FIVE MOST CRITICAL INGREDIENTS TO BAGGING A DEER WITH A BOW

Will Primos

Editor's Note: Almost every bowhunter I know considers one of these five ingredients-the wind, the availability of food, the rut, the weather and hunting pressure-as the most-critical element of successful bow hunting. However, you really must take into account all five factors if you plan to back a buck with your bow. Here, five of the nation's most successful bowhunters pick the ingredient they consider most important to their success and explain the reasons for their selection. Will Primos, the president of Primos Game Calls in Flora, Mississippi, and the originator of the "Truth Series" videos, takes big bucks each season with his bow for his videos. You may be surprised at his assessment of the rut.

I've found the rut one of the worst times of the year to bag a buck with a bow. Although I may locate an area that has big bucks during the rut, I find getting one of the bucks within 30 yards hard. During the rut last year, I hunted for five days without bagging a buck. I spotted five trophy bucks that I easily could have taken with a rifle. But I couldn't get those bucks within 30 yards to take them with my bow. The buck will chase the doe anywhere she goes during the rut. The doe will run all through the woods to get away from the buck. Although I haven't discovered an effective way to pattern bucks consistently during the rut, I do use two techniques that have been successful for me at that time of year.

I like to hunt funnel areas where both bucks and does have to pass. I may hunt a small neck of woods with two fields on either side of the field and large woodlots on both ends. During normal conditions, the bucks and the does will run through this small neck of the woods. However, during the rut, often bucks and does will run across open fields. I learned another rut tactic that worked extremely well several years ago. While watching an estrous doe bleat, I saw three bucks come running toward her in short amount of time. That's when I decided to develop the Hyper Buck and Doe Call. You can grunt like a buck with this call and then give an estrous doe bleat with the same call. I've found by giving these two calls together, you can lure in bucks more effectively within bow range. I'm convinced that during the rut the bowhunter must rely on calls to be successful more than at any other time of the year.

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TOMORROW: MARK DRURY