Calling Elk Bow Close

Whether hunting public or privateland, the fundamentals of calling elk remain the same.

By Michael Waddell

We heard the bull bugle at first light and snuck into his core area. When I hit a lick on my bugle, the bull simply came unglued and stormed our position like a tank, crashing through brush and small lodgepole pines like they were atchsticks. Before we could react he was in our lap and we were pinned down, myself hiding behind a camera, too afraid to even touch the tripod for fear of my shaking hands would run the footage. All I could see of my partner edged against a stunted pine was the tip of his undrawn arrow shaking uncontrollably on the rest. Before a shot presented itself, the bull smelled a  rat and disappeared as quickly as he arrived.

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Taking a Stand

By Tom Remington

 

Available in Audio

 

“Taking a stand” is an expression that is used in hunting in perhaps two different ways. For many hunters, it means going to your favorite location where you have erected your tree stand or blind and getting into it to wait for the trophy buck to come along. For others, including many Maine hunters, taking a stand means to locate yourself in a specific area and wait for that trophy deer to come by. That specific area is determined by occurrences that are taking place in the area you are hunting. Let me give you some examples of what I mean.

 

Morning breaks and you are headed for one of your favorite hunting spots and on the way in, you notice other hunters in the area. You think about it a minute and realize that often when this happens you know exactly where deer like to cross when pushed by other hunters. Another example may be when you are hunting with one, two or three other hunters and once you have discussed what each of the hunters in your party are going to do, you decide to go sit or wait at one of your favorite places you know deer travel through when hunted by other hunters.

 

Whatever the reasons are that you might decide to “take a stand”, you are not equipped with portable blind or tree stand – there is just you, your rifle, a survival pack and perhaps a “hot seat” to sit on. There are proper ways or should I say less intrusive ways to take a stand that will increase your chances at seeing or bagging a deer.

 

 

Deer, and especially the trophy bucks, are not stupid animals. They are much like us in that they are creatures of habit and what seems to have worked for them once or twice, their instincts will direct them in that same manner more often than not. You as a hunter need to learn what those habits are and apply them to your hunting strategies.

 

Here are a few examples of how deer might react under certain circumstances. When you hunt an area often, it shouldn’t take you too long to learn the layout of the land – deer know this layout better than you do. Remember what transpires each and every time you hunt in a particular section. If deer get pushed or jumped, where do the go? What direction were you traveling, what was the weather, what direction was the wind blowing and what was the time of day, just to name a few. This may seem like a lot of information to process but it is what makes hunting enjoyable. It is part of the chase.

 

By learning these bits of information, you can determine better how to hunt that area. If you know that under most circumstances when deer are pushed out of that area from hunting pressure, the deer escape via a well hidden ravine on the west end of the land it would only seem logical that that would be a good location to take a stand and wait.

 

Over time, you will discover some very rewarding places to take a stand. Perhaps that place will be a favorite knoll, ravine, crossing on an old logging road, ledge, swamp, field or next to an apple orchard. Wherever it is, once you get there, don’t ruin a good opportunity by not knowing how to take a stand.

 

I repeat, deer are not stupid nor are they blind. One of the biggest mistakes inexperienced hunters make in taking a stand is to remain in the open. Many times I have suggested to a fellow hunter to go to a particular spot on an old woods road and wait. When I arrive at that point, I find them standing smack dab in the middle of the road.

 

When taking a stand, you want to be able to see well enough to spot a deer and that can be accomplished without standing in the middle of the wide open area. Look around for a minute or two when you get there. You should have knowledge of what direction you think a deer might come and where the favorite crossing spot is. Assess the wind direction, sun, etc. and from that determine in what general area you should be, i.e.. put the wind in your face and sun to your back if you can.

 

Once you’ve determined in what general area you should take a stand, now is the time to find the best strategic spot available to you. Is there a bit of a rise or knoll that would give you a better view? If so, use it. Find a place on that rise where you can camouflage yourself with the natural surroundings. If you are standing alone in the open and a deer comes by, chances are that deer may not recognize you as a human and danger but it will more than likely determine that you are something that doesn’t belong there. The deer will turn and go in another direction and you are left looking like a fool.

 

Put your back to a clump of trees or underbrush. If you can put some small bushes in front of you – enough to help blend you into the surroundings without impeding your site to shoot. If you are going to sit down, find the spot and clean it up. Make it so any small movement on your part doesn’t create noise – deer have acute hearing. Sit in a manner that is conducive to making shooting more easily accomplished. What I mean by this is simple. The spot you are watching for deer is more than likely relatively small. Hopefully small enough so that you don’t have to keep turning your head from side to side – that’s too much movement. Sit so you can see and you can raise your rifle easily when needed.

 

If you opt to literally stand when you take your stand, again find a place where you are best camouflaged and clean the area where you will stand. Move the dry leaves and branches from under foot. The result should be a moist dirt area free of crackling leaves and twigs. Any movement by you of your feet should be silent. Stand in a position that affords you the best sight and when necessary you can raise your rifle to shoot with the least amount of movement – deer will spot the slightest amount of movement or noise on your part.

 

The bottom line is to use common sense. This is actually a game of hide and seek. The better you can hide yourself and at the same time making every effort to keep a clear vision for yourself, you are increasing your chances at success.

