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Deer instantly know how to survive such brutal winters.

Deer don’t hibernate like some mammals, so how do they survive brutal winters? Several years ago, while deer hunting in Alberta, I experienced some of the nastiest weather I’ve ever seen. High winds, continual snow, and worst of all, extremely cold, subzero weather. With winds so strong I could not shoot a bow, I holed up in the lodge. While talking to my guide, I asked how much of this kind of weather they had in that part of the world and found out that such weather was common, often for weeks at a time. I marveled that deer could survive in those conditions and wondered just how they did it. Of course, they all don’t all make it through bad winters, but most do.

Cold is made up of a lot of things, both for deer and for deer hunters. Temperature and wind are two obvious factors, but cloud cover, dew point, humidity, barometric pressure, wind chill, thermal currents and precipitation amounts all add together to create what we know as “cold.” In the Midwest, whitetails get hit with some major winter weather, but it doesn’t usually drag on for months at a time. There are exceptions, such as the winter of 2007 when deep snows and bitter cold killed lots of deer in eastern Montana and North Dakota. But further north, brutal winters are the norm. Some small mammals avoid such weather by hibernating. Black bears, though not true hibernators, lower their metabolism and remain sedentary during the worst cold.

Deer do not have those options. We know what deer hunters do to deal with cold weather, but what do deer do? How do they survive nasty winter weather?

Let’s eliminate some of the simple adaptations first. As with all mammals, body size of deer increases as you move north. Larger bodies mean a lower surface-to-mass ratio and this conserves energy. Deer also shed their lighter summer coat of fur for a heavier winter coat composed of hollow hair shafts and a dense underfur. Both adaptations provide added insulation. In fact, deer have special skin muscles that allow them to adjust the angle of the hair shafts to provide the best insulation.

I love reading The Deer-Forest Blog, and if you are not signed up to get that email every week, I strongly urge you all to do so. Google The Deer-Forest Blog and go to that website and register for their weekly blogs on the deer research being done at Penn State University. Those particular blogs are entertaining and informative, and you will continually find information that will improve your deer hunting.

Every deer hunter knows that in the fall deer prepare for winter by eating more to add layers of fat. Those fat reserves are critical during the winter – in fact – once winter hits, deer have stored around 25 percent of their body weight as fat. One of the recent Deer-Forest blogs presented data on weights of bucks and does from October through the winter. It turns out that Pennsylvania bucks reach their maximum weight by October 1. No wonder the acorn mast they consume in September is so important. After October 1, bucks lost a lot of weight through the rut and winter, but come March they start to gain weight again. Does do the same, but they reach their maximum weight around January 1 before showing a decrease. What this means is that bucks rely on fat reserves almost twice as long as does before spring arrives. The Deer-Forest Blog authors suggest that this is why bucks are more susceptible to starvation than does in bad winters.

OK, those are some of the major strategies that get deer through bad winter, but there are others. When a deer is at rest, its metabolic rate varies depending on the season of the year. You might think that in winter this rate would increase to allow the deer to stay warm, but the opposite is true. The metabolic rate decreases in winter. In winter, things really slow down for deer. For example, we know deer lower their heart rate during cold weather. We know they are slowing down their metabolism to conserve energy. But recent research from Europe on red deer shows that red deer also reduce their heart rate even further if they aren’t getting enough food. I figure whitetails do the same.

There is more to this heart rate thing. It turns out that there is a direct correlation between heart rate and rumen temperature. When things get really tough, deer lower both their heart rate and their body temperature, and this reduces energy expenditure. (The resting heart rate of a deer is 40-50 beats per minute. Ours is just a tad higher, although great runners have resting heart rates below 50 beats per minute.) The European researchers went a bit further and answered the question of whether they are deliberately conserving energy, or are these changes a result of the fact that there is little food to eat?

It turns out that that no matter how much food the red deer ate, even those that received lots of high protein in their diet, showed lower heart rates in the winter. Heart rates of 65 beats per minute in the spring went down to 40 in the winter. Therefore, deer automatically decreased their metabolism in winter, no matter how much food was available. That makes sense, especially when there is deep snow. In those conditions it takes a lot of energy to get the available food, probably more than the food provides them. So, lower temperature in the legs and the ears slows down body functions such as digestion, yet they survive. Interesting.

