Oct 3, 2015 4 min read

I have a list of things I always carry during the late November, early December deer season. The list is really not that different from when going forth in October carrying a bow.

Of course, a knife and drag rope demonstrate confidence and should always be with a hunter. The cold weather gear, however, can be left in the vehicle. It will be replaced by the usual gimmicks we hope will work.

The clothes were washed well in no-scent soap and hung outdoors with a long prayer that the man scent was removed. When discussing scent, I can’t help but mention, in my experience, deer pay little attention to the smell of human urine.

In fact, going back to some of my experiments, I don’t think a deer can tell the difference in human, goat, cow or deer urine.

Logic tells me to watch the wind, even with the best of scent blockers, which might or might not work.

If your position is downwind, it matters little what you smell like.

Still, I admit to carrying a scent blocker in my pocket. I am also a gimmick buyer, even when I suspect they don’t work.

One thing I always carry with me in archery season is a grunt call. I have used this aide for at least 30 years and know they work. But, perhaps, it is only under certain circumstances a grunt or two brings distant buck closer.

When using this call, I start with a soft grunt, increasing the volume only when the buck seems too far away to hear the deep grunting challenge.

Like all things in life, grunting has a downside. The grunt actually gives location away.

I know the incoming buck hears the grunt and perceives it as a threat to his territory and expects to find another buck at the other end of the grunt. He might not be looking and expecting a person, but he is looking at the spot where the sound is coming from.

A few years ago, I decided tree stands are for young hunters. I consider hunting from a vulture’s prospective the most dangerous thing a hunter does.

At least a young hunter has a chance of bouncing when he hits the ground. An elderly gentleman like me will break. Common sense tells me to stay on the ground where I belong.

I once read an article that recommended a book to read while waiting for that trophy buck to come along. The idea was reading would keep the archer in the stand for a longer period of time.

The author was right in one respect – you can’t bag a buck from the living room and the longer you stay, the better chance you have.

I wouldn’t recommend reading a book, but you certainly need to put up with long periods of boredom. If you don’t have patience, then stay home. Deer hunting is not your forte.

A final, and for me, important accessory is a good set of binoculars.

I know you must be in close proximity to the deer to shoot it with a bow. Still, binoculars can identify that distant dark thing better than the naked eye.

Is it a stump or is it a buck? Was the movement a leaf blowing in the slight breeze or a bird darting from tree to tree? Or maybe it is the biggest buck you have ever seen.

It’s better to watch the squirrels than to try and watch for deer while reading. In most instances, the ranges while hunting with a bow and arrow won’t be long so the binoculars carried don’t need to be of high power.

Actually, I prefer a good glass with 6 power. It’s plenty of power for identifying something at 40 to 100 yards and that’s far enough in archery season.

Incidentally, all of late summer and early fall, I have seen lots of does with fawns but few bucks.

Just this week, however, I started to see the boys and four of them were exceptional.

Seeing them got my blood all stirred up. While old age has affected my ability, I still find myself with the old excitement as the season begins and I start seeing bucks. I haven’t totally lost it.

George H. Block writes a Sunday Outdoors column for the Observer-Reporter.