Where did the Deer go?

The title says it all..... Where did the Deer go?

Deer harvest in Missouri this year is significantly less than last year and everyone is asking WHY?.....We look at some of the possibilities that have caused many hunters here in the Ozarks to report many less deer than normal being seen from the stands and blinds. Was it a change in the season dates, moon phase, temps or lack of hunters in the woods?  We will touch base on all of it!

Missouri Hunting Heritage Federation:
https://www.mhhf.us/

To follow American Roots Outdoors Podcast:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/448812356525413

To learn more about American Roots Outdoors:
https://americanrootsoutdoors.com/

https://www.facebook.com/AmericanRootsOutdoors/

To follow Alex Rutledge:
https://www.facebook.com/americanrootsalex/
To follow Wayne Lach:
https://www.facebook.com/wayne.lach.5
To follow Mike Crase:
https://www.facebook.com/mike.crase

Transcript

 thing, and we'll talk about it later, I think. But, uh, another thing, Alex, was the shift in the calendar.  You know, we, this past Thursday, we celebrated Thanksgiving on the 28th. And again, you're hearing this on Saturday, we're actually recording on Wednesday, but Thanksgiving not until the 28th of November.

And this is a calendar shift. We started deer season on the 7th. 16th in Missouri.  So if you, it was later, it's later, that's my point about four or five days later than normal.  So, you know, if we would start the season,  camel boots on my feet, bow in my hand, looking in the early. 

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 Wyzeye Technologies. These guys can predict the actual deer movement, exact time that a deer is going to come through.

Really? Wyzeye Technologies? This camera has 5 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.  Wise Eye Technologies presents,  Welcome to American Roots Outdoors. Alex Shrutley's calling via phone from my property here in Southern Missouri. In the studio is Mike Craikes. Wayne Locke is home with his family and they're all under the weather with the flu.

Oh, some of that going around. I've been noticing that in some of the basketball games.  Yes, you know we're wrapping up Missouri rifle season here in Arkansas rifle season and now we have some CWD county hunts still going on in the state of Missouri. That means from November 27th to December 1st that you can still deer hunt in some of the CWD counties.

Yeah, need to check the MDC guide to find out which ones are allowing the CWD hunts.  Exactly. What we want to talk about in this first segment, Redbone, before we get into the gist of the show, the gist of the show is, uh, what the deer are doing now, and why people wasn't seeing deer, and what they can do to see deer, and what they can do on their properties to make their properties much better so they can be more successful.

We're going to talk about that, but also, We're going to talk about the success of the big mature buck I killed throughout this show. But what we're going to do this segment is go ahead and talk about current events. You've got some numbers for us from Arkansas and Missouri, I believe. Yeah, I've got the Missouri numbers.

I don't have the Arkansas numbers. A little bit slow getting them reported. And the Missouri numbers are unofficial. All right. So what I've got here, Alex, first, I want to start with the Bayer season, which recently  Uh, in Missouri, 15 bears were killed in Missouri during the, uh, bear season. And uh, that was 15 out of a possible 40.

So pretty good percentage there for the bear hunters. Fall turkey. It seems like we seem to forget about the fall turkey hunt in October. Uh, the fall turkey hunt, uh, in Missouri, uh, there were 1, 857 birds harvested.  Now let's go to the unofficial deer totals and, uh, what I've been able to find from MDC.

And again, we're, we're recording on Wednesday. You're hearing this on Saturday. Uh, the unofficial results as of Wednesday, uh, for all deer hunts. This includes the archery up to date, uh, the Utah Hunts and everything. 227,708 deer have been harvested in Missouri so far.  Now, what I'd like to  specify there.

And we talked about, you know, the numbers being way behind last week, and this sounds like maybe they caught up. But not quite. Keep in mind, this is all. Of the deer seasons combined  last year, just last year, just,  uh, yeah, that's Archie and everything 220, basically 228, 000 last year, just in the rifle season was 223, 000. 

So, you know, you kind of do the comparison there. The, uh, the rifle numbers were significantly down. Uh, the leading County was Franklin County with 5, 005 deer harvested.  And then run to say there were 91, 069 does 118, 218 bucks and 18,  421 button bucks.  All right, look at our individual counties. Oregon County, 2, 835.

Shannon County, 1, 763.  Howell County, 3, 761. Texas County, 3, 744. So those are good numbers. Uh, Dent County is at 21. 77, Ozark County 22. 40.  Douglas County 25 71. Really good numbers for Douglas County. Ripley County numbers are, are really good. Alex? 2,473. Wow.  Butler County is 1,295.  Carter County is 1,405. Cape Gerardo County. 