When winter conditions are very bad in northern deer habitat found in Maine, Michigan, Minnesota and elsewhere, deer will “yard” up. Deer yard habitat is where deer go to avoid winter winds and deep snows. They will go there, move very little and remain for one to three months. Valley bottoms with conifer cover make good yards for deer. Cedar, hemlock, fir or spruce help shield deer from snow, and it is said that such habitat has 40 percent less snow than hardwood forests.

As deer lower their energy expenditure, even if there is limited food, their body weight turns around and starts to increase in late winter. Yes, you read that correctly. The red deer research showed that a huge increase in weight occurred in red deer in the spring, even with little change in the daily intake of food. I believe our whitetails also have that same internal “clock” telling them to slow everything down in winter. When spring comes, the weight comes back.

When you see deer on your winter food plots that are eating a lot, but appear to have lost weight, now you know why. It is all about the feeding strategy and metabolism. The question for the deer is, do I want to expend more energy to find food and digest it than the food is worth to me? Apparently, over thousands of years, the deer have figured it out. Just eat enough to keep alive, move very little and make it through the winter. But two factors can change that strategy for deer and cause mortality. For one, food availability in the fall. Long summer droughts can diminish available food for deer at a time when they need to build up fat reserves. Secondly, how long and how nasty is the winter? Cold temperatures and deep snows that start early and last beyond normal in the spring can cause mortality.

In fact, that is why on rare occasions, game agencies will put out feed for deer. All state wildlife agencies discourage citizens from feeding deer in winter. However, there are rare winters when the snow is so deep and the weather so cold for long periods that deer survival is in question. When this happens, some wildlife agencies will put out feed.

Deer know what to do in winter. Those strategies work, for the most part, without our help. Cold weather has a lot less impact on hunters because of the clothing technology that has produced such wonderful, warm products. For example, look at the boots your grandfather wore when hunting in the winter and compare those to what we wear today. Actually, there is no comparison. We also have insulated undergarments, great coats, hats and pants. Obviously, deer do not have the advantage of heated socks and hand warmers and the aforementioned clothing. No question, when you look at winter weather from a deer’s perspective, on those brutal cold days on stand, we as humans have it pretty easy.

For more information on how deer survive the winter, please visit GrandivewOutdoors.com.

Predicting when deer will move has become a cottage industry among deer writers and hunt product manufacturers. Much like day-traders trying to determine, which way the market is going to move on a given day, predicting when deer are going to move en masse, creating opportunities for hunters in the woods, is one-part science, one-part art, one-part voodoo and several parts just plain luck. Like the old Rubik’s cube, the pieces simply must line-up right.

Throw in the facts that the temperature these past few weeks in much of the country has been downright balmy, the rut is all but over, and deer have been pressured for months, and deer-movement predictions become a crapshoot. But we’re here to help. There is one factor that trumps all others in predicting deer movement, and that is sudden changes in the weather—particularly rapidly plummeting temperatures and the approach of cold, driving rains; high winds and even better, snow.

Several years back I finally got the chance to hunt Iowa. I was there during the December muzzleloader hunt and as fate would have it, the forecast for my first day in the woods called for high winds, single-digit temperatures and possibly a half-foot or more of snow. My first thought was what a crappy day to be outside…and believe me, it was. Back home in Virginia, a windy day typically meant few deer sightings. But this storm was moving in fast and was going to affect the weather patterns for several days.

My guide, Aaron Volkmar was elated.

“It’s going to be a good day,” he predicted. As the farmhouse that served as camp vibrated in the gale (winds were already gusting as high as 40 mph), I was thinking it was a good day to just bag it and hang out in camp until things improved. Not only was I not going to sit this one out, but Volkmar planned on me sitting out there all day. And as it turned out, he was absolutely right. With temperatures plummeting and snow setting in with a fury, it didn’t matter that there were gale-force winds, deer were on the move, all day long.

The all-day sit wouldn’t have been possible in a standard treestand, however, and Volkmar had numerous solid-wall shooting houses with sliding windows to keep the elements out. To battle the single digit chill, I was set up with a small portable heater and a Heater Body Suit, the latter which virtually made the portable heater unnecessary. Before the day was up, I saw upward of 30 to 40 deer, several of them in the 140-inch to 150-inch range.

