Crunch Time...

What started out as an endless string of weekends covering more than a quarter of the calendar, has dwindled down to the final three. Long gone are the "chilly" evening sits where a hoodie would be warm enough. Today's high temperature struggled to get out of the teens, factor in the wind, and we are talking serious cold temperatures encountered during late season. By this time of year, the deer have smartened up. They have been chased, bumped, driven, and shot at for the last four months. The only reason they need to leave the safety of their bedding area is to feed. Extremely cold temperatures get the deer on their feet earlier in search of food. Seems like an easy equation for a late season whitetail, Food + Cold = Deer. Well things in the woods are rarely that elementary, I throw in a variable x for weather condition, such as post front, high pressure, wind direction, ect. For those of you who still remember Algebra 101, the revised equation would read F + C(x) = D. Time to sharpen your pencil and figure this one out.

This doe knows where she can get a free meal.

Food is the easy part to figure out. If you have been in tune with your deer herd all season, you know what is left, and where it is. Food sources are less abundant this time of year, so deer tend to congregate around remaining feeding areas with regularity. It may be a cut cornfield, a food plot full of sugar beets, or a timed feeder. The deer know where to go, so should you.

Right Temp, Wrong Pressure

Cold is good, the colder the better. The deer will get on their feet earlier to feed the lower the mercury drops. Unfortunately it needs to be the right cold, that's the "x" factor. Last night I had the food source and cold temperature in my favor. The problem was I found myself in the middle of a front passing through, with snow falling and a swirling NNE wind. To go along with the winds, was a falling barometer in the 29" range. My experience told me it would be a long sit, but with limited time to fill tags, I put in my time in, in vain. My friend several states away was telling me that he was seeing deer all over, feeding in places he had not seen before. That's because he was on the other side of the front, cold temperatures around 13 degrees, with a rising barometer into the 30"'s. That "x" variable of pressure is very important in the late season. Deer will feed before, and after a storm, but if I had my choice, it would be to hunt post storm with rising pressure.

Now that I have the whitetails figured out, will I wait to hunt the perfect equation for the late season? Not exactly. Limited time to hunt makes any available time to sit in the woods a good time. If I do not have all of the F + C(x) ingredients in my favor I could still harvest a deer. If I plan on taking a day off of work to hunt, I will make sure that all the components are in place. Remember, this is crunch time, not couch time. The sofa will be there for you all winter long, now's the time to get after those whitetails one last time!

View from the blind on a snowy evening.

  

   

The Blind Leading The Blind

The Hoyt is ready to eat!

A light rain began to pepper the vinyl roof of the ground blind as I nestled in for my afternoon hunt. The second season of Pennsylvania's archery season had begun the same way as the September opener had, from the ground. I would much rather hunt from an elevated tree stand, but this year I committed myself to hunting from ground blinds in an attempt to add another dimension to my growing outdoor resume. Earlier in the year I would begrudgingly make my way to the blind, but on this rainy, dreary day, I welcomed the idea of being protected from the elements. I affixed my Hawk Hookster 360 from the blind's support beam and hung up my Hoyt Nitrum 34. As I watched the rain fall, I had high hopes that I would be able to harvest my first deer from a ground blind.

Early season view

Back in September, I took a shot at a doe that was quartering to me at twelve yards, about fifty minutes into the 2016 season. Although I felt confident about the shot, I could not find my arrow, any blood, and subsequently the deer. I spent more time practicing from a seated position, and vowed to only shoot if I was presented with a broadside shot. I had spent countless hours in a blind since then without any opportunities. This changed around 4:30 pm. The first doe made her way in, followed closely by a second, than a third. They all looked back in unison, as a fourth and fifth doe made their way in to feed on the dwindling browse. I drew back, but the large doe I had selected turned, and would not give me a broadside shot. After holding on her for over a minute, I was able to let down without any of the deer taking notice. I regrouped, and waited for her to turn around. When she finally did, I drew again, laid my top pin behind her shoulder and squeezed off an arrow. With that the five deer raced out of sight, unaware of what had just transpired. I felt like it was an accomplishment to be able to draw my bow back without being detected by five sets of eyes once, let alone twice. I waited a half hour before emerging from the blind to inspect the arrow. There was a mix of pink and deep red blood, so I figured she must of quartered slightly, resulting in a single lung / liver shot. I packed up my gear and waited 90 minutes before tracking the blood.