Good numbers in Cape Gerardo, uh, 2,635 and uh,  Perry County, which is just south of Cape Gerardo County.  2324. So, you know, the numbers sound pretty good, but, um, still the numbers are down for rifle season and a number of factors. And we're going to talk about that on the show today.  Well, it goes to show you though, that our deer population is very strong because it sounds like the county's numbers.

are up from last year, from what they killed last year. Not all of them, but a majority of them. Yeah, and I don't think it's an issue, and we're going to talk about that this hour, folks, but I don't think it's an issue of the number of deer.  I think there are several factors that go into the fact that You know overall statewide the numbers are just down a little bit for the rifle season and keep in mind That's for the rifle season the numbers seem to be down a little bit  archery season was pretty good for the state Yes as a whole.

Yeah, and the youth hunt and and even the doe hunt that they had was really good  What we'll talk about now and segment two. We're going to get into the gist of the show as we said Uh, while we're not seeing deer and what we can do to improve our properties and what we can do to see the deer To close the deal in segment two, but we're going to talk about now the kansas city chiefs kansas city chiefs Uh squeeze by another one redbone Uh, yeah, they did by the time people hear this show They will have played the raiders because they played the raiders on friday this week.

But yeah last uh sunday a good win over the uh over the um It was all the uh Uh, well now they lost the bills but then they beat the  That's right. They lost to the Bills. Yeah, lost to the Bills. Then they beat Carolina. And both were really close, good games. And the Chiefs just continued to do enough to get victories, or at least be close.

And that Buffalo game could have won either way.  What about Cleveland? Cleveland pulling it off. Man, that was something against the Steelers.  You know, I remember our buddy Wayne Locke, who was on the show the week before that, saying the Steelers get a layup this week. That's right. That's right. Yeah. It's funny.

Wayne's got to re edit this for the podcast so he can get to hear us jabbing at him.  Anyway, the Steelers are all defense and no offense and they've got to fix that offense if they are wanting, if they want to get to where they want to go. And uh, uh, you know, Chiefs, Alex, and, and again, the show's airing on Saturday, recording on Wednesday and they played the Raiders in between there.

We don't know how, obviously how that game came out, but, uh, you The Chiefs are getting well. While a lot of teams are losing players to injury late in the season, the Chiefs are actually gaining players who are coming back. Isaiah Pacheco and Omenahu, the defensive end, the pass rush specialist, they're healthy and back in the lineup and looks like some of the others will be back in the coming weeks.

So, uh, the Chiefs are kind of trending the opposite way from a lot of teams in the NFL. And the fact that their injured players are coming back while other teams are losing players to injury here at the end.  Yeah. If you notice, though, all the Chiefs games, even last year at Redbone, they played up with them to, you know, halftime.

Then after halftime, it's like third and fourth quarter, they turned it on. They did what they had to do to close the deal to win the games. And that's what they're doing again this year. And that all goes back to the coaching and the management. Yeah, exactly. I would say. It all goes back to Andy Reid making those adjustments at halftime and putting together a really good halftime speech  to get those guys fired up to play better in the second half. 

Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Well, I'm excited to talk about this part of the show coming out in segment two. We're going to go to a break here in just a second, but this is going to be very, very informative to everybody. Why? We'll Wasn't you seeing deer and what can you do to improve the properties that you hunt and what can you do to find these deer?

We're gonna talk about that in segment two. We're gonna go to a break and we come back with more American Roots Outdoors right after this  Hey, this is Eddie Salter and you listen to American Roots Outdoors And outdoors with Alex Rutledge and friends.  Huttin off the farm, wishin on some love.  I've been on a big board for a while, like a load of men in the back of my truck.

We can take it to a holler. Do you want to sell your land? Do you want to buy land? Hunting land? Farm land? Contact Legacy Farm and Land Specialists, LLC. Ron McKinley, tell us about Legacy. Legacy Farm and Land Specialists, 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 Specialist, LLC, Buy, Sell, Auction. Ron McKinley,  573 683 1449. Crane,  was a crane, a  big ol  hail,  year after year, again. 

Legacy Farmland Specialist presents.  Welcome back to America Roots Outdoors, segment two of our show. I'm standing out here on my property and I'm just walking around the yard. I've been burning leaves. All day yesterday, red bone. And, uh, Thanksgiving is coming up. I want to wish everybody happy Thanksgiving to all of our family and friends, our listeners and to everybody across the world that listens to us.

We thank you. Uh, but I want to say this, if you're looking for a farm. Or a house or anything you need to get with legacy farmland specialists these guys Take care of their customers or you just want to call them for advice About purchasing a piece of property the right way to purchase a piece the paperwork, etc These guys are very friendly very professional.

I just want to give them a mention But what we're going to do is get right into the show. Why was it people seeing deer? How many times did you hear that this year redbone? I heard it quite a bit, especially the first week You know, the first, you know, five to seven days really hurt it a lot. I'm just not seeing anything.

