Planning your Rifle Hunt

In this episode Alex and Mike discuss Rifle Hunting Techniques and the importance how knowing your rifle inside and out will give you the knowledge of its limitation!  From calibers to ammunition to care of your firearm and shot placement we touch base on it all.....

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Transcript

 I challenge people to take it and put a  pie plate, a paper pie plate up at a hundred yards  and see how many times you can hit it offhanded without a rest.  I think it'll blow your mind. Yeah, you might hit it once or twice out of ten.  Maybe. Yeah. Maybe. Yeah. And then, and then do the same thing, taking a rest, and you'll be a lot more consistent. 

Camel boots on my feet, bow in my hand, Walking in the early dawn to climb up in my sleigh. Redbone, what would you say if I could tell you that you could kill a buck on a certain day? I would say you're crazy. There's no way to predict how the bucks are going to move. Well, you're wrong. There's a new camera out called Wise Eye Technologies.

These guys can predict the actual deer movement, exact time that deer is going to come through. Really? Wise Eye Technology? This camera has five megapixel pictures, has a GPS system built inside, and it's an experience using this camera. It collects data and tells you the movement, wind direction, everything.

On a camera. On a camera. WiseEyeTechnologies. com. And how do I find out more information about these guys? You go to  WiseEyeSmartCam. com. I'm using them. You should, too. Make your hunt easier. Use WiseEye.  WiseEye Technologies presents  Welcome to American Roots Outdoors. The rut is full swing here in the Midwest in the Ozarks and our topic today is rifle hunting techniques.

Things that we do. To get prepared for rifle season the things that we do while we raffle on redbone. Sure. Absolutely. Of course  As people hear this on saturday, it's the opening day of rifle season in missouri Arkansas started last saturday and well, they're knocking them down in arkansas And I think you're right alex.

Everybody I talked to says man. The bucks are chasing the does hard  Yeah, they're really pushing them redbone and uh, actually and i've said this in in And other shows, I've actually seen rut activity for the last month. I've never seen it so consistent and aggressive for this long of a period of time in my history.

And I think we can contribute that and we talked about last week's show  to the acre mass acre crop that we have. Yeah, I think that and also maybe Alex, just the sheer number of deer.  I mean, there are just so many of them out there. 

The population is definitely healthy.  Yeah. Well, they're estimating that Wayne will not be joining us tonight, guys. I do want to say that Wayne will not be joining us tonight. I think he's got a meeting or he's taking care of kids. He had to take a child to St. Jude, uh, for some kind of treatment or something.

Prayers for that child. But, uh, let's talk about current events right now. Uh, we got high school football coming up,  district championships, liberties, travels to Fair Grove to play the Fair Grove Eagles. Yeah. And Eagles fans and they're rivals. Yeah. And Fair Grove or Eagle Eagle fans? Well, they're both Eagles.

Uh, Liberty Eagle fans, that Fair Grove team. They're for real.  Yes they are.  And I think, uh, you never know. Oh, you never know. Liberty can keep it together and play clean football. It's gonna be a heck of a game.  Yeah, well exactly it will and that's what we hope for all the games matter of fact looking at some of the teams around our our entire Listening area that are still involved st.

Vincent and Charleston over in the east in class one. They're playing for district championship  Liberty and Fairgrove in class to Valley Catholic and Carruthersville Over in the southeast, they're playing in the class two district championship. In class three, Dexter plays St. Genevieve Public School. 

And in class four, the West Plains Zizzers take on Bolivar for the class, or for their district championship. And, uh, Alex, I looked it up. If, uh, if Liberty beats Fairgrove or whoever wins that game, they will play the winner of the Lafayette County and Father Tolton game.  And for West Plains Zizzer fans, if, uh, if the Zizzers beat Bolivar,  Uh, they will play the winner of Warrington and Hannibal. 

So let's count away. That all shakes out for right now.  Well, we got a lot of great teams in our listening area. And we just want to give a shout out to all the listeners to our areas and to the players. Absolutely. You know, we pray that everybody plays a safe game and nobody gets hurt. And, uh, try to keep the sport clean and try to keep me getting upset.

Uh, I know when I go to the games, I get back into it pretty hard, Red Boat. I know you do too. Yeah. Because you announce the shows. But uh, good luck to all the teams in our listing areas. Alright Alex. Moving on to the Kansas City Chiefs. Kansas City Chiefs are still undefeated, Redbone, and they skim by.