Late season, no cover is left on most trees

I had loaned my flashlight to my wife a week prior and had forgotten about the exchange. Luckily, I enlisted the help of my friend Jonathan to help track, who always has a couple lights handy. We picked up the trail pretty quick which led us across a field to an oak flat. That's when things went south. We tracked her making a figure 8 pattern, about 40 yards long, and 25 yards wide. After two and a half hours in steady drizzle, we decided to suspend the search until morning. When I entered the woods as the sun crept up, I went back to the last blood. The droplets were preserved under the trees, but the fields were washed clean from the overnight rain. Another friend, Mike, picked up a fresh set of tracks that led deeper into the forest. We walked another 70 yards with no blood when we decided we went too far and would go back to the last blood and start over. As we turned around, Mike glanced to his left and said, "There she is!" and just like that, my quest for a ground blind kill was fulfilled. Unfortunately, foxes had already found her and I could not salvage the meat. Upon inspecting the shot, we figured the height was good, but about an inch and a half too far back. That distance was the difference between a 30 yard track job and a full freezer and about 200 yards of tracking and and regret.

Foxes found her first

There are two things that I have taken away from my ground blind experiences so far. First, it is a lot harder to draw on an animal at eye level. You have to be statuesque, and when you move to draw, be slow and methodical. You do not realize what an advantage it is to be twenty feet up in a tree, until you are eye to eye with your quarry. Second, after the shot you need to listen hard to get an idea of where the animal has ran to. If the deer runs left or right, they are out of sight in a flash. I had to depend on listening to which way the deer ran to help lead me to blood. I have another month, and a few more doe tags left to work on my ground blind skills. With some more practice, and a little patience I should be able not to just kill, but to harvest a deer from the blind.                

September sunset from the ground

And Now, I Wait...

The more you look forward to something, inevitably it will take longer to arrive. Such is the case year after year, waiting for deer season. When I climbed down from my stand late last January, I was ready for a break. Last season pushed me to my limits physically, mentally, and emotionally. It took a few weeks for me to decompress and evaluate the many lessons I had learned. By the time April rolled around, I could not wait to get back after those white tailed devils. I usually start counting down the days around 150 days away from opening day. I start putting cameras out around day 120. Tree stands and ground blinds start going out by day 90. I make sure my bow is tuned, and shooting darts with 30 days to go. By the time the calendar changes to September, my prep is complete and I am ready to hunt.

Bushnell Trail Camera

Trail cameras have become an instrumental component in off season scouting. I will place a camera along a beaten down trail, or in front of a corn pile or mineral site. By placing cameras in May, I have a full five months of data to go off of, travel patterns, times of travel, and overall heard inventory. I know patterns of deer change with the seasons, but you can still get a good idea of how the deer on your property will behave. Any information you can gather will help your pursuit come Autumn. Another nice part about having cameras out early is you can watch your bucks grow over the summer. Nothing passes the dog days of summer like watching your hit list bucks grow inch by inch with every camera session.

Ground blind brushed
in along a field edge 

I prefer to get my tree stands and ground blinds in before the Fourth of July. That way the deer have a couple months to get used to them in their environment. I always wind up hanging a few in August, but not later than that. When I feel the need to move a stand in season, I try to wait for a rainy day if possible. It may be overkill, but I do not want to tip the deer off with unnecessary scent and human activity if avoidable. Remember, the whitetails greatest defense is its nose, the more you test it, you will loose.

Hoyt Nitrum, ready
for action!

I shoot year round, so getting my bow tuned is not terrible. I will test out all my equipment that I intend on taking into the woods. I will shoot my arrows with broadheads and nocturnal nocks to make sure my arrow flight is true and there will be no surprises when I let one fly. I will shoot wearing my hunting gloves to make sure my release feels the same in or out of the woods. Shooting sitting down, as well as from elevated platforms give me the confidence that I will be able to make any shot a deer may present me with. There are too many variables that you have no control over, being confident in your equipment is not one of them.