I'm just not seeing anything. Uh, but over the last, you know, three or four days of the season, people started talking about seeing more deer.  Well, what happened is Redbone, and this is just my opinion from my observations and I spent over, you know, all throughout the year scouting and watching and using my Wise Eye data cams to monitor what's going on.

What we've seen, the first thing right off the bat, the first thing that we saw. Here in the Midwest, Southern Missouri, Ozarks, Northern Arkansas, we had an early rut kick in and it lasted from like the second week of October. I was seeing scrapes on the ground, active scrapes the end of September. So we had a long lasting rut, had an early rut, so a lot of does got bred early. 

Yeah. And uh, we had a massive acorn crop and we've talked about that in several of our episodes. Our shows. And what happens is when you have a massive acre crop, the deer do not need to congregate. Okay? Because there's lots of food source everywhere, so that scatters deer out. And that's why a lot of people not send deer.

For example, if you're hunting big timber, hunting woods, and you scare a deer on this ridge, he'll run over three or four ridges, he'll settle down and settle in there if he feels safe. He might stay there. That 40 acre area for entirety.  Yeah, and and if you don't hunt in the woods,  you know, if you and a lot of people and it's only natural I think all people you know like to hunt the wood lines and open fields There's no reason for the deer to go into those places if there are lots of acorns where they live in the middle of a wood Patch so yeah, I think that's it and and you know part of the another thing and we'll talk about it later I think but another thing Alex was the shift in In the calendar,  you know, we just passed Thursday.

We celebrated Thanksgiving on the 28th. And again, you're hearing this on Saturday, we're actually recording on Wednesday, but Thanksgiving, not until the 28th of November. And this is a calendar shift. We started deer season on the 16th in Missouri.  So if you, it was later, it's later, that's my point about four or five days later than normal. 

So, you know, if we would have started the season, You know, on the 9th, the week before, people would have seen more deer because they were still in the chasing part of the rut, but by the time the 16th rolled around,  as you mentioned, a lot of the does were already bred, and the bucks were with does, and they just weren't interested in chasing a whole lot more. 

Exactly, because your bigger, dominant bucks  was guarding does.  And usually what they do, they'll find that certain doe or, or harem of does, uh, and they'll guard those does and stay with them because they know they're going to be coming into estrous and they're guarding them. And they don't travel far.

They might go up into a mouth of a holler or a bunch of points come together and bed up right there. And if you've got any food plots close to that, they'll slip out right at dark to go out and eat and browse and eat on the forage. So that's what was going on. Now, let me tell you what people can do. to find these deer right now.

Okay. And it takes, you know, everybody's got to spend a little money, but you got to get on the ground, beat the ground, find out under these big white oaks on these ridges you'll see where the leaves are all tore up. You'll find scat deer droppings around the bottom of these big white oaks and these red oaks and post oaks.

That tells you that deer are active in those areas. That's the areas you need to find if you're hunting the timber. When you find these active areas where they're feeding, it's spot on place. And what I like to do, I like to take my Wise Eye data cams and set them up in these areas. And they instantly send me pictures or videos to my phone, and they'll let me know where these deer are at.

And that's part of the success why we killed two big mature bucks in two days of hunting, was because of the Wise Eyes. Use the cameras, and I think what you gotta ask yourself as a deer hunter,  How serious of a deer hunter am I? How successful do I want to be? Well, it takes work. You know, if you want to lock up, that means just walking out and sitting down in a spot that you think deer is at, not knowing they're there, but you think they're there because of previous years, you're taking a chance.

But when you invest in trail cameras, data cams like WiseEye that tells you they're there, There's no more guesswork, Redbone, and that's how we're doing it. And that's what people need to do if they want to be successful. You've got to spend a little bit of money, spend a little bit of time to figure these deer out.

It's kind of like building a house or putting an engine together. You've got to apply yourself to make things happen. And that's what's creating success within what we're doing. Yeah, and you've got to create a game plan. I mean, just like a football or a basketball game, you've got to have a game plan, uh, and I think you mentioned you just can't go out and just haphazardly, you know, I'm going to sit on this ridge and see what happens, uh, because more than likely it's not going to be a successful day for you. 

Yeah, I scout and blast these deer all throughout the summer. I know where these deer are at. My wise eyes run year round. I know where these deer are at. That's why we're successful. It ain't that I'm a better hunter than anybody else.  Or anybody else that's killed, they're consistently using the same system, the same technique.

It's like they're doing their homework, they're applying their, their, their knowledge, and they're applying themselves to make it happen. And that's all they've gotta do.  Yeah, and before we, before we take a break here in this segment, another, another factor, Alex, I think, especially early in the season, Was the weather it was just entirely too warm.

