Hunting season is here. Are you ready?

Words by Reed Jackson

The oak trees are dropping their acorns and the occasional cool north wind pushes the thick warm air out into the Gulf. All hunters feel it and recognize it; it’s time to start getting in the woods.  

Before you go to the woods, there are some “honey-do’s” that need to be addressed, and gear to pack.

Everybody has “their” way of doing things to be successful in the woods, and I’m lucky enough to have grown up or hunted with some of the best. I listened to them and watched what they did. The most important thing I have learned is to manage expectations. Unmet expectations can be a festering splinter in your brain. Just because you go hunt does not mean that your quarry owes you his or her life. They want to live just like you and me, and most often you must want to hunt them as bad as they want to live. 

There is no script; there are general things you can buy and use, but each animal, like us, has their own personality and way of doing things. You must be able to think outside of the box. Be spontaneous and don’t let the deer predict your next move. You must fly by the seat of your pants. 

Hunters often second guess or doubt themselves. For this reason, you should go with your gut or your first instinct. Your first instinct is usually the best; that’s why it’s your first.

There are some things that can be purchased to help ensure success, but the mental part of it can’t be bought. For starters, the whitetail deer is well equipped to escape danger. They use their, eyes, ears, and nose. Good camouflage with disruptive patterns helps to break up your outline and blend into surroundings. As long as you remain still and move slowly when you have to, you can fool their eyes.  

When walking in the woods, make sure your steps are heel down first, rolling your toes forward to be the last to make contact with the ground. This will help you to walk more quietly. 

Wait until the wind blows to start walking if you anticipate making lots of noise. Once hunting, simulating bucks fighting by rattling horns or a rattle bag can be successful. The key to that is to rattle softly and less aggressively this time of year; wait until December before you really start getting aggressive with a rattle sequence. Early in the year bucks hang out together and spar regularly as they are kind of figuring out the pecking order. In the winter it gets more aggressive, as they are no longer friends but enemies until breeding season is over. Deer are like us: we spend money to watch boxing and UFC. If they hear a fight, they want to come see it too. A grunt tube, which simulates some of the vocalization of whitetail buck, is easy to use and can also be effective. Remember: manage expectations. Nothing works all the time, but these can all work some of the time.  

Fooling a deer’s nose is the trickiest. Hunt the wind!  Let the wind blow your scent away from where he is or where you expect him to be. If you hunt the hills and hollers of Walker County, then you know once you get down in the holler the wind shifts and is unreliable. You can buy scent killer sprays to try and mask your scent and you can use deer scents like buck pee and doe pee. However, there are just some days they can smell you and some days they can’t. The nose is the trickiest tool of theirs to beat.

 If you want to hunt earlier than most, bow season provides that opportunity. In Alabama, bow hunters get an extra month to hunt. This can be one of the best times of the season. Deer have not been pressured yet, and they are still on feeding patterns. To really improve your chances, you will need a ground blind or tree stand. I prefer a tree stand. It is peaceful and you can maybe get away with a little more because deer have no natural predators from above in Alabama. Because of this, deer don’t typically walk around looking up in the trees. 

If you do hunt from a tree stand, make sure to wear a safety harness once your foot is off the ground. If you don’t wear a safety harness, you are a fool and won’t convince me otherwise. There are two kind of tree stand hunters: those who have fallen, and those who haven’t fallen yet. As hunting pressure intensifies, whitetail deer will figure out where your tree is, and the jig is up. Time to move. 

When gun season starts in November you can hunt by using several methods. Spot and stalk, deer drives, tree stands, and blinds. Most importantly, wear the required amount of hunter’s orange.  Deer can’t see it, but hunters can. Safety is key.

I have soaked up so much good advice, but the three pieces that always stick out to me to be successful are:  

·       “You have to hunt where the sign is. Don’t pick a spot because you like it; you ain’t hunting you.” 

·       “Deer hate the way you smell more than they like the taste of corn.”

·       “If you want to kill a big buck, you have to be in the woods as much as he is.”  

So true!  Not to say a trophy can’t walk out on you at any time, but luck is a big factor. If you want to do it consistently, you’ve got to be in that deer’s house more than yours. I’m fortunate that my wife and family understand that, but I also understand being in my own house is important to them and me, so I rely on luck nowadays more so than spending all my time in the woods. Plus, my girls are starting to like the idea of hunting, and I like that more than anything. 78 

Find Reed Jackson at Pat’s Archery in Jasper, Ala. – 306 Hwy 78 West – (205) 387-7678.