Yeah, they play just good enough.  And they got a little bit of luck on their side. I mean,  who blocks a 35 yard field goal in this day and time?  Nobody  but the chanel kid in kansas city  You know social media you're seeing people making posts saying that's all rigged and they're cheating and they're buying their way in this and that I don't agree with that redbone.

No, none of it and people that say stuff like that just sound ridiculous They don't know anything about football. You know, how many people would have to keep quiet? If the NFL was scripted,  or if the games were rigged,  tens of thousands of people would have to keep that secret for their entire life. And it just doesn't happen.

Just forget about that, folks. Sort of like the man on the moon, you know? Yeah, exactly. Going to, yeah,  like going to, uh, the moon. Yeah, yeah. How many, how many people, if they did just go to a place in the desert out in Arizona, how many people, Yeah, exactly. Would have known that and how many people would have had to keep quiet forever Just it's not gonna happen Not gonna happen out in this day and time. 

All right, so Yeah, I wanted to mention here before we get to the end of this break we got about three minutes What do you think is the number one state? for white tailed deer hunting in the United States.  Number one state, in my opinion, I haven't researched it, but for numbers of deer that's being killed, I am going to say Texas.

Well, Texas would be number two.  Wisconsin would probably be.  Wisconsin. Yes. Matter of fact, this came from Game and Fish magazine. I saw this article today, Wisconsin, number one, Texas is the number two. Arkansas is tied for third.  Wow. And Missouri is number eight in the nation.  Wow. Yeah. And they had several factors.

There's several factors that they use, number of boon and crockets and, uh, the length of the hunting season and, you know, the amount of public land, all those, a lot of different factors that they put out. But I was pretty amazed that Arkansas was number three. I thought Missouri might be a little higher than number eight, but that's the way it shakes out.

And Wisconsin, Texas, number one and two.  That is something. Yeah. Yeah. Texas. We got a healthy deer herd. We got a healthy deer herds here in the Ozarks, you know, uh, this year for the first time, you're not allowed to have any type of mineral on the ground or feed in Shannon County. It has been declared a CWD county.

Well, you can't have any in any, any county out there. I mean, it's, uh, no, uh, uh, no consumable products can be on the ground. What's your thoughts on that, Redbone?  Uh, my thoughts on that. Yeah, I'm not, I'm not too sure. I mean, I'm not an expert. Uh,  but I don't, I don't know that that's going to deter the development or the spread of CWD. 

Um, but anyway, and you know, for one, for you to go to end of break, there are a lot of rules that have been put into effect in Missouri over the last couple of years that deer hunters need to be aware of.  Uh, one is mandatory sampling and we've been doing this for a couple of years now. If you kill a deer. 

On November 16th or 17th, the first two days, you have to take it by a check station and they have to get a CWD sample.  All right. Exactly. And the check station in Shannon County is going to be the Missouri  Department of Conservation  visitor's building in Winona, Missouri is where you need to take your deer.

Yeah. And, and there are, I mean, they're just all over the place. Every county's got several, uh, no feed, mineral or consumable products on the ground that will attract deer at any time year round. And uh, what'd you have to do, you have to telecheck your deer and then you have to take it to. Uh, that check station, and it's got to be telechecked before you remove it from the county in which you kill it. 

So if you harvest the deer in Shannon County and you live in Ripley or Carter County, before you cross that county line, you've got to have that deer checked, telechecked.  Exactly, and you know, as a rule, you're supposed to tag the deer immediately, check it  immediately. Yeah, and also might, uh, uh, remind folks that carcass movement restrictions finish. 

Have been implemented in Missouri as a number of the surrounding states have done too and the best thing to do is get your MDC Whitetail deer hunting guide for 2024 and check out all the rules.  Yes, sir We wish everybody a great safe weekend this weekend. We're gonna go to a break. We come back segment two Rifle hunting techniques.

Don't go away. We'll be right back with more American Reefs Outdoors  Hey folks, this is Richard Young with the Kentucky Headhunters down here in Southern Kentucky. You're just listening to American Roots Radio with Alec Rutledge right down here in Kentucky. But he's out yonder somewhere else. He's way out there.

Y'all check it out. Do you  want to sell your land? Do you want to buy land? Hunting land? Farm land? Contact Legacy Farm and Land Specialist LLC. Ron McKinley, tell us about Legacy. Legacy Farm and Land Specialist LLC is based out of Poplar Bluff, Missouri. We service all the state of Missouri. We're opening up an office in Kentucky.

Come and see us. There you have it folks. Legacy Land and Farm Specialists, LLC. Buy, sell, auction. Ron McKinley,  573 683  1449. It fills the creek of a big ol hill. Year after year, I'm a huntin deer. Legacy  Farmland Specialists presents  Welcome back to American Roots Outdoors, segment two of our show. Rifle hunting techniques. 

