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ASK OTHMAR
| "Ask
Othmar a question and you'll get an answer based on knowledge and
experience, not personal ego. He shares his vast knowledge with anyone
willing to listen and learn so hat they too can become more successful
hunters." |
 I receive many questions from fellow hunters regarding
deer and turkey hunting
tactics, hunting products, scouting, and just about
anything else. Here on
"Ask Othmar" I provide you with a selection of the questions and
answers that may be beneficial to other hunters too.
If you have a question Ask
Othmar.
You can learn more on how to make my hunting expertise available
to you by reading about my seminars, hunting
courses, consulting,
promotions and
freelance
outdoor writing.
The Q & A below are in random order as they have been received.
Page 1 of
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What Rifle Brand And
Caliber?
Q. I am new to deer hunting
and have been wondering what would be the
best caliber and brand of rifle. It seems every hunter I ask
has
a different opinion and so I am asking you as deer hunting expert.
A.
Opinions indeed vary greatly on the "best" deer hunting caliber and
rifle brand. The caliber is largely depended on where you hunt
and
what you're comfortable with. There is a trend toward long range, flat
shooting magnum calibers but these calibers are not always the best
choice. Magnums can produce severe recoil that some hunters find
punishing
and this in turn can affect accuracy.
Then there is the consideration of where you hunt. In the hardwood
forests and agricultural land of the Mid-Western United States you do
not need a long distance caliber like the 300mag, the 7mm mag. because
distances are short. Here something in the order of a 7mm-08 or 30-30
would be excellent.
Hunting out west and the open lands of Canada where shots at deer are
often around 200 to 300 yards and even slightly further you need a
caliber with a flat trajectory and still enough punch to kill a deer at
long distance. Here my choice would be something in the range of a
.270, my favorite, or even a 7mm mag or 300mag.
My personal favorite do all deer hunting calibers are the .270 Win. and
the .30-06.
As for what brand of rifle to choose. To be honest with you. Choosing a
rifle brand is a bit like asking what brand of car. Each person seems
to have their favorite. My advice is to go to a gun store and handle as
many different rifles as possible. The one brand that feels the most
comfortable to you and is easy to operate is the brand that is right
for you.
|
Tom Hangs Up
Q. The
other
day I called a big Tom but he never came close enough for a shot.
This is the second time this has happened to me. The toms will only
come so far and no further. What can I do to bring them within shooting
range?
A.
When a gobbler comes to a hen call he fully expects to see another
turkey.
If he does not see a hen where he expects he will get
very suspicious and hang up. Hunters have been calling turkeys for
decades
and this in turn has educated many birds, especially the older wiser
toms.
To fool a tom and bring him close we have to create a realistic scene
as he would expect to find. To achieve this I always use decoys
where possible in combination with calling. Where i can't use decoys
for safety reasons I will set up in such
a way that the tom will not be able to see where the "hen talk" is
coming from
until he is within shooting range.
A common mistake some hunters make is to set up where they can see a
tom from a long distance. The problem with that is that also the
gobbler can see for
a long distance and if he thinks that something is not quite right he
will surely not come any closer to investigate.
For more information on this topic read: Show him what he wants to see
– or
hide
|
Trophy Whitetail Deer
Hunter
Q. What do
I need to do to
become a trophy whitetail deer hunter?
A.
This is a question that I get quite frequently. Trophy hunters start
out like every other hunter shooting does and smaller bucks. The only
notable
difference is that a trophy hunter has acquired over many years the
knowledge and patience it takes to understand whitetail deer behavior.
A true trophy hunter never stops learning about the animals and scouts
all year long for that one elusive buck. It takes many years of
dedication and commitment, and money too, to become a trophy hunter.
|
Cattle
and Deer
Q. Is
it
true that deer do not like to be around cattle?
A.
Yes and no. I've hunted in areas where the deer didn't mind sharing the
land with cattle. In fact I hunted on a property where the deer mingled
with cattle and we always had to make sure that no cow was in the line
of sight when we shot a deer.
When I moved to British Columbia I found a place that had a large deer
population. Every time i scouted the area I saw lots of deer. Then when
bowhunting season opened I didn't see a single deer. On the way out of
the area I saw a herd of free ranging cattle but it didn't dawn at me
that these cattle had anything to do with the vanishing deer until the
day when the rancher herded the cows to a different place. Within two
days of the cattle gone the deer came back.
I never have found an answer why in some areas deer and cattle seem to
get along and in other areas deer move away when cattle are present.
The only reasonable conclusion I can come up with is that perhaps in
some areas food is plentiful available for both, while in others cattle
may be in
competition with the deer.
The only thing I can say for sure is that you need to observe deer and
how they behave around cattle. Do they stay in the area or move off?
