The Finished Product (warning graphic material attached)

After all this time, you've made it to the end. You've shot your deer, gutted it, and now you're at the final stage. Skinning the deer and receiving the meat, that is the overall point of hunting deer. If not, you're not hunting deer, you're just shooting. So, you have a couple of different options at this point. One, skin the deer and retrieve the meat yourself, this option is free. Two, skin the deer yourself and take the meat and carcass to a butcher and have them process the deer. This is the lesser pricy option. Or three, you can take the deer from the field straight to the butcher and have them skin and process the meat. Of course this cost money but is very convenient. For your knowledge I'm going to explain option one. As with the last blog over gutting a deer, it is easier to show skinning the deer and retrieving the meat rather than explain it.

That is the process of skinning the deer. Now would be the point where you could choose option two and have the meat taken to a butcher to be processed. Once again however i'm going to show you how to do this yourself. You may choose to watch the video attached or skip to the picture and see the different cuts of a deer.

All these choice of cuts can be eaten as shown or you can turn these into different forms. Although deer has a wonderful taste and is hard to distinguish from beef, you may still choose to turn it into jerky, slim-jims (these are my favorite on the go snack), salami, or even create mixtures with beef. By mixtures I mean ratios such as 20% beef and 80% deer meat. This would be ground up meat and it can be any ratio you choose. These are great to make burgers, or anything used with ground beef.

To anyone who is unsure about the taste of deer meat, please go to my contact section of my blog and email me. I would be happy to send meats to have you try. Hunting is an exciting sport that doesn't guarantee a win in the end so the reward of the meat is the best part. Well that and seeing that 12 point buck hanging on your wall as a trophy of your hard work and patients.

Gutting a Deer (warning graphic material attached)

We left off with finding the recently shot deer last blog and now it's time for gutting the deer. In an early blog post when I mentioned what to have packed in a bag, I said a good knife, I prefer Buck knives with a gutting edged blade, plastic bags such as Walmart bags, and latex gloves if wanted. Now from personal experience, someone has told me many times how to gut a deer but I never quite understood it until I watched someone do it and I completed the task by myself. So, to help you best understand I've provided a video for you to watch. This video may be graphic to some so please contact me if you prefer not to watch this video and I will explain how to process is done. 

I have chosen this specific video because this hunter uses a nice sharp knife, also a saw but I find that a sharp, well built knife does the same job, and latex gloves as I mentioned above. The only comments I would add to this video is, I take all the guts and place them in a bag so that i'm not leaving them out in the field. Lastly, I take other plastic bags and fill them with ice or snow and tie them up. With those bags I can place them in the deer carcass to keep the meat cold while I transport the deer back to where I plan to skin the deer and retrieve the meat.

Seconds Before the Shot

It's time, you've called in the big buck in the field and you're ready to take the shot. You pull the gun up to take the shot and you're gun is moving everywhere. What do you do now? Where do you shoot?  Your heart is racing and it won't slow down. Well, here are some tips I can give you seconds before you shoot that big buck.

That's take a step back to when you see the deer. As said back earlier in some of my first blog posts, your gun has a ballistics chart. Meaning your gun and ammunition will only shoot so far before the bullet starts to drop. So knowing how your gun is set up and the yards at which your gun is zeroed in at is your first step. Determine how far away the deer is and adjust your shot to that. If the deer is farther than 300 yd and looks as if it may be coming your way, my suggestion would be to pull it in a little closer to create a better opportunity for a shot.

The next step is the placement of your crosshairs in reference to the deer. Let's just assume that the deer is standing at 200 yd and your gun is sighted in at 200 yd. Where do you place the crosshairs on the deer? You want to place them halfway down the deer, just behind the front legs. That is where the heart of the deer lies and will most likely drop the deer instantly and if not will keep the deer from running too far away. Here is an example.


Now, you have buck fever during all of this, and it's exciting! Your adrenaline is through the roof and your anxious, however you need to make a clean shot. Here is the best tip for shooting anything whether thats a deer or a coke can out at the range. First take some deep breaths and slow down your heart. Next take in one deep breath and let out half the air from your lungs out. Finally take your time, aim, and slowly pull the trigger. The perfect shot will come when the gun goes off by surprise. This prevents you from jerking the trigger and pulling your sights off target.

