Well I’m heading down to Texas this evening for a little family reunion and I’ll be down there til the beginning of next week. Unfortunately I won’t be doing any hunting, but maybe I’ll be able to get my eyes on some nice Texas whitetails, there sure are plenty of them down there. While I’m gone I certainly don’t want to leave you guys hanging, so I thought I would suggest some of my posts from the past for you all to check out. Here are some of my favorite Wired To Hunt posts from days gone by, hope you enjoy and be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments!

5 Tips for Hunting Pressured Whitetails – John Eberhart: John is one of the most successful whitetail bowhunters in the Michigan and the entire country. He has develope a rigorous system to get on mature bucks and get within bow range in even the most pressured areas. For anyone hunting in areas like Michigan, Pennsylvania or New York John’s insight is a must read. Here are his top 5 tips for chasing bucks in these high pressure areas.

Exclusive Interview with Chris Brackett: For any Chris Brackett or Arrow Affliction fans out there, this interview is going to be of interest to you. Chris recently decided to leave the Arrow Affliction show, so check out this article to learn why he left and what he plans to do next!

Using Google Maps to Scout Whitetail Deer: Right now is a great time to find new pieces of land to hunt and the first step to scouting that land is to review aerial maps. Using Google Maps to do this is quick, easy and effective. Check out this article to learn a little bit more about how you can use these maps to better understand your property and how to develop a strategy for hunting it.

Common Threads – Scott Bestul: Scott Bestul is a deer hunting writer that runs the Field & Stream blog Whitetail 365 and has been published in Field & Stream and Deer & Deer Hunting just to name a few. He was kind enough to write a guest post for Wired To Hunt describing the common threads that run across all consistently successful hunters of mature bucks. For anyone trying to reach that level of consistent success, you need to check  out this article.

If you are interested in harvesting a mature whitetail buck or are hoping to implement Quality Deer Management principles on your land, you have to be able to properly age deer on the hoof. This is easier said than done, but with experience you can train your eye to find the key characteristics that can help you age that buck cruising in front of your stand. So let me throw you a few of my own quick tips and then I’ll offer some more in-depth resources.

So here are a few of the key things I consider when trying to age a deer in the field….

1. Body size and shape is more important than antler size.
2. Look at the deer’s face and nose. A long nose means an old deer. Fawns and yearlings typically have short stout faces, so don’t shoot those lil guys!
3. A mature buck can be keyed out pretty consistently by taking a look at their neck and shoulder/stomach area. A big mature buck will have a very thick neck and broad muscular shoulders that almost seem to be a continuation of that massive neck. Look for a sag in the stomach on those older deer.

These are just the first three things I consider when aging a deer, but there’s a lot more to it than that if you really want to dig in. So check out these great explanations of typical characteristics for certain deer age ranges from a Texas Parks & Wildlife article.

1 1/2 Year Olds

As you can see, 1 1/2-year-old bucks appear dainty, with baby faces and thin necks. Their legs appear long and slender, and their torso is slim like a doe’s. In a photo of a 1 1/2-year-old buck, cover the antlers with your thumb and you will see that the body resembles a doe. Yearling buck antler development is highly variable, ranging from tiny spikes to 10 or more points. But even super 1 1/2-year-old bucks with multiple points will have small, thin antlers, and the lengths of the main beams will be short compared to older bucks.

2 1/2 Year Olds

The best way to describe the bodies of 2 1/2-year-old bucks is gangly and awkward. Their legs appear to be growing too fast for their body. Their bodies, while thicker than those of 1 1/2-year-olds, still have legs and necks that appear stretched in proportion. The head will appear long from the side. For the first time, their antlers will begin to catch your eye, which is probably why 2 1/2 is the average age of whitetail bucks harvested in many areas. Most 2 1/2-year-olds are big travellers during the rut, because they typically are not active breeders in herds with balanced adult sex ratios and good buck age structure. During the rut, their tarsal glands may be dark, but the very darkest area is usually very small and round in appearance.

3 1/2 Year Olds

A fuller neck and deeper chest are characteristics of a 3 1/2 year old. Their neck muscles are expanding from increased hormones and use during the rut but are still not as large or thick as a fully mature buck. Their chest is beginning to appear larger than their rump, but their back and stomach are still straight and taut. Also, their neck is still distinct by four or five inches from their brisket. Their tarsals will be dark during the rut but usually will appear small, and the dark staining from the urine usually does not extend down the leg to the hoof.

4 1/2 Year Olds

When bucks reach 4 1/2, they attain skeletal maturity and begin exhibiting many characteristics of full maturity. Their bodies have reached full size but are muscular and lean. This is the first time their legs do not appear longer than they should for their body. Their legs may even appear slightly short for the thickened body. The majority of 4 1/2-year-old bucks will have a significant increase in antler growth over the previous year. Focus your attention on the body and face when aging, especially if the buck has very good antlers. Bucks at this age can grow very respectable antlers, making them difficult for hunters to pass.

