I like to think of hunting as a predator vs. prey activity. We hunters as the predator need to do everything in our power to tip the odds as much in our possible. Our greatest evolutionary gift was our enormous prefrontal cortex which gives us the ability to engage in complex thought, and crucially the ability to understand the patterns of our prey. We will talk more in coming posts about some things I have learned about becoming a better predator, but without further adieu let's dive into our prey.
Evolution
The Law of evolution as brought to us by Darwin essentially states that successful organisms reproduce and unsuccessful ones do not reproduce removing their genes from the gene pool. This process has been occurring on Earth for at least 3.8 billion years. How does this apply to whitetail deer? Imagine the predators both extinct and current that whitetails and their ancestors have not only had to survive with but also reproduce.
The evolutionary history of whitetail deer is fascinating, and I encourage you to dive deeper for yourself. I recommend Biology and Management of White-tailed Deer which has a very detailed story from the small rabbit like forms that would eventually develop longer legs. Then those deer like forms would develop oral weaponry, which eventually turn into antlers.
Gifts of Evolution
The reason I bring up evolution and make us think about the fact that every whitetail walking in the woods right now is part of an unbroken chain of ancestors all the way back to the last universal common ancestor. They have been given gifts along the way, which they will use to their advantage in the woods to avoid predators.
Ears- Deer are blessed with unbelievable good hearing. Metal clicks especially trigger their flight reflexes. This is why when you are checking through your gear doing anything you can to lessen any noise that you make. Hockey tape on metal items can help. When selecting clothing make sure it is silent when you pull your bow back.
Nose- studies show deer can smell at least as good as a blue tick hound. Reducing scent in the woods will help you fill more tags. I utilize scentlok and think it works. I have not heard of anyone who uses scentlok properly deciding to go another direction. I'll cover my entire scent routine in a later post because it is that how important having an effective scent plan.
Rumen- the gift of a rumen is that ruminants can gather lots of food and then go hide and digest. Deer feed five times per 24 hour cycle going varying distances from cover. What this means for us as hunters is two-fold; first most of the day deer spend it lying around and not doing much, second deer move at predictable times around sunrise, about 10:30 am and sunset. If you are not in the woods during those times you have zero chance. Every year I watch hunters leave the woods a few minutes before shooting light is over and I feel bad for them. You did all of that work to go hunting and you left your best 10 minutes on the table, and maybe even ruined the tree in the future.
Timed Breeding Cycle- "the rut" as it is reffered to in hunting strategies is when does come into estrus and bucks run around all hours of day and night looking to secure themselves breeding opportunities. Generally some things to keep in mind the rut happens at the same time every year, early or late is measured by like 4 to 6 hours. This times when fawns drop. Fawns are food for a lot of predators for the first couple weeks of their lives. Newborns are even susceptible to Bald Eagles. By timing the drop of fawns to as short of a window as possible it has a masting type effect (producing more than predators could possibly eat). There is good hunting leading up to the rut, during the rut and even in the post-rut phases. This is a topic we will cover in much greater detail as the time of year approaches.
The above characteristics make whitetails a true challenge to hunt in the woods, but by understanding your prey better and understanding that they are truly designed to live in the brush most of the time. However there are some simple tried and true things us bowhunters can do to help give us an edge. Get in the woods during a time when the deer are ruminating, be quiet when sitting and have quiet gear to complete the ambush. Having a scent control plan to accompany this. Then utilizing the rut phases to your advantage. Join me next week while I try my best to break down a couple good deer sets as we begin to move to think about the predator side of things because we can control what we do in the woods.