Doc

For the second year in a row, I've been seeing more scrapes than rubs. ....... Weird! Doc

Tonight two does and a fawn came charging up the hill just about 40 yards away. So unless they were just out for exercise, something pushed them. It could have been a buck getting a bit pushy. I have also found a pretty good scrape line so things are starting to heat up a bit. Doc

I don't know, but apparently nobody thought it was a real good idea because is has long ago disappeared from the market.....lol. The market-place does have a way of purifying itself of stupid ideas. Sometimes it's just a bit frustrating how long it takes. Doc

I saw another super-bizarre deer hunting product a long time ago. One of the guys up at work showed up with a game call that made that blowing sound that deer use as an alarm. I never did figure out just what that was meant to accomplish other than to make sure that you didn't see any deer. Doc

My job these days is to simply enjoy life for as long as I can. However back when I did actually have to work for someone else, I was a mechanical engineer. Doc

What is with all this wind???? The only deer that I have seen has been in my trail cam pictures ..... all in the pitch dark when the wind has been calmed. As soon as the sun comes up, so does the wind ..... deer head for cover for the day. It's getting pretty frustrating. Doc

Nobody is just "saying" baiting is illegal. It is illegal regardless of whether you are operating a food plot or not (which by the way is a legal activity). That's a pretty important distinction regardless of how we attempt to twist definitions. Doc

It all depends on what you are calling a "Wheezing" sound. That might have been the traditional warning "blowing noise" that deer let out when they are disturbed. Or it might have been something that I have never heard or heard of , that might indicate a wound or something. That probably is not as important as locating the hit location and defining the direction of where the deer went and where it was last sighted, and trying like crazy to locate that first blood. But the thing is that you just have to back to basics and put to use all the blood-trailing skills that you learned in the bowhunter training course. Doc

It means, "I see you. and I'm going to do my best to make sure I screw up the rest of your hunt by telling everyone that you're here, you stupid looking, camo-covered, turd!!!" And, as a matter of fact, I had a doe tell me all that this afternoon. Doc

Make sure it's good tree with no dead limbs overhead. Maybe a hard-hat wouldn't be such a bad idea ..... lol. Be sure to get the lead right as you are swaying around in the tree tops. I've got a feeling that I will really be appreciating being a ground-stand hunter tomorrow. Might get a chance to see how good I am at shooting moving targets as the deer blow by. I think as long as they just roll along and don't start bouncing I'll have a better chance. Doc

I saw some on E-bay. Mostly for people who are into collecting archery oddities. There are a lot of people who collect broadheads. One guy used to have a super display at the Avon National Hunting and Fishing days. He really had some strange ones. In fact, I believe there is some national organization of broadhead collectors who just love these weird ones. Anyway, we used to call this one the "apple corer". they weren't known for their super penetration as you can imagine just by looking at it. The fact that Browning was the one that marketed this thing is what is surprising. They have always been known for quality products and intelligent designs, but I guess this one got away from them ..... lol. Doc

Now those are some real good suggestions for using windy days. Especially scouting. I always do a lot of in-season scouting in order to keep up with the latest and greatest feeding, bedding and other patterns. A nice crappy day of wind or rain that is a bit on the too heavy side, is a good time to get updated on deer schedules and activities. Those kinds of days are not good excuses to stay on the couch, although heavy rains can keep me under cover....lol. Doc

In have also had just the opposite. Spots that have absolutely no obvious drawing features, including trails that just simply always seem to have deer generally passing through. The problem with these spots is that the deer passing through are never shunted down to any consistant specific location where a bowhunter can set up on them. It's just an "area". Doc

I really don't want to upset something that gives another hunter confidence because I know how important that is to hunting success. But honestly, I can probably match anyone, story for story of close encounters with deer including one where I could have reached out and touched a doe on the other side of a tree that I was hiding behind. The only difference is that I have never used any kind of scent killer type products, and in fact was a smoker on many of those occasions. So once again, I have to ask, how does anyone know whether any of this stuff works or not, and therefore which is better than the next? Again if it does nothing more than simply give you confidence then it probably is worth the money, but I always have some real problems figuring out how to measure effectiveness of these products that use some mysterious science....lol. Doc

There was a year that I was less than enthusiastic. The problem??? ...... My shooting had gone bad on me. Just before season, I developed a terrible flinching problem (a target panic problem), and I couldn't get rid of it. I actually didn't go out because I wasn't confident in my shooting, and I didn't want to take a chance on wounding a deer. In the years since, I have worked my way out of that problem, but there is nothing saying that some day it won't come back. If there is anything wrong with my shooting .... anything at all, I will not go out. Of course the year that I had a stroke, there was no hunting, for obvious reasons. However, with the help of some intense therapy, I made a 100% recovery and was right back out there again the next year. Doc

I hate the wind!!!!! Almost as much as a driving rain. The only deer that I have seen during high winds was only during peak rut, and any deer that venture out into the wind are nervous wrecks. The wind messes up every sense that they have and they know it. Even when that one in one thousand chance occurs of a deer coming to your stand in the wind, the odds of being able to get away with anything is nearly nil. The only thing that might work in your favor is scent because high winds dissipate scent molecule plumes. But high wind is NOT good news. Doc

Browning once marketed a broadhead that clearly highlighted the stupidity of their customers, and it was a lot of years ago. So playing hunters for idiots is nothing new. Take a look at this broadhead.

So, how do you guys determine how well any of these things work or even if they work at all? I'm thinking that if I ever got the urge to try any of that stuff, I would probably just go out to Wally World and buy whatever they had on the shelf. What else would I have to go by? If you listen to any of the advertisements, they all will tell you that they are the best. Doc

Yup ..... that would be the kind of equipment that would be necessary. I was picturing some guy on each end of the log trying to pick it up and lift it higher than they could reach ;D .

I suppose the old theory of population cycles probably takes all that into consideration as contributers to the cycles of both predator and prey. And the huntable and non-huntable participants would be considered together as the predator diet. I do believe that all these things including diseases work to establish the cycles. The levels of easily obtainable protien probably is reflected in the cases of disease. But there is no doubt that there is symbiotic link between predator and prey that keeps populations of both in check or booming. It may not always be a perfect balancing and re-balancing system, but it worked well for a long time before we decided to give it all a hand.....lol.

I'm looking at the size of some of those logs, and I am totally amazed that they could ever be lifted to those heights required and placed into position no matter how much help was around. This guy that originally built that cabin, did he have a lot of help or special equipment? It seems like a super-human feat. Doc

I'm sitting here trying to imagine the fire-storm that would ensue if the season were to be either moved away from the rut or shortened. : I don't think either thought is very realistic no matter how much merit they might have. Doc

I'll be "traveling" up to the top of the hill tomorrow. No car required for my hunting unless I feel like a change of pace. Doc

There is only one weather report that has any real value ...... As the day progresses, look up at the sky. Then you will know exactly what it's doing. I couldn't tell you how many hunts I have had ruined by believing the weather man. Wind direction predictions and speeds are almost bordering on useless. Rain predictions generally are not all that reliable either in terms of quantity and duration. It's a losing battle! The problem is that you have to go by something. What I do is to attempt to catch all the forecasts that are available. We have the three major networks, YNN (local news), and The Weather Channel. That's 5 sources. If I can find some sort of concurrence among the majority of them, that's what I go by. I still often get the wrong forecast, but it's the best chance that I have ..... lol. Doc

Many of the "experts" say that it doesn't matter what we take out, at least as far as genetics are concerned. They point to the role that bucks play in genetics as being too minor to really have any impact. The claim is that the does have a big enough part in genetic development that managing features of bucks alone is a pointless activity. If they are right, AR, culling, or even some form of slot-limit harvest would have no effect on genetics. So the question remains: are they right or is the "culling crowd" right? Both sides have their research and studies to back up their 180 degree opposed positions. This isn't the first time that deer management "experts" have gone head-to-head in directly opposite conclusions, and it all just points up the level of skepticism we have to maintain when ever these guys talk, putting on their most authoritative, wise, and all-knowing tone of voice and posturing. It's always hard to figure out just what they know and what they think they know but don't. In this case of culling vs. not culling, I am simply left confused. Both sides of the argument have merit and some level of science behind their positions. So, who can you actually believe? Doc