I don't know how many hunters I talked to no doubt the country cottage having lunch or whatever Said I just can't get in the mood to go hunt. It's too warm.  And and I think that was a big part of it  You're right, and I'll be truthful with you with everybody Which I always am is that I ever hunted until the end of October  I didn't hunt early season But I want to say this It is crucial,  crucial  that we take those.

I know we have a lot of emphasis in our shows about shooting big, mature bucks, and that's what I like to hunt, but I also would rather eat a doe as I would a buck.  Now, there's a good way to take care of a buck, and we all know that is how you prepare it and how you, you, you get the guts out of it quickly and cool it down and debone it and soak it in salt water and vinegar and ice and stuff like that.

But these does are a lot better eating. And I just want to encourage all of our listeners, they need to be shooting does to get your buck doe ratio to a balance. And right now, my my ratio, from my observation of my Wise Eye data cams, what I observe is anywhere from 2 to 3 to 1 bucks per doe,  per buck, on my property.

Yeah, and that's why I have seen less deer. Redbone, I have seen less deer on my property than I have in the last five years. It's, it's, it's because of the acreage. You know, I could see, you know, say 15, 20 deer. Now I'm not doing that. You know, I may see five. I may see seven or eight. You know, just not seeing that.

You know, they're scattered. Yeah. They really are. All right. We need, we need to take a break. We'll be back with more American Roots Outdoors Radio with Alex Rutledge in just a moment. Right here, right now, this is Chansey Walters, listening to American Roots Outdoors with Alex Rutledge. This is our Curd Bowl.

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's gonna do.  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. eagleseed.

com. It's a smorgasbord. You know, we all get tired of certain things. A smorgasbord has everything. Your deer will love it. Eagleseed. com. Hornady 

Ammunition presents  Welcome back to American Roots Outdoors, segment three of our show. Again, I'm standing outside here overlooking my lake and I'm watching my cat digging the ground here for a mouse and, uh, taking in the beautiful weather. It's kind of misty, rainy here and I'm looking at the big oaks in my Uh, woods here along our yard and, uh, where we burnt leaves and I'm talking to Red Bond on the show, talking about why we're not seeing deer and what we can do to see deer and figure them out.

Again, it goes back to how we apply ourselves and, and what we use to figure these deer out. You know, don't assume, make things happen. And that's what we're talking about using the Wise Eye Data Cams. And  I want to say this, you know, the buck that I killed, I want to share the story real quick.  four or five encounters with this buck.

And I saw him during archery season. My wife's eye data cams would show me when he was coming in and out. And what I would do is sit in my rig and glass and watch this deer in the mornings and evenings, or I'd even watch him from my blind.  And, uh, he was doing the same thing every morning, every evening. 

He would leave my property that I hunt to go north  where somebody was feeding corn Because when I got him, I looked in his guts and had corn all in his belly. There's no corn on my properties I promise you  But anyway, uh, he would leave the same time and it's always at dusk dark. You couldn't ever see him You know, you had to really look for him.

He would leave and go north and even come back in the mornings  And his consistent time was between 7 o'clock and 7. 08 a. m.  Well,  I had several encounters with other bucks before closing the deal on him. I, uh, Mr. Monk left Monday morning. I went and hunted Monday morning. Uh, I never saw a good buck over there.

And I hunted down, uh, uh, one of my spots in the middle of the property where I could watch where that buck was coming out, and I never saw him come out.  So we went back that evening, uh, Monday evening, and we glanced from the road, Linda and I, and the wind was coming out of the west, and lo and behold, right before dark, here he comes, walking across the field, about 75 yards of the truck, I could have shot him then, I didn't, because I didn't want to shoot him from the vehicle, I wanted to shoot him from the blinds, he was going north, the next morning I go back in there, Linda and I discuss the plan, he goes, Alex, with that west wind,  You need to come over here and hunt this side.

That's the one in the middle of the property. I said, you know what, you're right, Linda. So I get in my blind, it's four daylight, and it's settled all in.  And, uh, it's breaking light, and here it is, getting close to seven o'clock. Right at seven o'clock, and I hear a vehicle driving really slow, coming from the south.

A road hunter, apparently.  And, uh,  I'm listening, and I'm turning my head to the right, trying to see the vehicle, because I'm within 100 yards of the road, and they don't even know I'm there. My blind's hid that well.  And something told me to look left, and I looked left, and here steps out that big tin bullet.

Wow. He's a hundred and fifty yards, and this road hunter's creepin up the road. It's funny.  Creepin up the road, real slow, and I'm tryin to concentrate on gettin Now, I seen him, I just lost all focus about the road hunter.  So, I'm gonna kill this deer, so.  Shootin a 243, white tongue ammunition, hundred grain bullet.