I love to rifle hunt. I know you do too Redbone. What caliber gun are you shooting? Uh, I am shooting a Winchester model 94 30 30.  You'll want that guns hard to beat Redbone. It is probably one of the most popular calibers out there along with the 30 ought six, which is a 30 caliber. And I, I want to give a big plug right quick.

You know, I've been bow hunting the last five, six days, uh, actually since the end of the month, uh, first month of November, and the wise eyes have showed me where the big bucks are at. I have no big bucks that are really consistent. So that's why I haven't shot one yet because none of these bucks are predictable. 

That being said, moving along, uh, ammunition means a lot  to the type of gun you're shooting. You gotta have a bullet.  That will mushroom and Hornady, uh, makes the greatest bullets out there. The most accurate, deadly, dependable bullets out there. You know, and I've got several rifles and one of my favorite rifles that I hunt with is a seven millimeter aught eight Thompson center on core.

And I've also got a two 43, uh, Thompson center icon.  The bullets I shoot are the white American white tail ammunition. And I want to shoot a bullet. That will mushroom and will stay intact so you can get the knockdown power that you need and pass through if you hit bone or whatever. And I think people need to pay attention to the type of bullet they shoot.

You don't want to go out there shooting steel jackets. Steel jackets do not mushroom whatsoever. Yeah, they just go right through and make a little bit of a hole. 

Yeah, I'm just saying, because those steel jackets, they just go right through and they don't make much of a hole. Yeah.  No, they don't. They're just a small home. They don't do expand. The secret to knock down energy is velocity and the bullet must remain standing intact. That's why I choose Hornady Ammunition, uh, a lot of great ammunition companies out there.

I've been with these guys for over 10 years and, uh, these guys give back so much money to different organizations to help, uh, keep our hunting heritage strong. Yeah. They, they provide a lot of energy and art.  Yeah, I was just going to say they provide a lot of ammunition for the youth hunting sports, too, getting our kids involved.

Yes, they do.  Yes, they do.  So, rifle hunting techniques, you know, uh, I want to talk about equipment. Well, the first thing I want to do, and most deer hunters do this, and this creates success,  is repetitiveness.  You know, if you're just getting your rifle out and you shoot it just a few times before you go out, man, are you really prepared?

Think about that.  Really think about that. A shooter that shoots often is going to be a more accurate shot the same way of shooting a bow. So it's important to get out, to know your weapon, and know the effective range, and you build confidence within that weapon. Uh, you know, so, shooting your rifle often.

Will make you more successful. And the things that I like to carry with me in the field when I'm rifle hunting redbone. One is a good pair of optics.  Two is a grunt call. Rowing bag. Scent elimination like wildlife research. Lures. If I want to lay a scent trail in. Or make mock scrapes. Uh, they got the dripper, the golden, golden blend blurs, um, box scrapes, or they have also, uh, the golden estrus, which can activate scrapes that went dead, and right now, from my observations, most of the scrapes are non active right now, because bucks are guarding does right now in the Midwest, from my observations, uh, since the first of November. 

The dominant bucks are garden does and the bucks that you're seeing cruising are bucks that's trying to find estrous does. I had a good hunt this morning and this evening and I saw four does come out of the timber and something pushed them out and about 10 minutes later the buck comes out. He was a two and a half year old deer.

And none of those does were in the estrous, or he'd have stuck with them, or he'd have pushed them and chased them. So not all estrous.  But back to our subject of, of taking things into the woods, and techniques. Also carry a good pair of shooting sticks with me, Redbone. Mm hmm.  Yeah, cause it's always,  It's always best to have a good rest. 

It is, you know, people say, well, I shoot free hand off. That's good. But if you do a lot of shooting, that's fine. But we owe it to the animal to make a clean shot, ethical shot and the placement of shot  where I like to shoot white tails is right behind the shoulder or through the shoulders, depending what angle they are.

You never want to shoot a white tail straight on with archery or rifle.  You want to shoot them broadside. You have a bigger target. And you want to hit the vital areas. You got the heart, the lungs, and all that vital is, you know, on a mature deer, it's probably about, uh, 20 inches on a big, mature buck, that vital area.

So, think about this. If you're rifle shooting, I challenge people to take and put a  pie plate, a paper pie plate up at 100 yards.  And see how many times you can hit it off handed without a rest.  I think it'll blow your mind. Yeah, it'll blow your mind. Yeah, you might hit it once or twice out of 10. Maybe.

