Probably the most overlooked sense of humans as predators is the sense of smell. Yet we move through a world filled with odors, many of which can even jog the memory of past events. The odor of freshly baked pumpkin pie and roasted turkey for instance puts me in mind of Thanksgiving every time. The combined odor of Hoppe’s gun solvent and freshly brewed coffee reminds me of deer camp. Military snipers are a key example of tuning in all their senses, including that of smell, to locate their opponents. When in the field, snipers … Read More
An extraordinary hike!
As always, deer camp chores were in abundance. Getting ready for the upcoming flux of hunters was tugging at my conscious of heading north to take in the fall colors. Then along spoke my wife, Becky. “Hey, how about if I tag along with you this trip?” My response was much like Tim Taylor on the TV series Home Improvement. Becky sensed my surprise and doubled-down by making arrangements to take a couple days off work…making our excursion a ‘looong weekend’. While we began to pack-up to head north I began my full disclosure to … Read More
What happened when I stopped baiting deer?
I stopped shooting 4 & 6 point bucks & started shooting 8 & 10 point bucks. I also started seeing fewer deer than when I was baiting. That was one of the hardest things I had to get used to but eventually I became convinced that I just wasn’t going to have success with bigger bucks as long as I was continually seeing and spooking the same groups of young deer. (left) Author’s impressive wall of whitetail fame of northern Michigan. I do have the advantage of having lived and hunted the same piece of … Read More