Road Map to Whitetail Rendezvouses
More Road Maps for Hunting Bucks
Editor’s
Note: Effective hunters utilize a combination of various
road maps to bag their bucks because they know that
four driving forces – food, water, fear and sex
–cause deer to move in a direction or toward a
destination where a hunter can intersect with a buck.
These outdoorsmen also understand that whitetails are
creatures of habit using the same paths and performing
the same routines every day, except when changes in
the weather and the availability of food affect these
routes. They are aware of the deer’s acute senses
– good hearing, a keen sense of smell and sharp
eyes. Although color-blind, deer can detect the slightest
movement of a hunter. Here are routes to follow that
will direct you to a whitetail rendezvous this winter.
Road Map #6: Realize that deer will overcome many obstacles
to feed on their favorite foods. Empty white oak and
water oak acorn shells directed Allen O’Dell of
Clanton, Alabama, to a hardwood bottom in a southern
river swamp last season. O’Dell
knew the deer were feeding on the acorns in this particular
bottom because he had done pre-season scouting and found
a great number of tracks, droppings, cracked acorns
and uneaten acorns. However, before O’Dell could
hunt the deer, it rained. His primary hunting area was
flooded, with the flats where the deer ordinarily fed
now under 3 to 8 feet of water. Most of the ridges were
very-narrow and contained little food. But O’Dell
decided that the ridges were the only possible places
deer could be.
As he started to wade a slough, he saw some movement
in the water out of the corner of his eye. At first,
he thought the movement might be ducks, so he stood
motionless. Then, he observed a doe standing chest-deep
in the slough, 20 yards from the bank, feeding on floating
acorns. “Apparently, as the water came into the
bottom, the acorns floated up and formed a ring for
about 20 yards out around the edge of the flooded area,”
O’Dell remembers. “The deer stuck her nose
into the water, picked up the floating acorns, let the
water run out of her mouth and began to feed.”
For the next two weeks, O’Dell hunted the slough.
“I’d see as many as 20 to 30 deer in a drove
moving through the slough, eating the acorns out in
the water,” O’Dell reports. “When
they’d depleted the acorn supply, I watched and
learned that the deer still came to the slough. But
instead of eating there, they’d cross the water
and go to other feeding areas.” Normally, hunters
don’t expect to find deer in water. However, you
may find a buck there when the preferred food is in
the water.
Road Map #7: Find the trails the whitetails are traveling
to their main food sources. From scouting, O’Dell
found the deer’s primary food source (acorns)
on the water. Then, he noted their principal paths through
the water to additional food after their main supply
of food was exhausted. “There were three places
where the deer crossed the bottom,” O’Dell
recalls. “After some investigation, I found that
these three crossings were underwater ridges. The deer
could cross on these ridges and only be in 3 or 4 feet
of water, while on either side of the ridge there may
be 5 to 8 feet of water. In two weeks of hunting, I
bagged three bucks and saw between 150 to 200 animals.”
Hunting primary food sources is a good highway to travel
to a deer. However, the trail the deer utilizes to go
to the food source often is the best place for sportsmen
to take their stands. Sometimes, there will be more
than one trail leading to a particular food source.
So, most hunters will guess which trail will be the
most-productive. Barbed-wire fences in the area may
give you the information you need to steer yourself
in the right direction. “One of the best methods
I’ve found to determine if deer are using a trail
is to check the part where the trail goes under fence,”
Dr. Skip Shelton of Mississippi, explains. “Most
of the time, there will be deer hair in the barbs of
the fence, if the deer are using this trail. Remove
the hair each day. Then check daily to see if new hair
is stuck to the wire.” A well-worn trail will
have many deer tracks on it. Look for a large amount
of fresh deer droppings on the path to help you decide
if the trail is being frequented. The freshness of the
droppings can be determined by the touch test. Pick
up a dropping between the thumb and the index finger,
and then squeeze gently. A fresh dropping of a couple
of days or so will be soft and pliable, whereas an older
dropping will be harder and drier to the touch.
Tomorrow: Funnel Deer to Your
Hunting Spot
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