Gerald Almy

How to Jump Shoot a Buck

Online Editors — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:46:20 -0500

Tired of waiting in a stand? Too cold to sit still for hours on end? Try jump-shooting a buck. This is one of my favorite tactics when I’m exploring new territory and want to cover a lot of ground, but it’s also great on a known hunting area late in the season, when you’ve pushed bucks around and don’t know exactly where they are. Here’s the skinny:

Bag More Big Bucks By Finding the Dominant Doe

Joe_Cermele — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:43:09 -0400

Among humans, the dominant male often gets the cutest girl. Among whitetails, he gets the heaviest. And that’s good news for you, because by locating and patterning the biggest doe now, you can put yourself in prime position to bag the biggest stud in your hunting area as the rut begins to heat up. Here’s how:

10 Reasons You're Only Shooting Small Bucks (When You Really Want a Trophy)

fieldandstream-editor — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 20:00:00 -0400

[1] YOU DON'T THINK BIG. Mind-set is key. Hunters who consistently take trophy deer aim big and settle for nothing less, even if it means eating a tag. Begin this season with the firm goal of shooting a mature buck whose rack in nicely sized for your territory.

[2] YOU HUNT HIGH-PRESSURE AREAS. This is double trouble. First, highly pressured deer populations typically have a young age structure. Second, what few old bucks are around commonly turn nocturnal.

[3] YOU DON'T HIKE FAR ENOUGH. Hunters tend to walk only a short distance from their vehicles. Big whitetails are aware of this. Hike a mile back from the nearest access and you'll find lightly pressured bucks to pattern and ambush.

[4] YOU SKIP THE BOW AND MUZZLE-LOADER SEASONS. These seasons are typically held before and after the heaviest hunting pressure, so missing them dramatically reduces your chances. In many areas, an early bow or muzzle-loader season is your only opportunity to hunt the productive pre-rut chase period.

[5] YOU WORK THE EASY COVER. It's nice to have an open, panoramic view from your stand. And you might see lots of deer. But they'll be does and young bucks. If you want a trophy, get back in the thickest, nastiest cover your can find that also has good buck sign.

[6] YOU'RE A POOR JUDGE. To kill a big deer, you need to know what one looks like. It sounds obvious, but the term ground shrinkage wouldn't be so ubiquitous if judging bucks on the hoof were easy. Study videos, books, and articles on the topic before the season.

[7] YOU DON'T HUNT MIDDAY. I've seen the most big bucks between 10 A.M. and 2 P.M. Mature deer seem to know that lunchtime finds most hunters at camp. Also, guys heading in and out tend to push deer—perhaps past your stand.

[8] YOU STICK TO MAJOR TRAILS. Focusing on major trails is a great way to tag a deer, but not a trophy. Use them as indicators of where most animals are funneling, then search to the sides in thicker, steeper cover for lightly outlined trails that parallel the well-worn ones. That's where the older and wiser males travel.

[9] YOU RUN BIG BUCKS OFF. Bump a mature buck once, and you may never see him again. Be careful not to leave scent around your stand. Take a circuitous route in and out if necessary. And only hunt that setup when the wind is right.

[10] YOU'RE STUCK IN A ROUTINE. This season, find some new spots. Follow another path to established stands. Try a ground blind, calling, still-hunting, or maybe a decoy. What you've been doing isn't working, so mix it up until you tag a buck worthy of the wall.

Planting Tips to Make Turkeys Come to You

fieldandstream-editor — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 19:00:00 -0500

DEER GET ALL the land-management press, but turkeys benefit from it, too. Provide plenty to eat and drink and good places to nest, to elude predators, and to shelter from storms and cold winds, and you'll attract and keep birds on your land. This month and next, we'll lay out eight habitat improvement projects. To create your very own turkey paradise, examine your property to determine what's missing. Then pick among our projects to fill your needs. And get cracking. Before you know it, you'll have more turkeys, and better hunting.

