Reverse Scent Control

Here’s a tactic that is so deadly on big bucks, that I hate to share it with you. I call it, “ Reverse Scent Control”.


I first came across this idea immediately after I used Limburger cheese to change the deer’s travel pattern and entice them to travel underneath my stand. Whitetail deer are extremely adaptable and it wasn’t four days later when the deer had become accustomed to the stink of the Limburger and were back to their old travel patterns and my stand was once again useless.

I knew where there was one hell of a deer highway through the heavy timber. I saw big bucks every day from my stand. The problem was with scent control. It seems no matter how careful I was the bucks were picking up faint traces of my scent and leaving the area before I could get a shot. I reasoned if the deer could become accustomed to the scent of Limburger cheese in only four days maybe I could get them accustomed to small amounts of my residual odor.

This stand location was only 20 min. away from my work at the lumber mill. Every day for a month prior to hunting season I would jump in my pickup, drive the 20 min., jog to the base of the tree which held my stand, and return to work before my lunch hour was over. It worked like a charm and I successfully harvested over half a dozen trophy bucks out of that stand over the years. Of course, I took extreme caution to keep my hunting clothes and boots clean. I entered the stand atleast two hours before I expected any deer movement, but I never had to resort to using cover scents.

*A word of caution: this tactic only works in locations you can visit on a daily basis. If you think you can visit your stand once a week or even every other day and produce enough residual scent for the deer to become accustomed to you, you are sadly mistaken. If you’re fortunate enough to be able to hunt on your own “back 40" this can be an extremely effective tactic.

*Please note: I spread my residual odor around the stand during the middle of the day when the deer are least active. It does little good to try to spread residual odor when the deer can see you. All you will be doing is educating them to the fact the residual odor comes from a man and they will more likely leave the area altogether or only come through after dark.

Good Luck and Good Hunting,
Jim

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This is your chance to learn from MY mistakes‏

By now, you know I wrote the book Buck Naked; The Straight Dope on Trophy Whitetails. What you may not know is that this isn’t my first rodeo. When I first started hunting I failed miserably. So miserably, in fact, that I could n’t hunt my way out of a turnstyle without a compass.

Why? Because I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t have an expert to guide me, to take me by the hand and prevent me from making many mistakes.

This is YOUR chance to get that expert guidance. Use it, starting now, to start hunting the RIGHT way, the FIRST time.

Get your copy of "Buck Naked; The Straight Dope on Trophy Whitetails" here

This book takes my 4 decades’ worth of experience and expertise and distills it into power-packed lessons. It’s designed to give you the practical ideas, strategies and techniques I’ve learned over the past 4 decades – the very same ones I used to harvest dozens of trophy class bucks on public land.

In the book you learn:

1) Speed Scouting Techniques
2) Deer Psychology
3) The Magic Formula to Success
4) The Trophy Hunters Mindset
5) Your Most Valuable Asset (it may not be what you think it is)
6)The Very Worst Use of Your Time (this may surprise you – are you wasting yours?)

And MUCH more.You don’t HAVE to learn to hunt the HARD way – I’ve already done it, and I’m inviting you to skip the costly “lessons” and lay down the foundation for an ultra-successful hunting right now.

Learn more about "Hunting Success Made Simple" here.

Here’s to your success in hunting, starting now,
Jim

Are You a Buck Magnet or Cactus?

Are you a buck magnet or a cactus?
It is an interesting proposition isn't it? Attracting deer to us might be what we think would be the best possible solution, right? After all, magnets attract things with an undeniable force. We have all heard of people who were alleged to be "deer magnets". You know the fellows who seem to have whitetail blood in their veins or who have deer following them as if they were the "Pied Piper".
Are there hunters who by some magical force attract deer to them?
The answer is "No".
Deer are not attracted to humans in any way, shape or form. These so called "deer magnets" are simply less offensive (less like a cactus) to the deer than other hunters. These are the hunters who are diligent in their efforts to remain undetected.
Unfortunately, most of us are "deer cacti". We plunge though season after season with little regard to how abhorrent the deer find us. We place our stands where we want them. We pay little attention to wind direction and then only when it is convenient. At best, our personal hygiene and keeping our clothing scent free is a hit or miss. Why? Because, instead of making every effort to remain undetectable, we are lazy and expect the deer to simply not notice us.
Speaking of magnets....there are locations that are true deer magnets. Corn, alfalfa, beet or bean fields near thick cover are bonafide deer magnets. We need to seek places that offer preferred feed and/or security. Areas that attract and hold deer are considered to be magnets or "sticky". Deer will stick to these remote, low contact areas as if they were glued. Locating habitat with little or no hunting pressure is a must if you are after a mature buck.
The ability of these magnetic patches to house deer can change throughout the season. Crops can be harvested and cover can become over hunted. Like anything else, if there is nothing to hold the deer there, they eventually move on to the next magnetic area of their choice.
People are deer "cacti" and big bucks go to great extremes to avoid human contact. In the hunting world, fortuitous happenings occur only when we are undetected. We need to create a situation where the miraculous can happen.
Hunters who appear to be "deer magnets" are, generally speaking, obsessive compulsive in their approach to hunting whitetail deer. They hunt with the wind and place their stands high. They bath and wash their hunting cloths in UV/scent free detergent before each hunt. They use ample amounts of scent killer. They wear dull or camouflage clothing and keep their faces hidden. They continuously put in the extra effort needed to place trophy deer in front of them.

