Pennsylvania Game News - September 2013 - 22

patterns have changed. Do the math.
Only by being honest with yourself, can
you improve.
Every minute spent in a tree stand is
a learning experience, if you’re interested in growing as a hunter and woodsman. Study your surroundings. Look
for deer scrapes and rubs. Listen for
acorns falling. Pay attention to tractor
noises, hunters on the move, slamming
car doors, scolding squirrels, flashlight
beams, every rustle in the leaves and
snapping stick or twig, changes in the
wind. All of these sideshows and incidentals can influence your hunt. But if
you’re daydreaming, messing with your
cell phone or half asleep, chances are
you’ll miss out. That’s why focus matters; it keeps you tuned in to what’s
happening around your position.
Every location I use in the inline
season is a stand from which I haven’t
hunted until the inline season. I’m not
a big fan of permanent or ladder stands,
because they’re so immobile, and leave
a presence, which can alert deer and
other hunters. I prefer to leave no
more than a tack in my hunting areas,
so when I show up, with the wind in
my favor, I have the best chance possible to bump into deer and not other
hunters. I don’t necessarily have a “no
stand left behind” rule; I can see their
attractiveness on private property. But
they simply get in my way and serve as
unmanned squatter’s claims on public
lands, which is what I hunt mostly.
Getting back to leaving stuff behind,
I prefer to keep disturbances to a minimum in any area I hunt in the inline
season. If deer keep detecting human
odor in a more remote hunting area,
there’s a good chance they’ll stop using
it for a while, particularly if you chase
them from it while coming or going;
22

this includes managing your trail cam.
So stay away until you’re ready to hunt
and hope you time it right.
After hunting this way for a few
years, you’ll have scores of locations
to check for deer activity prior to or
during the inline season. Most usually
are good for a season, maybe two. Then
they go cold for a while for whatever
reason. So roll through your stand locations annually and hunt from the
best. And be sure to do some in-season
scouting on the season’s only Sunday
and after morning hunts. Many times
I’ve scouted out a hot area right before
lunch and came back later that afternoon to kill a deer.
Another thing you’ll learn about
stands if you rotate through enough
of them over time is some places are
for morning hunts and others evening
hunts. There’s often no obvious reason
for it, just a pattern that develops over
time. So when you start noticing it,
make sure you adjust, because seizing
opportunity and leaning on your experience are the name of the game in this
one-week season.
Finally, there’s this misunderstanding that exists among some hunters
that antlerless deer aren’t very bright.
These folks seem to think that any
antlered buck is more of a trophy than
a doe. But that doe is often a couple
years older than most bucks and a survivor of more hunting seasons. She’s
bright. Bank on it. If you don’t, this
season will be over for you before it
starts.

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Pennsylvania Game News - September 2013

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