Bow Hunting Blunders

Avoid Bowhunting Blunders

By Ed Moody

The easiest way to get the drop on a majestic buck whitetail is to avoid common blunders while bow hunting.

It's common knowledge that experience is the result of blunders, big and small, but gaining experience shouldn't be the end result of a missed trophy animal.

Even though the most experienced hunter occasionally messes up during a hunt or two, he or she rarely makes the same mistake twice. Experience can be too costly in time and missed opportunities whether it's deer, turkey or waterfowl hunting.

Successful deer hunters realize that doing almost everything nearly right during a hunt isn't enough. It's almost akin to a football player running downfield and stumbling just as he is about to cross the line. There is no credit given for almost crossing a goal line, nor does almost dropping a deer put meat on the table or a rack on the wall. It's seldom when a hunter gets an opportunity to drop a trophy for "almost" doing everything right.

When a deer is within 15 yards of a hunter in a treestand, it is not the time for the hunter to make even the slightest mistake. Under most circumstances afield, when the deer hunter removes common mistakes made by novice hunters, the chances of an opportunity to drop a deer increases immensely.

The mistakes discussed here are those that veteran archers may even not recognize as a fault in their hunting practices. The slightest detail in the hunt may be the difference between taking a deer or simply enjoying a day in the treestand or moseying along in the woods.

After spending several seasons in the woods, a veteran deer hunter should have learned how to avoid the following miscues.

Not Heeding Wind Currents

Deer hunters who are successful in their quest season after season have come to realize that wind currents play a vital role in the everyday life of the deer, as deer use wind as a close ally.

During Ohio's shotgun season, when hunters scatter deer throughout the woods, winds and scents play a smaller role than when archers are by themselves seeking a deer at a distance of less than 35 yards.

Ottie Snyder of Horton Crossbows has always stated in his seminars that novice bow hunters constantly underestimate the deer's ability to separate human scent from everyday scents of the woods.

To be successful archers need to be constantly alert about scent from their body to the point of being a scent-free fanatic. Too many archers believe that clean clothes, cigarette free breath, and using a good scent-free deodorant makes them scent free. Wrong.

Minimizing all forms of human scent takes more than a little effort. Washing all hunting clothing with a scent eradicating soap that will be worn during the hunt will help immensely to prevent human odors from reaching a deer's nose.

Spraying the insides of hunting boots with a scent eliminating mist assists in reducing human scent on the trail as well as in the tree.

Even following these suggestions and those of your own will not make a hunter absolutely scent-free to the deer's finely tuned olfactory system -- but they help.

Factor In The Wind

Turn the wind into an ally by constantly analyzing wind direction and shifting currents. Using this constantly changing information to your advantage and to the deer's disadvantage can spell success.

Deer prefer to walk into the wind, allowing them to catch odors from what lies ahead. A useful tool to determine wind direction at all times is to tie thin fishing line to a small ball of cotton and hang it from a limb in a nearby tree.

Throughout the day wind currents constantly change and the archer’s knowledge of this ever-slight change can be a friend.

Trophy deer hunter from Georgia, Aaron Harris, carries a small spray bottle of Wildlife Research Center's Scent Killer to use once he reaches his treestand. To eliminate any body perspiration, in all weather conditions, Harris carries his outer clothing to the treestand, spraying himself with the

Scent Killer, then spraying the inside and outside of his outer clothing when he reaches his stand. He also sprays the treestand, as well as the ladder, when using a ladder stand.

His precautions must work. Several years ago a buck stood with his nose a foot or two from Harris' boots as the hunter sat very still in his treestand. Harris was hunting in a deer infested area containing nothing but scrub trees.

Enroute To The Stand

Too many novice hunters believe that the quest for a deer first begins once they are settled in their treestand and the weapon is loaded. This is another fallacy. The quest should begin as soon as the hunter leaves the vehicle, roadway or the deer camp.

Prevent touching as much vegetation as possible when trekking to the treestand or ground blind. The use of scent-laden boot pads assists in leaving an inviting trail to the stand, and possibly lead a deer to his destiny.

If deer are spotted before reaching the treestand, stand as still as possible, dropping to the ground when the deer are looking elsewhere.

Treestand Placement

Terry Rohm of Tink's preaches that treestands or ground blinds, whenever possible should be placed close to the intersection of two deer trails. Not on any trail but in a position where a scent bomb will cause deer to stand quartering away for the hunter. This allows slug, bullet or arrow placement to hit the deer's vitals. He believes it's extremely seldom when straight on or going-away shots should be taken by archers.

Finding such a place in the deer woods is seldom easy unless the hunter is familiar with the year-round use of two trails crossing in the woods. During his seminars, Rohm says that the archer should visualize a deer coming down the trail and stopping at a scent hanging from a tree or bush.

"Have the deer in such a position that the arrow will enter the cavity containing his vitals," said Rohm. If not, the archer may be in for a very long trek searching for his wall hanger.

Don't forget to select a tree that affords some cover for the hunter. While a towering oak may appear to be the perfect tree for the archer, unless it provides a branch or two as cover, it could be a serious mistake to use the tree.

When the perfect tree is located, climb it to determine if any branch or brush will hinder the taking of that perfect shot when the deer stops to sniff the scent.

Don't wait until the day before the season opens to select a tree. Chose the perfect tree weeks before the season opens so your intrusion into his domain will not offend that trophy buck. If it's the right time of the year, fresh cider may be available for soaking boots and trousers before conducting pre-season scouting.

Preparing for the hunt can be pleasurable, informative and productive when done with one thought in mind -- dropping the deer of your choosing -- not the first deer to come along.