![]() Every buck we have taken since 1990 glanced directly at us one to three times as they approached and not one displayed the least hint of recognition or alarm. Logically, we also decided we should always cover our heads with loose-fitting camo headnets while hunting whitetails (caps worn on top). We lack a muzzle and distinguishable ears, and to make matters worse, our faces are covered with hairless skin that contrasts greatly with forest backgrounds. Like our bodies, our heads are unlike those of any other creatures regularly seen by whitetails. We also soon discovered today’s adult whitetails readily spot and identify the human head. Logically, we decided all stand-hunting and all shooting must be done while seated, and we promptly began practicing firing our bows and firearms while seated on our hunting stools. Conversely, if motionless, today’s adult dear rarely spot and identify the human body seated in front of a fairly solid, natural background (lots of tree trunks, for example). The human body, especially while in the act of raising a bow or firearm and preparing to fire is not an easy object to hide from the motion-sensitive eyes of whitetails at any range.Įarly on, my hunting partners and I discovered today’s adult deer (not always true of fawns and yearlings) readily spot and identify the standing human body, on the ground or sky-lit in a tree, moving or motionless. Before long, using backpacked stools, we were experiencing the best buck hunting ever, taking more than 90% of our deer within 10–30 yards (bow range).īecoming invisible to whitetails within bow range at ground level is no easy task. This change prompted my hunting partners and I to try to develop a better way to hunt whitetails at ground level. Which deer did they harvest? Dear vulnerable to treestand hunting, of course, and as might be expected, selective cropping of this magnitude began creating a race of deer less vulnerable to tree stand hunting.< The biggest reason was that tree stand hunters had accounted for an enormous percentage of the total number of deer taken each fall for nearly two decades. Initially, all whitetails, even mature bucks, were astonishingly blind to hunters perched in trees, and before you knew it, all bowhunters and most firearm hunters were using elevated stands.īy 1990, however, it was becoming evident adult whitetails were becoming increasingly adept at identifying and avoiding hunters using elevated stands. In 1970, our bowhunting success vastly improved when we began hunting from primitive platforms nailed between adjacent tree trunks 6 feet above the ground. ![]() How well did it work? Rare was the approaching dear that failed to spot me before wandering into bow range. After donning my suit, I’d smear my face with burnt cork or mud, cover the glossy limbs of my recurve with camo fabric and, upon reaching my stand site, I’d string a 10-foot length of camo netting around the stump or log I planned to sit on. The first camo suit I owned, considered one of the best available, was a recycled relic from an Army surplus store. Archers didn’t have much to work with back then. (This pile is much bigger than we typically use.)īack in 1960 (before anyone thought of using elevated platforms for hunting whitetails), the most challenging part of bowhunting was becoming invisible to deer. Ken Nordberg ĭoc working on a ground blind by filling the holes of a huge natural brush pile.
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