TWO-ON-ONE WHITETAILS

Team Tactics for Clearcuts

EDITOR'S NOTE: Two hunters can take twice as many whitetails as one hunter can, and two hunters often bag bigger whitetails than one hunter will. Many of the trophy whitetails bagged in America today are taken when hunters double-up on bucks, because trophy whitetails know more about the hunters who hunt them than the sportsmen understand about the deer that sport high racks and heavy body weights. Find out this week how doubling-up on deer greatly can increase your chances for bagging that trophy buck.

Oftentimes, a thicket is too large for one man to drive and may even be too large for one man to hunt -- particularly clearcuts of 80 acres or more. Two methods of hunting these clearcuts will produce big bucks.

If two hunters plan to hunt the clearcut, they need to take stands on the upwind corners of the clearcut, about 20 yards away from the edge of the clearcut where they can see two edges of the clearcut intersect. Then they can spot a buck that comes out of the clearcut on the downside before the buck smells human odor. They also can see a buck that comes from the upwind side of the clearcut. In the open end of the clearcut, hang some form of deer lure about 3 feet off the ground. The deer lure will attract the buck and cause him to come to the lure. If the deer tries to go on either side of the clearcut, the two hunters' human odor will box in the buck.

A second tactic that can work even more effectively is to station a third hunter at the bottom end of the clearcut so he can watch the back end of the clearcut. Since all the odor from humans and the artificial lure comes from the upper end of the clearcut, often a deer will want to sneak out of the backside of the clearcut. Then the third hunter may get the shot. Remember to never use the same brand of deer lure twice. Also make sure you utilize a deer lure no other hunter who hunts that same property ever has used in that area before. Deer lures are most effective the first time a buck smells them. The more a buck smells the same brand of lure, the more quickly he learns that investigating that odor will not be productive, and the less effective the lure becomes.

I once had two buddies who used this technique. Instead of putting out a urine or a glandular-based deer lure, they used an apple scent. I told them that apple trees never had grown in our south Alabama swamps. Nor had a deer ever smelled an apple in that countryside where we hunted. I emphasized that the scent would spook every deer out of the thicket. That afternoon when they arrived at camp with a massive 8-point buck, I was the first person they came to see. "Well, John, looks like that apple lure really works," they said. "The buck walked straight to it with its head and neck stretched out and stopped within 10 yards of the apple scent. Maybe he came to the apple lure because it's a scent he never had smelled before in the swamp."

Deer lure will draw big bucks out of heavy cover if the lure's not overused and if hunters set up to keep their human odor from drifting into the area from where they're trying to lure the buck. Even if the lure spooks the buck, the hunter on the downwind side of the clearcut still may get the shot.

To learn more about hunting deer, return to Night Hawk's homepage, and click on books on the left side. You can use PayPal or call (800) 627-4295 to order.

TOMORROW: DOUBLE RATTLING