Maybe. Yeah. And  then, and then do the same thing, taking a rest, and you'll be a lot more consistent. 

What kind of equipment do you take with you when you go to the woods, rifle hunting, red bone? You know, same thing. I take binoculars. I take my rattle bag. I take a grunt tube. I take, and the only thing you, you didn't mention was a doe bleat. I like to take a dough bleat and, uh, I take my, uh, my dough and estrus, whatever it might be.

I don't use a cover scent, and I'll tell you why. Because, and this might be old school, but I've had so much success with it over the years, is if I'm going to a stand and I know there are cattle in that area, I find a pretty fresh cow pie and I step right in the middle of it.  And that's why I use to cover the scent of my boots if there's any scent on the bottom of my boots.

Because the deer are used to those cattle being there. They're used to that smell. And it's not going to bother them.  Yeah, and you do wash your clothes, though, and sew them, and that's why it's like walking surgery. Oh, absolutely, absolutely. Yeah, on Friday night before the season, everything gets washed and, uh, put in a bag and seal up the top, and, uh, don't put my, my pants and my, my coat and that stuff on until I get to where I'm going to hunt. 

You know, what I started doing to my vehicles, I done it years ago, uh, Ozonics is not a sponsor, but the Ozonics, what it does, it kills bacteria in the air, and what I started doing was, uh, taking my Ozonics. And running it inside my vehicle to kill all the germs in the vehicle for about an hour. Not a bad idea.

Spraying it down with,  spraying it down with Wildlife Research Scent Killer. And getting all the odors out of there. Then what I do, I can wear my clothes inside that vehicle once I've killed all the bacteria in there. And I always spray my boots with Scent Killer, uh, before I walk. Get out of the vehicle and spray myself down again.

Then when I get to the stand, I've got my mosaics running wide open. And the way you want to use the ozonics is you want to use it up above you where it's blowing down in front of you and have the wind, uh, blowing from the backside of the ozonics. What it does, it kills the bacteria in the air between you and the deer if it comes in downwind.

I don't know if you saw my Facebook post today, but I had a little young buck, a yearling buck, spike buck come in directly downwind within 10 feet of me and my ground blind today. And I was undetected. It's great footage.  But, uh,  things like that, paying attention to details and being sent free.  You always want to walk with the wind in your face going into your location where you set up.

You know, I'm 60 years old now. I still hunt on a stand, but I, I, the older I get, the less that I want to get up into a tree stand. Uh, they make a lot of great safe tree stands out there, like True North tree stands. Uh, they got the ladder sticks. They've also got the ladder stands. They make one of the safest ladder stands I've ever seen.

I've got a few of them. And, uh, the older I get, I want to have, and ladder stand has got a safety bar around it. You always want to have your safety harness with you, too. Sure. And one thing I forgot to talk about, Redbone. Yeah, Alex. I'd like you to take with me. Yeah, if we can just pick up right there on the next segment.

'cause we need to get to a break. Folks, you're listening to American Roots Outdoors Radio with Alex Rutledge and friends. We back in just a minute. This is Brenda Valentine and you're listening to American Roots Outdoors with Alex Rutledge and friends 

pair of hunting  on down, playing the deep in the ground  around your part, so you never gotta worry  what.  Hey guys, it's food plot planting time here in the Ozarks and all across the country. What are you planting this year, Wayne? I'm gonna put some smorgasbord in with a whole lot of clover. You're gonna put some extra clover in it?

What? Smorgasbord? What is smorgasbord? Man, it is a variety of annuals and perennials that'll get you through fall time, winter time, and all the way into spring. It's awesome. You want to plant healthier food plots to track all kinds of game? Go to www. nc. gov. Eagleseed. com. It's a smorgasbord. You know, we all get tired of certain things.

The smorgasbord has everything. Your deer will love it. Eagleseed. com. 

Morning, the ammunition presents.  Welcome back to American roots outdoor segment three of our show. Again, we're talking about rifle hunting techniques, things that we take with us to the woods and talking about strategies, stuff that we use, trying to help our Listeners, if you're not a veteran hunter and sharing some of the techniques that we use to be successful and we've talked about the stuff that we carry to the woods with us also wanted to mention some things before we went to a break that is not clear a backpack with me that backpack.

I can carry hot edge hand warmers. I can carry my binoculars, my range finder. I always got a range finder. Also, that's one of the things I carry with me. My grunt call rowing bag.  Uh, my lures,  my food, if I want to carry a snack, a little Debbie's,  a little Debbie's or a Reese's cups, a bottle of water, uh, I'm going to do a long set, there's many days that I've set my board daylight till after dark. 

