The importance of scrapes

Whitetail bucks are very territorial. Scraping activity has more to do with letting other bucks know he is in the area than it does with attracting does, think of it as very similar to how male dogs mark areas belonging to them. I’m sure that you have seen how the pooch lifts his leg on the corners of buildings, bushes, car tires, and fire hydrants, and then how the next dog to pass by will leave his own little remembrance in the same locations. It’s as if whoever pees last wins.

Bucks will check out scrapes to see if there are other deer in the area. If you want to hunt over scrape, just be sure it’s in an area where the buck feels comfortable during daylight hours.

http://www.amazon.com/Buck-Naked-Straight-Trophy-Whitetails/dp/1466498234

Jim
http://jimcollyer.com/

Scent Elimination Clothes and Sprays

Photo courtesy of Apple Creek Whitetails

 

Many hunters are showing little consideration for wind direction due to the invention of scent eliminating sprays and clothing. While these products keep us from stinking up the whole place, they are not the answer to the entire problem.

Most human scent comes from our breath and the sebaceous glands behind our ears and these products do little to help those areas.

I use these products whenever I go into the field. They help a great deal in keeping my past understand undetected.

However the old-fashioned way of staying downwind of the deer is the only true way to keep your scent away from the deer.

-Jim

http://jimcollyer.com/

Reaching the Unreachable

Photo courtesy of Apple Creek Whitetails

 

 

The biggest and baddest bucks are almost always just beyond our reach. They didn’t get big by being stupid.

Trying to attract deer with calls or scents they just aren’t interested in will not work.

There is one exception to this is the rut. Generally speaking, the biggest bucks are harvested during the rut.

Try the tarsal gland scent from another buck? This is almost irresistible to bucks during the rut.

Please notice the almost.

-Jim

http://jimcollyer.com/

Social Ranking Among Bucks

Editors note, Guest blogger, Jim Collyer has written a most insightful book, Buck Naked – The Straight Dope On Trophy Whitetails. It has been a good long time since I’ve read and digested something of this magnitude. It is fresh, free of the tired old anecdotes, straight forward and accurate. I would highly recommend it to anyone wishing for consistent success on trophy bucks; it’s that good! R.G. Bernier 

Here is an excerpt from a blog posted on www.bigwhitetail.wordpress.com

Social ranking among whitetail deer is not always based upon strength. Dominance is primarily determined by intimidation rather than brawn. Dominance is generally established well before the rut while the bucks are still in velvet. Body posturing and staring are ways bucks intimidate an opponent. If the dominant buck has the largest antlers in the herd it is merely a coincidence.

We’ve all seen dozens of articles written about hunting dominant bucks. We imagine the dominant or Alpha buck to have the largest antlers and to be superior both mentally and physically to all other members of the herd. This just isn’t true. The hunting industry produces at least a dozen dominant buck calls and dominant buck scent attractants. These are marketing strategies and have little to do with what’s going on in the woods.
All bucks are territorial. They mark these territories by rubbing trees, making ground scrapes, and pissing all over the place. However, big bucks don’t necessarily have the same territories. Rather their territory overlap, a buck might be an Alpha in part of his territory and a Beta in the rest.
You can read the complete post here http://bigwhitetail.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/social-ranking-among-bucks/

Jim

Saying No to Average Bucks

Photo courtesy of Apple Creek Whitetails

It can be scary to turn down an average buck that comes your way and to hold out for the remarkable trophy. It’s scary to hang out on a limb and wait for something bigger and better.

Scary to separate yourself from the company of average hunters.

However, if you don’t, you will end up just like them. An average hunter.

-Jim

http://jimcollyer.com/

BUCK NAKED

The Perfect Stocking Stuffer

‘Tis the Season to be Jolly


Can you imagine the big smile when your hunter finds Santa has left them a copy if the book Buck Naked in their stocking?

Buck Naked; The Straight Dope on Trophy Whitetails contains the latest cutting-edge advice, tactics, and strategies on Whitetail hunting.

Share this with your Santa and maybe you’ll find a copy of Buck Naked in your stocking instead of the usual coal and sticks.

Happy Holidays,
Jim
Get your stocking stuffer now

‘Tis the Season

'Tis the season of giving.

