How to Predict and Locate the Deer
Mitch Johnson
In hunting deer there are times when your predictions could
become more reliable than your experiences. In this article you
will learn how a good prediction can give better result from the
author's experience.
One of the others accompanied me into the woods, the fourth man
circling to a place where he thought the deer might cross a wood
road. I saw the deer several times that day, but the man whom I
had stationed on the road killed it after sunset at the crossing
I had predicted the deer would use at that time. It is unusual to
be correct in making long-range predictions such as this unless
the hunter is familiar with the actions of the particular deer
which he is following, the deer's range and its feeding grounds.
In the above case, I had followed the same deer in the same area
several days before and I was quite sure it would leave the large
piece of woods for a favored feeding ground as soon as it was
hungry. In order to reach this feeding area, it would have to
cross a road, and the crossing which I selected was the most
probable of the ones which crossed the road.
One of the most discouraging hunts I have ever experienced
occurred when I trailed two deer all day long, knew where they
were going for a half-hour before they arrived, was unable to get
a companion in position for the kill and was unable to do the job
myself.
After almost a day of frustration, I sent two men to cover a
crossing and they let the deer pass, unseen, between them. When I
arrived at the crossing, they joined me on the track long enough
to determine the deer's future intentions. This did not take
long, but my companions were uncertain and would not go to the
place which I had picked as the next crossing. I left them to
follow the trail while I went to a gap in a stone wall which I
thought the deer would use.
It would be necessary for the deer to cross a small open field in
order to reach this gap so I stationed myself about a hundred
feet away where I could watch both field and gap. The deer came
into sight about a hundred yards away, walking towards the gap.
They approached at an angle and when they were about a hundred
feet from me and about the same distance from the gap, I fired
and missed. They broke into a run and I fired five more shots
without a hit. Six shots and six misses at a distance of not over
two hundred feet was the frustrating climax of a frustrating day.
These incidents have all had does leading the chase. When it
comes to predicting what a lone buck will do, we have a different
proposition. In the first place, it is difficult to define a
buck's range, and, during the hunting season, he is seldom on
that range but off hunting does. If the hunter runs across a buck
which is away from his home range, but has not attached himself
to some doe, he will probably head for his old range if started
and if followed for any great distance. When I run across one of
these ranging bucks, I consider myself lucky if I have the
opportunity to sight him twice before he heads for home. By the
time I am sure of his intentions, it is usually too late to
contact a companion and try to get ahead of the deer.
It can be more frustrated when a hunter get no deer to hunt when
he go for hunting in the forest, and this situation can spoil the
chances for a hunter to cover when trailing for the deer. But a
better study on how to make the prediction will help the hunter
to locate the deer.
Mitch Johnson is a regular writer for ttp://www.best-scooters-n-
mopeds.com/. His articles have also appeared on
http://www.goodcycling.info/ and
http://www.solidcycling.info/
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