunt, rattles. Shut the cell phone off, or turn on viberate! Bring a watch, compus. Bring quiet snacks, bottled water.

Bring rope, for lifting your gun, dragging a deer, bring gloves, sharp knife. Dont hunt alone. Brng some paper towels, for a couple different reasons .

Dont drink alcohol, and dont drink to much the day before either.

[PerchJerker]

My tip is if you want to shoot a big buck, don't shoot a little buck.

[BobT]

Your tip about a safety harness is a good one TrophyEyes. About a year ago I heard a story about a bow hunter that was hunting one of my neighbor's groves. He happened to fall out of his stand onto some rocks. Found himself unable to move. I don't recall the exact details of how he was found but another neighbor happened upon him. Turned out he broke some vertibrae. I never did hear if he ever recovered from the paralysis but the word was that he had a chance.

Bob

[Shack]

Last year, a very good buddy of mine was up at another good buddy of mines deer land by Hinkley. They were checking deer stands before season started. The stands are big and both of them went up in one. The stand broke and they fell from legal height. A couple of broken bones, bust hip and a lot of bruises. They are very lucky! It took a long while before they got them selves back to camp area and truck. Then they had to drive to get further help. That blew last year for them.

Also, I drive threw Sherburne Wildlife Ref. on the way to my deer hunting land. Its like a zoo threw there. Large groups of people. Guns point at each other and other weird stuff. I seem to see it every year! Someone with a bottle of booze or a couple of guys with beers. This is before sun rise on Co. Road 9. It is a 55mph zone, but with both sides of road packed with people, you never get over 10 mph when going threw it. I tell ya, that area is the closest thing to a war zone (gun shot noise) as I have ever been. I know they deer drive alot and it is amazing no one gets killed. I have seen people breaking out new guns out of the box before, just as they are heading in. If you do not hunt on opening day or do not hunt at all. I recommend on opening morning before sun rise to travel Co. RD 9 from east to west and when you hit Co. Rd 5 go either North or south. It is a totaly differnt world on opening day. All kinds, walks of life and large groups 10-20 people.

[Mr.Seaguar]

Load your gun.

[Muddog]

Good tip!

Another thing to always do is come up the the animal from the back and give it a poke with the muzzle of your fire arm. You do not want to be on the side with the hoofs if it comes to!

[gonefishin11]

A safety harness makes an excellent one-man deer drag and keeps your hands free to carry your gun and/or slide brush out of the way.

[MikeYager - Suzuki]

Never point your weapon at someone. Ever. Loaded or not. It takes effort to do this during the hunt. Never forget. Also keep your head bird hunting. Always put your hunting partners first and dont lose your cool and shoot at game without first thinking of what is behind it. When grouse hunting and walking through the thick stuff.

1. Always be ready to shoot

2. Always try to be able to shoot. (Keep your gun clear when walking around tangles and be able to shoulder it at any time. )

[Shack]

Site your gun in.

Make it a point to get out and shoot a box of rounds off. Fire off three shots and see were you sit, make adjustments and take another three shots untill your pattern is good. When you think your right on, take another three more shots for good measure.

This helps in a couple reasons. First to help bag you game. Second, helps kill your game in a quick fashion. Third, helps with hitting in correct area, so not to taint or blast apart good cuts of meat.

Its the all around good sportsman thing to do every year!

[troutmaster]

When your in your stand make sure your cell phone is on silent/turned off. especially if you have a wife who likes to call you alot "did ya get one yet?"

[bigbucks]

If it's a person with the initials RK, in his 30's, & it happened during bow season, he's fine. I believe he had his cell phone with & was able to call someone. He couldn't work for several months I believe, but I know he hunted turkeys this spring & fished some tourneys this summer, including the Minnewaska one.

[chucker34]

If its still legal shooting hours, always, and I mean always, load your gun the instant you get down to the ground from your stand. I forgot this rule two years ago and it cost me a nice doe. Sat down thinking about this and that for a few minutes before a big doe ran right in front of me and I shouldered my gun only to remember, oh yeah, no slugs.

[CrappieAttitude]

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My tip is if you want to shoot a big buck, don't shoot a little buck.

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I couldn't agree more. However this only works on private land that you are able to manage. The reality is many people who hunt state land need to shoot little bucks, because if they don't the guy sitting in the next stand will.

I am fortunate enough to be able to hunt private land that isn't heavily pressured and we shoot nice deer every year. Most of that is due to many years letting the spikes, forks, and basket six's walk.

Heres my tip...Let the little hunters in your party shoot the little bucks. Then they will hopefully be another generation hooked on hunting.

CA

[TrophyEyes]

Grunt, Grunt, Doe Bleat, Grunt, Grunt, Grunt. That is the cadence for success. Be ready, because if something hears you, you don't have much time to get ready.

DON'T SHOOT LITTLE DEER, they will never get to be big deer if you shoot them when they are small. Get your neighbors on the same page.

[PerchJerker]

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My tip is if you want to shoot a big buck, don't shoot a little buck.

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However this only works on private land that you are able to manage. The reality is many people who hunt state land need to shoot little bucks

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I agree with you to an extent (and I also encourage inexperienced hunters to shoot any deer they want on my land that I manage for wildlife).

But I'm not just saying something like "let him go so he can grow". I am also saying that this is a 1-buck-per-person-per-year state. If you fill your buck tag with a small buck, then that's your only buck for the year so how would you even have a chance to shoot a larger buck? (I know, you could party hunt and hope to use someone else's tag.) But if you aren't willing to let some small bucks walk past you and hold out for a larger buck, your chances of shooting a larger buck are very slim regardless of where you hunt. You need to be patient and selective unless you're lucky enough that the first buck you see is a big one.

[cribbageboy]

Remer man survives 20-foot fall from tree stand

Sam Cook, Duluth News Tribune

Published Saturday, September 22, 2007

During the long, cold nights, Larry Mackey sang. He sang because he was afraid to fall asleep and become hypothermic. He didn’t want to die, lying there on the ground below his bear-hunting stand with a broken hip and a broken pelvis. So he sang to himself and talked to himself and kept flexing his muscles to generate heat. It worked. Mackey, 62, survived five nights in the woods near Remer without food or water after a 20-foot fall from a tree stand about a mile from his home on the evening of Sept. 10. He wasn’t found until the morning of Sept. 15. (by his grandson I believe) According to the National Weather Service, temperatures dropped to freezing or below on three of the nights that Mackey lay on the ground, immobilized by his injuries.

Moral of the story is: Always tell at least one person where you are hunting, and how long you will be there!

[bigdog]

Something that we have used for many years is a Deer Sleigh'r. It's a piece of heavy plastiic (looks like those roll-up sleds for kids) that you can put your deer on when you drag it out. Makes dragging a lot easier.

[vister]

bring a couple empty water bottles out to the stand with ya. you can use one for a spittoon, and the other a, hand held urinal. ah, that feels better, just bring them out with you.

[Double D]

My tip is get 2 things in shape before the deer season:

1 - yourself

2 - your vehicle

Nothing stinks more than a day of seeing nothing than a long walk back that almost kills you and then having a truck that won't start.

DD