Speed Scouting for Deer Season

 Fall is here everyone!  It's gotten a little chilly down here in central NC, especially after Sally came through and brought so much rain.  Either way, for those of you who see my social media posts, you know I've had quite the last few months!  Graduating college, starting a new full time job, and welcoming a new daughter!  

That doesn't leave a lot of time to scout for the upcoming deer season to pinpoint new spots.  If you're pretty familiar with the property, then great, head start!  You may not need to find out where deer hang out on the property, as you may have that down.  But, there may be new bucks in the area or some new patterns individuals may have.  So, keep your cameras going!

If you're unfamiliar with the area you're hunting, like trying out public land, then you need to get started quick!  Hunting apps like HuntStand or OnXMaps are really useful here to get a grip on an aerial view to identify possible pinch points and routes to and from food/bedding.  On the ground, if you find an oak ridge, or a flat spot between two slopes where there's an oak stand, great!  Or, maybe is a lower area between to slopes where deer may travel from bedding to food.  Look for natural barriers that may attract deer movement.  

If you're hunting a smaller property, like so many suburban hunters, deer are likely in the thick stuff.  Deer love the thicker sanctuaries because quite frankly, they don't have many other places to go.  And that's also where people are less common.  Bottom areas where there is a creek with woods and some thicker undergrowth is a good place to start when trying to find deer, as often those sites aren't buildable and therefore are left alone. Where law allows, you can possibly attract deer and hold them on a smaller property with some corn feeding or even a mineral site.  Quite possibly a small food plot can be planted and if well managed, you're in the gold.  But that's more of a long term thing, we're talking speed scouting!

Again, you're speed scouting, trying to narrow down quickly where deer are and aren't.  Not only scan for landmarks and land/food qualities, but be on the lookout for any rubs, scrapes, or beds in the area.  It's amazing how often you will stumble onto stuff like that.  When you see something of note, mark down that spot!  If you do so, patterns may start to emerge on the map that you may not have noticed otherwise.

Fishing on the Watauga River

The Watauga River in western NC is only 60 miles long, but it offers good fishing, depending on where you fish.  Watauga is a Cherokee name and it means "the land beyond 1."
  Last week I was in the mountains with family and we wanted to throw in a line.  A man pointed us to a road that runs parallel to the river.  We went and fished, and caught nothing for a while.  Then, I had almost given up, and BAM!  A smallmouth hit my lure with a fierce blow.  I fought him a little too quick, because he had a lot of fight in him.  I was just about to grab him (he was around a foot long and weighed maybe 2lbs, at least 1 1/2lbs) for a picture and the jerked and flipped and snapped the line!!
  Even so, I had fun. I'll try to get some pictures if I can, then I'll add it to this article.  But here are a few things I have learned about river/creek fishing in general:

1. Fish what the fish will bite.  If they don't want surface lure, try a diver (where legal) or a spoon or worm.  Jigs will also trigger a bite.  If the river is shallow, get a diver that, of course, dives but floats. If it sinks, then it will drag along the bottom like a rock when you reel it in.
2. Artifical bait is good for using a small bobber and a little line below it.  Don't go any deeper than about 8 inches, but that will depend.  A shallow creek will need less line below the bobber than one would in the Mississippi River.
3. Bass strike hard and fast.  They (at least smallmouths) also like to jump out of the water.  Keep you line tight and try to tire the fish out a little by giving him a little line.  But keep it tight.
4. Trout seem to know if someone is fishing for them.  You have to be somewhat stealthy and don't let them know you are there.  

As anyone should, check your state fishing laws to make sure the way you fish is legal.  And always have fun.  Till next time!!

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watauga_River  

Apply What You Learn into Practice

So, yesterday I was hunting, again, and I unknowingly walked, apparently, into a does bedroom.  I started to walk into a big clump of thorn bushes and a doe jumped out and seem very surprised I was there.  I had read a lot about hunting in some books the last few weeks so I put what I read into practice.  I read that deer sometimes double-back, so I waited in a little clear stretch in a bottleneck in the woods close to where the does bed was.  The doe, thinking the danger had past, came back through the clearing (really a 10 foot wide path) came back right in front of me in bow range.  I wasn't prepared to draw back because the doe was walking so silent.  But the doe kept walking and I didn't get to shoot.  But I decided to follow, but I scared it so it ran off again.  I waited a while but I decided to head home before I saw it again.  So, don't feel bad for me.  I don't.  The lesson is this: deer sometimes will double-back.