The last thing you do after shooting the deer is watch carefully! This is the most important step in my personal opinion. Chances are the deer isn't going to drop to the ground instantly and it's going to run, run fast and far. Watching the deer carefully will help you when tracking down the deer. Head towards the last place you saw the deer run to and start scouting for blood trails.

Take your time and be patient when searching for your deer. Call for help if needed. Once you find your deer, the fun begins. We will pick up on gutting the deer in the next blog. Be sure to come back and check it out!

Podcast: Deer Calls

What to Bring to the Field

You're ready to head out to the field to hunt, but what do you bring with you? Well, obviously you want to bring your bow and gun, even extra arrows or ammunition, but do you bring anything else? Depending on how much you're willing and able to carry, I personally would say yes.

When I go out to hunt there is always a few things I take out with me in addition to myself and my gun. I will take out a seat, since i don't hunt out of a tree stand, a hunting blind, and a backpack full of useful items.

The seat I take out with me is a small and simple three legged chair that keeps me off of the cold wet ground and prevents me from making excessive noise on the ground with leaves and twigs. This seat usually fits in my backpack but if not, it does have a strap that i can attach to my bag if needed.

A hunting blind, although not necessary, can be a huge perk. This is basically a pop up tent that is camouflaged and allows you to sit inside. It has windows that has zippers or velcro to be lowered in the direction towards the field or where you intend to shoot a deer. The perks of a hunting blind include warmth on windy or cold days, noice reduction, and best of all coverage from any movement you make within the blind. If you're not able to carry out a hunting blind or do not have anywhere to set one up, the next best thing to take out with you is a camouflaged, burlap sac type material, that allows you to see through the holes and pin up around you to provide partial coverage and warmth.

Lastly, I carry a backpack that is camouflaged and chalk full of useful tools and things i deem necessary in the field. This includes items such as:

• Hunting knives,
•  For gutting a deer or removing tree branches in the way
• Hand warmers
• Extra ammo
• Extra clothing, gloves, or a stalking cap
• First aid kit and small survival kit if you're caught in a bad situation
• Portable battery pack to recharge a phone
• You never know if you need to call for help or share your location with someone
• Thermos of hot water, tea, or coffee to keep you warm
• Water bottle
• Flashlight
• Zip ties
• Useful for attaching deer tag to deer once shot
• Map of the area
• Pen and Paper
• GPS if available
• Compas 
• Trail markers
• Useful for when you're alone in the field and helps lead people to your location
• Can also be used mark blood spots when you're searching for a deer you shot
• Plastic bags
• Can place guts of the deer in bag and not just leave in field
• pack with ice or snow to place in the deer to keep meat cold and fresh
• Latex gloves 
• If you're worried about diseases when gutting a deer and don't want blood on your hands
• Deer calls
• Scent-a-way spray bottle

These are in no particular order and may be added to or taken away depending on the type of hunt I'm on. If i'm taking a multiple day trip, i may have a bigger bag with a sleeping bag, food, and fire starters to make my life easier. As said earlier, I find these items necessary for a hunt, however, others might choose more or less. The overall goal is to finish your hunt with a deer so whatever you need to achieve that goal, go with that and overall have fun. 

What is Rut?

In order to receive a complete understanding deer hunting you need to understand what the rut is. This will help you as a hunter understand what those deer signs mean and the best location to hunt. So, lets begin by explaining what the rut is.

The quick and dirty definition of the rut is, the time frame, usually in the fall, when the deer are breeding. Now, why is this important to you as a hunter? Well, the rut helps you gage the times when you're most likely to see more activity of bucks. Those deer signs for example, such as scrapes and rubs, are caused by the rut. With that in mind let's talk about the stages of rut.

Pre-Rut:
Mostly feeding occurs in both bucks and does during this stage. Most likely the deer will be feeding early morning or late in the evening, and bedding down during the day. Does will collect in family packs while bucks will mingle with other bucks or does. Towards the end of pre-rut testosterone levels start to rise and you see early-rut signs in bucks occur.