Looking for something special for the hunters on your list? Buck Naked; The Straight Dope on Trophy Whitetails is the perfect gift for every outdoors person. The book is literally jam with valuable tips, tactics, and strategies for all hunters regardless of their experience level.

Put a big smile on the face of that special hunter when he opens your package and finds a copy of Buck Naked.

The tips and tactics found in Buck Naked will be appreciated not only this Christmas season but for years to come. Buck Naked is truly a gift that keeps on giving. It’s affordable to buy and easy to ship.

Put a smile on their faces come Christmas morning, get them a copy of the book Buck Naked this holiday season.

Seasons Greetings,
Jim
Get Buck Naked for X-mas

The Button Hook and Scrape Hunting

This blog is a sequel to my post of 8 –19–2012 entitled Button Hookin’ Bucks. (Photo courtesy of Apple Creek Whitetails)


Regardless of which strategy, technique, and the time of the year you hunt wind direction is always a hunters major concern. When it comes to hunting trophy deer it’s not how we use the wind that is important, but rather, how the buck uses the wind.

Most hunters place their stands downwind of where they expect to intercept a big buck. They do this with little regard to how the deer actually use the wind as a defense mechanism.

Big bucks approach every destination spot by traveling in a button hook or J–hook pattern. A big buck will circle down wind and use his nose to detect danger before he approaches a food plot, a bedding area, a ground scrape, or when coming to grunt calls and antler rattling. Big bucks employee this button hook pattern so regularly it must be considered an instinctual or innate behavior. Regardless of where you hunt I can guarantee you every buck over 1-1/2 years old is continuously using the button hook pattern of travel.

We discussed how a big buck uses the button hook pattern when selecting a bedding site. Today we will be discussing how the big buck uses the button hook to scent check ground scrapes.

First of all, not all ground scrapes are equal. We must first determine whether the scrape is a primary scrape or a casual scrape. Remember, primary scrapes are those that are used by several bucks.

Next, we must determine whether the buck is refreshing the primary scrape at night or during the day. Unfortunately, most scrapes noticed by hunters are the ones which are freshened at night. These scrapes are usually found close to or on the edge of a known food source. Generally speaking, if the prevailing wind in your area does not allow the buck enough cover to scent check the scrape downwind at a distance of 75 to 125 yards, it is a nocturnal scrape and of little use to the hunter.

Since the deer are most active at night, this eliminates roughly 90% of the scrapes you will find. We are looking for a scrape in heavy cover which allows the buck enough security to check it throughout the day. When you find such a scrape, be rest assured that the buck will attempt to check it some time during the day.

The problem most hunters have is they either select the wrong scrape or set their stand too close to the right scrape. A big buck will always circle downwind of the scrape before he attempts to freshen it. We want to place our stand as close to the buck’s scent checking trail as possible and NOT right on top the scrape. Usually this trail will be between 75 and 125 yards downwind of the scrape.

Often you will find a small rub or a token scrape ( one that is little more than a couple of hoof pulls in the sod} to indicate where this trail is. Note: this trail is very faint and hardly noticeable.

I like to place my stand slightly downwind of that trail making sure I have a path to approach the stand without fouling the entire area with my own scent.

All that’s left is to have patience and the faith that the buck will come.

For more detailed information on proper scrape hunting: Grab It Now

Good Luck and Good Hunting,
Jim
http://jimcollyer.com/

Sneak Preview

Several weeks ago I told you I would have an announcement concerning my new book, Buck Naked: The Straight Dope on Trophy Whitetails.

Here it is!

Within the next two weeks Buck Naked will come out with a second edition. We’re giving the book a complete new look. A new and exciting cover as well as new interior images.

The new cover and exterior images were provided courtesy of Apple Creek Whitetails. The good folks at Apple Creek live and breathe whitetail deer. Currently they are running one of the most prestigious and successful deer hunting ranches in Wisconsin. My deep gratitude goes to everyone at Apple Creek Whitetails for their help in making my book even better.

For the very best in Wisconsin trophy hunting contact:

Apple Creek Whitetails Ranch
Hunting Operations Manager
Attention: Chad DeBauch
14109 County Road VV
Gillett, WI 54124
Toll Free: 877-431-HUNT
(4868)

If you are fortunate enough to have a copy of the first edition, hang on to it. History has shown us first edition hunting books dramatically increase in value in just a few short years. The idea to come up with an improved cover and interior was suggested by several members of the publishing community and, of course, the hunting box stores.
Be sure to check your e-mails over the next couple of weeks as we will be announcing a launch day for the new book, Buck Naked.