And when this time of the year with a rut going on like it is, you never know when a deer's going to pop out pushing the door or whatever. It's good to make those long sets. But what I want to share with you real quick from my observations of hunting since November 1st.  And through my wives, our data cams, most of the movement has slowed down by 10 o'clock. 

The full moon is coming back in right now. We're about three quarters.  You'll see these deer will move early and I'll move midday and the midday movement has picked up. So they're moving midday, 12 o'clock, say the one o'clock a little bit. Then from 2 30  So dark.  Yep. That's from my observations and what I've been seeing on my WiseEye data cams.

So keep that in mind. But back to carrying things with you is, you know, you want to carry your first aid kit with you or something, you know, carry a flashlight, uh, your skinning knife, your gutting knife and bandage. You never know, you may cut yourself or whatever, but that's the kind of things I carry with me. 

Yeah. And I would agree with all of that. Yep. And, uh, the other thing, Alex, you know, and we always talk safety first, make sure somebody knows approximately where you're going to be.  Always. Always. Always. Because, you know, God forbid an accident should happen and say it's an hour and a half after dark and you haven't made it home yet, at least somebody will know where to go and look for you. 

Exactly. If you've got on X on your phone and you download it, there's so many features on the on X. You can add the location where you're at and send it to somebody. The exact location  to your wife or friends at camp or whatever. So that's a good thing. Safety is the first thing of any. Any outdoor hunting sport that we do.

Yeah, something else you can do, Alex,  if you've got signal on your phone when you get to your stand, just send a text to your wife or girlfriend or parents or whatever the case may be. I am here. Uh, there's a big white oak with a fork,  you know, close near me. I'm this many feet from a fence row or, you know, give them just a text that has some kind of indication where you are. 

It's pretty simple. You've got the technology, might as well use it. You  can also drop a pin on Google Maps and give them the exact location and send that location through Google Maps.  Yeah, there's just so many things and it's just so good for somebody to know where you're, where you're hunting.  We've talked about all the equipment, accessories we take with us to the woods and stuff.

What I want to talk about now is what we need to be focusing on from our observations throughout the year. Right now, we say this almost every day.  Every whitetail subject, when the rut's on, you've got to find your clusters of does.  That's the secret right now. With the massive acorn crop that we've had this year, most of the deer are in the hardwoods right now. 

If you're not hunting the hardwoods and where the acorns are at, you're gonna miss out.  And you know, these big mature bucks, if that's what you are after,  they do not like to be in the wide open. They don't like to come out in open fields and stuff.  What I'm hunting right now, one of my spots I'm hunting red bone, I like to focus on pinch points where woods meet each other, say a funnel, and there may be a power line or a field there at this pinch point.

And these deer feel safer, these mature bucks, traveling through the timber where they're not seen.  So, keep those spots in focus if you're hunting next to pills. Find the pincers. They also love to travel parallel with edges. Well, it could be a timber, uh, it could be a hedgerow or whatever. So,  keep that in mind.

But if you're hunting the timber and find your clusters of does, you're going to find your mature bucks. Scrapes are not that active right now here in the Midwest, from my observations again. Uh, scrape hunting, you can't activate.  Uh, these traits by using lures, which will lure in these satellite bucks that's still cruising.

And let me tell ya, some of these satellite bucks are big bucks. They got big racks.  Uh, 3 year old deer. But usually right now your more dominant bucks, your 5 12, 6 12, 7 12 year old bucks,  they are the more dominant ones that will protect the does. And right now they're guarding does. Find timber, find does, and you'll find the bucks.

That's the secret right now.  And Alex, before we move on, we need to, uh, we need to go to another break. Well, time is going by fast today. Seem like it always does. Hi folks. You're listening to American Roots Outdoors Radio with Alex Rutledge and friends, we're back in just a bit. 

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Eagle Seed presents,  welcome back to American Roots Outdoors, segment four of our show. Rifle hunting techniques and strategies. That's what Redbone and I are talking about. Again, Wayne Locke could not join us this evening. He had to go to St. Jude's to take one of his foster children there for an appointment.

Uh, prayers for that child. Hope everything is okay. Uh, we've talked about everything that we carry in our, our, our backpacks to, uh,  making the shot. What we're going to talk about right now is making the shot. Okay. The first thing I want to tell everybody.  Do not ever think that bullets can pass through limbs, et cetera, whatever.