The off season does not have to be a never ending stretch of days if you stay involved with the sport. The most successful hunters will tell you that the more you put into the summer, the more you will get out of the fall. Scouting, shooting 3-D archery courses, and reading bow hunting magazines are ways I past the time between the last climb in January to the first climb in September. For me, the off season has finally ended. I hope I did enough over the last few months to put me in a position to harvest a mature buck. The sets are all hung, the bow is dialed in, and now, I wait...        

What's in an Arrow?

As I find myself mired in the dog days of summer, I continue to make preparations for the up coming archery season. One of the most critical component for your bow hunting equipment is your hunting arrow. When I first started in archery, I used one style of arrow for everything. That worked great for a season or two, but the more you know, the more you think you can improve. If you ask 50 people about arrows, you might get 50 different answers. I will try to explain what I look for in a 3D arrow, as opposed to my hunting arrows. I have shot Gold Tip, Black Eagle, Beman, and Easton Arrows. Based on my results in the field and on the course, I only shoot Easton arrows. Their product line up and down has something for every application, in everybody's budget.

Every manufacturer will give you a chart of some sort to aid in your arrow size selection. You will need to know your draw length and draw weight. Some other variables include brace height, release method, and ATA velosity rating of your bow. This will determine your spine, which is your arrow stiffness. I shoot 400's for both 3D and hunting.  

Easton Lightspeed

When I am putting together an arrow for 3D archery, the main thing I look for is speed. I want a fast arrow, with a decent diameter. A fast arrow is a light arrow. Arrows are measured in grains, and the bare arrow shafts will be labeled GPI, grains per inch. When you cut the shaft to your size, you multiply the length by GPI to get your weight. Everything else you add onto your bare shaft will add weight; inserts, tip, vains or fletchings, nocks, bushings, ect. I shot Easton Lightspeed arrows last season. At 7.4 GPI, and 28.75 inches, my shafts alone weigh 213 grains. After all the necessary components, they weighed in at 344 grains. You can pick up a cheap postage scale for less than $20 and it will help you out immensely when building your arrows. The diameter of the shaft is important because the larger the arrow, the more line cutting ability it has. One season I used a micro diameter shaft and left countless points on the table. Most of my shooting is outdoors, so I steer clear of the large "broom stick" shafts used in spot shoots. When shooting outside, you also have to contend with the elements. A 35 MPH cross wind will make any shot more challenging, but using a large diameter shaft will make it next to impossible. 

Easton Hexx

When I am building my hunting arrows, the main thing I care about is kinetic energy. This is how much power your archery set up produces. In regards to the arrow, its the mass of the arrow and the speed of the arrow. Simply put, a light arrow will have less kinetic energy than a heavier arrow. Less kinetic energy means less penetration, which in turn means less success in the field. We as hunters owe it to our quarry to ensure a quick, clean kill. For years I hunted with Easton Axis. At 9.0 GPI, my arrows weighed in at 402 grains. For this season, I built a dozen Easton Hexx. The Hexx is a fast arrow, at only 7,2 grains per inch. To achieve the desired weight, I installed a 50 grain brass insert to give me a finishing weight of 396 grains. A sign of a quality arrow is consistency. 11 out of my 12 arrows weigh 396 grains, with the other on weighing 395 grains. 

The finishing touch on my arrows is the fletching. I use 2" Blazer Vanes for both my hunting and 3D arrows. The thought being that the smaller vanes enable the arrow to achieve a flat line of flight quicker. I have also found that since I use mechanical broadheads, the Blazer Vanes make my arrows easier to broadhead tune. The nice part of fletching your own arrows is the countless options of colors and styles that enable you to truly customize your arrow.            

Now that my hunting arrows are built and ready to sling, I can spend the rest of my summer fine tuning my bow. Paper Tuning, French Tuning, and Walk Back Tuning are all methods that will ensure you and your equipment are dialed in. Next time when you reach into your quiver, take a second to think about what you are reaching for. Is your arrow tailor made for what you are using it for? Or, is it just an arrow. Chances are if you answered the later, you are not getting the most out of your archery experience. Take some time and build the arrow thats right for you, I promise it will make a difference when you need that 11 ring, or that stud buck makes a daylight appearance.