Tips & Tactics

These tips are from Dave :

Tip#1 Before I leave home on a hunt I activate two hand warmers and place preferred bottle deer urine in between hand warmers then wrap rubber band around the three so that hand warmers are tightly secure to the bottle .Once at the stand location I apply hot urine to my wicks given them the most potent potential .

Tip#2 Hot urine dispenser : activate three hand warmers and place pre cut foil that is cut to match size of hand warmers then place scent wick on top of foil secure with rubber band .Once at stand location apply desired deer urine to scent wick and place each one in a triangle pattern around stand 25 yards up wind of stand wick facing up . I then place several leaves over unit the scent will rise through leaves and disperse evenly. I have shot several whitetails using this trick.

Tip#3 If your caught in the timber tracking a deer and blood trail is lost mark last blood by using this next tip you will have a better chance at locating lost blood at a cheap price ,what I do is I always keep a recovery kit in my truck it is a storage box filled with deer locating aids,one of them is a bottle of peroxide , a spray bottle with mist attachment and a bottle of orange food coloring .

I pour food coloring in spray bottle and then add full bottle of peroxide shake and head back to last sign of blood spray mist on surrounding leaves if mixture makes contact with blood a orange foam will show . Try it out the next time you’re in trouble.

Tip#4 I love to hunt edges of known bedding areas when scouting these locations I often look for a blown down tree top or large brush pile if one of these is not present I will create one by gathering branches and limbs and grape vines, obstruction should be large enough to hide a whitetail behind it. this obstruction should be located just outside 20 yards of a known bedding area or travel route.

I then locate a good stand tree 25 yards from obstruction. I will make a mock scrape between the two ,what this does is when I see a cruising buck I will attempt to call to him once you have the bucks attention give him a reinsurance grunt , once the buck is on his way he will have to go around obstruction to locate calling buck even if the buck gets down wind he will smell scent and have to locate the calling by making a visual, in most cases all he will find is a bow hunter at full draw . All brush pile building should be done several months before season so that local deer will have time to get used to the obstruction.

Tip#5 When hunting with a cameraman or woman, I will set up two scent drags one for me topped with doe in estrus urine for pre-rut and during the rut, then I will add young buck urine to the camera persons drag . I then instruct camera person not to walk in my same trail but to walk in a slight zigzag pattern crossing or trailing my trail. Once to the stand location we will pass the tree 40 yards and then make a figure eight pattern back to stand . I then hang drags over a doctored mock scrape. In which I will then freshen up with heated urine, this will give a true trailing buck illusion and will fool that sometimes overly smart buck......

Tip #6 MOCK SCRAPE'S , What I've learned in my 22 years of bow hunting is that being lazy doesn't yield good results.I often get a kick when out scouting i find a stand with a mock scrape placed 20 yards in view of the stand . One great tip i can offer is I often look for a good ridge,or a bench off of a hillside and locate the nearest bedding area.Once located i look for the first and best exit or entrance in or out of the chosen bedding area then select a route in which will offer me plenty of over hanging branch's.I then will make my way towards my stand location making scrapes along the way every 50 to 60 yards while doing so i will drag a buck urine soaked drag from scrape to scrape.I keep my stand 35 yards to 45 yards down wind from my passing mock scrape .This is the kicker i then keep making my mock scrape line making a scrape every 50 to 60 yards till I enter my first good food source or staging area. NOTE: connect the mock scrapes with a good buck urine soaked drag and apply ample amount of urine in each scrape first off I've never seen a buck just tinkle in a scrape and you show me a buck that makes just on scrape and I will show you a two legged buck .Give yourself the best reason to hunt that stand and by having a series of mock scraps placed in such a manner that it will go discovered by another buck that will make it a routine of checking that invading scrape line. BE sure to juice each scrap up with both doe and buck urine each time you visit that stand and bring drag in tow.