5 1/2 Year Olds

At 5 1/2 years old, most bucks will be carrying the largest set of antlers they have ever grown. Their bodies also exhibit some noticeable changes. Typically, their stomach and back have a noticeable sag. Their neck will swell considerably during the rut, making the neck and brisket appear to be one continuous muscle. Also, their neck, while being very big, will appear muscular and firm and not flabby. The tarsals will be noticeably large and very dark with many bucks having staining down the inside of the leg to the hoof. And 5 1/2-year-old bucks’ legs will appear short almost to an exaggerated extent, due to the fuller and fatter bodies.

A few more good articles you might want to check out…

Aging on the Hoof – Petersen’s  Hunting

Aging Bucks on the Hoof – Quality Deer Management Association

“Shooting a RAGE is like throwing an axe at an animal”- Chuck Adams, World-Class Hunter

So whats with all the hype? I feel like everyone and there kid brother is using Rage broadheads these days or atleast talking about them. I’m curious, I admit, to see if these things really do blow 2 inch holes through a deer and create blood trails so huge that even your half blind great aunt could follow it. Before I drop my hard earned cash on these things I’ve had to delve into them a little bit more and it only seems fair to share my findings with all of you.

So first lets look at what the manufacturer says in their own words…Here is the description of how the much acclaimed “SlipCam” works and why it makes the Rage so deadly.

“Upon impact, the SlipCam™ initiates and the blades slide back and deploy from the rear. By the time the blades impact, they are fully deployed.

Once the “shoulders” of the blades catch, they slip down shaft. Each blade cams out, deploying from the rear while the cut-on-impact tip penetrates the hide. Before the blades reach the hide, they are fully deployed, even hyper extended… giving you a maximum cutting diameter.

3 Advantages! The revolutionary SlipCam™ Rear Blade Deployment System gives you…

1. Guaranteed fully deployed Blades

High-speed footage of over-the-top heads show the blades do not fully open until after they enter. RAGE’s rear-deploying blades are guaranteed to be fully deployed before they enter which means you’ll get the benefit of the heads full cutting diameter!

2. No loss of kinetic energy

Because RAGE’s blades are fully deployed on impact they penetrate like a fixed-blade head. Over-the-top expandables lose kinetic energy due to deployment during entry and deflection.

3. Eliminate deflection

An angled hit with an over-the-top expandable can result in the leading blade grabbing first and throwing the head off line… RAGE’s rear deploying blades follow the cut-on-impact tip and will not grab or deflect and give you full cutting diameter on impact!”

This all sounds good, but it is straight from the guys making money on this one. So I wanted to see what other people had to say. After checking out forums and product reviews on Cabelas the consensus was still pretty popular. Lots of talk about the massive holes and awesome blood trails. Seems that penetration is really great for the most part as well. But there were also mentions of issues with the o-rings and some peoples front tips were bending upon impact. So there were some concerns I want to check on.

For the most part I like what I hear, but seeing is believing, so here are some pictures and videos that really tell the story.

Due to the graphic nature of almost all the videos and pictures that really show what the Rage can do, I have decided not to post them directly on the main page. But follow these links to check out some gnarly images of the damage the Rage can cause. Warning these are GRAPHIC. Please don’t visit these links unless you are truly comfortable with seeing dead deer. These images are not to celebrate gore, but rather to show how effective and humane of a killing tool these broadheads can be.

Wound Pictures From the 2 blade Rage broadhead

More Wound Pics

Uncensored footage from Rage website – watching these videos put me over the edge

These things are nasty. But they work and it seems like they are the most devastating broadheads out there. What this means in the end  is that the deer will perish as quickly as is possible, ensuring a swift, humane and responsible kill. And that is what’s most important to me.

All this being said, I plan on picking up some Rage broadheads soon. Once I return to Michigan and give them a try, I’ll let you know what I think.

More importantly, I’d really like to hear what you have to say! How do you guys like the Rage broadheads?

UPDATE 11/11/09: Check out my thoughts on the Rage after using one to bring down a buck this past weekend.

Good luck hunting and remember to get your fix at Wired To Hunt!

The arrow is released,  the follow through is solid and your mark is true. What could possibly go wrong at this point? Well a lot of things, but in many cases your arrow sails over the back of your buck as he crouches and then springs away. Most of you have probably experienced or heard of a scenario similar to the the one I have just described. This phenomenon is commonly referred to as “jumping the string.”  For those of you unfamiliar with this idea, here is a quick video of a buck jumping the string.

So what is actually happening here? The deer is not consciously dodging the arrow, rather it is instinctively reacting to a stimuli. The moment the deer hears an unknown surprising sound it’s “fight or flight” reaction kicks in gear and it immediately drops and loads up to bounce away. Unfortunately this often also helps them by ducking underneath many unfortunate hunters arrows.

