Bow Bucks When the Weather Sizzles
Day 2: Former Major League Baseball Player Travis Fryman Confronts Mosquitoes and Snakes While Deer Hunting
Editor’s Note: When temperatures range from 60 to 90 degrees, bagging a buck presents problems for most bowhunters. As we hear and read more about global warming, hunters throughout the nation will continue to face the problem of how to hunt bucks in very-warm weather. Let’s talk with some of the nation’s bowhunters, and learn the tactics they use to take bucks when the weather sizzles.
 When hunting around water, you will encounter the disadvantages of mosquito attacks and possible encounters with snakes. “When I go into the wetlands to hunt, I pull the drawstrings on the bottom of my pants and tuck my pants inside my boots,” former Major League Baseball player Travis Fryman emphasizes.  “I wear a camo head net, gloves, shirt and pants and cover all exposed skin. Then mosquitoes only can get close to my eyes, and I’ve learned to tolerate mosquitoes buzzing in my face. But even if I make noise swatting mosquitoes, the deer won’t expect danger to come from the water.”
Fryman also believes rubber boots give him some protection from snakes. But he says that he may wear snake-proof boots and/or chaps when hunting in hot weather. “Also, when hunting in or near water, you have the advantage of hearing the deer come through the water much easier than you can hear them on land,” Fryman mentions. “The deer will move in the water to pick-up acorns floating on the surface. I often hear them sloshing through the water, popping acorns and dropping water from their mouths as they pick -up acorns.”  Fryman never has been bored when he hunts in or near water. Fryman says, “Wood ducks whistle, swim and feed in the wetland areas, coons walk the banks, an occasional beaver or an otter will show-up, and I’ll usually see numbers of songbirds too. Although I like to take deer with my bow as much as anyone else does, I also enjoy observing wildlife. In hot, dry weather, most of the birds and the animals in the woods will show-up in flooded-timber spots during the day.” Later in deer season, the South still has hot weather.  Fryman hunts near green fields in the late deer season. “I don’t hunt right over a green field,” Fryman explains. “I consider watching a green field a boring pastime. Besides, the members of the lease I belong to plant our greenfields for a different reason than most hunters do. We consider green fields deer sanctuaries. We can hunt near the green fields on our property, but rarely, if ever, will we bag deer out of a green field. Instead, I prefer to move-down the deer trail that leads into the green field to hunt.”
To learn more about bowhunting deer, see John E. Phillips’ book “The Master’s Secrets of Bowhunting Deer” at http://www.nighthawkpublications.com/hunting/mastersbow.htm.
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