Tip#7 SCRAPE'S, Under observation I've noticed that the best time to hunt over a scrape line is during a lite drizzle or after a rain has passed .By checking the weather hour by hour you should be in stand one hour before the rain is due to stop. Bucks and Does alike will refreshion scrapes often after the rain has gone past,let the doe's pass as their scent is likely to attract oncoming Buck activity.It does'nt hurt to activate scrapes with Buck or Doe urine just use this in a warmed fashion and apply large amount to scrapes.Focus on scrapes on benches , ridges and shelves best bet is to stay in the timber .

Tip#8 HUNTING BEDDING AREAS, This is a tactic I often use, locating a tree and tacking it off ,with glow tacks a season earlier I often will locate my desired tree and preprep the stand for the following season .Then will leave the stand in place and check on stand a week or two before season under the cover of darkness .Stand best checked on after midnight.I then will hunt stand in this method and conditions only "if i can pull off an all day hunt ,and if I can get to that stand legally at midnight.Check local laws and catch 22's I have found that as long as you are in the tree and your bow is on a hoist laying on the ground and is not in hand you can be in your stand at this time .This is a great way to hunt bedding areas where deer feel unpressured by human intrusion.I will pull my bow up at legal time and get ready for the awesome display of whitetails cutting thru the maze of thickets .Check all local laws and hunt safe, many times I will even have to take my broadheads off my arrows to hunt this manner but well worth it.You will find that most hit game will never exit the bedding feeling safe enough in the thicket to stay put in the safety of thick cover.note one catch 22 is to wear a blaze orange vest while in stand during small game season that allows you to be in the timber during those strange hours.

Tip# 9 DISCARDING BAD URINE , I would say if using deer urine as an attractant be sure the urine is fresh by purchasing urine fresh bottled for that season is the best way to go .The large percent of hunters that don't have success using urine in there assault is often because the urine was purchased from a sporting good store that held that product for two or three seasons before selling .Ways to tell if urine is bad 1-is by coloration of urine yellowish urine is a fresh urine and best bottled in amber bottles.2-brown urine is old often two seasons and air has gotten to the urine and may have not been stored in a proper climate.3-dark brown nearly black in color is usually three or more seasons old .If the deer urine is not yellowish to clear in color the urine should never be used.By using the bad urine can and will effect your hunting in a way you may not like.Driving mature deer from the area just outside effective range.Sure there are times that this bad urine is used and deer have been harvested over such method but in 99% of these cases the deer were young and not of taking size .Remember the first year or two of a whitetails life they are very curious and this often will leed to their deaths.To harvest large bucks or does use only the best of urines taken at the best of times .Buy deer urine from active sources that give the very best to offer.And store when not in use in refridgerated manner once opened and exposed to air.

Tip# 10 GOOGLE EARTH , I often use Googleearth.comas a scouting aid in searching for funnels and possible entrances into a new set of timber.This is a great way to study already hunted timber and keeping the presence of human intrusion down to a minimum . Also you can get GPS locations from this sight a great tool for your upcoming season if you don't already use as a tool.

Tip# 11 SPRAY SCENT, Often at times I've seen whitetails making there way down to my down wind side of the tree if a mature whitetail gets your wind there is no chance you will bust that buck anytime soon by having a mist urine spray bottle and pumping out a few pumps in the air it will help mask your scent if any .I only use urine that comes in the mist pumps so not to cross contaminate urine by using a over the counter sprayer again and again.Also the mist will help conserve urine when applying to scent wicks.All in all mist sprayers have many of uses once bottle is empty clean well and fill with Peroxide and a few drops food coloring orange or purple is my two favorite colors and show up well.This makes for a great little pocket sized blood locator and can be great for pony packing in lite hunting gear.Just be sure to label bottle as blood locator so not to mix it up with deer urine.

These tips are from John of Team Adrenalin

Tip #1 I always carry one arrow I call my "put down arrow" I use this arrow if I have to take a kill shot on a downed animal. This arrow has some flaw in it, This way I'm not taking the chance of hurting one of my good arrows. And I would not use this arrow for normal use (loose fletching, nicked up blades). When hunting back east (softer ground) I always take a shot from my stand before I get down. I pick a bright leaf or something. But I dont range find it I guess at the yardage. This is a great way to keep your yardages in check.