Regional Weather
But it doesn’t have to be driving snow and body-freezing temperatures that kick deer into overdrive. Down South where the white stuff is seldom seen, a serious line of rainstorms moving in with temperatures dropping 10 to 20 degrees from the 60s to the 40s can have the same effect. I’ve seen it happen time and again in both South Carolina and Virginia. Incoming storms that are predicted to cause a mess for two to three days are often best. Deer will sense it and feed like crazy before the weather sets in and then again as the nasty weather clears out. Though in my experience, movement on the backside of a front is rarely as dramatically observed as it is on the front side.

Either way, don’t discount fast moving blips in the weather pattern that causes a sudden drop in temperatures in a single afternoon or night as these can put deer moving during midday hours.

The key to benefiting from sudden changes in weather patterns is first, being able to identify when they will occur, and secondly, having the ability to take off from work and get into a stand. Become a student of the weather at this time of year, installing a good weather app such as Accuweather, The Weather Channel, Storm by Weather Underground or a host of others and checking it daily.

Then work out an arrangement with your boss (unless you are the boss) and maybe even with the spouse, to be able to make up hours or take off saved up time with little notice. Keep your gear packed and ready in a bag so when these fronts move through, you are ready to deploy and get in a stand as quickly as possible. Oh, and don’t forget to include a rain suit and maybe even an extra set of base layers. You just may need them.

For more information regarding harsh conditions for great hunting, please visit Outdoorlife.com.

Most shooters think about the break of the trigger as the last step of shooting, since it comes at the end of all the preparation we undergo before taking a shot. The shooter has gotten into position, adjusted his scope, chambered a round, calmed his breathing, and so on.
But in reality, the trigger break is only the beginning of the shot. Once the trigger breaks, the sear holding the firing pins disconnects and the firing pin starts to move forward. At the end of its travel, the firing pin strikes the primer located in the head of the brass case, igniting it. This flame then spreads, burning the powder in the shell, which, as it’s consumed, throws off copious amounts of gas and creates pressure in the shell.

Once the pressure has risen to a sufficient level, it forces the bullet to break free of the tension in the case neck, pushing it forward toward the bore. Then the bullet makes contact with the bore. The expanding gasses force it down the barrel, where the lands in the rifling taking hold of the jacket and impart spin to the bullet. During this whole process a tremendous amount of shock and vibration runs through the rifle. Eventually, the bullet traverses the length of the barrel and exits, at which point the wind, friction, and gravity become the biggest factors to overcome.

My point is that there’s actually a lot going on after the trigger breaks and, in order to shoot accurately, proper follow-through is absolutely required. The goal of follow-through is to not disturb the rifle in any way during the time between the trigger break and the bullet exiting the muzzle.

In practice, there are two things you can do to develop good follow-through. The first is to keep pressure on the trigger after the shot, holding it in its most rearward position in a deliberate fashion. Letting the finger bounce forward is a common mistake, but with a bit of conscious effort this is easy to correct.

The second skill is a bit tougher. You want to keep your eyes focused on the target with a laser-like intensity and try not to blink. This does a couple things.

The first benefit is that it forces you to keep your head on the stock where it belongs. Another common mistake rifle shooters (and shotgunners, for that matter)make is to lift their head from the stock to get a better look at the target. This reaction is so automatic in some shooters that it’s comical to observe. Don’t do it.

The second benefit of not blinking is that you will become more adept at calling your shots. Assuming you’re set up on the rifle correctly (so that it recoils straight back and stays aligned with the target), you will be able see hits and misses at closer ranges. (Spotting hits on targets farther away is easier since it takes longer for the bullet to get there, giving you more time to reacquire the target in your scope.)
With these two skills in place after plenty of practice, you’ll have good follow through and will ultimately shoot better.

For more information regarding this post, please visit OutdoorLife.com.

Wind, snow, fog, and ice; no matter what the late season throws your way, here’s how to make the most of it

Deep winter offers duck hunters both challenge and opportunity. The late season cuts hunters little slack, but the last few weeks can also provide some of the best shooting of the year.