There are still a few copies of the original book available through Amazon, but when they're gone, they're gone. If you want an first edition, you better order today.

Get a Copy Today
Until then,
Jim

Rape in the Forest

                                                   Photo courtesy Apple Creek Ranch

You don’t have to have a dirty mind to be an effective trophy deer hunter during the rut, but it sure helps. I was just reading an advertisement for my favorite deer call, Primo’s "The Can." I like this call because it is absolutely deadly on big bucks during the rut. I also like the way they sell it. Their pitches go like this:


"Estrus bleats tell bucks that a doe is ready to breed…"

"All respond quickly and dramatically to the quivering doe…"

"Reproduces the estrus bleat of mating does…"

Until I read these ads, I had no idea that does were running around willy-nilly, bleating about their desperate desire to copulate. The "quivering doe?” you ask. Seriously, I’m not making this up.

I have heard a lot of does bleat during the rut; the vast majorities were yearlings experiencing their first breeding season. The poor little darlings don’t know what to expect. All they know is that the buck keeps coming for them relentlessly. They feel the urge of blood calling to blood and they’re scared to death. The doe leads the buck into thick cover in an effort to escape him, not to find a cozy place where they can be alone.

As hunters we often try to impose noble human attributes to the animals we hunt. But there is nothing noble or gentlemanly about a whitetail buck, especially during the rut.

No one asks to be raped. Rape comes uninvited, even in the deer world. The estrus bleat is truly a rape bleat. The young doe is panicked. This sound is worth imitating because when an old buck hears this sound, he’ll know that some other buck is up to no good. He will think another buck is tending a young doe and will come in and attempt to steal the doe.

A doe’s bleat is considerably louder than the buck’s grunt and can be heard for quite a distance in the forest. However, man-made grunt calls tend to carry farther than man-made bleat calls. I like to use "The Can" in conjunction with a grunt call. A sequence of two grunts followed a few seconds later by two or three bleats seem to work best for me.

As with all calling, if the buck can’t hear you he won’t respond. I recommend the "Long Can” for its increased volume. I buy several of these each year. I only wish they’d make a can the size of a five gallon bucket.

Good Luck and Good Hunting, Jim
http://jimcollyer.com/
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Determining Primary Scrapes

                           A buck utilizing a licking branch (Photo courtesy Apple Creek Ranches)
Not all scrapes are equal. While some scrapes are nothing more than random markings, others are extremely important. These are what we call “primary” or hub scrapes and will be used by several different bucks over the course of the season. Primary scrapes will be revisited and refreshed throughout the rut and are very often reopened year after year.

Scrapes are usually found on high ground that is dry enough to hold scent. Travel corridors, feeding areas, funnels and other areas of concentrated deer activity will contain the most scrapes. Primary scrapes are usually found in funnels or where one buck's home range overlaps another.

Primary scrapes are most often opened up by hormonally driven two and a half year-old bucks. These adolescent bucks like tearing up the woods and showing off. The real trophies in general are not so aggressive. Monster bucks tend to be more deliberate in their actions. Many times their scrapes will be nothing more than three or four pulls with the front hooves, a little deposit of tarsal scent, and rubbing his preorbital glands on a branch above the scrape to signal his intentions to other deer. The preorbital (or lacrimal) gland is located in a small pocket in front of the eye.

The percentage of scrapes that get revisited and reworked is very low. While primary scrapes can range from three to eight feet in diameter, the size of the scrape has little to do with the size of the buck that made it, or the social importance of either the buck or the scrape. To increase your odds of picking an active scrape, choose one with a licking branch above the scrape. If you watch a buck mark an overhanging branch, you'll notice he seems to be marking it with his whole head—forehead, antlers, nose, mouth, and preorbital area. He will bite the branch and hold it in his mouth while he rubs, often breaking and splintering the branch. The more this licking branch is torn up the better.