And, uh, I pulled my scope in on him, and I had it on low power through my right on optic scope. Lifetime warranty, by the way, on their optics. It's a better known company. And I couldn't see him, and through the misty fog.  And this deer was about 250 yards from the county road, coming out on the edge of the wood line. 

And I turned my scope up to six power. I turned my scope up to six power and I'm out of the ground blind. I got me a rest and I settled my crosshairs. I don't want him to squeeze the hell out of my breath, squeeze the trigger real slow. I didn't see the deer drop when I shot  and I didn't get to film it because the window was not right.

I'd have to move the camera. I had to make this happen quick because the vehicle behind me could scare him off and  Anyway, when I shot,  I did not know if I killed him or not. I stayed in the blind for about 30 minutes and that vehicle went on by. It's all, I could stop behind me when I shot,  because I think they saw the deer when I shot him and he dropped.

Yeah. Well, they may have been, they may have thought you were shooting at them.  Well, they got out of there though after I shot.  But anyway, I'll walk over there. I'm praying to God. God,  I had it on him. I know I had to kill this deer. God, I  know I had to kill him.  As I'm walking close quarter, it's tall grass, and I get up about 25 feet up, and I look, and ain't nothing but antlers laying there, Redbone.

I shot him perfect through the shoulders, and that Hornady Whitetail ammunition dropped him at 243. And, uh,  what made that hunt successful, again, is the Wise Eye Datacams, and me putting my time in trying to figure this deer out. You know, knowing where he was at, and when he was coming back and forth. And that's a good feeling, uh, when you know, when, uh, The other people aren't doing it right, you know, you're doing it right the Obeying the law and you make it happen  So gratifying this year will go score in a high 140 to 150  i've not put a tape on it.

I just roughguessed him He's like 17 and a half inches wide, and he's got 10 inch G2s and 9 and a half G3s, and his eye guards are 4 inches, and he's got like 24 inch main beams, really long main beams, but  that, that was very gratifying, but what made that, again, the hunt successful, I won't repeat it.

Applying myself using the data cams, scouting and glass, and trying to figure out what he's doing, where I could close the deal to pinch him down. So what he was doing, he was coming back from the North every morning from over somewhere over there, eating somebody's corn, coming back to bed with the doves on the hillside behind me.

And that's how I made it at. Yeah. See, I love the fact, Alex, that you use both new technology and old school, because a lot of people,  you know, a lot of people say, well, I got my cameras out there. I don't need to go out in glass or or try and do any of that stuff But you really do need to combine Both worlds, you know the old school going out and and you know sitting on a hilltop  or whatever and glassing and taking a look It really does enhance the whole process when you do both things use your cameras and use your brain  You know something I've noticed and I would agree with you 100 percent something I've noticed some of the best white toe hunters I've ever met in my life Or either mechanics, carpenters, construction workers, people that apply their minds to figure things out. 

And most of you are carpenters, construction guys, mechanics, or hard workers. And they will apply themselves. If you pay attention to what I'm telling you, you'll see that there's a lot of truth in this.  These guys, and loggers, loggers, saw millers that work hard, they figure things out, man. And that's what it took to figure this deer out.

My brother Jack set on a deer. The whole deer season, glassing and watching this deer every day, and he was too far to shoot. He said on the last day, yesterday, the deer was running 200 yards of him, and he shot twice at him, and he said he missed him. Oh no!  But that goes back to the old school, and his trail camera pictures he was getting.

He knew where to go to sit and watch that deer, but his patience. I think about, he spent 11 days to get the shot off at that deer. Yeah. Sittin every morning, every evening, all day long sometimes,  trying to kill that deer too. And Alex, even though he didn't make that shot, and I'll talk about this more in our next segment because we need to go to break, but that, in my mind, that is still a very successful hunt.

And I'll explain what I mean by that after we take a break. You're listening to American Roots Outdoors with Alex Rutledge and friends. We'll be back in This is Brenda Valentine and you're listening to American Roots Outdoors with Alex Rutledge and friends. 

Accurate. Deadly. Dependable. Hornady ammunition. From a two man operation in 1949 to a world leading innovator of bullet, ammunition, reloading tool, and accessories design and manufacture today. Hornady. Each piece is hand inspected to ensure consistency and quality. Ammunition engineered to perform flawlessly.

Simply put the best Hornady ammunition. Find Hornady ammunition at a retailer near you and at  Hornady. com. 

Eagle Seed presents, welcome back to America Reached Outdoors segment four of our show. And I want to, to just reiterate, I agree with what you said. He had a successful hunt, even though he didn't kill the deer, he paid his dues. He, he was old school and using his, his cameras to figure this deer out. And that's how I found him.