So how drastic of an effect can this have on your chances of sticking a buck this year? Well lets consider how much a deer can move once you release your arrow. According to secondary data I’ve found, a deer can drop about 1 in in .1 seconds. So that being given and assuming you are are using a newer bow shooting about 300 fps, your arrow would take about .2 seconds to reach a deer at 20 yards. That would give the deer enough time to hypothetically drop 2 feet, but given the time it would take for the deer to initially hear the bow, you can estimate that a deer could still drop as much as a foot. This math seems to back up what many people have seen in real life or on shows. All of this being said, what is there that we hunters can do to reduce the chances of a deer ducking our arrow?

It seems that solutions to this problem are varied and much debated in hunting circles. There seems to be three general options or steps you can take.

• Shoot a faster bow
• Shoot a quieter bow
• Compensate and aim low
• Do not shoot at alerted or “jumpy” deer

1. First lets talk about shooting a faster bow. I can see the benefits of shooting a faster bow for increasing accuracy or range, but when it comes to trying to out run sound, its not going to happen. The fastest bows today travel at around 340 fps, thats fast but sound travels at nearly 1100 fps, so lets assume no matter how fast your bow is, the sound will reach the deer much faster than your arrow.

2. On the other hand the act of silencing your bow can have better results. Dampening the noise of your bow can help decrease the chances of a deer jumping the string and it can be achieved in a plethora of ways. Silencing your bow is a whole story for another time, but in short you can buy a variety of silencers and dampeners that can be attached to your bow or strings that can reduce the noise produced. The quieter you can get your bow, the better.

3. The idea of compensating for this “jump” is possibly the most debated aspect of dealing with this. Should you aim low or shouldn’t you?

In my opinion it makes sense to try to compensate for this to a certain extent. I would not want to aim outside of the kill zone, but it definitely makes sense to me that you should aim at the lower third of the vitals. If the deer doesn’t coil I hit the bottom of the lungs and heart. If the deer does coil, I hit the top of the lungs and still have a dead deer down. This compensation won’t always be enough, but it seems to be a safe way to balance the probability of either situation occuring.

4. Last you must consider whether the deer is spooked or not. Ideally you want to be shooting at a deer that is completely oblivious to your existence, but thats not always how it goes down. These “oblivious” deer still can jump your string, but it seems that it doesn’t happen as often. A deer that has tensed up and is on the alert is much more likely to quickly react to a strange noise and book it out of there. If you can try to take your shots at unspooked deer, if you aren’t so lucky it is definitely a good idea to assume the deer will coil and aim a little bit low.

Hopefully being aware of the phenomenon of “jumping the string” and being able to prepare for it will help increase your chances of bagging a buck this fall. For more info check out these resources

North American Hunter clip, Bowsite.com Article, DIY Hunting article

Watch this video to see what Chuck Adams, possibly the worlds most accomplished archer, has to say about jumping the string.

Have any other thoughts or ideas on the topic? Let us know! I know there are a lot of opinions out there, so lets hear em!

There will be 10 unique shows this year covering all the “Midwest” states and they already have a  lot of great episodes from this fall’s early seasons. You can check out the home page at MidwestWhitetail.com and if you are a Michigan hunter like me, you can get to the Michigan online videos directly by following this link . This series covers the hunting season from preseason scouting all the way through the fall. I highly recommend checking out your own states videos as your season progresses. Who knows you might pick up a tip or trick that will help you out the next time you hit the woods!

Here’s a sample of a video from last season with the founder Bill Winke…

Spring can be a slow time for deer hunters, but it’s never too early to start preparing for next season. One of the best things to set yourself up for success next year is to create food plots, but this is easier said than done. Luckily there are a lot of great resources out there to help out.

This being said, a really great resource has been brought to my attention. This next Thursday, May 7, DeerandDeerhunting.com will be hosting a “Webinar” about Food Plot Management. For those of you not familiar with webinars, it is essentially an online seminar that you can follow from your home computer. Deer & Deer Hunting describes it this way…

A webinar is a seminar hosted online. From the comfort of your home PC, an expert will give a presentation about a certain topic. A Powerpoint-style presentation, complete with audio and video, plays on your computer as the expert discusses the topic. You will have many opportunities to ask questions about the topic. This structure is focused enough to explore the topic deeply, but also flexible enough to deliver the information you want to know.

The webinar is at 7 PM Est and will run for approximately one hour, with a $20 fee for access to this program. One attendee will also win three bags of forage seed from Frigid Forage worth about $135. If food plots are on your to do list, I highly recommend you take advantage of this great opportunity to learn from some of the best in the field. To register visit this link and move fast because there are only 100 spots available.