Here is how to adjust your hunting to the toughest weather elements: strong winds, ice, fog, heavy snow, and rain. Hunters who understand how these conditions affect ducks and who employ strategies designed around them can enjoy hot shooting in the waning days of the season.

Strong Winds

“Strong winds will definitely make ducks come in easier—but you have to be in the right spot,” says Duane Kovarik of Ord, Nebraska. Kovarik hunts from a boat-blind on large reservoirs in the north-central part of the state. He says it’s not uncommon for winds to blow up to 40 miles per hour and for the lake’s open water to resemble the North Atlantic.

“Usually ducks will sit on the main lake at night,” Kovarik says. “They’ll fly out at dawn to feed and start trickling back around midmorning. If the wind is kicking up, they’ll look for sheltered areas to loaf for the rest of the day.”

So Kovarik sets up in small sheltered coves on the upwind side of the lake. He hunts either from his boat-blind or from the bank. “Look for where trees or a hill shelters the upwind side of a cove,” he says. “When a hard wind is blowing, a calm shoreline is like a magnet. Passing ducks will see your decoys and often come in without circling.”

In this situation, Kovarik uses fewer decoys than normal. “I’ll scale down to three dozen ducks and a dozen geese,” he explains. “You don’t need to do a lot of convincing. You just need enough decoys for passing birds to see.”

Correspondingly, he also calls less than normal when it’s windy. “I’ll give passing birds one good hail series to make them look at the decoys,” he says. “If they turn my way, there’s usually no more need to call.”

Kovarik stresses that hunters must exercise caution in strong winds. “Don’t go out on rough water in a low-sided boat,” he advises, “and don’t put in where you have to cross open water. Always wear your life jacket when you’re running, and don’t go out until there’s enough light to see where you’re going. Just use common sense and remember that rough water and subfreezing temperatures can be a deadly combination for duck hunters.”

Ice

When ice starts forming on Lake of the Woods on the Minnesota/Ontario/Manitoba boundary, Lance Sage says duck hunting can be extraordinary. “Find the right spot, and you’ll be in for the shoot of your life,” he says.

Sage helps run his family’s Sage’s Angle West Resort in Minnesota’s Northwest Angle. He’s a part-time guide and an avid waterfowler who specializes in diving ducks. When the lake starts freezing in late fall, bluebills, goldeneyes, ruddy ducks, canvasbacks, ring-necked ducks, and others concentrate in areas that remain open. Sage looks for open water on wind-exposed points and banks, spring-fed areas, and rivers flowing into or out of the lake. Sage says finding these spots is simply a matter of watching where birds are flying and following them to where they are rafting.

“The bays freeze first, and when they do, the ducks move out to big water,” he says. “The main lake holds its temperature longer, and strong winds also help keep it open. I’ll use binoculars to find where ducks are landing, and then I’ll figure out how to get there and set up.” Sometimes he can access a wind-washed point or shoreline from the bank. Other times he breaks ice (up to an inch-and-a-half thick—no more) to reach open water. “This type of hunting isn’t for the faint of heart,” he advises.

Sage uses the same decoy spread and calling techniques that he employs before ice starts forming. “I don’t change anything,” he says, “except if it’s snowing, I might change my camouflage. This is strictly a matter of locating the birds.”

Fog

“Fog can be a really good thing, but you have to be quiet and extra careful not to let ducks see you,” says Jackie Van Cleave of Samburg, Tennessee. Van Cleave is a full-time guide on fabled Reelfoot Lake. “Ducks can see better in fog than most people think they can,” he says. “They can see decoys from overhead, and they’ll just pop into your spread if they don’t see or hear something that spooks them.”

Van Cleave calls sparingly in fog. “A lot of hunters hear ducks chattering up in the fog and then start calling to them. That will usually flare them,” he explains. “Instead, I use a Mallard Machine (water-disturbance device), and I’ll bump it once every 30 seconds to make a little splash. It’s the splashing noise and decoy movement that bring ducks in. The only calling I might do is a little soft feed chatter every now and then.”