Yeah, and all these people yeah, yeah, and and my thinking behind that Alex And I've always said this for years and years when I started bowhunting some I don't know 35 years or so ago I thought it was being very successful to get a deer in within 10 or 20 yards  I mean you gotta remember I grew up in the city in st.

Louis never deer hunted as a kid Didn't do much hunting as all the kids. And then when I became an adult, I moved to the Ozarks. Then I started hunting. So, uh, as you know, I was about 20 when I actually started to deer hunt. And, um, you have to rifle hunting for several years. Then I decided I need to bow hunt too.

And even though you might not,  Get the harvest. You might not kill the deer, but to get a wild deer, a whitetail, within 10 or 20 yards of you is  a major accomplishment,  and I always consider that, I always consider that a successful hunt, or any time, and like your brother Jack, you know, it was a long shot, didn't make it, but He knew where that deer was, and he got to watch that animal, and maybe, maybe he'll get an opportunity, you know, late bow season or, or next year, but sometimes you don't have to kill a deer to have a successful hunt, you just create memories, and some of my best memories are stories that end with, I missed. 

Yeah. Oh, yeah. I've been there many times. And I want to add, Lib, uh, some more, uh, of my opinion  to why people aren't being successful in the woods. And, uh, you know, NBC bought the property next to me. And I get to see the vehicles that park here along my fence line close to me. And I can't tell you how many vehicles I've seen.

They wear their hunting clothes in their trucks, the same boots they wear at the gas station pumping the gas. They got air fresheners hanging from their mirrors and, and they wonder why they're not killing any big deer. You know, if  I wear any clothes in my truck, I don't wear my hunting boots. Until I get out of the truck, I put them on and I spray them down with Wildlife Research Scent Killer.

And, uh, all my, my vehicles are, I use an ozonics to kill all the bacteria in my vehicle, my hunting vehicle, my little red tracker. So, I'm, I'm not being contaminated, but once I get out of the vehicle and I put my hunting clothes on, my boots, I spray down again with the Wildlife Research Scent Killer. And spray the bottom of my boots, my hands, everything I touch.

And I carry the Ozonics with me, you know, if the wind changes, uh, the Ozonics kills the bacteria between you and that deer and they can't smell you.  And I'm, again, I'm applying myself and I'm doing things to beat the deer's nose.  You know, so that's what creates success and I'm not ridiculing anybody, but I'm just saying that's what I observe and I see people doing and they don't, they, they, they want to be jealous of others and successful.

I'm, I'm sharing my secrets,  the things that I do to be successful. You know, we usually kill most of our deer, every hunter I take or what I kill in two days.  Two days of hunting, we've gone up the last, ever since I've teamed up with Wise Eye.  We kill most of our deer in two days.  Yeah, and I think of the money you're saving and no more guesswork.

Well, Alex, and we talk about it all the time, and I know that you do it. If the wind's not right, you don't go to that stand or you don't go to that set. I don't go there. I don't go there. Yeah, you don't go there. The wind's gotta be right. Even if I'm set free, I don't go there. Yeah. We did chance one that was pretty close to the wind being wrong  when Pawpaw, Pappy Mook killed his buck.

You know, we chanced it, but the wind was in our favor. The wind was blowing from right to left, and that buck never smelled us. He came out with the wind in front of us, and the wind was blowing to the left before he ever got out to us. Yeah. So, that worked. Yeah. I actually look to hunt crosswinds quite a bit when I deer hunt.

I really like to hunt a crosswind. Yeah. You're welcome.  And I like to hunt the wind in my face, if I can, most of the time, but, uh, uh, again, uh,  if it's not right, don't go in there. Yeah, like my Uncle Lindy taught me,  if, if, if your eyes aren't watering, you're looking the wrong direction. Yeah.  Exactly. Very simple statement, but it means a lot.

And the thing too, uh, uh, thing, thing too, the more you, you can scout your property. And once you pick up a topo, you got onyx to study the terrain and where the thickets are at, where the growed up fields are at, where the water's at, and all the acorn trees, et cetera, uh, pinch rows, et cetera. Deer love to travel pinch rows.

And they'll cross fences. They love to travel the side of ridges, these big mature bucks, and what they're doing, they travel the side of these ridges, wind checking, where the does travel the top of the ridges, trying to find Esther's does. Yep. So, it's not always best to set on top of the ridge. You want to set where a bunch of points are coming together, or get on the side of a hill where you can see for a long ways.

These bucks travel the side of these ridges. That's another great place to intercept and close the deal. But I want to say this, too.  Uh, and this is one of our partners that we work with.  Even though we have a massive acorn crop, these deer, deer still go to food plots. And I've got deer coming to the Eagle Seed Smorgasbord food plots.