But it's locations that are the true deer magnets. If hunters are using the wind, remaining clean, being quiet , and are still not seeing deer, then odds are that they hunting in the wrong spot. Hmmm....I guess I might spend my time elsewhere if I were them.

No amount of hope or prayer can make a buck appear. The buck has to already be there. This is the single thread that deer hunter "magnets" have in common, they hunt where the deer want to be. They don’t hunt areas that are simply convenient.
Whether you are like a magnet or a cactus is up to you.
Magnets are sticky.

If you are taking advantage of every opportunity to remain undetected and are hunting in locations favored by big bucks, then you too are "sticky"!
Good Luck and Good Hunting,
Jim
Buy the Book Now

Up Your Aspiration

In hunting there is a relationship between what you aim for and what you get. Those who set their sights for bigger deer generally harvest bigger deer. Those were willing to settle for less get less.


However, there is a downside. While the hunter with high expectations will harvest more and bigger bucks over the long haul, they will also suffer from more failed hunts. The caliber of buck you are seeking may not exist where you hunt. Often, aspirations set too high can prove to be counterproductive.

In hunting, as in much of life, it is difficult to tell the difference between high achievable goals and goals set so high they are doomed for failure.

“ Harvesting the big buck is not the goal, but rather the result of doing things right.”

A visit to your local taxidermy shop can give you a good idea of what is considered a trophy in your area. It probably isn’t a wise idea to set your goals any higher than the average mature buck in any given area.

With all this said, one of the quickest ways to harvest bigger bucks is to up your aspiration.

Good Luck and Good Hunting,
Jim

Buy the Book Now

"The Outdoors Experience" on AM-560 WIND

I interviewed with Steve Sarley on Chicago’s WIND radio this past Sunday. Steve has one of the most listened to shows in the Chicago area and you have a chance to win a free copy of my book "Buck Naked - The Straight Dope on Trophy Whitetails," Listen to find out how.


You’ll want to listen to the 8/19/2012 pod cast. Listen to the Broadcast

Steve Sarley through "The Outdoors Experience" offers you incredible information that you will not be able to find anywhere else.
The Outdoors Experience Airs Live Every Sunday Morning from 5am-6am on AM-560 WIND in Chicago.
Good Luck and Good Hunting,
Jim
Get the Book Now
http://jimcollyer.com/

Button Hookin' Bucks

I’ve always been a fast learner. I can learn anything if you show me it enough times. Big bucks have the nastiest habit of looping back on their own trails in order to see if anything is following them. I only had to be button hooked by big bucks a kajillion times before I figured out what they were up to.

Day after day, season after season, I would get on the trail of a big buck only to have him pop up out of nowhere and skedaddle before I could get a shot. Albert Einstein once said, “repeating the same pattern over and over again while expecting different results is insanity.”

I spent the first several years of my hunting career in a state of “Pure Insanity”.

Eventually and with some reluctance on my part, I discovered if I paralleled the deer’s trail 30 to 40 yards on the downwind side I had a much greater chance of intercepting him. It doesn’t work every time, nothing does, but for a change I was putting the odds in my favor.

The first time I tried this technique I killed a big 4 x 4 buck lying in his bed at seven yards. He was watching his back trail, expecting to catch me following him and was totally unaware of my presence until it was too late. I’ve been able to trail and harvest several big bucks over the years with this technique.

You can learn more about this and other techniques in my new book, Buck Naked; The Straight Dope on Trophy Whitetails. Available in bookstores and on the Internet.

