basic hunting knowledge

Well here we are, my first post, for my first ever attempt to"blog".  Although I hope for this blog to expand to cover a variety of issues, it will begin with my take on modern hunting, primarily deer hunting. I do not claim to be an expert on deer hunting, but I do have more than just a basic knowledge and 13 years of experience so hopefully I can entertain and possibly educate anyone who chooses to read this.

 Let me begin by explaining a little about what this time of year means for deer hunting. Here in Virginia, archery season opens around October 1st which marks the beginning of the "pre rut" for deer. The pre rut is quite simply the time just before mating season, which is commonly referred to as "the rut". Just a few short weeks ago, male and female deer were commonly seen commingling and grazing together. But as the pre rut begins, deer become more solitary and aggressive. Females, or "does", spend their time driving away yearling males, or "bucks", and begin to roam around their home range more. This allows them to be seen by more mature bucks. These are primarily the only changes in the life of a doe. Bucks on the other hand change their behavior extensively as their testosterone production is heavily increased. They leave the groups they have spent the spring and summer with and spend their days alone, roaming their home area extensively looking for does and marking territory. They mark this territory in two ways, the rub their antlers on small trees to leave bare spots known as "rubs" and they scrape bare spots on the ground known as "scrapes". They will also leave their scent near these signs. They also begin to become aggressive toward other bucks. During the pre rut it's not unusual to see bucks playfully fighting, never getting too serious. This allows them to establish a rough idea of dominance without any bucks getting hurt. Later in the year as the rut approaches these fights will be less common but much more serious. A fight usually does not last long, as 1 buck will quickly establish himself as dominant. If the 2 bucks are evenly matched, they will fight until 1 backs down, or to the death. The older, larger, mature bucks will do most of the mating when the rut begins.

Now that you know a little about the pre rut, what does this mean for a hunter? Quite simply this information helps you to get an idea of where the mature bucks are spending their time. It also tells you that you will mostly see deer alone, not in herds. But this time of year offers hunters one big helping hand, acorns. Acorns are quite simply a deer's favorite food, or one of their favorites anyway. Even when every other food source is being ignored, you can count on seeing deer anywhere you see acorns. So since the pre rut also happens to be archery season, the basic hunting strategy is - find the acorns. Typically a hunter will located a white oak or red oak tree that is dropping acorns and set up either a "blind" which is basically a tent, or set up a tree stand, which is exactly what it sounds like. Sounds simple right? It is, but not easy. The trick is to be at the right tree at the right time to see a deer. Deer will favor certain trees more than others for any number of reasons. So once you find these acorns it is smart to look around for deer tracks and droppings, indicating that deer have been there to eat.

Ok. Enough information about how to hunt this time of year. My next few post will lean toward keeping you updated on my hunts and also incorporate some recipes for preparing venison, if you're lucky enough to obtain some. I have been hunting everyday that I wasn't at work since October 1st, I have seen a lot of deer. This is a big change from last year's archery season when I seldom saw any deer and never got close enough to shoot at one. A quote I once heard from a very experienced bowhunter, "hunting is a passion, but bow hunting, is an obsession". Some people aren't attracted to bow hunting. It takes a lot of preparation, a great knowledge of how to locate deer, and above all else, practice practice practice. Shooting a bow is not easy, especially when standing on a small metal platform connected to a tree 20+ feet in the air and your heart racing from the adrenaline rush of seeing a deer come into range. But I love it. When you're successful at it, there's no feeling like it. So far this year I have passed up easy shots at 3 deer, because they were either too small for me to feel good about shooting, or in 1 case it was a doe that had 2 fawns with her. I can't shoot a doe that has fawns to care for. That's just terrible to me. Orphaned fawns don't have much of  chance at all to survive. But I have shot at, and killed, 1 deer this year. Hopefully there will be a few more, I will certainly keep you informed. Also I'll share tidbits of information for you as they pop into my head, such as the effect of weather conditions, moon phases, etc on the behavior of deer.

Well this concludes my first blog entry. This post was not exactly what I had in mind, but this lays the foundation for me to talk more about my personal experiences and keep you informed as I continue to hunt through the pre rut, rut, and post rut. I hope anyone who reads this found it informative and at least mildly entertaining. Thanks for reading. :)