By Glen Wunderlich

The whitetail action is hot and furious in mid-Michigan!  If you’ve had enough of political mudslinging, how ‘bout doing some slinging of your own!  I’m talking arrows or bolts, whatever your flavor may be, before the gaggle of gunners descends upon the land in less than two weeks.

It’s no secret that whitetail bucks are prone to lose their wariness during the rut, or breeding period, if you will.  It is that time. I’ll focus on a particular strategy that can produce heart-pounding excitement and effectiveness, although very few hunters may have attempted it.

The concept involves a portable blind, a vertical bow or crossbow, and a deer decoy. For those with conventional archery gear, blinds tall enough to accommodate the upward limits of a bow may be used, although natural ground blinds or even treestands will do.  However, a more particular method involves compact, one-person chair blinds and reverse limb (aka reverse draw) crossbows such as the Horton Fury (or older Vision), the Barnett Vengeance, or Scorpyd models.

Although chair blinds may have been intended for firearms, they can serve double-duty for the above-cited, narrow-design crossbows. The unique design of chair blinds makes for easy concealment, shelter, comfort, portability, economy, and strength to stand up to the harshest elements over the course of a season.  Ameristep makes them in one and two-man configurations and other manufactures produce them, as well.

Chair Blind

The totally portable one-person models are quite restrictive, however, and allow no more than a 90-degree field of shooting opportunity in the forward direction.  Although such limitation may seem too slight, the tight maneuverability can be an asset at the same time with compact reverse draw crossbows.  Here’s why:  Because a hunter’s only option is to shoot almost directly in front, there is no need or possibility to be spinning around looking for a shot, only to be busted by wary whitetails; it simply cannot be done.

Experience has demonstrated to me over the years that deer will pick off a portable blind and look directly toward it, if they get within sight of it.  By tucking it into cover some 10 yards or so, it can be undetected until the cautious critters are in a hunter’s sights.  Because the hunter remains neatly seated inside with the compact crossbow in the ready position, the bow can obstruct a deer’s view of the hunter’s face, thus adding a level of camouflage, which is especially useful for hunters wearing eye glasses.

Since decoy tactics abound online and in print elsewhere, I’ll only add a few recommendations:  Place them in a position that assumes bucks will get downwind of them; silhouette decoys such as Montana decoys work well, but only without strong winds; and, finally, dispense cover scent around (not on) the decoy – and, your boots, while positioning the accomplice.

In one startling moment, the action can be in-your-face, adrenaline pumping, nuts.  In fact, this past week, I’ve had two deer actually touch the decoy with their noses.  Another doe ran half circles within feet of the decoy in an obvious attempt to get a reaction.  It’s totally unpredictable!

Our northern whitetail’s narrow window of conception is upon us, and if you haven’t got the shivers with the quivers yet this season, check with your doctor to make sure your heart can take it.

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. (Nov. 6, 2014) – SkullHooker™, the company that revolutionized the way hunters display their European skull-mount trophies, has introduced the new Skull Cap cover to create an affordable, clean and stylish presentation for sawed-off skullcap trophies.   The Skull Cap is molded in a lightly textured and stylized brown polymer that also can be easily painted to suit the users needs. Designed for small to mid-sized antlered or horned game animals, the Skull Cap can also be trimmed to fit larger species.

The Skull Cap is designed to be used with or without the newly revised SkullHooker Bone Bracket hanging mount. The new Skull Cap is the easy and attractive answer to dressing up an ugly or poorly cut skullcap. It is available at sporting goods retailers nationwide and conveniently online at www.skullhooker.com for a suggested retail price of just $9.99. Read more

With the 2014 archery deer season under way and the firearm opener right around the corner, everyone is curious about what’s happening out in the woods. Over the next several weeks, the DNR Wildlife Division will be releasing video updates from wildlife biologists around the state. These biologists will give their take on what they’re seeing, what they’re hearing from hunters in the area, what can be expected based on available food sources, and more. This week we hear from biologists Pete Kailing (Western Lower Peninsula) and Don Bonnette (Thumb Area) about what to expect in their part of the state. If you haven’t picked up your deer licenses yet, head to your local retailer or E-License so you don’t miss out on the hunt. Good luck this season!

Michigan’s new license structure requires hunters to choose at the time of purchase if they want the opportunity to harvest one or two antlered deer, and purchase either a single deer license (one kill tag) or a deer combo license (two kill tags).

Because this is the first year of the new structure, some hunters may have bought a single deer license without realizing they couldn’t buy another antlered deer license later.

Those who bought a single deer license and haven’t used it, and would like the deer combo license instead, may bring the unused license back to the store where they bought it – during business hours (Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.) – and ask the agent to call the DNR. The DNR will void the single deer license, the agent will keep the voided license and send it back to the DNR, and the hunter may then buy a deer combo license. Those who bought the single deer license online should call DNR Licensing at 517-284-6057 during business hours. Read more