Anything that a bullet touches can defect that bullet. Yep. Detour that bullet.  So you'll see people if a deer's in brush or tall grass almost gonna throw a bullet in there  You owe the animal more respect than that. Yeah, you do and you might as well be throwing a rock in there Go ahead red bone. I'm gonna say you might as well just throw a rock in there If you're going to shoot into a brush pile like that  Yes  So you want to make sure the animal's broadside when you make a shot or quarter your way And and what I like to do red bone with no matter if i'm up with a rifle You Or, or whatever it is, is quartering away shot.

And I want to aim at the outside shoulder, the angle for the bullet to go through the body, to come out through the shoulder. If you do that, you'll hit the vital area most of the time if you make the good shot.  Yeah, and I mean, and ideally you want to hit that animal in the heart because they're going to drop instantly.

But double lungs, not a bad shot either.  Well, I'd rather double lung shoot a deer as I would a heart shot. Really? And I'll tell you why. Because, oh, the double lung to me, if you get a double lung,  it cuts the air off and the heart shuts them down. The heart, either shot, either shot's a great shot, but I just like making the lung shot.

Because what happens is you got a big pass through and I'm colorblind and the lung blood is an orange color, right?  Well, you're not gonna have as big a mess when you open that deer up either if you double lung as you're gonna do If you shoot him in the heart, that's up. Yeah.  Yes. Yeah, I'm the other way I like I like the heart shot  now that you've made the shot So you've made the good shot and you know, you've watched where the deer the thing I want to encourage people always pay attention where the shot was made You  Lock it in your mind, and the last place you see the deer run.

Mark it with a rock, a stump, a big tree. Under the moment of excitement, you get confused. But the first thing you do is mentally prepare yourself when you sit up to hunt that location. So if I kill a deer here,  I need to remember where he comes from, where he was standing by,  and the last thing that I saw. 

Yeah, I would agree exactly. And, and because you never know, Alex, sometimes you shoot that deer and he, he bucks and he takes off straight ahead. Sometimes they will whirl and go back the way they came from. So, you know, that's, that's why it's important to, to see and watch after the shot, make sure you know which way he went. 

Exactly. And I tell you, I've been under my younger under the excitement and I'd be really confused, you know, so the older you get, that's one of the first things you want to mentally prepare yourself for, uh, when you make the shot, when you go hunt is, Hey man, you know, I need to concentrate and really focus where I made the shot before you ever make it.

And you know, that deer's coming from right side. There's a big Oak tree out here at 60 yards. When he gets Behind that oak tree, I'm gonna raise my gun and he gets out behind that oak tree, that's where I'm gonna make the shot. Yep.  So,  you know that mentally prepare yourself for that. Don't just sit there and say, well, I wonder where we're coming from. 

Well, if you've done your scouting, you're going to know if you're using WiFi data cams, it's going to tell you. There's no more guesswork. There's no more assuming, you know, and I always say this, Wi Fi doesn't lie. Right. Capturing the footage, you're doing it, you know.  Yeah, might as well use it to your advantage because out there when you're when you're chasing the whitetails you need every advantage you can get  Exactly, and that's why you want to mentally prepare yourself. 

Yeah, so Alex  Although this is not totally off subject But one of the things that I think sometimes we forget about when we're deer hunting we get in the safety of a blind You know and there are all these portable blinds out there  and we think We can go ahead and move in that blind. Well, that's really not the case because, you know, deer look for that movement.

I mean, that's what they're catching. And if you're, if you're moving,  they're liable to see you moving even inside that blind. But I saw a video the other day, the gentleman said  he likes to put his blind out. Two weeks before he hunts  and he hangs towels on the front of his blind.  So the, when the wind blows, those towels blow back and forth and he claims it gets the deer used to seeing movement in that area.

And then when he gets in the blind,  the deer, if they, you know, if there's movements there, they get used to it. Your thoughts on that. I think, I  think it's a great technique,  Redbone, but I do know this also.  I, I, I went in and set up blinds like  four days ago.  And instantly, I had deer within 60, 70 yards of the blind.

Sure. The thing is, they look for movement. And when you set up a ground blind, I always try to set up my ground blinds back in the timber just a little bit, which blends in,  and it don't stick out like a sore thumb. Then I'll cut cedar limbs or, uh, Right, and put around it, yeah. Anything and pile brush around it so it, you know.

But I've also set up blinds in other states that I've hunted in the wide open and shot deer. Sure.  It's crazy. Yeah, it really is. Deer that's really pressured  Go ahead. No, I just Go ahead.  Deer that are really pressured,  they know,  especially if the wind's not right and they sense danger, they look for things like that.