• May 7, 2009
• 7 p.m. Eastern / 6 p.m. Central
• Topic: Food Plot Management: How to Pick the Right Seed for Your Soil: Advanced Tips for Working Man’s Food Plots
• Expert: Matt Harper, Deer & Deer Hunting magazine author, deer nutrition and food plot authority
• Cost: $20/one hour
ONLY 100 SEATS AVAILABLE.

A great image from Gerber's homepage

I get asked very frequently why it is that I like to hunt. In the past I’ve had a very long winded answer which covered everything from my love for the outdoors, to the sound of a deer’s steps on frost covered leaves to the taste of freshly cooked venison. But recently I’ve found a way to describe that almost religious experience I feel every time I step into the woods with a gun or bow in hand.

When I head into the outdoors to go hiking or canoeing I get to be in the outdoors and see nature, but when I go hunting I actually become a part of nature. I, for a small time, enter into the circle of life and work to establish my position in the food chain. I am no longer an intruder into the world of wild creatures, I instead become something much more primal and real. It is in these moments that I feel the most alive and it’s why I will forever cherish the hunt. Why do you?

Buck Fever …as defined by the Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary, is the nervous excitement of an inexperienced hunter at the sight of game.

Although this is a decent enough definition, I would be willing to argue that buck fever applies to a lot more people than just inexperienced hunters. We have all experienced that moment in the woods when our buck appears and our nerves dissolve. Something about having the pinnacle of your hard work and anticipation show up in front of you as a shining ivory rack seems to drive the human body into a nervous meltdown. Dealing with this “target panic” is one of the greatest challenges that faces a hunter every fall. Just to get to this point, with a shooter buck or doe in front of you, you must have done close to everything right. But it is these crucial few seconds at the end of your journey that will decide the ending of your great hunting story. Over the years people have came up with an uncountable number of ways to deal with this challenge, and although there is no one right answer, it is important to find something that works for you and be prepared for the climax of your hunt.

When it comes to my strategy I primarily focus on controlling my breathing. When I first see a deer that could be a buck I immediately begin to take very slow deep breaths. I breathe in, completely filling my lungs, hold it and then slowly release all the air out. Doing this during the moments leading up to a shot seems to help control my heart beat and generally calms me down. As the deer approaches I focus on the vitals on the deer, and repeat in my head to ”aim small, miss small”.

Now this works for me, but it is not for everyone. To gauge the masses for some different ideas, I posed the question of dealing with Buck Fever to the Deer & Deer Hunting online forums. Here is a sample of some other great ideas to help prepare you for dealing with Buck Fever the next time “The Big One” steps into your sights.

“Don’t over think! I always do that :/ Not so much with a gun but with my bow. Just take a deep breath and try to pretend like your taking practice in your back yard” – Demoderby4

“As the deer approaches, picture the deer naked (not naked naked, but where it’s vitals are).  Start focusing on the deer and where you are going to put your pin, or sights.  Whatever you do, don’t look at the antlers again.  I keep my mouth closed, and breathe out of my nose.  To help slow my heartbeat.  As less intake of air helps me focus more on my shot.  When that deer’s head is behind a tree, or when it looks the other direction that’s when you get ready for your shot, i.e. draw back, raise your gun whatever it may be.

The biggest thing for me, is to not focus on the antlers or how good it is going to taste with a side of mashed potatoes.  Rather focusing on the shot placement.  I actually try to pick out an exact hair where I want to hit.  Like others have said, aim small, miss small.  It works, just try to control your breathing, and that can be done by different methods, for me, it’s just breathing through my nose, and not looking at the antlers on it’s head.” – Gafrage

“Immediately after 1 look you know its a shooter and I mean immediately, don’t look again, make the decision on your first look then I pick out a tuft of hair on its vitals and focus on that, NOT THE ANTLERS.  Then when it gets close to my range or shooting lane I still focus on the tuft of hair, start to sing my favorite song in my head while breathing very slowly and finally before the release or trigger pull I breathe in deep and exhale soft and slow and finally at the very end of the exhale I let it fly.  It is important to do it at the very end of the exhale as this is when you will be the most steady and calm, according to Marine Snipers anyway.”

- dmiancfa

“Run around while shooting your bow at home. That way when you pick it up you are out of breath, and it kinda resumbles the real thing.” – Deercamp

To get involved in the Deer & Deer Hunting Forums visit this link.

I came across this great rattling video created by Scott Bestul, the accomplished writer and expert Whitetail hunter who runs the “Whitetail365″ blog on the Field & Stream website. It offers simple and understandable advice and examples of how to effectively rattle in deer. Give this video a watch and I can almost promise you that it will help you hone your rattling sequences this fall and hopefully you’ll have a big rack on the wall this winter to show for it.

Make sure to check out more of Scot Bestul’s great insight at Whitetail365.