Good Luck and Good Hunting,
Jim:

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Mountain Time

Several years ago, a bunch of nationally known archers predicted the next world record whitetail would be harvested somewhere in the Rocky Mountains of Montana. This never materialized and odds are it won’t. While it is possible for a record deer to come from just about anywhere, one look at the record books will show your odds are about 20 times greater in the Midwest and the grain belt of southern Canada than anywhere else.


However, there are some outstanding opportunities to hunt oversized deer in the Northern Rockies. The whitetails inhabiting the foothills of the Rocky Mountains are large deer, often achieving live weights between 200 and 250 pounds. Most hunters who traveled west are after elk, mule deer, and bear. They generally overlook the whitetail. This limited hunting pressure is exactly what the whitetail needs to grow big. Also, the country is steep and rugged, which discourages many hunters and offers superior seclusion for the deer.

Out west deer numbers dwindled dramatically the further one gets from crop fields. Though the numbers of deer in the mountains is limited, the percentage of big bucks within the herd is extremely high. The odds of encountering a trophy buck in the Rocky Mountains is as good as any public land hunting on the continent.

Low deer density and the vastness of the area generally prohibit effective stand hunting. The name of the game out west is tracking and still hunting.

Still hunting is one of the purist forms of hunting. Very few people will ever master still hunting. Most people think still hunting is simply taking a walk in the woods and hoping to run into something big and brown. This rarely happens. The best way to think about still hunting is to picture a moving stand. The idea is to move slow and deliberately enough to see the deer before he sees you. This requires extreme self-control and discipline. Generally, after a couple of hours of still hunting I’m left physically and mentally exhausted.

The vast majority of people who attempt to hunt whitetails in the Rocky Mountains will give up, go home, and never return. Those with the mental discipline and physical strength required will find it high adventure.



Good luck And Good Hunting,

Jim
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Shift Happens

My good friend Russ Maas used to tell me, “when the velvet comes off, the brains go in.”

What Russ is talking about is the dramatic change in big buck behavior that occurs after the velvet is shed . This is not a subtle or gradual shift in behavior, but an instantaneous and dramatic shift. This change in behavior literally takes place overnight, like the flipping of a switch.

Throughout July and August the bucks have been coming out into the crop fields like clockwork. Sometime around the first week of September we’ll notice the first shreds of velvet coming off the larger buck’s antlers. Within a day or two, buck we’ve been watching all summer seems to vanish into thin air.

The fact is, the bucks are still there, but will now become very secretive until the rut is in full swing. A lot of hunters call this the “Transition Period”. It is the time of the year when testosterone levels in the buck begin to rise and they try to establish a pecking order. Adolescent bucks begin to challenge the older deer, much in the same way that adolescent human males challenge old men. Big bucks are wary and timid by nature and generally give the younger bucks some space, preferring to save their energy for the rutting season. The bucks are becoming more nocturnal, more solitary, and sometimes move off to different food sources altogether. The comradery and friendship of the bachelor group has vanished, not the deer.

For those of you who have been patterning a big buck with the hopes of arrowing him in the coming archery season, the race is on. If you don’t stick him before the velvet comes off you will more than likely have to re-patterned him. Sitting on the edge of a crop field after the velvet comes off is hit and miss at best. Remember you’re only going to get one, maybe two shots at it before shift happens.

Good Luck and Good Hunting,

Jim
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AMERICA'S HUNTERS

AMERICA'S HUNTERS ---

Pretty Amazing!

The world's largest army... America's hunters!

I had never thought about this...
A blogger added up the deer license sales in just a handful of states and

arrived at a striking
conclusion:
There were over 600,000 hunters this season
in the state of Wisconsin .

Allow me to restate that number: 600,000

Over the last several months, Wisconsin's hunters became the eighth largest army in the world.
More people under arms than in Iran.
More than
France and Germany combined.

These people deployed to the woods of a single American state,

Wisconsin, to hunt with firearms, and

no one was killed.

That number pales in comparison to the 750,000

who hunted the woods of Pennsylvania and

Michigan's 700,000 hunters, all of whom have now returned home safely.

Toss in a quarter million hunters in West Virginia and it literally establishes the fact

that the
hunters of those four states alone would
comprise the largest army in the world..

And then add
in the total number of hunters in the other
46 states.

It's millions more.

The point?
America will forever be safe from foreign
invasion with that kind of

home-grown
firepower.

Hunting....

it's not just
a way to fill the freezer..

It's a matter of

national security.
*********************
That's why all enemies, foreign and domestic,

want to see us
disarmed.
Food for thought,

when next we
consider gun control.

Overall it's true, so if we disregard some assumptions that hunters
don't possess the same skills as soldiers,

the question
would still remain... what army of 2 million

would want to face

30, 40,
50 million armed citizens.