Find Your Direction

"We have our heading!"  You hear that every now and then in the movies.  And if you want to find you direction in the wilderness, how do you do it?
First, you should always have a compass.  If you don't have one, and you want to find your direction in the morning, east is the direction of the sun.  If you point your right hand to the general direction of east then you should have your left hand in the general direction of west.  Your face will face north and you back south.
At midday if you walk east the sun will be on your right shoulder.  Walk west and the sun will be on your left shoulder.  Walk south and the sun will be shining in your face.  Walk north, of course, the sun will be at you back.

Essential Skills for Survival

These are seven essential survival skills that everyone needs to know if your caught out in the middle of nowhere and need to survive.  I will show you how to make a fire in almost every weather, types of shelter, find food and water, dress right for the climate, signal for help, and first aid.

1.Fire 
Fire is a great confidence builder.  It will keep you warm, cook your food, purify water, and keep animals away. But we need to start the fire.  Okay, lets do so.
First you can use matches to start a fire.  Some waterproof camping matches would work well.  Or you could bring a cigarette lighter with you which will light over 1,000 times and will work even when wet.  Flint and steel will also work too.  Using a magnifying glass will work if the sun is shining brightly and overhead.  Move the lens  back and fourth until the sunlight is shining though the lens in a bright, small dot.  This way it won't take long to start a fire.  This will also work with a camera lens in the same way.
Tinder can be small dead twigs, dead grass,  the inner bark of dead trees, dead leaves, and dry evergreen needles.  You can also carry a little bag full of tinder  just in case it rains.

2.Shelter
Now that a fire is built, you will need shelter.
A lean-to shelter would work well.  You find 2 trees that have a good sturdy branch about 6 feet above the ground.  Remove all of the branches near it except one one the same side of each tree.  Find a thick sapling near 10 feet tall and use it to lay across the two branches to form the ridgepole.  Find other saplings (big saplings that have been knocked down will work too) Around 8-10 feet long and lay them on the ridgepole to form the roof.  Then weave flexible twigs and sticks through the roof poles to make the wall or use evergreen branches.
If you brought a tarp with you then you can make an A-frame shelter quite easily.  Simply lean a downed tree against a fork in a tree a couple feet from the ground and put the tarp over it.  Then tie the tarp down on both sides.  If you don't have rope or twine to tie it down then you can use good sized rocks to weigh it down on both sides.

3.Water
Water can be found everywhere on the planet.  If there is a stream close to your campsite then go fetch some water and boil it over a fire for ten minutes to kill all the contamination that the water may contain.  You can use a pot if you brought one or a rock that can hold an amount of water.  However, if you have no choice, then drink the cleanest and coldest water you can find.

4.Food 
Food is accessible even in the most remote areas.  If there is a creek that is big enough or a pond there may well be fish in them.  Fishhooks can be made from animal bones that have been sharpened, nails can be made into fishhooks by bending them, even thorns can be made into hooks.  If you don't have fishing line with you, you can make boot laces into fishing line and a leather belt cut into thin laces will work too.  As I've written down in another article about minnow traps, you can catch those and use them as bait or you can eat them.  Just squeeze them to take the waste matter out of them and you can eat them raw or roasted.
Small game can be caught by making a snare by tying a hangman's noose by tying a loop at one end of a piece of string, wire, cord, or twine and pushing the other end though the loop. When pulled on, this loop will tighten, strangling the animal till the survivor arrives.  The animal will put its head through but won't be able to pull its body through.

5.Clothing
 You need to be ready when you go out into the wilderness to wear the proper clothing for that climate.  And pack for the worst thing that could happen.  You will need the extra clothes to keep you warm and dry.


6.Signaling for help 
If you  need to signal for help.  You can get to a clear area and make an SOS sign with rocks or pine boughs.  SOS, by the way, isn't an abbreviation, it just stands as a distress signal.  A fire can also work well because rescuers can see the smoke.  And if an aircraft is about to fly over you, try to get into an open area and hold both hands up.  This signal means "I need help".  Don't hold up just one because that signal means "I don't need help."  You can use reflective mirrors to get the pilots attention by putting the reflective light inside the cockpit.  Then after you get the pilots attention, (which you can tell after the pilot rocks the plane side to side or after they "nod" the plane) do your two hand signal.
 
7.First Aid
Always bring a first aid kit just in case you need to treat any injuries that might happen.  At least bring along bandages and alcohol swabs to clean cuts.  You can also bring Q-tips and plenty of water purifying tablets if you want them.