And then adjust your tactics according to your observations.
|
What Turkey Calls Are The
Best For Me?
Q. This coming spring will
be
my first time turkey hunting. I
have read a lot about calling and the different call models available
but I still
can't make up my mind. Shall I go with mouth diaphragm
calls or
the more traditional ones?
A.
Since you're a novice turkey hunter I would highly recommend going with
the traditional friction calls. While diaphragm calls have some
advantages over friction calls they also have a downside. The biggest
problem with mouth operated calls is that it takes a long time and
dedication to learn how to use them effectively.
As a beginning turkey hunter you will do just fine with a paddle box, a
slate or glass pot call and a crow call to locate toms. All these calls
are easy to learn and are very effective. It does not matter as much
how many different sounds you can make as it matters to sound exactly
like a turkey. When a tom hears a call he knows instantly if it sound
like a turkey or just almost one. I hunt turkeys for over 15 years and
I still use exclusively friction calls.
I recommend the following articles that I have posted for your
convenience on this website.
Music
To A Toms
Ears
The
Pros And Cons Of Diaphragm Calls
|
Crossbows
Q. I am tempted to
purchase a crossbow but I have heard so
much bad things about them that I am not sure if this would be a wise
choice. What is your opinion on crossbows?
A.
Crossbows are a fine hunting tool, equivalent to modern compound bows.
There is a lot of
misinformed myth spread about crossbows. The interesting thing,
and as myth usually go, every anti crossbow advocate I asked if they
ever shot a crossbow said "No".
If you want to hunt with a crossbow go right ahead and enjoy it.
Fortunately enough more and more jurisdictions begin to see through the
fog of deception and unfounded negative hype about crossbows and permit
crossbow hunting for all hunters not only disabled people.
Here
is a column I
wrote a few years ago about the crossbow controversy.
|
Treestand Height
Q. I always heard that in
order to be successful hunting from
threestand should be placed at least 30 and more feet off of the
ground. Is that true?
A.
The misinformed theory about high treestand
placement is that it gets the hunter above the smell and sight of deer.
However neither is true. Decades of hunting from treestands has
educated
deer to look up for the danger. The higher a stand is placed the more
likely it is that the hunter will run out of cover and is sky lighted
and with that sticks out like the proverbial sore thumb.
What about human odor? When I hunt I rely on been clean and wind
direction not on the height of a treestand. Going higher will not
prevent deer from smelling a hunter. Going higher only means that the
human oder will travel further before it drops to the ground. If a deer
can smell a hunter 200 yards away it surely will not come any closer.
When I hunt from a treestand height is of no concern to me. I am more
concerned with having adequate
background and side cover, provided by the surrounding vegetation than
height. In all the years I hunt from treestands, about 90% of all my
hunting time, I have never felt the need to climb any higher then
between 10
to 15 feet off the ground. One of my best treestand locations was only
eight feet of the ground.
|
Bowhunting In The Rain
Q. I am new to bowhunting
and
recently asked a fellow bowhunter
to join me on a rainy day. I have heard in the past that hunting on
rainy days can be quite productive. My friend said that
bowhunters should not hunt when it rains. When I asked him why he just
replied "Because it is not done." Can you answer me why
bowhunters should
not hunt
in the rain?
A.
Yes I can answer you that. It's quite a simple answer too. The
difference between rifle and bowhunting is that with the later there is
always a blood trailing job involved to retrieve the deer. If it rains
the blood trail will be washed away, making it very difficult, and at
times impossible, to find the deer. The result is often a lost deer.
|
Early Season Antler
Rattling
Q. I
am wondering if antler rattling does work in the early season. When I
asked
hunters around here they each seem to have a different opinion. Some
say it
doesn't work, others say it works and still others say it scares deer
that
early in the season. What is your opinion based on experience?
A.
It would take up several
book pages to explain your question in
detail. Rattling does not work. Tine tickling on the other hand does
work quite
well.
During the early part of the season female deer are not in heat and
bucks do
not engage in full blown out breeding rights and territorial fights.
However,
in the early season bucks do engage in sparring to test each others
strength.
In the early season I mimic sparring using a rattler bag. By gently
clicking
and grinding I have attracted consistently early season bucks.
But there is a whole lot more to it then just sit down and click
antlers
together in hopes of attracting a buck. Location is very important and
so is
the antler clicking sequence. Be on the wrong place or to aggressive
and click
for to long and you're liable to scare more deer off then you will see.
The important thing to remember is not to think of it as fighting but
rather a
friendly sparring competition among bucks and then match that with your
rattling antlers or rattling bag. My average sparring imitations last
up to 20
minutes but not continuously.