Another important factor in hunting in fog is staying still and being completely covered in the blind. “Pull plenty of brush up around your shooting hole and be absolutely still,” Van Cleave says. “Don’t do any talking or moving around in the blind. On a foggy morning, any little noise will scare ducks. Just keep your eyes over the decoys and be ready. Ducks will get in on you in a hurry in the fog, and if you’re not ready, they’ll flare and disappear before you can shoot.”

Heavy Snow

“A heavy snowstorm makes ducks go crazy,” says Al Aufforth of North Dakota, a professor of wildlife biology at Minot State University–Bottineau and a lifelong duck hunter. “They come off the refuge en masse and feed all day. They work in big swirls, sometimes numbering thousands of birds, and when they come in, it looks like a wall of mallards driving through the snow.

“By the late season, most shallow potholes are frozen,” Aufforth continues, “but the ducks will still be here if the reservoir on the national wildlife refuge is open. Typically, these birds fly out to feed in stubble fields [wheat or peas] in the morning and afternoon, but a sudden snowstorm will change this pattern. When the snow hits, ducks are frantic to gorge on grain, so they feed all day. Then, typically, they leave for parts south. So from a hunter’s perspective, this opportunity is short, but also very sweet.”

Aufforth decides where to hunt by watching ducks fly out of the refuge. “You have to be there when that first flight comes off,” he says. “All ducks that follow will usually fly the same route, and the trick is to get beneath them. You don’t have to be in the exact field where they’re going, just under the flyway.”

Instead of digging pits or setting out layout blinds, Aufforth and his hunting partners simply lie in the snow. “We wear white coveralls, gloves, ski masks, and watch caps,” he says. “And we wear all the clothes we can get on underneath our coveralls. This style of hunting is cold. I’ve had my shotgun safety freeze up many times.”

Aufforth uses a small spread—two dozen full-body field mallards and seven full-body Canada goose decoys. He sets these in a J formation with the mallards in the shank of the J, pointed upwind. He places the Canada geese in the turn of the J. He says the ducks usually want to land inside the cup of this design, so this is where he lays out. He simply reclines in the snow, feet pointed downwind, and he builds a small snow fort approximately two feet high around him. “This low wall of snow hides me from incoming birds,” he explains.

Then he watches and listens for ducks flying close. He calls very little, since sound doesn’t travel well in the snow and wind.

“If the snow is really coming down,” Aufforth stresses, “you need to continuously sweep your decoys clean. You want them to be dark and to stand out against the white snow. And if the ducks change their flight lane, you have to be willing to change locations in a hurry. Ducks can’t see very far in the snow, so you have to go to them instead of hoping they’ll find you.”

Heavy Rain

In more temperate regions, heavy winter rains can cause a sudden shift in ducks’ feeding locations. For instance, Avery Outdoors pro staffer Stuart McCullough of Los Banos, California, says a sudden deluge can flood extensive new areas in the grasslands of the Central Valley. When this happens, ducks move immediately to this fresh water and new food source. Hunters who follow them can enjoy excellent shooting.

“When a hard rain comes, the rivers will rise quickly and flood new sloughs and pastureland,” McCullough says. “If this happens late in the season, it invigorates our hunting. Ducks that have become patterned to sit on refuges and private clubs will scatter out into these newly flooded areas. They do this as soon as the rain stops or even when it’s slowing down. Hunters who understand this and have the know-how and equipment to take advantage of the situation can have a great hunt.”

McCullough says good scouting is necessary to locate areas where the birds are moving, and in many cases layout blinds are the key to success. “In this area, much of the flooding occurs in wide-open fields where hiding is difficult. But with the Finisher blinds, you can set up just about anywhere on dry ground. Just set them out at water’s edge, add some natural cover, toss out your decoys, and you’re ready to hunt.

“So this is a simple matter of scouting after a heavy rain, finding where the ducks are working, and then setting up quickly to take advantage of this new opportunity,” McCullough says. “It’s a run-and-gun style of hunting that’s totally dependent on being in the right place at the right time.”

For more information regarding this post, please visit Ducks.org.

There were no deer in front of me. I was sure of that. I had stopped next to a large oak and scrutinized everything out of the ordinary on the hardwood ridge. Through my binoculars an antler tine had turned into a piece of deadfall, and a flicking tail became nothing more than a leaf turning in the breeze.