A deer's smarter than what people give them credit for. If I could compare a deer to one animal, it would be a dog.  You think about it. I always tell people that a dog urinates to leave its sign, so does a deer. Uh, a deer is vocal. When they're trailing a doe, like a dog barking, Uh, they use their nose to smell.

And their hearing's fabulous. And they fight predominantly. They growl. Uh, they protect their does or whatever. And, you know, there's a lot of comparisons there between a dog and a deer, grandpa. Yeah, I would agree. And, uh, you know, sometimes we forget how strong our dog's nose is. Uh, I've been babysitting my, my daughter's little dog this week and, uh, I'll go let him outside to go to the bathroom because he's an indoor dog and he immediately will take off to the back of the house  and I'll go, Leo, where are you going?

I'll look out there and I've got some, I call them wild chickens. One of the neighbor's chickens got loose and they're coming into my yard and he. smelled those chickens outside from inside and he went outside he immediately went all the way around the house was chasing those chickens.  If your dog can do that imagine how a deer can smell. 

What we're going to talk about in the bonus segment, folks, uh, if you're a podcast listener is now that you shot the deer, we're going to talk about tracking techniques, things to carry with you to make your tracking job more successful. And we're going to talk about that, how to find that wounded deer or that shot deer.

That's going to be the bonus subject,  uh, uh, focus. But, uh, back to our conversation here,  before we wrap it up here, we just got a couple of minutes left, I know. Yeah, just about a minute. I just want to say this to every,  okay, I want to say this to everybody. Remember,  hunting isn't just about the harvest to kill. 

Hunting is about the experience, especially with the kids, or making memories with friends in camp, and sharing fellowship, and, and, and, you know,  appreciating God's creation, Redbone. Yeah. When we harvest something  When we harvest something, it's the bonus of the hunt. Yeah, I would agree.  Yeah, so,  just cause you don't shoot something don't mean you had a bad hunt. 

You know? No, and it doesn't mean you're a bad hunter. Think about it.  No. I've passed a lot of bucks up so far. You know, little bucks.  I'm wanting to shoot something big and mature. Right. If I want to kill a deer to really eat.  I want to shoot a doe,  you know, but, uh, these big bucks, if you'll take care of a big buck the right way and get rid of the tarsal instantly when you kill him and, uh, get him cooled down quick, soon, sooner the better, and once you skin him, if you'll mix up vinegar and salt.

And a spray bottle and spray them down. It kind of takes that tank, wild, super wild game taste out of them.  And it's all about preparation to take care of that meat. Yeah, and we'll get more into that in the bonus. Yeah, we'll get more into that in the bonus segment. But Alex, one thing I want to say before we wrap up here, and we've only got just a few seconds. 

The other thing that we do sometimes as hunters that we should not do is to make fun of other hunters. Because of the types of camo, or the type of clothing that they're wearing, or the kind of gun that they're shooting, or the size of the deer that they chose to harvest. And people do it, and there's no reason to do it.

I mean, we say it all the time, a trophy's in the eye of the beholder. And, uh, you know, some people are less fortunate, and maybe that's the only gun that they've got access to, and the only clothes they've got to wear, so. Uh, you know, be kind to them, be friendly, and just all just go out there and have a good time, and, and, you know, deer hunting, make it a fun time for everybody. 

Well, I want to add lib to that, and I want to say this. The person that's mouthing or making fun of people that shoot smaller bucks, uh, reflect back to your first deer. Yeah. Maybe the person you're making fun of hasn't shot many deer. Exactly. The trophy, trophy is in the eyes of the beholder.  And remember, it's God's creation.

And I do have to say this. The person that mouths everybody that shoots big bucks also buys first.  You will never shoot a big deer shooting little deer.  So I have mixed emotions on both sides of the spectrum in this conversation. That being said, we're going to wrap it up here. Be sure to listen to the bonus segment.

If you're a podcast listener, we're going to talk about after the shot, tracking that deer. We'll talk about the things that we carry with us. Help us find that deer. Appreciate you listening to our show. Please share our show to your family and friends and let them know about our show. We're about faith, family, friends, outdoors, and our constitutional rights.

Remember,  teach your boys to become men.  And teach your girls to become ladies. When your roots run deep and strong, there's no reason to fear the wind. So you never gotta worry, what the wind might do. American Roots. Thank you for joining us for today's American Roots Outdoors Radio with Alex Rutledge.

You can find us on Facebook. Look us up on the World Wide Web at AmericanRootsOutdoors.  com. We'll be back again next week on this great show. Great radio station. 