 

One last thing that I will add to this is to have patience. I know in my early years of hunting, I would take a stand somewhere and run out of patience. I would decide to move to another spot or get antsy and start shifting positions only to hear a deer running off in the other direction. The hunter with the most patience will in the end be the one that brings home the deer while your buddies, family and other hunters will be wondering why you and not them.

 

Happy hunting.

Field Dressing a Deer

By Anonymous

 

There may have been years worth of work that has gone into bagging your first deer and not always are you fortunate to have someone with you that first time that can teach you how to field-dress a deer. The following directions are the basics of field dressing. Please keep in mind that everyone has his or her own favorite way to do this. Many prefer to completely dress the animal in the woods and others choose to “field” dress and finish the job when they get back home. The option is really yours and where you prefer to be. Personally, I like to do as much as I can in the woods.

 

Having someone with you to assist makes the job easier but I will assume that you are alone with your prize.

1. Locate a spot in the woods that can be beneficial to you. Most prefer to dress a deer on a bit of a downhill grade, so if that is not an option, look for a slight rise in the nearby terrain and drag the deer there. You can use the grade off one side of the rise.

2. The single most important thing that you want to focus on is not cutting into the “ponch”. The ponch is the stomach and intestines. Rupturing those can be messy and the odor sometimes is overpowering so work slowly and methodically.

 

3. If you can position the deer on its back that would be helpful. Again, if you are alone use your dragging rope to assist in tying the deer into position. Don’t be bashful. I find that if I straddle the deer’s head and hold its front legs apart with my knees, it affords me room and keeps both hands free to cut. If you have rope, use it to hold the deer’s two front legs apart.

4. You will find that the dead weight of the animal can be difficult to handle so be patient. The lower part of the deer will be rolled to one side or the other. Starting at the chest area and working toward the butt of the deer is easiest and at a point you need to move from your straddle position at the head to the rear.

5. Start at the chest. Find the point where the rib cage joins together and with one hand grab the hair and skin and lift it up and away from the stomach cavity. With the other hand, use your knife, and you better hope it is sharp, and begin cutting the hide being careful not to go too deep. As you cut, you will find that there is the layer of the hide and directly under that is a thin muscle area that protects the stomach and intestines. Go ahead and carefully cut that as well.

6. Move from the point of the rib cage toward the rear. Approximately 2/3 to ¾ of the way down the torso you will need to switch ends and move down and hold the hind legs apart as you finish opening the deer. The farther you get away from the rib cage, the easier it is to hold the hide and inner muscle layer up and away from the ponch.

7. If the deer you have shot is a buck, you will soon come to its testicles. Choose one side or the other to cut around but eventually you will remove those from the deer. Continue cutting and slice the hide all the way to the anus.

8. This is where most hunters have differing opinions as to what to do next. Most are correct – just different approaches. Hopefully you have succeeded in keeping the stomach in one piece. There are two more things that you need to keep tabs on and work hard not to rupture if possible as some contamination could occur. One is the bladder, the other is the intestines. Many times both will have matter contained in them. Assume that they do.

9. Roll the deer onto one side with the opening you have just made in the body cavity facing downhill. This will require loosening or retying your ropes if you are using them. Let the guts roll out onto the ground along with the blood that has collected in the body cavity. You will now need to get down and get dirty. Reach up into the chest cavity until you find the esophagus. That is the “pipe-like” tube coming from the throat to the deer’s stomach. Once you have found it, reach in with the other hand and a knife and cut it off. This will release the majority of the guts and the intestines will still be connected to the rectum.

10. While holding the hind legs of the deer apart, take your knife and finish removing the testicles. Once that is done, continue cutting with your knife into the meaty part between the hind legs until you strike bone.

11. Move to the very rear end of the deer and locate the anus. Like a fine surgeon, carefully cut around the anus. If you follow the anus through the cavity located between the deer’s hind legs, you would discover that the intestines connect to the anus. If you are careful you can continue to cut around the anus moving deeper and deeper at the same time lightly tugging at the intestines still connected to the guts you have rolled onto the ground. Once successful, you will be able to remove the anus in one piece still connected to the intestines. Some hunters will cut the intestines to finish removing the guts before they remove the rectum and anus. If you choose this option, be as careful as you can not to get deer feces inside the deer cavity. If you have shot a doe, remove the female organs with the rectum and anus.

12. Next, the bladder should be removed. When you removed the testicles of the buck or female organs of a doe, you cut the tube that carries the urine from the bladder. At the end of the bladder toward the head of the deer, is another tube that enters the bladder. Cut it off being as careful as you can not to rupture or spill urine into the cavity. With both tubes cut try to remove the bladder by holding both tubes to prevent urine from escaping.

13. All that is left is the diaphragm and the lungs that you will find deep up inside the chest cavity. You will need reach up inside and cut through the diaphragm to gain access to the lungs. The furthest reach you will have is to locate the windpipe and cut it off. Once that is done the lungs and diaphragm come out quite easily.

That is pretty much it. Again some hunters prefer to only remove the ponch and finish the job later. That’s up to you. If you have access to water, it is helpful to be able to rinse off yourself and some opt to rinse the inside of the deer cavity as well. Some will do it well when they get home.

A couple more helpful hints: Carry some extra paper towel sheets with you or I carry baby wipes. They can clean up a lot of things and I often use them as toilet paper. Also, once the deer has been gutted, I like to roll the deer into a spread eagle position and leave it while I clean up etc. and let a lot of the blood in the cavity drain before it clots.