| Ideas for the Off Season... |
1. Join an on-line forum.
My first choice is www.archerytalk.com - It’s an excellent forum for archery and hunting. There
are also a number of state specific forums so do a search and find one that suits you. You’ll
find good information, hunting ideas, discussions on various products and maybe a friend or
two.
2. Scout.
The best time to scout is from the end of hunting season through early spring. The trails are
easy to spot before the weeds take over, it’s cooler, and there’s a lot less bugs. Stretch your
legs and get some fresh air while looking for sheds, morel mushrooms, and new spots. My
scouting usually begins with topo maps and aerial photos. They are very valuable tools you
should be using in your scouting too. You can view and/or purchase them at www.globexplorer.
com, www.terraserver.com or a number of other sites. The maps and photos can be viewed on-
line but I have ended up purchasing them for the areas I hunt. It’s just easier to look at the
printed version. I lay a piece of plastic film on top of the aerial photos and that way I can draw
on them with various colored china markers. You can buy the plastic film and china markers at
any art supply store.
You might want to check out Mapping Trophy Whitetails. It’s a good book. More or less a
collection of essays that focus on scouting techniques and the use of topo maps and aerial
photos.
3. Practice your shooting.
Do I need to elaborate? Quality is as important as quantity. Slow down and make each shot your
best. Consider shooting with friends or at a 3D meet. The added pressure of an audience will
help you tighten up your form. Whether it’s fear of public humiliation or just plain competition,
shooting with other people helps keep us focused. Quality practice is the way shooting
improves. Sloppy practice is essentially practicing mistakes, mistakes that become more and
more ingrained.
The more realistic your practice sessions are, the better. Shoot from various angles, standing,
sitting, crouching, leaning, kneeling, on the ground, in a tree stand (or at least an elevated
platform), etc. etc. Wear your hunting clothes, jacket, head net, ghillie suit or whatever you’re
going to wear in the field. As the season approaches, start shooting with broadheads.
My first choice is www.archerytalk.com - It’s an excellent forum for archery and hunting. There
are also a number of state specific forums so do a search and find one that suits you. You’ll
find good information, hunting ideas, discussions on various products and maybe a friend or
two.
2. Scout.
The best time to scout is from the end of hunting season through early spring. The trails are
easy to spot before the weeds take over, it’s cooler, and there’s a lot less bugs. Stretch your
legs and get some fresh air while looking for sheds, morel mushrooms, and new spots. My
scouting usually begins with topo maps and aerial photos. They are very valuable tools you
should be using in your scouting too. You can view and/or purchase them at www.globexplorer.
com, www.terraserver.com or a number of other sites. The maps and photos can be viewed on-
line but I have ended up purchasing them for the areas I hunt. It’s just easier to look at the
printed version. I lay a piece of plastic film on top of the aerial photos and that way I can draw
on them with various colored china markers. You can buy the plastic film and china markers at
any art supply store.
You might want to check out Mapping Trophy Whitetails. It’s a good book. More or less a
collection of essays that focus on scouting techniques and the use of topo maps and aerial
photos.
3. Practice your shooting.
Do I need to elaborate? Quality is as important as quantity. Slow down and make each shot your
best. Consider shooting with friends or at a 3D meet. The added pressure of an audience will
help you tighten up your form. Whether it’s fear of public humiliation or just plain competition,
shooting with other people helps keep us focused. Quality practice is the way shooting
improves. Sloppy practice is essentially practicing mistakes, mistakes that become more and
more ingrained.
The more realistic your practice sessions are, the better. Shoot from various angles, standing,
sitting, crouching, leaning, kneeling, on the ground, in a tree stand (or at least an elevated
platform), etc. etc. Wear your hunting clothes, jacket, head net, ghillie suit or whatever you’re
going to wear in the field. As the season approaches, start shooting with broadheads.
4. Score points with your significant other.
You’re going to burn through some brownie points during the season so try to score some
while you can. Work on that honey do list, surprise her with an evening out that you planned
just for her, spend time with her. If none of that works, my advice is to go hunting anyway. If
she’s bitter and unreasonable, she’s probably going to be like that either way so you might as
well go hunting.
5. Improve your odds by sprucing up your hunting area.
7. Hunt something else.
Turkey, hog, coyotes, bear are all available while deer season is closed.
You’re going to burn through some brownie points during the season so try to score some
while you can. Work on that honey do list, surprise her with an evening out that you planned
just for her, spend time with her. If none of that works, my advice is to go hunting anyway. If
she’s bitter and unreasonable, she’s probably going to be like that either way so you might as
well go hunting.
5. Improve your odds by sprucing up your hunting area.
- Start some mock scrapes
- Plant food plots
- Fertilize mast trees. Oak, persimmon, beach, apple, etc., can all be made far attractive to
deer by fertilizing. Go around the drip line of the tree. Use the fertilizer spikes or push a
stick 8” or so into the ground to create a hole and pour about ½ cup of granulated
fertilizer in it and cover the hole. The nice thing is only the deer will notice the
difference, other hunters won’t be able to tell that you’ve created your own food plot.
For that matter, you can do the same thing by just fertilizing the brush and weeds in an
area just before or during the season. Mix some Miracle Grow or what have you with
some water in a compression sprayer and just spray everything in a small area. Deer will
seek out the fertilized vegetation, but no one else will be able to spot it.
- Clean, descent, and organise your gear
- Repair last year's barbed wire damage by sewing the crotch back into your coveralls
- Oil the joints on your tree stand so there's no creaks, squeaks, or pops.
- Sharpen your knife
7. Hunt something else.
Turkey, hog, coyotes, bear are all available while deer season is closed.
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