It was bringing their does in here. They'd come in at night and they'd pee and uh, bucks would come in there and make scrapes all around the edges of the fields. And that's what held these bucks that was coming into my properties.  Yeah. And uh, you know, we're going to work on some does, uh, here late season.

And that's what I want to encourage everybody else to do, but the food plots are an intricate part of being successful throughout everything we're doing. Well, that's going to keep the deer You know, near or in your property, if you've got food plots. Uh, one other thing else, we just got a couple of minutes here.

Uh, one other thing I saw an interesting story this morning as we record on Wednesday, again, according to the U S fish and wildlife,  only 5%.  of the population of the United States hunts.  That is half, that is half of the number of people that hunt or hunted 50 years ago.  Now,  now let me, let me, let me  play this out for you.

50 years ago, there were 10 percent of the population hunted. Now it's only 5%. So you put that into actual numbers and we've been talking today about why maybe you're not seeing as many deer. Well, you put twice as many people in the woods. Now  as we've got  more deer are going to be pushed  you get my point  I mean the more hunters that are hunting the more the deer are going to be pushed and are going to be moving Running or trying to get away from the other hunters.

So when we talk about well, I'm not seeing as many deer It's probably because there aren't as many people Hunting around you  that the deer are smelling or seeing or they're getting shot at or whatever that are moving Because they have to. So, and you know, the number is continuing to decrease as far as the number of hunters in the United States.

And that's something that we need to try and turn around.  I would agree 100%. Redbone, it all begins with us. You and I, and all of our listeners that love to hunt and fish. Us instilling it in our kids minds. Teaching them about the outdoors. Teaching them about, uh, scrapes, rubs, and you know, how to run a trap line.

Thanks  It seems like, uh, the era we are in, electronics has taken over and that's been going on for some time now. Yeah. A lot of kids don't spend time outdoors. I've got neighbors that's got kids, not naming no names. You never see them outside playing. Right.  Yeah. When I was a kid, you could, that mama had to call me at eight o'clock at night, the dark kid in the house.

Yeah. You know, these kids, their minds are being taken away from what God's created out here. Yeah.  And I think that's part of the problem, and it's the parents fault because they're not teaching them about the outdoors. Yeah, and we gotta, yeah, and, and, and, and, before we wrap it up here again, we've got to get those numbers of hunters going in the other direction.

And, and I know it's because a lot of folks, you know, a lot of our hunters, you know, Alex, are, You know, just passing away or getting too old and don't feel the desire to hunt or physically can't get out and hunt. And, uh, so they're kind of retiring from the sport.  And we just don't have the people to replace them.

And, um,  you know, we need to try and do something about that. We got to get these kids out in the woods and get them focused on hunting. All right, Alex. Yeah, I want to say this. I want to say this real quick. Again, that goes back to the parent teaching the boys to become men.  Okay. And teaching your girls to become ladies, like homemakers, etc.

You know, it's getting back to our roots, the way you and I was raised, Redbone. Uh,  boys need to be strong, dominant.  They need to be raised to be tough, to be survivors.  We're gonna wrap it up here, everybody, and we got a bonus segment coming up on the podcast. And, uh, we're gonna talk more about why you're not seeing deer and what you can do to see deer.

And, uh, hope you're enjoying this show. And remember, teach your boys to become men. And  teach your girls to become ladies. Get back to your American Roots, the way you and I was raised,  and always remember when your roots run deep and strong, there is 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 radio station, 

take it a holler,  take it a  across the creek,  big 

Missouri Hunting Heritage Federation presents.  Welcome back to American Roots Outdoors. This is our bonus segment. I just wanted to mention the Missouri Hunting Heritage Federation. This is a non profit organization that teaches kids about the great outdoors.  Yeah, and more than  just kids Alex, they teach the whole family.

I mean, if it's a non hunting family that wants to get involved in the outdoors, they teach the parents as well.  Exactly, but their focus is mainly kids, but they do teach everybody, and you guys need to support this organization. They are doing great things to help our industry, outdoor industry, and our heritage stay strong.

And reach out to these guys, MissouriHuntingHeritageFederation.  com, and John Sickmeyer is one of the spokespersons for them. You can look him up on Facebook. Another great spokesperson. But what I want to talk about, Redbone, is more.  And, and, and I want to mention again, if you think about all the things we talked about in the show  that created successful hunts this year, number one is knowing where the deer are at. 

You cannot shoot a deer if you're not seeing deer.  Number two, how did we know those deer was there? Number,  uh, part of that is because one, my wise eyed data cameras was showing me where they was at. Number two of that part is that I was classroom watching them.  Exactly. We knew they was there.  Number three, the habitat that we have on the properties we hunt, the acres,  the food plots,  that's what helps keep those deer there.