(IF YOU AGREE, AS I DO, PASS IT ON, I FEEL GOOD THAT I HAVE AN ARMY OF MILLIONS WHO WOULD PROTECT OUR LAND AND I SURE DON'T WANT THE GOVERNMENT TAKING CONTROL OF THE POSSESSION OF FIREARMS)
For the sake of our freedom,

don't
ever allow gun control

or confiscation of
guns.

Have A Great
Day!-------------------------

Crunch Time

I watched several hunting shows on the television this past weekend. It seems that over half of the deer harvested on TV were killed on the last day of the hunt. Why is that?


In my dim and distant youth I get some work as a hunting guide. The same thing held true for us. Over half of the animals we harvested were in the last two days of any hunt.

The reason for this is simply – deadlines. As humans, when we’re running out of time to complete any task our intensity and intention becomes clarified. We focus our efforts and achieve the results we seek. After all, most of us are 11th hour players.

Back when I was in school, I had teachers who would assign term papers at the beginning of the semester. A few of the students would begin working on their term paper and slowly turn out their work over the next couple of months area but most of us, at least 95%, would wait till the evening before the paper was due to even begin thinking about it, let alone begin writing.

The same principle applies to hunting. Those that maintain a clear intention and work towards those goals over a long period of time are more successful than 11th hour players. Generally speaking, hunters are poor planners. They spend more time reacting to circumstances than preparing for them. Scouting and planning are essential in any successful endeavor.

The most effective way to preseason scout is to back track the deer. This often gives you a rare glimpse into the buck’s daily life. You’ll find out where he stages before entering the field, where he stops to eat available mast, and where his trail intersects the doe’s trail (usually indicated by a cluster rub from a previous season). All of these are great stand locations if the wind is favorable.

Don’t wait until the season starts to do your Homework.

Good Luck and Good Hunting,
Jim
Buy the Book Now

The Last Stand

Here‘s an old Midwest hunting proverb; “Whoever has the last standing cornfield wins.”


We’ve been farming corn for so many decades in the Midwest that corn has become the natural food preference of whitetail deer in that area. As the harvest of the corn begins the deer are well spread out throughout the region. Towards the end of the harvest, the deer congregate around the last standing cornfields in frightful numbers. Receiving permission to hunt on farms with standing corn once the season begins might be the single best thing you’ve ever done for your hunting.

Years ago the corn harvest in Iowa was much later than usual. There were several cornfields still standing. Heavy moisture in the morning and late afternoon limited the cutting of corn to a couple of hours each day. The result was that the deer had freshly knocked down every afternoon. Unfortunately, I was hunting over a turnip field and I didn’t harvest a deer on that hunt.

But did I ever see a lot of big deer. Big bucks were in the corn every evening. I mean the ones that dreams are made out of.

Regardless of where you hunt, keep an eye on which crop fields are still available to the deer once the season starts and try to get permission to hunt close to those fields.

Good Luck and Good Hunting,

Jim

If You Want a Guarantee Buy a Toaster

If you want to guarantee by a toaster. If you want to achieve a higher rate of success in hunting trophy whitetails buy the book; Buck Naked.


Time and again I‘m asked by readers if they follow my advice are they guaranteed to kill a big buck? Sadly, the answer is no. No one can guarantee or predict success in the field. However, I can promise you that the advice in Buck Naked is sound and will put you on the road to higher levels of success.

Let’s put it this way, But Naked sells for $10.78 on both the Amazon and Barnes & Noble websites. There‘s over 45 years of successful hunting advice contained within the covers of the book. That’s less than $0.25 a year.

The vast majority of my hunting has been on public land and in most cases in areas of extremely low whitetails density. Most of the areas I hunt have fewer than five deer per square mile. Now $0.25 a year to learn from someone who has been successful at hunting trophy deer on public land is a bargain. I should’ve charged twice as much for the book, but I wanted this this advice to be available and affordable by everyone.

Good Luck and Good Hunting,

Jim
Get the Book Now

New Contest Starts Soon

WE HAVE A WINNER

TOBY S. from Idaho

The Hoyt CRX Bow Give-Away has ended. But you still have a chance to win a valuable prize. We will be starting another giveaway shortly. You are automatically entered if your email is in our system. Details of the new giveaway will be coming soon.

Congratulations go to Toby S. from Idaho for winning the Hoyt CRX Bow drawing.
Thanks to everyone for participating in our drawing. I wish you all luck in the coming drawing.
Until then, please enjoy the blog.
Good Luck and Good Hunting,
Jim
Buy the Book Now