Want To See More Deer

Want To See More Deer?
Three Part Series
By: Mike Denning
Year after year you may ask yourself the question: "what is the most important gadget I need to have in my backpack?" Well today’s hunters have many choices: there are game calls, the newest camo patterns, clothing and sprays to eliminate human scent and the list continues!! All of these great products may give you the edge in today’s high tech world of deer hunting. While these maybe great products nothing can take the place of the good old fashion deer hunting skills. As a veteran of 37 years in this sport, I have seen it all. In the 1980's I was asked by a deer hunting personality ( whom is now seen on TV advertising for diabetic products) to use his product and then fill out a survey as to how well it did or in this case did not work. If I were asked as to what is the most important gadget you need in your backpack the answer would be simple. The answer would be a compass!!! A compass is not only a good thing to have should you get lost, it is a very important tool to use for determining wind direction. I once heard an old timer say "You must kill the deer’s nose first before you can kill him." I whole heartedly agree!!! We all know deer can smell much better than humans. There are even times he will smell you and leave the area before you are even aware that he is in the area. So you see it is really very simple, to see more deer you must determine wind direction and then set you stands with that in mind. When you are setting your stand first determine what direction you expect the deer to come from, and then place the stand down wind from it. Next don’t hunt that stand until the wind is coming from the right direction. There are some white oaks on our club that I love to hunt but I will not hunt there until I have a NW wind. Why??? Because I understand that to do so would be a waste of my time and I would be educating the deer in this area. Plan your approach to your deer stand by checking wind direction with your compass then approach with the wind blowing away form the food source or bedding area. Yes, you might have a deer that will come down wind of you and bust you but your chance of harvesting a deer will increase as you learn to hunt the wind. What if the wind changes an hour before dark? Move....yes I said move!!!! Don’t ever be afraid to move. While hunting a club in South Carolina back in the early 90's I was dropped off my the guide. Several hours passed and just as prime time was about to begin he walked up and took me out of the stand and quickly placed me in another stand on the property. Why? Well because he understood that my chance of seeing a deer had decreased drastically due to a change in wind direction!!! So the next time you are standing at the check in box, pull out the compass and begin your hunt by checking wind direction. Now this weekend is the last weekend for the "Deer Classic" at Bass -Pro so I need to get busy making my list of the things I need. Next month I will have an article on "The Lost Art of Scouting for Deer." Remember hunting the wind will always increase your chance for success!!!