PLANT: CHUFA

Why Mesa Verde, Colorado is a Good Place for Hunters and Fishermen to Live

fieldandstream-editor — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 20:00:00 -0400

The Mesa Verde region of south-western Colorado offers varied terrain and year-round activities for sportsmen. Habitat ranges from low desert country with red rock canyons, juniper, cactus, and sage to the towering spruce and aspen forests of the San Juans, where deer, elk, cougars, and bears roam amid mountains rising to 13,000 feet. Fishing runs the gamut from flathead lakes holding bass and catfish to high-country streams with trout.

TOWNS WITH SERVICES: Durango, Cortez, Telluride, Dolores, Pagosa Springs.

NATIONAL PARK: Mesa Verde.

How to Plant a Last-Minute Food Plot to Attract Deer in Time for Bow Hunting Season

fieldandstream-editor — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 20:00:00 -0400

NEVER GOT AROUND TO PUTTING IN FOOD PLOTS THIS SPRING? Don't sweat it. Sow the right seeds in the right places right now, and your last-minute plots will sprout in days and start attracting deer in time for bow season. With fall rains and cooling temperatures, they should produce lush forage and draw bucks well into the gun season, too.

Here's how to do it right, in four easy steps:

1. PICK A SPOT

Find places that (a) are situated along or near a deer's route between bedding and feeding areas and (b) constitute a natural clearing, such as a logging road, log landing, or small overgrown field. Such places are easy to plant and make a natural ambush for bucks on their way to feed. Just make sure the spot gets at least a few hours of sunlight each day.

2. PREPARE THE GROUND

Use a rake to clear away leaves and a nonselective herbicide, such as Roundup, to kill weeds. Mow these down with a weed trimmer and work them under with a tiller or an ATV attachment. Remove logs and debris. Then add one bag of agricultural lime and one bag of 10-10-10 fertilizer for each 150x50-foot section. Rake or till both into the soil.

3. PLANT THE SEEDS

Mix one or more brassicas (rape, kale, or turnips) and a cereal grain (wheat, rye, or oats) together in a large bucket, using a 1-to-2 or 1-to-3 ratio. Spread the mixture lightly and evenly. Never bury it deeper than 1/8 inch. Drive over the area with an ATV to create a firm seed-to-soil contact. Or drag a section of chain-link fence over it.

4. PRAY FOR RAIN

Seeds may sprout without rain, but more often, you'll need a bit to get them going. But then it's just a matter of a few weeks before does and bucks start making your 11th-hour plots the hottest spots on the property. Watch the wind and hang your stand carefully. You never know when a trophy may be looking for a snack.

Add Shelter to Grow (and Keep) Big Bucks

fieldandstream-editor — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 20:00:00 -0400

SURE, FOOD PLOTS CAN ATTRACT BUCKS to your land, but they can't keep them there. Only prime cover can do that. Whitetails need shelter when rough weather comes, and they need security all year round. Without these things, deer—and big bucks especially—are bound to take up residence in someone else's hunting area.

Driver's Ed: 15 Tips for Pushing More Deer

fieldandstream-editor — Mon, 12 Dec 2005 10:05:00 -0500

When the clock is winding down and your stand-hunting efforts are coming up short, it may be time to try a drive. The pressure of bow, rifle, and muzzleloader seasons causes many bucks to hunker down in thick pockets of cover, where they basically become nocturnal. No matter how good a hunter you are, you can't kill a deer if he's not moving in daylight.

Drives provide two crucial advantages in this situation: They get deer to exit cover so thick that you can't sneak up on them, and they steer them past other hunters in your party who are waiting in positions where they can get a clear shot.

The best pushes for the mid- and late season involve only a few people. Big drives that require lots of organization and preparation in the field aren't practical for the small pieces of cover that shelter the best bucks right now.

15 Deer Drive Tips

1| Make a detailed plan on a topographic map or aerial photograph before starting out so everyone understands where the pushers will come from, where the standers will set up, and how each person will approach his position. Having hunters who are posted in the wrong places, or who push in a direction that's only slightly off, can cost you the only chance you'll get at a buck.

2| Increase the productivity of your drives by leaving some spots off-limits through the regular season. Bucks will find and use these areas as refuges and be there when things turn difficult and you need to put on drives. I know of one such spot-just over an acre of 6-foot-high switchgrass-on my hunting property that always holds a good buck near the end of the season if we don't pressure it earlier.