Take you to a holler.  Take you to a feel. Across the creek. Up a big old hill. Legacy Farmland Specialist, LLC  presents.  Welcome back to American Roots Outdoors, the bonus segment. If you are listening to this, you're probably listening to it on one of your favorite podcast carriers.  The topic focus here is, after you've made the shot,  finding that deer.

I want to talk about the things I carry with me in my backpack or fanny pack to help me in tracking a deer. Now, I'm colorblind.  And most of you know that. I cannot see blood unless it's, you know, the size of my little finger or the end of my little finger.  Some people can see it the size of a pinhead. 

Well,  being colorblind, I carry peroxide with me.  Oxide will make blood foam.  Yup. Also carry  a fluorescent light. The light,  uh, uh, a red colored light or green colored light will help the blood shine and make it easier to find.  And I carry toilet paper with me. I carry limb lights. Limb lights are reflective type tape, uh, bread wrappers you can wrap around limbs for your last found blood. 

So you can look back and get a reference to which direction that deer was going.  If you look back at your trail that you left behind where you last found blood, Redbone. Yeah, and uh, you know those lights that they make now that, you know, they got the green lens in them and they got the red lens. Those things, I think, are a lifesaver when it comes to trying to blood trail up a deer. 

Yes. You know, especially if, especially if you're out there in the dark.  You want to carry a good bright light with you too, extra batteries if it's, you're hunting in the evening and you make, you know, if you're tracking that deer. And it's always good to have somebody with you when you're tracking deer also. 

Yeah, because surely the two of you won't get lost together.  Well, you got Onyx, you'll never get lost if you got Onyx. But, but with that said, uh, those things are things that I carry with me.  And if you use those reference markers, like the limb lights, the toilet paper, or whatever you use, you can get an indicator of which direction that deer is going, and it will create a line. 

And something to think about, if you've got a good hit on a deer, and you're hunting hilly terrain,  deer do not want to go uphill. They'll hurt very bad.  Remember that. They don't want to expend that extra energy.  If they're hurt bad, they will always travel downhill.  Yeah. And that's stay on level ground.

That's, I say they don't wanna exert that extra energy to go uphill. They, they're gonna go the, the easy route and they're gonna get into the thickest stuff. They can find  Exactly. And, and they, what they'll do too, if you hit 'em back, they're gonna go to water. Mm-Hmm. what happens is the fever gets in their body instantly. 

Yeah. They want to go to water. Yeah. Good points to remember and, and always check both sides of a log.  I mean, I've, I've gone.  Uh, look for deer and, uh, kind of hate to say this, but I walked by one deer three times before I actually saw him.  But he was on the he was on the other he was on the other side One  of the coolest things I think that I must say after making a shot and it's night time and just an evening hunt or whatever One of the things I look for is a big white belly Shining in the woods  that big white belly.

That's like my heart goes to racing. Yeah, the closer I get to it  And then you find out it's just a piece of roofing material blew off somebody's house. Or a milk jug. Yeah, or a milk jug, exactly. Or a milk jug just floated down the creek or whatever. Yeah, but uh, have you ever done that, Alex? Have you ever walked, I mean, basically over a deer three or four times before you actually, well, there he is right there.

I walked by him three times. I've done that probably two or three different times in my life.  Oh, yeah, I've done that because they blend in with the fourth floor of the leaves, you know, and, uh, we still have a few leaves left on the trees  and, uh,  but, uh, yeah,  those are the things that I carry with me and I think, uh, a lantern, you know, an old lantern, antique lantern that's run on kerosene.

That will also make blood stand out if you're, if you're tracking a deer in the evening and it's start time, right?  Alex has been a bit of good show today Just been fun. Just talking about and you're while we're talking about all these things. I'm reminiscing about old deer hunts in my head and Maybe next week.

We'll just talk about deer hunts because we're right in the smack dab in the middle of the gun season, Missouri We're going to talk more about part two,  rifle hunting techniques and tactics, part two next week. Again, thank you for listening. Please share our show with your friends and family. And our website is www.

americanreachoutdoors. com. If you have a request or a subject matter, please email us, go to our website and  we'd like to hear from you. Yeah, absolutely. If you like our show.  And remember, teach your boys to become men  and your girls to become ladies. And when your roots run deep and strong, there's no reason to fear the wind. 

Take you to a field, cross a creek, up a big old hill. Year after year, got my hunting gear 

and my old pair of hunting boots. Passed on down, planted deep in the ground.  Around your heart, so you never gotta worry, hey. What the wind might do, American Roots.