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Deer season is right around the corner

4 min read

As you read this just one week remains until the start of the general deer season.

If you are hunting in Wildlife Management 2-B, much of the shooting will be shots fired at antlerless deer but if the hunting is to be done in unit 2-A, antlerless season doesn’t enter the picture until the Saturday of the first week of the hunt.

Yesterday, I could be found in McKean County looking for a black bear.

Bucks I can find. Turkeys aren’t much of a problem, either. Black bears, however, not so much as a growl.

I haven’t found a black bBear that wants to find his hide hanging from a wall in my game room. As I usually say, maybe next year, and each year has arrived with all the usual optimism.

Even if the bears elude me, I enjoy being in the mountains with good comrades.

The goood news for during the deer season is that I hunt locally. I have been seeing some wall hangers all across the county.

Five of these have been outstanding, with one monster that should make the Boone & Crockett book.

Of course, this particular buck didn’t get that large by being stupid. I have only seen him once but the landowner has seen him a few times.

Measuring a deer is difficult when it is moving around at dusk. I would really like to put a tape on such a monster.

If I would go after such a buck and concentrate solely on it, the first order would be to make an attempt at locating his bedding area. While a buck in the rut might move outside his core area, the rut is waning in rifle season.

It seems logical that you are more likely to spot a buck in the center or core area of his home range.

Many times, a buck will be seen along the edge of its normal range and never be seen there again. This is especially true when it is feeling the effects of the rut.

What I am saying is finding the buck’s core area is a big step toward success.

Another thing is to remember deer protect themselves with their nose. In other words, if you suspect a buck of being in a certain woodlot or briar patch, move towards him with the wind in your favor.

This is not to say a deer can’t see. While a motionless object doesn’t put them into flight, it usually arouses their curiosity, they do see movement quite well.

This is why approaching any hunting situation means moving slowly. You get your deer by using your head, not your feet.

Deer love certain places. It has been said that 10 percent of the water holds 90 percent of the fish, and the same could be speculated about deer. It is hard to explain this to many people, but there are places that just make me think deer.

It’s nothing I can put a finger on, and I can’t tell someone else what exactly makes the spot a special deer haven.

These special spots, be they small or large, are to be treasured. Maybe it is the feeling that deer use the place that keeps the hunter on the stand. Because of that he succeeds simply because he is still out hunting or maybe the darned place is a deer hotspot.

One of my favorite locations is anywhere there are Osage orange trees.

When I was a young shooter practicing with my .22 on the local rats, we kids called those rough-barked, orange, wooded tree fruit monkey balls.

Deer certainly do love them they eat them after the frost.

There are a few other things a hunter can do to make a hunt a success.

Prepare for the rain. It seems to rain every deer season.

Preparation is the key. Lens cap and rain gear help keep one out hunting when it rains. Small baggies can be used to keep water out of the barrel.

A well-sighted-in firearm helps, as does a Thermos of coffee.

One last key to success is the ability to spot parts of a deer. Note I didn’t say deer, I said part of a deer.

They don’t pose but instead of seeing whole deer look for that Y shape of the head facing you or the horizontal back line.

See him before he sees you and you have him.

Next week I hope to have a good bear story for you. Maybe this will be the year. Then it will be deer season with lots to talk about. Good hunting.

George H. Block writes a Sunday Outdoors column for the Observer-Reporter.

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