February NEWSLETTER 2010 |
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have topic you would wish to be discussed in a future newsletter, let us know and we will
consider it.
If you do not want future newsletters, please email or write us advising so and you will be
removed from the list.
Write to: Disappear Hunting Products Inc., PO Box 414, Wadsworth, OH 44282
Email: discoverscent@disappearhp.com
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HUNTERS
This month, we will conclude the discussion, in regards to using a grid approach to further enhance your
whitetail knowledge and ultimate success. We all have experienced seeing deer, particularly bucks during
the summer months on a fairly regular basis. For those of you that use trail cameras, isn’t it amazing what all
shows up on that camera? The above will tell us what is there, but we have to weigh a number of other
factors, if we want to kill one of those bucks. As I mentioned last month, food sources change through out
the year, altering a deer’s movement. There is also the rut. This creates a considerable amount of
movement of the bucks. One hunter told of watching a huge buck spend all day with a doe in an open field,
his antlers were very uniquely defining, making him easy to recognize, so he was shocked to see a picture a
friend of his took on a trail camera over 5 miles away, of the same buck. Once hunting season starts, the
additional pressure of hunters in their territory will also cause changes in movements, particularly during the
firearms seasons.
The one concern a deer has above and beyond all others, is safety. They will feed and breed at night only,
as well as restricting most of their movements during daylight, if hunted hard enough. But remember one
thing, that deer has to be somewhere above ground at all times. They can not make themselves invisible,
crawl in a hole underground or climb trees. So they have to be somewhere. Our job is find that somewhere.
As you make your grids and start filling them with information, it is VERY important to add notes, as to why
you think that deer was at that location, at that time. Example; let’s say I found a spot that the first scrapes
were opened October 16th and continued being worked until November 20th. The next year, I am going to
start carefully checking that area around the 10th of October, to see if the same activity is going to occur
there again. I will have stand sites already prepared, if the action is there. Second example; it is getting
toward the end of gun season, ( which has put a lot of pressure on the deer ) and I found an area that is being
used consistently as a bedding area at that time. This is a safety zone, where they feel secure. If it worked
once, they will use it again and again. Now you are probably beginning to see, the importance of jotting this
information down, along with the dates and whatever you feel the reasons are, that brought the deer to that
exact spot. A several years pass by, you can focus on each area in turn, to see if the deer repeat past
performance. As one very successful hunter wrote some years ago, when I am hunting, I don’t want to know
where the deer have been, I want to know where they are going to be, so that I can be there, waiting for
them to show up.
So as I approach each season, I have a list of food source spots, rut areas and safety zones, that I
constantly check at the appropriate times, seeing if the pattern I have deciphered is repeating itself. My
grids will be marked, October food source, November rut, December safety, January food source and etc.
Now, let say you check your October food source and there is nothing. Then it is time to get hustling and
scout, scout, scout. When you find the food source for that year, mark down why it was different and where it
was. This can help in the future. This past fall, the first week of November, ( prime time to hunt rutting
bucks ) brought weather in the 70’s. The big bucks were only moving at night, because of the heat. So forget
hunting rut patterns and look for cool, shady thickets or out of the way safety areas, where they could hang
out during the heat of the day. This type of weather rarely happens, but if it does and you are not prepared,
it can blow your hunt. Some of the area I was hunting this past season was new to me and by the time I
figured things out, it was time to go home. Fortunately, I was able to go back later and capitalize on that
information. Maybe some of you can vividly remember all details, from year to year, unfortunately I am not
one of those, that’s where the notes I gather each year, pay me big dividends. We all have only so much
time to hunt. You are going to increase your odds of success, if that is spent hunting prime spots, instead of
wondering where the deer are.
Keith Dotterer
This month, we will conclude the discussion, in regards to using a grid approach to further enhance your
whitetail knowledge and ultimate success. We all have experienced seeing deer, particularly bucks during
the summer months on a fairly regular basis. For those of you that use trail cameras, isn’t it amazing what all
shows up on that camera? The above will tell us what is there, but we have to weigh a number of other
factors, if we want to kill one of those bucks. As I mentioned last month, food sources change through out
the year, altering a deer’s movement. There is also the rut. This creates a considerable amount of
movement of the bucks. One hunter told of watching a huge buck spend all day with a doe in an open field,
his antlers were very uniquely defining, making him easy to recognize, so he was shocked to see a picture a
friend of his took on a trail camera over 5 miles away, of the same buck. Once hunting season starts, the
additional pressure of hunters in their territory will also cause changes in movements, particularly during the
firearms seasons.
The one concern a deer has above and beyond all others, is safety. They will feed and breed at night only,
as well as restricting most of their movements during daylight, if hunted hard enough. But remember one
thing, that deer has to be somewhere above ground at all times. They can not make themselves invisible,
crawl in a hole underground or climb trees. So they have to be somewhere. Our job is find that somewhere.
As you make your grids and start filling them with information, it is VERY important to add notes, as to why
you think that deer was at that location, at that time. Example; let’s say I found a spot that the first scrapes
were opened October 16th and continued being worked until November 20th. The next year, I am going to
start carefully checking that area around the 10th of October, to see if the same activity is going to occur
there again. I will have stand sites already prepared, if the action is there. Second example; it is getting
toward the end of gun season, ( which has put a lot of pressure on the deer ) and I found an area that is being
used consistently as a bedding area at that time. This is a safety zone, where they feel secure. If it worked
once, they will use it again and again. Now you are probably beginning to see, the importance of jotting this
information down, along with the dates and whatever you feel the reasons are, that brought the deer to that
exact spot. A several years pass by, you can focus on each area in turn, to see if the deer repeat past
performance. As one very successful hunter wrote some years ago, when I am hunting, I don’t want to know
where the deer have been, I want to know where they are going to be, so that I can be there, waiting for
them to show up.
So as I approach each season, I have a list of food source spots, rut areas and safety zones, that I
constantly check at the appropriate times, seeing if the pattern I have deciphered is repeating itself. My
grids will be marked, October food source, November rut, December safety, January food source and etc.
Now, let say you check your October food source and there is nothing. Then it is time to get hustling and
scout, scout, scout. When you find the food source for that year, mark down why it was different and where it
was. This can help in the future. This past fall, the first week of November, ( prime time to hunt rutting
bucks ) brought weather in the 70’s. The big bucks were only moving at night, because of the heat. So forget
hunting rut patterns and look for cool, shady thickets or out of the way safety areas, where they could hang
out during the heat of the day. This type of weather rarely happens, but if it does and you are not prepared,
it can blow your hunt. Some of the area I was hunting this past season was new to me and by the time I
figured things out, it was time to go home. Fortunately, I was able to go back later and capitalize on that
information. Maybe some of you can vividly remember all details, from year to year, unfortunately I am not
one of those, that’s where the notes I gather each year, pay me big dividends. We all have only so much
time to hunt. You are going to increase your odds of success, if that is spent hunting prime spots, instead of
wondering where the deer are.
Keith Dotterer
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