Just remember that its location that determines a primary scrape, not the buck that made it. We are looking for a scrape that is all torn up with a licking branch above it, a scrape that appears to have been visited by several bucks. It goes without saying that this is an excellent spot for a tree stand.

If you really want to put your buck into a tizzy, just dig up the dirt from a scrape in a different location and place it in the scrape you’re hunting over. Be sure to use scent-free gear and a shovel. Dig down about six inches and transport the dirt in a clean plastic bag. Empty this dirt into your hunting scrape and your buck will perceive this as an intrusion by another buck. He’ll begin refreshing this scrape in earnest. This is more effective in the pre-rut, before the bucks are on the does.

Realizing why scrapes are made, and how deer use them to communicate with each other will help boost your hunting to a higher level.

Good Luck and Good Hunting,

Jim

Bag-N-Tag

                                                Photos courtesy of Apple Creek Whitetals

If you have read my book or have been following this blog, you know I don’t endorse any one particular product over another. A couple of years ago something caught my eye and has really intrigued me. That product is Bag N Tag. I was a little skeptical until I saw the manufacturer was Apple Creek Whitetails.


That’s all the proof I needed to know this is the highest quality scent product on the market. The folks at Apple Creek Whitetails live and breathe whitetail deer 365 days a year. They are on the cutting-edge of whitetail research and product development.

Bag N Tag is the freshest whitetail deer scent available. Bag N Tag scent bags are made the same day they are shipped. A hunter just Pre-Orders the Bag N Tag scent product and selects a delivery date. Days before the requested delivery date, fresh whitetail doe in heat urine is collected and put into a specially designed scent bag and shipped out that very day. It’s 100% natural whitetail doe in heat urine

I really like this products ease of use and effectiveness.

I have used other Doe in Heat urine products for many years with great success. The problem with conventional deer urine has always been the mess and the volume (8 to 12 ounces) of liquid required to attract deer.

Bag N Tag takes care of both of those problems. No bottles, no dispensers, no wicks, and no mess. Simply tear open the pouch and tie the bag to a tree limb. I particularly like the “teabag” design. It provides the maximum urine surface to air contact which allows the hunter to use considerably less urine and achieve dramatic results.

Get Bag N Tag

The next time you’re using a scent lure set, give Bag N Tag a shot. I’m confident you’ll be pleased with the results.

Good luck and Good Hunting,
Jim
http://jimcollyer.com/

My Secret Buck Lure

I first started using this buck lure over 40 years ago. That was decades before I ever set foot in a tree stand. Back then we hunted whitetails one of two ways, either still hunting are tracking. Still hunting on bare ground and tracking if we had any fresh snow at all.


Late one season I shot a doe and she fell in the bottom of a steep draw. I went to get help to drag her out. When we got back, we found not one but two bucks standing over her carcass. I knew what I had and immediately removed both of the hock glands from her hind legs and slid them into my parka pocket.

As the old Coca-Cola ad said, “ There aint nothing like the real thing, Baby.”

I kept the hock glands in the freezer and the next season I cut slits in them and laced them on to my hunting boots. People kept asking me, “where do you find all those bucks?” I didn’t have the heart to tell them that there were as many bucks finding me as I was finding them.

Later on in my career I would hang these hock glands from tree limbs near my stands. I haven’t found anything on the market that works quite as well. To be really effective the glands need to come from either a mature buck are a hot doe. I haven’t had very good response from glands taken from does not in heat or young bucks. Personally, I think the glands from a big buck work better than anything else.

Be sure to wear rubber gloves when you remove these hock glands. It’s not that you will contaminate the glands with your human odor, it’s that the glands scent is strong and damn near impossible to wash off your hands. Climbing into bed with hands that smelled like a dead deer can raise havoc with your spouses libido. Trust me, it’s not worth the risk.

Try to keep the glands as blood free as possible. If you don’t the Camp-Robbers and Blue Jays will pack them off before you can use them.

The only commercial scents that even come close is a combination of hot doe urine and tarsal gland extractions from a buck. Years ago, Miles Keller used to manufacture a tarsal gland lure in a jell. It was an excellent scent. In fact, I killed my largest whitetail ever using that product.

The next time either you are a buddy harvests a hot doe or a big buck be sure to remove the hock glands. There ain’t nothing like the real thing, baby!

Good Luck and Good Hunting,
Jim
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