I stepped out of the shadows and there he was, bolting out of a stand of saplings 60 yards in front of me that I had checked at least a half dozen times. He ran hard for the safety of a thick belt of pines, and I swung with him and shot. And shot again. The third time I pulled the trigger, the 8-point buck fell dead in the snow.

That hunt, high on a ridge on public land in Pennsylvania, is typical of my experience with still-hunting: It’s impossible to do everything perfectly, but if you get enough of it right, it’s the most effective tactic for many conditions.

I started still-hunting the late season one year because I had spent most of the fall perched in a tree with a bow or a rifle. Doing this now allowed me to take the hunt to the deer, to make something happen, and in December or later, that is often your only chance. Bucks are worn out from the rut and spooked from unrelenting hunting pressure. They find small pockets of cover near food and don’t travel far. Set your stand in the spot that was great during the rut, and you may have to sit there until next November before you see a buck. You need to leave the comfort of your stand and go looking.

Everyone who’s read a hunting magazine knows the two rules of still-hunting: First, go as slow as possible, and then go slower; and second, always hunt with the wind in your face. A good still-hunter has mastered these concepts but also knows how and when to break them.

It’s true that your best hope of defeating a buck’s defenses is to go slow. You must walk super quietly, in a way that minimizes the chances a deer will see you. The standard practice of taking a step or two and then stopping to look for 30 seconds works. It makes it harder for deer to detect you, and you also have a better chance of spotting movement—the drop of a head, the flick of an ear, the lift of a hoof—if you are motionless. When you do it properly, you may cover 100 yards in an hour. It’s effective, but in reality, you can’t spend all day at this pace. Go faster in areas with little deer sign, such as wide open hardwoods. If you start seeing sign—or worse, a whitetail’s bounding flag—put on the brakes.

Every still-hunter loves a headwind, but the hunting route that makes the most sense may not provide that. A breeze perpendicular to your direction also works well, especially around bedding areas, as deer often lie down facing the wind. At some point, you may not be able to avoid having the breeze at your back in order to get to a location you want to hunt. The trick is to allow that to happen only when you’re in barren areas, and to move along quickly.

Read the following tips to learn how to best still-hunt the late season, and check out the hypothetical still-hunt route in the illustration on the facing page.

Still-Hunting Tips

1. A light rain or snow is perfect for still-hunting. The precipitation helps hide your sound, scent, and motion, and deer activity often seems to increase in this kind of weather. Windy days are good too; the swaying branches and howling gusts also disguise your presence, but deer won’t be moving as much. Look for them in hollows and on the lee sides of hills.

2. Follow deer tracks you come across in the snow during a still-hunt—even if they are old. The idea is not to target that particular buck but simply to let the trail take you to areas where deer travel and feed. I’ve discovered some of my most productive hunting spots by letting deer lead me to them.

3. Look for water. Creekbottoms are great places to still-hunt. Deer often follow the watercourses, and the trails you find parallel to the creek make ideal routes. The water can hide your sound, and cover and food attract deer.

4. Let yourself get lost. Successful still-hunting takes all your attention—analyzing everything you see, stalking with extreme care. You can’t do it if you’re constantly worried about where you are. Set your GPS and then lose yourself in the hunt.

5. Still-hunting is one of the best ways to learn a piece of land, because you’re covering ground and doing it at a pace and with a level of concentration that forces you to spot tracks, droppings, rubs, and bedding areas. So keep a map with you, and make notes as you go. I carry a digital camera and snap photos of interesting sign and promising spots. It only takes a few seconds, and when I get home the images remind me of what I saw. I’ve found great bowhunting stands and other still-hunting routes this way.

6. Grouse hunters often hit several productive covers in one morning. You can do the same thing if you have a few places to hunt close to one another. Sneak through the brushy bottom next to a field on one farm. Get in the truck and hit a winding creekbottom nearby. This allows you to focus on the best spots in multiple sites.

7. Maintaining a razor-sharp focus may be the most critical skill in still-hunting. Get distracted and sloppy for a few steps, and you can undo two hours of careful work. If you feel your mind wandering and find yourself going too quickly, take a stand. Eat a sandwich. In 20 minutes, you’ll be ready to start again.

