oh the myths that surround hunting.

A friend of mine (and great hunter) told me he sometimes makes mock scrapes by roughing the ground up and peeing on it--claims it has worked. Beats me if true or not.
 
I took a "Cheese grater" ( like the kind used for bodywork), and made some fake rubs to mess with my Buddys. Within two days there were more rubs on both sides of the fake one!
 
mock scrapes and slitting the throat

tried mock scrapes with my own urine and definitely found tracks in them afterward - so I don't think urine smell scares them off.

throat slit - if the heart ain't pumping - how much do you really drain?
 
The old myth about "Wounding MORE deer for a slow death with head shots" is nonsense.
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Here's the logic behind it:

While a head shot is very effective if made perfectly, the target is fairly small and the effectiveness of shots made to the surrounding area drops rapidly.

Body shots have a larger target area and the effectiveness of shots made to the surrounding area drops off slowly.

In other words if you miss a brain shot by four inches you'll hit the jaw or some other area that will make a lingering wound.

If you miss a heart shot by four inches you'll still hit the lungs, blood vessels or something that will still provide a quick death.
 
Deer hunting rule #5: Always give them a warning shot. Otherwise, you're 'unsporting'.

One year I had to climb down on opening day; walk 30 yards away and take a huge dump. Hours later, two doe walk briskly in that same direction. I wasn't going to shoot either one but they were moving so fast that I wouldn't of had a shot. They come sprinting back after they got a whiff and I still didn't shoot, but I did have a shot, if I wanted it. That made me laugh.
 
The smell of blood or a gut pile will spook deer. I have watched deer stop and sniff gutpiles, and have killed a few that were sniffing the blood where a friend or relative of theirs bought the farm the day before.

I used to amuse myself by taking leaks in scrapes around buddys hunting stands just before season. Finally noticed after checking back during season it looked like some buck had taken quite a disliking to it and thoroughly and completely cleaned the scrape out and "re scented" it.
 
I've actually read a few cases where hunters were mistaking deer as being semi-cannibalistic because they had seen them stopping and eating gut piles, but later it was determined that the deer were actually after the semi digested material in the stomachs.

nothing I've ever seen corroborated by any other sources but still gives food for thought.
 
Hogs have razor sharp teeth.
Bears have razor sharp teeth.
Bears have razor sharp claws.
Alligators have razor sharp teeth.

In reality, few large animals have razor sharp anything. Any sort or razor-like edge is fragile and don't last well, with the exception of sharks that can have extremely sharp teeth, but they get replaced regularly, or snakes where the fangs get replaced regularly. Many animals have dull to fairly sharp teeth, but overcome the need for a razor edge via use of force.
 
I've heard this story told a few times....

I think this could be classified as a hunting myth. I've heard the story told several times over the years, always second hand & with a laugh.

Two green-horn deer hunters go to Colorado (or you pick the place) & shoot a couple of rancher's donkeys. They put them in the truck (originally I heard tied to the fenders) & then drove to a check point on their way home. There they proudly show off their nice "mule-deer" to the wardens.

Truth or fiction?

...bug :):)
 
tried mock scrapes with my own urine and definitely found tracks in them afterward - so I don't think urine smell scares them off.

throat slit - if the heart ain't pumping - how much do you really drain?
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Did you hang a lick branch as well? I think I will try this next season--lord knows I gotta get rid of that 2:00 am coffee anyway lol
 
I would imagine the urine smell scaring deer would be tied to how spooked the deer really were at the time. I was checking fox traps one cold morning and stopped to take a leak in an overgrown field. As soon as the stream hit the air, a large buck exploded out of the brush about 20 feet to my left. I do not know if it was bedded or standing there watching me, but take off it did. Who knows, maybe it took off just because I stopped. I do not remember if it was before or after deer season, but I kind of think it was after. There are so many variables when dealing with wild deer that it is hard to come to a definite conclusion of what they actually react to.
 
I would imagine the urine smell scaring deer would be tied to how spooked the deer really were at the time
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Urine of all types tends to break down pretty quickly and produce Ammonia, which masks many other odors

Unless you hunt large areas of semi wilderness, the deer are smelling human scents all the time.

I've seen deer slowly walk between a couple of houses, and past a pen full of deer hounds that were going ballistic, but the deer knew they couldn't get to her.
 
this summer I was camping along the snake river for a weekend of fishing and spectating some boat races. there were 2 groups of mule deer in the area which were hanging close to the river as everything else burned off in a wild fire. the deer actually stepped over our tent poles in the middle of the night while roaming about. didn't seem to care about people smell one bit and that is fairly wilderness in that part aside from river traffic.
 
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Nice Donkey story.

My dad was at a small town sporting goods store and this guy came in all excited that he finally shot his first turkey. The guys walked out to his truck where they saw he shot a turkey buzzard.
 
My dad was at a small town sporting goods store and this guy came in all excited that he finally shot his first turkey. The guys walked out to his truck where they saw he shot a turkey buzzard.
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Did you give him a nice recipe?
 
Many years ago my oldest brother went waterfowl hunting on a Federal refuge. There was a shack were hunters were suppose to have their game checked before leaving.

My brother was waiting to have his birds checked when he spotted this other guy walking towards them. He had a bird that he was very proud of. He thought it must be the largest goose anyone has ever killed. Problem was, the goose was a Blue Heron.

The wardens were not amused.
 
You can hunt deer on private land with .22lr/.17hmr in South Carolina. I wouldn't do it unless I had to do it, but it is legal.

My first deer drop on impact from a 30/06. The scope must have been hit because it was off (I proved this to my self at the range later) to the right. The shot hit the hip bone and destroyed it. I had to finish him off when I got to him. I was excited and ran up to him (not super smart since he likely would have run off it able, but I thought he was dead), so he didn't suffer to long.

Where you hit matters the most, but bigger rounds give you more area to still take the deer down. A .22lr and that deer likely dies of infection many days later.
 
It is the responsibility of the person taking the shot to insure a proper target and background.
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He's supposed to be able to pick out a motionless camoflaged hunter in a treeline up to a mile away? I couldn't do that, could you?

I doubt I could see him ..... unless he was wearing ....... wait for it ....... hunter orange.

If I fail to see someone who was not wearing hunter orange, and my bullet (pass-through or a miss, whatever) hits him ..... I'd call that unfortunate, but not my fault at all. There's a reason for the Hunter Orange regs.
 
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It is the responsibility of the person taking the shot to insure a proper target and background.
He's supposed to be able to pick out a motionless camoflaged hunter in a treeline up to a mile away? I couldn't do that, could you?

I doubt I could see him ..... unless he was wearing ....... wait for it ....... hunter orange.

If I fail to see someone who was not wearing hunter orange, and my bullet (pass-through or a miss, whatever) hits him ..... I'd call that unfortunate, but not my fault at all. There's a reason for the Hunter Orange regs.
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Doesn't this sorta imply you took the less than certain kill shot on your intended target to begin with??
 
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