Early-Rut
Does begin to go into heat, or become fertile. During this time bucks will separate from others and become more territorial and aggressive. During this time bucks are more reckless and you may see more during the daytime and even as roadkill due to negligence.

Full-Rut
This is the time when a majority of does are in heat. Deer can be seen moving during all parts of the day. Bucks are very aggressive at this time, can be called more easily, and are territorial. However, that's also not stopping bucks from moving further from their home in order to seek out other does. Scrapes and rubs can be seen often and you'll even see broken antlers from bucks fighting each other. This is a hunter's best time to be out in the field. I've talked about how I prefer rifle season, but here in Kansas, full-rut usually happens during archery season, so, pick up that bow if you want to have the excitement and deer activity during rut.

Post-Rut
Around this time breeding has concluded and a majority of deer break off. Things go back to normal and deer will go back to their normal life cycle of being seen mostly in the early morning or late at night.

Second-Rut
About a month after rut, the does that are unbred go into heat a second time. During this time a hunter will get a second chance to pull in a buck due to their increase in activity once again. Although, it's not as prominent as the first full-rut, it gives hunters another last minute chance.

Late Season
During this time, bucks become rare to see and the time has come close to an end. However, don't count this time out because the very last day of buck season last year, December 11th 2016, i was persistent and went out to hunt that day. It was late season, but I ended up with a buck that night.

 I was more than excited that night but did find one thing to complain about. As I explained earlier, during full-rut, bucks become aggressive and may fight. Looking at the left antler of my buck in the first picture, you can see the broken antler which may have happened during rut.

So overall, rut is a great tool to understand if you want to become a deer hunter because It helps you gage the time frame of when bucks are out and searching for does. Although keep in mind once again that rut is not an end-all-be-all for shooting bucks. Remember, it's called hunting and not shooting.

You're Under Surveillance

While you might think that shower you took last night after work or that cup of coffee you needed to start off your morning hunt is just another daily routine, keep in mind it's foreign to wildlife. Trust me, you are loud, obviously seen, and you stink badly.

Be Quiet

It might be an obvious statement, but when you are out on your hunt you can NEVER be too quiet. Every leaf you crunch and every twig you snap draws a deer's attention straight towards your direction. Although a deer's hearing is relatively similar, still better however, to a human's hearing, a deer is better at honing in on the location. Deer will hear you walk straight up to your hunting location and avoid you at all costs. Your best bet as a hunter is to quietly and quickly get to your spot and sit quiet the rest of your hunt. You will scare off nearby deer at the beginning, but as the hours pass other deer won't hear you if you're quiet... unless you're moving excessively.

Be Still

There are many reasons why hunters wear the colors they do. For example, while it might look stupid for a hunter to wear bright blaze orange out hunting, it does serve a point with a helpful, unaware bonus. The blaze orange is obviously seen by humans. This provides safety during rifle season so you know not to shoot in that direction. However, many are unaware that deer cannot actually see most of the red scale. Confused? Well, let me ask you this, can you see ultraviolet light? Just as humans don't see UV light, which deer can see clear as day, deer don't see blaze orange.

Moreover, wearing camouflage helps hunters blend in with the surrounding. Yet that doesn't mean that moving around while looking like a tree doesn't draw attention to your direction. Deer pick up on movement very well, however, nothing will beat a deer's sense of smell.

Be Dirty
Quite literally I do mean be dirty. You want to smell like the Earth itself. Smelling like shampoo, soap, laundry detergent, mint toothpaste, those all give away your location to a deer. When it comes to a deer's sense of smell, a whitetail deer has up to 296 million olfactory receptors while humans have up to five million Here are some helpful tips to mask your scent from deer. Although there are many brands out there, my preference is Scent-a-Way. Scent-a-Way sells anything and everything to cover your scent. This includes detergent to wash your hunting clothes in and shampoo and soap for showers. There is also a spray bottle to cover your gun, boots, bags, etc. in out at the field. On top of wanting to smell like the wildlife, the best way to mask your scent from deer is to position yourself downwind. If you're downwind from the deer, it is less likely to be smelt and avoided.