Like I said antler rattling and clicking is a very complex issue that
would
fill up many pages. Antler clicking is the least understood in terms of
why it
attracts deer of both sexes and all ages to the hunter. I have been
studying
this subject for many years and still have more questions than answers.
Save to
say that antler clicking is so effective that it is my number one early
season
deer attractant tool. In the early season I leave all the deer calls at
home
but I will not leave home on a hunt without my rattling bag.
|
Hunting Cornfields
Q. Hi
Othmar. A few friends and I have permission to hunt a farm.
It’s the perfect piece of whitetail deer habitat with a small
river bottom, hardwood ridges, pastures and several corn and bean
fields. The farmer gave us permission to set up anywhere on his
property except near the livestock and equipment barns and his house of
course.
In addition we only have permission to bowhunt, no firearms, not even
slug guns or muzzleloader. The problem I’ am having is how to
hunt cornfields. I've never hunted cornfields before. I could hunt the
hardwood ridges but from what I observed it seems that most deer stay
in the cornfields so I would like to give it a try. How do you go about
hunting cornfields?
Ken from Illinois
A.
Hunting cornfields can be a very productive way to kill a big buck.
There are several options to hunt a cornfield and they all depend on
the condition of the fields. What I mean by that, it depends if the
corn is still standing or has been cut.
A standing cornfield is food and shelter to deer and thus they spend a
lot of time in there, but not all of their time. If deer spend most of
their time in the standing cornfield it can be though to hunt. The
easiest way is to figure out where the deer move in and out of the
field. Try to observe deer movement from a distance with a pair of good
binoculars. Also check the hardwood ridge tops for available mast crop
such as oaks. If there are oaks dropping then I am convinced the deer
will travel from the field to the ridge top to feed on the oaks. Your
job will be to figure out at what time the deer head to the oaks.
If the deer feed on the oaks during legal shooting light set up
somewhere along the route the deer take from the field to the ridge
top. Where that somewhere is will be revealed through scouting. It
should be a narrow spot where several trails merge and funnel deer
through a narrow gap past your stand.
Should your scouting reveal that the deer spend all the time, during
legal shooting light, in the standing cornfield then you have no other
option but to go after them. In my article Cornfield
Bucks I describe how to hunt
bucks inside a cornfield.
If the cornfield is cut the game plan changes because the cover is
gone. However, a cut cornfield is a deer magnet. Deer love a cut corn
or bean field because they do not have to work the corn or bean out of
the husk. The food is readily “pre-processed”
available to
them. Think of easy food intake without having to work for it. If the
field has just been cut you will find that deer are difficult to
pattern for a day or two. Don’t worry about it. It all will
go
back to normal again as soon as the deer figured out a new bedding to
feeding travel pattern after their familiar pattern has suddenly been
disturbed. Deer are masters at adapting to new situations.
Again, scout from a distance where and at what time the deer travel to
and from the cut field. When the new travel pattern emerges find the
travel routes the deer take from their bedding areas to the field and
hang stands accordingly. My preference is to hang stands always a bit
back in the woods where several trails merge into one, as opposed to
directly at the food source. It's hard, if not downright impossible, to
kill a deer with a bow directly at the food source. I recommend, as
always, to hang several stands to accommodate different wind directions
and entry/exit routes for you.
Good luck to you on hunting your new spot.
|
Hunting Deer on a Small
Property
Q. I have permission to hunt
on about 40 acre property in a suburb. It is a small block consisting
mainly of hardwoods and a small open grassy area. It’s got
houses on two sides and a highway on the other end. I’ve
never hunted such a small place in close proximity to houses and people
but I’ve seen lots of deer in that area. My question is how
do I hunt these deer without putting too much pressure on them?
A.
Don’t worry about pressuring these deer too much. Suburban
deer
are used to seeing and hearing people close up everyday. In other
words, suburban deer are accustomed to humans, vehicles and human noise.
To hunt these deer successfully forget everything you have ever read,
heard or seen about hunting tactics. You even can forget everything
about human odour control. Forget about sneaking in before daylight.
Instead try to match your coming and going to the activity of the
people living around the area, children going to school, people going
and coming from work and so on. That’s what the deer are used
to
and if you try to sneak around they will know you’re
different
and get scared.
Match your movement to what the deer are used too.
Leave all your calls, rattling antlers and scent at home. Just find the
active trails leading in and out of the woodlot and hang stands
accordingly.
I have killed a nice buck on a small 30-acre property just sitting
behind a tree near an active trail intersection. I shot the deer about
50 yards next to a schoolyard. The deer didn’t mind the noise
from the children because they were used to it. I used the time when
they went to school to walk into my stand. A half hour later the buck
walked
down the trail right in front of my arrow. Don't rely on your normal
hunting tactics on small lots. It will cost you deer.
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