And low key pressure and not going in on the property if the wind is wrong in the location where you're going to hunt. Number four, number five,  is being scent free.  Paying attention to details.  Being scent free when you go in because the wind is not always going to be in your favor. It changes sometimes.

Thanks.  And using good products, you know, uh, being set free with wildlife research, uh, using good ammunition like quantity white tail ammunition, uh, good optics, the food plots, uh, everything we applied, the right on optics, binoculars, and, and scopes, help this be a successful hunt for us. So, yeah. And not just doing it.

Think about it. Yes. I need to. Yeah, and just not going into a property with guns a blazin and runnin all over the place. No.  Have a plan. Have a plan and be thinkin what is my strategy? What can I do to make this happen?  We've given everything to you in this five segment show, and that's what we're doing, reiterating everything we talked about. 

You too can be successful every year if you apply yourself and use these techniques that we're using. Again, we're not better than you or anybody else out there.  Common sense. Just applying yourself and putting things together and making it happen.  Yeah, putting together a game plan.  And then executing that game plan and don't stray away from it.

Now sometimes,  like in sports sometimes Alex, the game plan falls apart.  And you do have to make some adjustments. But, you know, make those adjustments carefully. I mean, how many times, you know, over the years have you been in a spot, you're just not seeing anything, and the deer should be here, and they're just not here, and you get tired and say, well, I'm going to go somewhere else, just get up and just start walking out through the woods. 

Yeah, that's not execution of your game plan. That's probably going to do more harm than it is good.  Exactly. Exactly. Have a game plan. Apply yourself. Make it happen. I've said that many times throughout this show. I want to see people shoot big deer every year. Or whatever they want to shoot. Shoot does for me.

Man, that's important. Shooting does is important. We gotta do that. And, uh, again, I always wait to shoot my does after the rut. Everybody's different. Some people want to shoot them before. I believe that by waiting until after the rut, I'm not contaminating my properties and molesting things and creating all these issues to keep the deer off the property. 

Yeah, I would agree with that. I would agree that the less times that the deer hear a gunshot before rifle season comes in, the better.  Because you got to start shooting does before rifle season.  It's the traffic. It's everything. Yeah. Well, and,  you know, a lot of people, you know, like to field dress their deer in the woods and then you're going to start attracting coyotes.

And of course, when the coyotes start coming in, what do the deer do? They leave. So, you know, there are just so many factors there.  Yeah, it's, it's just, you know, common sense is all it is, Redbone. Yeah. You know, and, uh,  you know, uh, probably the highlight of the season for me,  Again, I want to touch on this, is hunting with  Pawpaw Monk and Durrell Monk coming up here, 86 years young, and us using the data cams, Wizeye data cams to put everything together, and us not being successful the first day in a honey hole that we usually kill bucks in, and the big bucks that just wasn't showing up, there wasn't many deer showing up,  and that evening, uh,  Uh, my camera went to blowing up with all these bucks coming into this other food plot.

And I told them, I said, guys, we gotta make a move. I said, the wind ain't the best wind, but we can get in there, I think. And we shot that deer within, being in the stand,  not 30 minutes.  And again, Wazii told us when we needed to move, because all those bucks, and all those bucks coming into that food plot told me that they had to be a hot dough right there making all these bucks come there.

Yep. And we made the move and we made it happen.  There you go. That's what it's all about. And of course the late season bow hunters are, uh, well, they're going to be happy because next week, Alex, we're looking at low temperatures around 20.  The low season, late season.  Yeah. The bow hunters. You're selling your food source, food source, food source.

Absolutely. You've got spots. Katie, bar the doors. Absolutely. And if you're a bow hunter that still has that buck tag available, you ought to have some pretty good success here over the next couple of weeks. All right. Um, Alex, I'll wrap it up for today.  Yeah. Again, uh, thank you all very much for listening to American Roots Outdoors.

Please share our website or share our show with your friends and family and go to our Facebook page, American Roots Outdoors and, uh, You know, show your comments. Uh, we'd like to hear from you. What subject matter you'd like to hear us talk about. Uh, next week we're going to talk about late season strategies and techniques to killing these late season deer. 

And, uh, I want to wish everybody a happy Thanksgiving to all our family and friends and be thankful for everything we got.  You know, love, not hate.  Stand for the Bible and teach your boys to become men.  Teach your girls to become ladies. And remember, when your roots run deep and strong There is no reason to fear the wind.

Take  it to a field, close the creek, up a big  ol hill. Year after year, got my hunting gear. 

And my old pair of hunting boots, passed on down the hill. in the ground around your heart. So you never got to worry what the wind might do.  American roots.