Tip#2 I'm color blind so I always carry a spray bottle of peroxide in my pack. It really comes in handy if your not sure if a spot is blood or not, as I said I'm color blind with that in mind, I can give you an Idea of what deer see. Blue is your enemy! Dont have any blue exsposed!

Tip#3 Boots, I have dedicated boots for hunting. I dont use my hunting boots for anything outside of hunting. I dont even wear them on the way out to hunt, in case I have to stop at the gas station or some thing. There is oil and gas all over the ground. The deer will pick up on that.

Tip#4 When I'm rifle hunting I carry my rifle with the scope power turned down. If some thing runs out at 20 yards 14 power isn't going to do you any good. But at 100 yards that lower power isn't going to hurt you that bad, and you'd have time to turn the power up. I use a 4.5x14X44 ziess, on a standard hunting rifle I would not go with any more low end magnification.

Tip #5 Growing up I was always told to not make noise while I was hunting. I've learned over the years different. Dont get me wrong there is a time to be quiet. But for the most part deer and elk are curious animals and smart animals. If I'm calling elk, I try to sound like an elk. Brake branches throw rocks down the hill, sound like elk moving through timber. Same with deer. I have noticed deer come in to me while setting up my climber in the rut. It sounds like deer sparing. So dont be affraid to brake some branches or shake some limbs. Just tone it down as they come in.

Tip #6 Dont be affraid to let that 2 year old buck walk bye!!! If you let him walk and wait for the dominant buck in the area, your only helping your self out in the future. Taking a management buck is good. But be sure he is a management buck! If you have seen him several years in a row, with weak genetics or bad antler growth the take him. But there are alot of veriables that could cause a deer to have irrugular growth for a year. Keep that in mind.

Tip#7 Bowhunting antelope is a challenge. You can try blind hunting a water hole. But be aware that a new blind introduced into a water hole could spook them off it for awhile. Another technique is to hunt draws if you can. As they move up a draw go up the next draw and try to beat them to the top and ambush them at the top.

Tip#8 Mule deer unlike whitetail are hard to pattern. But if you study them you can usually find a bottle neck some where in there travels. If you cant get on them in there beds focus on that bottle neck.

Tip #9 Hunting the wilderness out here can be confusing, Here's some tips so you dont loos your way.

Gps's are great, but batteries die and extreme cold has it's effect on electronics. Always carry atleast one non electronic compass. And ALWAYS carry a BLM and or Forest service map of the area you are hunting.If you get hopelessly lost find a river or stream and follow it down, and always let someone know the general area you will be hunting.

Tip #10 Technoligy these days can help you out so much. If you use a gps you can get on google earth and look at satalite imagery of the area you are going to hunt. You can find points of interest you might want to hunt, that you probally would have not ever found by just going out there. Then you can use the Lat/Long to save those spots to your gps. when you get out there you just hit goto on your gps and it guides you there. There is also software out here you can use. But alot of them are product specific. So check that out before purchasing any software. Make sure it's compatible with your gps...

These Tips are from Chuck of Midwest Maniacs

Proper Mineral Sites

Through my years of setting up mineral sites I have found that it does not matter how you put your mineral out; you can mix it with water, pour it on a stump, or mix it in dry dirt. All these methods work. Deer will come to “GROW-A- RACK”! It does matter when and where you put these minerals out to get the best results. Establish your sites in March, check and refresh your sites around the first of June, and again in late August.

Don’t dump your GROW-A-RACK behind your barn and expect deer to pile up on it. I like to put it in staging areas or near the edge of a food plot near heavy cover; as this will give your deer a feeling of security and they will be more willing to visit the sites during daylight so you may observe your deer from a distance. I prefer to make my sites in staging areas. I take 20 pounds of GROW-A-RACK and a shovel to my desired staging area and bust up a three foot circle in the dirt, pour the minerals into the loose soil, and mix together. It’s that simple! Give it about two weeks and go take a look.