3| The best spots to target with just a few hunters in the late season are small pockets of cover, isolated tracts, and overlooked parcels. These locations may require a good hike to reach, or they may simply be so rough and thick with brush, briers, and deadfalls that most hunters avoid them.

5| The optimum size of an area to drive ranges from 1 to 10 acres. Small swamps, stands of unthinned 4- to 7-year-old pines overgrown with vines and weeds, strips of switchgrass or other native warm-season grasses, small clear-cuts that have grown up for three to six years, abandoned homesites, and thickets along stream bottoms are ideal.

6| Safety comes first on every drive; getting a deer comes second. Everyone must know his safe shooting lanes as well as the locations of the other hunters. Shoot only when you are 100 percent sure of the target and there is a backstop behind the deer. All participants should wear plenty of fluorescent orange clothing.

7| Push through the cover slowly. Fast drives may send deer out in a panic, presenting difficult shots for standers. And older bucks will often simply hunker down in brush or flatten themselves onto the ground and allow quick-walking drivers to go right past them.

8| You can learn escape routes ahead of time if you hunt grouse or squirrels on your property or hike through it a few weeks before you plan to put on drives. Simply studying your topo will also reveal them. Bucks will head for the next closest thicket using the route that offers the most concealment.

9| Save the noise and shouting for large, club-organized drives that have many posters and standers on big parcels. For a three-man team, silence is preferable, so you don't make deer panic and run in unpredictable directions. If you need to keep in contact with one another, use a crow call, owl hooter, or some other natural woods sound as an occasional signal.

10| Standers should slip into position as silently and unobtrusively as possible, circling wide of the drive area and staying downwind of it as they approach.

11| Bitter cold, wind, rain, and sleet are all good conditions for putting on drives, since bucks will take shelter in thick pockets of cover during inclement weather. They'll hold tight there, so be sure to move slowly, weaving through the cover and kicking brushpiles as you go.

12| After a fresh snowfall, be alert for a large set of tracks that head toward a thicket. It might have been made by a big buck that you could drive out. The white background will make it easier for you to spot deer-both those trying to stay hidden and those that break and run.

13| Areas with a barrier on one side that blocks deer movement are perfect for driving. A lake, a deep stretch of river, an overgrown fenceline, a high bluff, or any similar obstruction will narrow a buck's options for escape and increase the probability of posted hunters getting a shot.

14| If a deer is bounding away too fast to get a good shot, try hollering at him. It doesn't always work, but sometimes shouting, "Hey!" will make the buck pause for a moment to try to locate the source of the sound, giving you a stationary target. Be ready, because you won't have much time to shoot.

15| Switch roles between drivers and standers so that each hunter in your group will get a decent chance at tagging a buck. A drive will usually have one spot that is likely to offer the best shooting. Alternate hunters in that hot location until everyone has taken a deer or gotten a shot.

How To: Drive Late-Season Bucks

fieldandstream-editor — Fri, 09 Dec 2005 04:25:00 -0500

The Hollow & Saddle Drive
In hilly or mountainous country, bucks typically evade intruders either by fleeing up to higher ground or by circling downwind. Use this tendency to your advantage and station a hunter at both exit routes on this drive.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE

The Thicket-to-Thicket Drive
This plan is appropriate for farm country and semiopen areas where cover exists in small pockets-woodlots with thick underbrush; clumps of saplings, briers, and blowdowns; a small clear-cut; a plot of warm-season grasses; a small grove of low-growing conifers.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE

The No-Blocker Drive
In this unusual drive, all three hunters walk in a precisely defined V-wedge shape through a thick area directly into the wind. The leader walks 50 to 100 yards ahead of the other two, who follow at roughly a 45-degree angle to each side.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE

Listen Up! Use Your Ears to Bag More Squirrels

fieldandstream-editor — Wed, 30 Nov 2005 19:00:00 -0500

Sight is the sense hunters use most when squirrel hunting—watching for a twitching bushy tail, an odd hump in a branch, leaves shaking in a treetop. But sometimes the best way to find this quarry is by using your ears. You'll get more shots if you listen for these five sounds on your next hunt: