My daughter caught this big brown trout while fishing with me.
It's that time of year when folks make wishes. At the age of 71, it's been more than 60 years since I made a Christmas wish for some goodies I hoped Santa would dump under our tree.
Brother George and I both had bikes fairly early in our life. They were mostly rejects that other people were getting rid of when they bought their kids new ones. We clamored loud and long for a new bike, and Dad being a barber in a small town with too many barbers, told us if we'd work at it we could buy our own bike.
Such things seldom happen these days. The kids whine and their parents buy them what they want. We knew better than to whine, knowing it would do no good, and it might earn us a swat on the rump.
Don’t give kids everything they want. Make ‘em work for it.
Dad told us to grab out little red wagon, and go door-to-door and pick up old newspapers and magazines. We busted our backside knocking on doors right just after World War II, and once we collected the papers and old magazines, we'd bundle them up with baling twine and once a week Dad would take us to Flint to sell the paper for real money.
It wasn't much money, even in those days, but it we had a lot of newspapers and a bunch of slick papered magazines, we might make six or eight dollars each.
Week after week we worked hard, made money toward our bike while working at other jobs for spending money, and we finally bought a pair of new Schwinn bicycles with side-view mirrors, a horn, mud-flaps, fender feelers and go-fasters. Each bike was top of the line, and back in the late 1940s, they cost over $100 each.
That taught us a valuable lesson. If you want something bad enough, work and earn the money to buy it. This story takes me slightly off the path of this blog, but it relates... trust me.
What I want now isn't something that money can buy. I can't work hard enough to make the things on my wish list come true. You see, what I want isn't what very many sportsmen are willing to give. I need people give their children time fishing and hunting,
My wish is that each of you daily readers must give of yourselves.
My goal for the last 30 years has been a matter of preaching to the choir, but in some cases, the choir isn't listening. I'm trying to help restore our beloved pastimes of fishing and hunting to the point where everyone cares about our natural resources and our children.
My Christmas wish would be for every one of the thousands of monthly hits which means at least one person has read my drivel, would take it upon himself (or herself) to teach a child about fishing and hunting. Children aren't learning these outdoor skills in school, and in some cases, some teachers are against hunting. They spend their time trying to influence our kids about their preconceived negative notions concerning hunting.
Children can learn from anyone, but parents who think they can start teaching their kids at the age of 16, are dreaming. Unless children get some positive reinforcement by the age of 10 years or age, or younger, chances are excellent they will never hunt and probably will not fish.
It's impossible to lay blame on all teachers because it's not fair and it's not true. Many teachers fish and hunt, and many work some positive thoughts into what they teach. However, I well remember a story I wrote after shooting a mountain lion in northern Wyoming with a bow.
This was a tragic wrong the teacher did to her young students.
This woman, who taught at a school in southern Michigan, made every one of her 40-some students write a personal letter to me. There were several themes, but every child wrote one of her prepared letters about why hunting was bad. I called the school, spoke with the principal, demanded an apology from the teacher or I wanted her fired.
My complaint was she wasn't being paid to push her anti-hunting beliefs off on students who were in the fourth grade. The principal agreed, and she reluctantly agreed to apologize in order to save her job. She told me she hated hunting, and I asked why she was sharing her personal hatred with the children instead of properly doing her job.
She had no answer. Sadly, there are many such teachers who are using some of their work time telling children that hunting is wrong. It's not wrong at all, and legal hunting is the best way to manage our abundant natural resources.
So ... my wish is for each of you who have children under 10 years of age to take them fishing or hunting. Spend time with them now in the outdoors, give of personal time to help educate them properly about fishing and hunting. Never make it difficult to learn, but it certainly pays to practice what you preach.
Folks, if all of you don't start doing your part soon, within 20 years you won't have to worry about it. The pastimes of fishing and hunting, as we know it today, will be nothing but a distant unpleasant memories of where we've been and why we've lost our way. It’s called apathy.
No one will do it for you. It's time for each of you to step up to the plate and take your swings. You'll know it was done right if the kids go out with youl but if the kids are more content with their cell phone and computers, you'll know you didn't try hard enough.
Just don't blame others if this happens. I can lead you along this righteous path, but I can't make you or your children spend time fishing and hunting. That's your job.
My daughter caught this big brown trout while fishing with me.
It's that time of year when folks make wishes. At the age of 71, it's been more than 60 years since I made a Christmas wish for some goodies I hoped Santa would dump under our tree.
Brother George and I both had bikes fairly early in our life. They were mostly rejects that other people were getting rid of when they bought their kids new ones. We clamored loud and long for a new bike, and Dad being a barber in a small town with too many barbers, told us if we'd work at it we could buy our own bike.
Such things seldom happen these days. The kids whine and their parents buy them what they want. We knew better than to whine, knowing it would do no good, and it might earn us a swat on the rump.
Don’t give kids everything they want. Make ‘em work for it.
Dad told us to grab out little red wagon, and go door-to-door and pick up old newspapers and magazines. We busted our backside knocking on doors right just after World War II, and once we collected the papers and old magazines, we'd bundle them up with baling twine and once a week Dad would take us to Flint to sell the paper for real money.
It wasn't much money, even in those days, but it we had a lot of newspapers and a bunch of slick papered magazines, we might make six or eight dollars each.
Week after week we worked hard, made money toward our bike while working at other jobs for spending money, and we finally bought a pair of new Schwinn bicycles with side-view mirrors, a horn, mud-flaps, fender feelers and go-fasters. Each bike was top of the line, and back in the late 1940s, they cost over $100 each.
That taught us a valuable lesson. If you want something bad enough, work and earn the money to buy it. This story takes me slightly off the path of this blog, but it relates... trust me.
What I want now isn't something that money can buy. I can't work hard enough to make the things on my wish list come true. You see, what I want isn't what very many sportsmen are willing to give. I need people give their children time fishing and hunting,
My wish is that each of you daily readers must give of yourselves.
My goal for the last 30 years has been a matter of preaching to the choir, but in some cases, the choir isn't listening. I'm trying to help restore our beloved pastimes of fishing and hunting to the point where everyone cares about our natural resources and our children.
My Christmas wish would be for every one of the thousands of monthly hits which means at least one person has read my drivel, would take it upon himself (or herself) to teach a child about fishing and hunting. Children aren't learning these outdoor skills in school, and in some cases, some teachers are against hunting. They spend their time trying to influence our kids about their preconceived negative notions concerning hunting.
Children can learn from anyone, but parents who think they can start teaching their kids at the age of 16, are dreaming. Unless children get some positive reinforcement by the age of 10 years or age, or younger, chances are excellent they will never hunt and probably will not fish.
It's impossible to lay blame on all teachers because it's not fair and it's not true. Many teachers fish and hunt, and many work some positive thoughts into what they teach. However, I well remember a story I wrote after shooting a mountain lion in northern Wyoming with a bow.
This was a tragic wrong the teacher did to her young students.
This woman, who taught at a school in southern Michigan, made every one of her 40-some students write a personal letter to me. There were several themes, but every child wrote one of her prepared letters about why hunting was bad. I called the school, spoke with the principal, demanded an apology from the teacher or I wanted her fired.
My complaint was she wasn't being paid to push her anti-hunting beliefs off on students who were in the fourth grade. The principal agreed, and she reluctantly agreed to apologize in order to save her job. She told me she hated hunting, and I asked why she was sharing her personal hatred with the children instead of properly doing her job.
She had no answer. Sadly, there are many such teachers who are using some of their work time telling children that hunting is wrong. It's not wrong at all, and legal hunting is the best way to manage our abundant natural resources.
So ... my wish is for each of you who have children under 10 years of age to take them fishing or hunting. Spend time with them now in the outdoors, give of personal time to help educate them properly about fishing and hunting. Never make it difficult to learn, but it certainly pays to practice what you preach.
Folks, if all of you don't start doing your part soon, within 20 years you won't have to worry about it. The pastimes of fishing and hunting, as we know it today, will be nothing but a distant unpleasant memories of where we've been and why we've lost our way. It’s called apathy.
No one will do it for you. It's time for each of you to step up to the plate and take your swings. You'll know it was done right if the kids go out with you but if the kids are more content with their cell phone and computers, you'll know you didn't try hard enough.
Just don't blame others if this happens. I can lead you along this righteous path, but I can't make you or your children spend time fishing and hunting. That's your job.
The author shot this nice buck by practicing what he preaches.
There is an art to sitting still. It means much more than being motionless; it means being still without making a sound. This may sound easy but it is a very difficult thing to accomplish for more than 10 minutes. Everyone who bow hunts for deer will fidget, move around, or easing that tree stub that sticks you in the back. Think about this: we watch a musical and our foot taps to the music. We think, and our fingers and head moves. The trick to sitting still still without noise.
To acquire such needed skills it’s important to practice.
Sitting still is an acquired talent. Not everyone can do it, and I can still set as motionless as a statue at the age of 71, but it’s nothing like I could do 20 years ago. Age brings with it knowledge for those willing to learn. It also brings more aches and pains that can affect our ability to remain still. The knowledge of how to do it is what allows me to tune out the sore back, hips, legs and other aches and pains where many injuries occurred years ago. Knowledge is a key to becoming a successful deer hunter, and sitting still is just one part of it. Many years ago my back was broken, and a full-body cast was attached. Any movement took time to do, and the movements were like waving a flag. It did make me learn to sit still because I couldn’t move my body easily. Accepting that was the first step to my success, and once I got out of it, I continued to practice sitting still. Don’t think that my sitting-still philosophy means going out and breaking your back. That’s no fun. If you can follow this anecdote and understand why I couldn’t move, it may help. Anyone who has ever studied deer should have learned two things quickly. Stay downwind of the deer, and learn how to sit still.
Sitting still is a matter of mind over matter.
Sitting still is not easy. Those who think they are being motionless and silent often are moving too much and making some noise. Camouflage clothing is not a cure-all for your hunting ills. Deer spot movement regardless of whether you wear camo or blaze orange. Don’t move? A person’s nose itches so they scratch it. A tree stub pokes them in the butt or legs, and they try to ease the discomfort. A leafy branch blocks their view so they move their head to see more clearly. A rustle in dry leaves sets their head in motion to see what created the sound. Boredom sets in, and people become twitchy. Many hunters feel they are motionless, but in fact, all parts are in motion. Any movement will catch a deer’s attention, and if that happens, it will stand in cover until they identify what spooked them. If they determine it was caused by a human, that hunting spot will be blown for the immediate future. How do you sit still while hunting? Sit in a tree or a ground blind. See how long it takes before a deer is spooked by hunter movement. Pay attention to what triggers fear in deer. Many sportsmen seem to feel that only spooked deer will blow and snort. Many antsy deer simply disappear, and slowly leave the area. They are spooked but will not snort.
Study deer during summer months and learn to relax around them.
Watch deer, and see how often they stop to the terrain. I've watched many deer stand motionless for 30 minutes to an hour after detecting the presence of a hunter in a tree stand. They do not move a muscle, ear, eye tail or anything will move it they've been alerted to possible danger. A hunting buddy used to hunt a funnel leading out of a cedar swamp and into open woods. This swamp was a thick waterhole, and it was easy to tell where deer came from. Those that were wet up to their belly were coming through the swamp. Those deer could be heard coming for 15 minutes as the water sloshed around as they moved. Those deer attracted the attention of any nearby hunter. Once he spotted a buck moving slowly, and then it stopped. It was 200 yards away but there was an open spot he could see through with binoculars, and he knew there was a hunter upwind of the deer. That animal stood in cold November water for over an hour without moving. Dusk came and went, and the buck still stood in the water, as motionless as a statue. This begs the obvious question: how do you sit still? Part of it comes through practice but much comes from a total state of mental relaxation. Put your mind at ease, forget about aches and pains, and that stub in the rump. Relax your brain and body. Tune everything out of your mind. The more you think about an ache or pain, the more it bothers you. The same is true of bugs early in the bow season, and motionless hunters are seldom bothered by insects. Mentally put all of your thought into something calming and pleasant. Put your mind in a relaxed state. Forget about missed phone calls or upcoming doctor appointments. Clear your mind of anything and everything, relax and simply do not think. Purge your mind of extraneous thoughts, and picture yourself at peace. A spot where you feel a gentle sense of security, and where nothing bothers you. Time seems to pass slowly, and almost as if from a haze, out steps a calm buck. The animal is upwind, sniffing and looking for danger. Sensing none, he steps forward two or three more paces, and stops to check his surroundings once again. Relaxed, the deer turns around and watches his back trail. As the deer looks away, the hunter slowly and quietly comes to full draw, aims and kills that animal. It really can be that easy. The hunter was totally relaxed. A laid-back and relaxed sportsman doesn't move and never makes a sound while on stand. It takes practice but so do many other things. Sit in the woods during the summer, and practice the art of sitting motionless and silent. You’ll soon learn the secret to sitting still is all in your head.
The above title may be misleading to some hunters. Everyone who owns a bow, and who hunts for deer, thinks they have it figured out.
Well, some do and some don’t. It’s not quite as easy as some people would make you thing. The December archery season starts in about a week on Dec. 1, and there is still some time left to help a beginning bow hunter develop some skills. Without a word of bragging, very few people have shot as many bucks as I have, and learning to shoot them consistently means doing several things right and in the proper sequence.
I’ve hunted deer with a bow since 1955.
Practice is very important but perfect practice means doing everything right, every time. Without an exception. Shooting a buck with a bow is more difficult than simply drawing back and sending an arrow shaft and broadhead downrange toward the animal. A great deal of concentration is required, and it’s advisable to have total concentration when aiming and taking a shot, but telling you this can't make it happen. You must do it. Total concentration only comes from many, many hours of practice and countless hours in the field studying whitetail bucks at bow range. Hitting a paper target consistently is quite easy because it doesn’t breathe and it isn't moving. Nor is it alive and study everything around it for danger. A buck often has his head up or down, is moving or standing still, is listening intently for anything that may represent danger, but deer are basket cases of raw and seemingly exposed nerve endings. They are flighty, suspicious even of birds flying overhead, and require far more skill to arrow than a paper target. They are living, breathing and cautious animals. Scratch your nose at the wrong time and it’s all over, and you’ve possibly missed your only chance of the season. All good bow hunters develop their own particular shooting style, and it works well for them. Some people have a step-by-step procedure they follow, time after time, and it will produce bucks for them. Each person must develop their own method that works.
Develop a personal checklist, and do everything right, every time.
I know a woman who uses a step-by-step mental checklist. Here is what works for her: Keep both eyes on the buck, wait until the deer offers the best broadside or quartering away shot, know the exact yardage to the animal, watch the buck with both eyes open, come to full draw, center the sight on a specific hair behind the front shoulder, double-check that a firm anchor point has been attained, take a deep breath, let it out, double-check the aiming point and anchor point, and touch the release trigger. These specific steps come into her mind as Step 1, Step 2, etc. She has shot more than 125 bucks, and still she follows her step-by-step procedure … every time. It ensures that she doesn't miss a step, and the mechanics of doing so enables her to calm her nerves before making a killing shot. I know many hunters who have a similar procedure when it comes time to shoot. One piece of advice is that once you establish the deer is a buck, and once you decide to shoot, forget about the antlers on its head and concentrate on where the arrow must hit the animal for a certain killing shot. All too often, a hunter spots a big buck, gasps at the size of the antlers, and hurriedly rips the bow back to full draw and whistles an arrow toward the deer. If they have been awed by the mass of antlers, it's very possible that they will shoot at the antlers.
Establish that the deer is a buck, and then forget about the antlers.
Forget the head gear, and aim for a killing shot. I've never seen a hunter kill a buck by shooting it in the antlers, but have seen bucks that were hit in the antlers run off, unhurt but much wiser. Mechanical skills are exceedingly important, but so too is the art of total concentration. Let everything in your mind drift away, and concentrate on making a smooth and deliberate draw. Keep the head up with both eyes open, and concentrate only on the target area. Don't lose your focus, and don't lift your head when you shoot to see where the arrow hits. Lift your head and you’ll miss the animal. More deer are missed because the hunter lifts his/her head at the shot to see if they hit the deer. I know I hit the deer when I see the vanes disappear into the buck's chest and hear that fluttering sound as the wounded animal takes out my Game Tracker string. Properly done with the required amount of shooting skills and mental concentration, shooting a buck is fairly easy. Hunters with a one-track mind, and the ability to focus on the job at hand, are the ones who arrow a buck every year. Those who get caught up in the moment, and allow their mind to wander while aiming and shooting, are those who require more practice and must acquire a higher level of patience. Never take a hurry-up shot, and never lose your concentration. Practice, and keep all of these little things in mind, and shooting a buck will become much easier.
Chuck Lunn with two snowies taken on a hunt. He didn’t shoot me.
Outdoor writing has been my personal livelihood for 44 years. One would think over that period of time that I’d seen everything in the outdoors.
Today’s newspaper carried a short blurb. A deer hunter did something foolish, and managed to shoot and kill himself. It makes me wonder what’s wrong with people.
I have probably written at least 100 stories, and perhaps more, about the many ways in which Michigan hunters have managed to kill or wound themselves or others over the years. You’d think after awhile people would quit taking idiotic chances. Quit thinking that hunting accidents only happen to other people, but I learned differently about 20 years ago.
Accidents can and do happen, but are usually the result of poor judgment.
Today’s account of yesterday’s fatality detailed how the unlucky hunter had climbed into his tree stand, and was in the process of pulling his loaded rifle into the tree. No one knows for sure exactly what caused this tragedy, but the barrel was pointing up when it went off. The bullet from his rifle killed him, and the police are supposedly investigating the accident.
If anyone out there is hunting from a tree stand or any other elevated platform, for God’s sake, don’t load the firearm ahead of time. Even an unloaded rifle, muzzleloader or shotgun should be raised into the stand butt-first. Use a stout rope, tied a firm knot around the firearm, and don’t load the silly thing until you have it in the blind.
A loaded firearm can catch the trigger on a twig on the way up, and boom, it blows off half your face. Or the shot goes off, and hits you in various parts of your body. I used to investigate such stories for The Detroit News as part of my job, and some of the ways people injure or kill themselves would amaze most sportsmen who have more than a little bit of common sense.
Here are a few examples, including one that happened to me.
One guy stopped to fire up a smoke while hunting. He stopped walking, rested the muzzle of his shotgun on one foot while lighting up, and the shotgun went off, blew away his toes and part of his foot. Now there is another reason to stop smoking. Now the guy hobbles around.
Two guys hunting together paused to have lunch. They met, leaned their loaded deer rifles against a tree, and started going through their brown-bag lunch. One guy accidentally bumped a rifle, it fell to the frozen ground, went off, and the survivor had to break the bad news to the other man’s wife about how an accident killed his best friend.
Another nimrod was duck hunting from a boat. He and his friend built a framework of wood and chicken wire around around the boat. They cut cattails, wove them into the wire, and went hunting. They saw some ducks coming, one man stuck the muzzle of his 3-inch 12 gauge through the wire to shoot. The ducks swerved, he pulled back on the shotgun stock, but the front bead was caught on the wire. So he reaches through the wire with a couple of fingers, and pushed the barrel backwards while pulling the stock back with the safety off and his finger on the trigger. They now call him Stubby after shooting off two fingers.
I was shot in the hand and wrist by a snowshoe hare hunter in my party who had become lost, and was firing three-shot bursts from his 12 gauge, as I went back to get him. He was firing wildly in a panic, and just as I found him, he shot in my direction. Many pellets him me but didn’t penetrate my Hunter Orange shooting coat, but some pellets did go into one gloved hand.
Take no chances, think before shooting, identify your target, and use caution.
These accidents occur because some people don’t pay attention, use very poor judgment, have little or no common sense, and seem willing to take chances while hunting. There were no firearm fatalities last year, but we’ve already had our first in 2010. One death is one too many.
Engage brain before picking up and using any firearm. The life you save could be your own.
Deer hunters are creatures of habit. Many staunchly resist any change.
Many will sit, year after year, on the same stump along the same runway, as they did 10, 15 or 20 years ago. It's difficult for many sportsmen to break this old habits, and some deer hunters never try. It becomes a tradition to again hunt where a buck was killed sometime in the far distant past.
They often feel: If it was good 20 years ago, it will be a good spot now. Won't it?
That seldom is the correct answer.
Maybe yes and maybe no. That tradition of returning, year after year, to the same spot has probably saved the lives of more bucks than poor shooting or a lack of preseason scouting.
Sadly, clinging to a traditional spot, even when it no longer is hot, is a lesson in frustration. It also leads to fiery claims by skunked hunters that the Department of Natural Resources' reports of abundant whitetails are inflated or based on little or no knowledge.
Perhaps this season is the time to cast aside the traditional old haunts, and think about trying a new area. Too many people never realize that food and habitat conditions can and do change, and if the landowner doesn't do something to make the land produce more food and offer more cover, the deer will move on. It's as simple as that.
Deer are animals of farmland and woodland. Granted, some deer live in deep forest and many live on farms, and that's a fact of life in this state.
If you agree that a new hunting location should be tried, where should hunters start in their search for a new spot to test their luck or skill?
Hunters can start with the DNR. They keep track of deer trends, and know which counties have the highest deer numbers and which ones produce the largest deer. The county extension agent often deals with farmers and other landowners, and they also can help.
The southern half of the Lower Peninsula is the best place to start looking.
Determine if you want to hunt the Upper or Lower Peninsula, but if you've read hunting reports elsewhere about deer hunting prospects, the U.P. is not the place to go. The area with the most deer is south of an east-west line from Bay City to Grand Rapids.
Start asking questions. Learn which counties produce big bucks and lots of deer, and learn why deer numbers are high in such areas. Determine the availability of state or federal lands nearby, but both state and federal land is quite sparse and is overhunted in the southern Lower Peninsula.
Spend time scouting two or three different areas. Determine which ones offer the best combination of land, cover, deer foods, bedding cover and access. Walk around the land, and check for well-used deer trails leading from bedding to feeding areas and back.
Look for buck rubs and deer scrapes in late October. Check barbed wire fences for bits of hair that indicate deer passing through the area. Talk to the farmers.
Talk with nearby landowners to determine their idea of hunting pressure. Often, in agricultural areas, the major hunting pressure is from the landowner and his or her family and close friends.
Think about leasing land. It’s expensive but the best way to find great hunting.
Consider the possibility of leasing hunting rights. Fees vary depending on length of the lease, property size, whether it is ideal or marginal deer habitat, and what it offers the hunter.
No one owes today's sportsman anything in terms of hunting private property. Farmers manage their land to produce big bucks, and crop lands are rotated and some timber is cut. Doing so helps maintain good hunting, but it's a never-ending learning process to keep up with where whitetails travel after crop rotation and timbering takes place.
Hunters spend countless hours scouting their land. Deer habits change, food supplies change, and hunting pressure can make deer seek quieter areas. A hunter doesn't know these things unless they spend time in the field on a regular basis and wear off some boot leather.
Public lands feature too many hunters in narrowly confined areas, and the hunting pressure is far too high. Food supplies are far better on private land than state or federal lands. Private property holds deer, and, in many areas, it supports more whitetails than public land. For this reason it's easy to understand why more people lease hunting land even though the price of leasing acreage is rising.
Whether a hunter leases private land, hunts on public land, or manages to wangle an invitation from a landowner, scouting is a never-ending process. Hunters who don't scout old land or new land run a major risk of not being successful.
Knowing what lies over the next ridge and why deer travel one trail and not another is why some sportsmen bag whitetail bucks year after year, and why others never tie their tag to the rack of a good buck.
There is an art to sitting still. It means much more than being motionless; it means being still without making a sound. This may sound easy but it is a very difficult thing to accomplish for more than 10 minutes. Everyone who bow hunts for deer will fidget at times, moving around, easing that tree stub that pokes you in the back, and swatting at pesky, whining mosquitoes. Think about this: we watch a musical and our foot taps to the music. We think, and our fingers and head moves. The trick to sitting still this fall during deer seasons means learning how to remain motionless without noise. To acquire such needed skills it’s important to start practice them. Trust me, sitting still is an acquired and learned art. Not everyone can do it, and I can still set as motionless as a statue at the age of 71, but it’s nothing like I could do 20 years ago. Age brings with it knowledge for those willing to learn. It also brings more aches and pains that can affect our ability to remain still … if we let them. The knowledge of how to do it is what allows me to tune out the sore back, hips, legs and other aches and pains in body parts that were injured years ago. Knowledge is the key to becoming a successful deer hunter, and sitting still is just one part of learning. Many years ago my back was broken, and a full-body cast was placed on me. Any body movement took time to accomplish, and the exaggeration movements were like waving a red flag at a bull. It did make me learn to sit still because I couldn’t move my body easily. Accepting that part of this philosophy was the first step to my success, and once I got out of it, I continued to practice sitting still. Don’t think that my sitting-still philosophy means going out and breaking your back. That’s no fun. If you can follow this anecdote and understand why I couldn’t move, it may help. Anyone who has ever studied deer should have learned at least two things very quickly. Stay downwind of the animals, and learn how to sit still. Sitting still is not easy. Those who think they are being motionless and silent are, in most cases, moving far too much and making some noise in the process. Camouflage clothing is not a cure-all for your hunting ills. Deer spot movement regardless of whether you are wearing camo or blaze orange. Learn how to relax mind and body. Don’t move, eh? A person’s nose itches so they scratch it. A tree stub pokes them in the back, butt or legs, and they move to ease that discomfort. A leafy branch blocks their view so they move their head to see more clearly. A rustle in dry leaves sets their head in motion to see what created the sound. Boredom sets in, and bored people become twitchy. Their movements increase. Many hunters think they are motionless, but in fact, all parts of their body is in motion. The slightest movement can catch the eye of a deer, and if that happens, the deer will stand in cover until they positively identify what they saw. If they determine it was caused by a human, that hunting spot may be blown for the rest of the hunting season. How do you sit still while bow hunting? The best way to learn is to go where deer live and are plentiful, and sit in a tree or a ground blind. See how long it takes before a deer is spooked by hunter movement. Pay attention to what triggers fear in deer. Many sportsmen seem to feel that only spooked deer snort. Lots of antsy deer simply disappear into heavy cover, and slowly leave the area silently. They are spooked but do not snort. Study deer and see just how still one can be. Watch deer, and see how often they stop and look around for possible danger. I've watched large numbers of deer over the years stand motionless for 30 minutes to an hour after detecting the presence of a hunter in a tree stand. Not a muscle, ear, eye tail or anything on that animal will move it they've been alerted to a nearby human presence. One of my hunting friends used to hunt a funnel leading out of a cedar swamp and into open hardwoods. The swamp was full of water, and it was easy to tell where the deer were coming from. Those animals that were wet up to their belly were coming through the swamp. Those deer could be heard coming for 15 minutes as the water sloshed around as they moved. Those deer attracted the attention of any nearby hunter. Once he spotted a buck moving slowly, and then it stopped. It was 200 yards away but there was an open spot he could see through with binoculars, and he knew there was a hunter upwind of the deer. That animal stood in cold November water for over an hour without moving a muscle. Dusk came and went, and the buck still stood in the water, as motionless as an anchored statue. This begs the obvious question: how do you sit still? Part of it comes through continual practice but much of it comes from a total state of mental relaxation. Put your mind at ease, forget about aches and pains, and that stiff little stub that continues to poke into your rump. Relax your brain and your body will follow suit. Tune everything out of your mind. The more you think about an ache or pain, the more it will bother you. Forget it! The same is true of mosquitoes early in the bow season; forget about them, and the less you move the less they will pester you. Think good thoughts about good friends and loved ones. Remember past hunting friends who have traveled around their last turn in the trail. Leave business problems at the office, and dismiss them from your mind while hunting. The same goes for home or other business problems. If they could be solved, you’d have handled the problem earlier. Mentally put all of your thought into something calming and pleasant. Put your mind in a relaxed state. Forget about missed phone calls or upcoming doctor appointments. Clear your mind of anything and everything, relax and simply do not think. Purge your mind of all thoughts, and picture yourself somewhere lovely. A spot where you feel a gentle sense of peace and security, and where nothing can bother you. One of my friends imagines himself on a calm pond where no wind is felt, no sound is heard, and he mentally lays his back against a boat seat, stares up at the drifting clouds overhead, and his breathing slows down. He keeps seeing that gentle pond in his mind's eye, and he sits quietly and without movement. Time seems to pass slowly, and almost as if from a haze, out steps a calm buck. The animal is upwind, sniffing and looking for danger. Sensing none, he steps forward two or three more paces, and stops to check his surroundings once again. Relaxed, the deer turns around and watches his back trail. As the deer looks away, the hunter slowly and quietly comes to full draw, aims and kills that animal. It really can be that simple. It was easy because the hunter was totally relaxed. A laid-back sportsman, at peace with body and soul, doesn't move and never makes a sound while on stand. It takes a great deal of practice but so do many other things in our lives. Sit in the woods during the summer months, and practice the art of sitting motionless and silent, but realize you do need practice. Sitting still is all in your head. And just remember: sitting still while not making a sound is all in your mind. Think it, practice it, and you’ll conquer the involuntary sense of being startled when a doe snorts or when a buck starts slamming into a nearby small tree with his antlers. Mind control is an amazing thing if you practice it. Use your mind, learn how to slowly ease your eyes toward an oncoming buck, and practice coming to full draw without making that herky-jerky movement that is bound to attract a deer’s attention. Trust me, it works for me and for many people who have adopted these mind-over-matter things. It can be productive for anyone but it requires constant practice. Just remember this: an object that doesn’t move, makes no noise and is positioned so he cannot be winded, poses no threat to a deer… at least not until it is too late for the animal to react.