8. Don’t avoid dense vegetation. “That’s too thick to still-hunt” is something you hear often in deer camp. But if it holds deer, why not give it a shot? You probably just need a different approach. Focus on small cover, just a couple of acres, and really work it over. Spend a lot of time looking, squatting to see under the brush, even crawling. Go very, very slowly.

9. Before you step into the woods, take the sling off your rifle and stick it in your pack. You’ll want it when you drag the buck off the mountain, but if you use it before then, you won’t be bringing anything home. Shots are quick in still-hunting, and keeping the rifle slung over your shoulder is the best way to miss.

10. Stop next to cover. It’s one of still-hunting’s golden rules. Having a tree next to you when you’re not moving helps hide you from deer, and it also gives you a rest in case you need to shoot offhand.

11. Good binoculars are a still-hunter’s best friend. Use them often to pick apart the terrain in front of you. If something seems even slightly off, glass it. Wear them on a harness that holds them snug against your chest so they won’t swing when you duck under brush. Bring them to your eyes slowly.

12. Get a gillie suit. I used to laugh at hunters who wore them. Then I tried one on the recommendation of a friend who successfully still-hunts with a bow. This leafy camouflage outfit hides the two visual clues that I think are the main things that spook deer: the flat, wide-eyed predator’s face, and the upright, two-legged silhouette of a man. The very first time I wore one, I crept within bow range of a feeding doe.

13. To walk quietly, wear boots that fit tightly, with solid support and a thin sole. You need to be able to feel sticks and other debris under your foot before you bring your entire weight down. Put your heel down first, slowly rolling onto the ball of your foot. Gradually increase the pressure, and find another place to step if you feel something underneath.

14. No matter how hard you try not to, you will snap a branch underfoot. When it happens, just wait a full minute before proceeding. Deer will forget about the noise if you give them enough time. If conditions force me to make a ruckus going through a particular spot, I’ll blow a series of grunts on my call, hoping to fool deer into thinking the noise was caused by one of them.

15. You’ll try to find a rest before you shoot at a deer, of course, but when you’re still-hunting, most shots are offhand. There is no shortcut to getting good at this. You must practice before the season. Make it a rule that for every round you fire from a bench or rest, you fire two offhand. Shots will most likely be close, so don’t set your variable scope any higher than 4X.

16. There’s no need to dress as warmly as you would for a day of late-season stand hunting. You’ll perspire in bulky clothes, which also make it harder for you to move quietly. I wear a synthetic base layer under a medium-weight wool jacket and pants. Nothing is quieter than wool.

17. Wear a fanny pack to bring lunch, water, a survival kit, and extra clothes. A backpack is too noisy for still-hunting; it always ends up raking across branches or brush. I prefer a fanny pack’s lower profile. A model with shoulder straps supports the load better and is more comfortable to wear all day.

Planning a Still-Hunt

Start out in the morning, paralleling feeding areas. Deer often leave food sources early this time of year, so be in place at sunup. Work inside the timber along fields, or through creek bottoms and around clear-cuts. When you have scouted well, you’ll know where deer want to go next. Work your way to bedding areas, like thick patches of cover, or remote ridgetops. Check bed sites close to the food first, since deer are reluctant to move far now. To get there, you want to cut through the corridors that the deer use to travel. If you find a trail, walk it. Remember, deer like to take the shortest, easiest route, just like you do, so try the most logical paths.

Once you reach the bedding areas, your job gets more difficult. Use your binoculars a lot; you’re going to need all the help you can get to spot deer before they spot you. Take your time, and try to get above the bedding areas. This makes spying deer easier. Walk just below the ridgetop, taking care not to skylight yourself. If you come to a saddle, peek over the ridge to check the other side. Don’t rush. If you can hunt only one or two bedding areas before it’s time to head back to the travel corridors, fine. It’s more important to hunt right than to cover every possibility. But move quickly through open woods barren of sign.

In the afternoon, head back to travel corridors and feeding areas. An oak stand with acorns still on the ground is a great spot. Pay special attention to staging zones, the places in the timber where deer mill around before heading into an exposed food source.

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