Yesterday, when I saw this picture of Ethan O’Brien and his massive buck, I tweeted it out, to which Tommy replied: Great story. This kid should buy a lottery ticket now. (1) Remove sunglasses (2) Pee (3) Fight thru buck fever (4) Bang! Read about it here, quite a story. Never ceases to amaze me the things that happen in the deer woods. Great buck Ethan!
I asked that simple question of my friend, Dr. Grant Woods, one of the top whitetail scientists in the world. He told me: “Whitetails react incredibly quickly to either a positive or a negative stimulus. A lot of hunters fail to take that into account quickly enough. For example, if deer see or hear you in a tree stand near a food plot, they will learn to avoid that spot very fast. They will still go to the plot (positive stimulus) but they will circle your stand (negative stimulus). You might sit there, not see any deer and wonder what is wrong. Hunters, especially bowhunters, need to take into consideration how fast deer, and especially mature bucks, react and adjust [...]
Our friend Zach just got this picture of “Ugly Buck” (my name and term used with affection) with a lop-sided rack and a crazy brow tine. I love character racks, and this buck is a great shooter. Zach has history with Ugly. “I missed this deer last year at only 5 yards, he was right underneath my stand and that's the one shot that no one ever practices,” he said. “I got a picture of him this year on 4th of July but hadn’t seen him since, until now. Come on October!” This is at least the fourth shooter that Zach has on his land, good luck buddy.
The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends a target zone for aerobic exercise that elevates your heart to within 50 to 75 percent of its maximum rate. For example, 80 to 120 beats per minute for a healthy 60-year-old and 95 to 143 beats a minute for a 30-year-old. Medical researchers in Michigan fitted 25 deer hunters (average age 55) with heart monitors. The heart rates of those hunters who shot at and hit a buck soared as high as 118 percent of their max rate. Big time buck fever excitement! In a Wisconsin study of 10 men with monitors, the hunters’ heart rates went from 78 beats per minute with no deer in sight to 100 beats when they spotted [...]
If your archery deer season opens October 1 try this. Dr. Grant Woods, one of the top whitetail experts in America, is a believer in tiny green food plots, which he calls “hidey holes.” “A hidey-hole is a small patch of green forage that you develop and hide in the woods, where deer can grab several mouthfuls of food before they move on to a larger green field or acorn flat." Locate a little open spot in a high-traffic area: optimally along a trail that deer are using regularly right now in the evening. Then go to work. "I simply use a leaf blower to clear a spot about 20 feet x 20 feet where I can see sunlight hitting [...]