Lessons from the Past

As hunters, most of us are always trying to improve how we do things . Continuously looking for better ways to harvest the animals we hunt. Anything that gives us a better edge than the game that we are after. We use calls, scents, the latest camouflage design and the most up to date stands we can buy. I have fallen into this pattern myself. I'm not accusing people of wrong doing. I just want everyone to take a look at who showed you how to hunt. I look back and see four different men who influenced me. My dad who got me started deer hunting. My granddad who taught me how to hunt for funnels, even before magazines ever started telling about them. A friend of my dad's, who taught me how to make homemade cover scents before the first ones ever hit the markets, and one of my uncles who taught me to find water and then you will find the deer. These men showed me how to hunt the wind. What to look for in tracks and droppings so I'd know if I was after a buck or a doe. But the funnels was the best advise any of them gave. My granddad showed me to look at the lay of the land. A low area between two hills makes an obvious one. He also showed me to look at more subtle ones, like edges, places where hardwoods and pines come together. Power lines are great because many types of terrain come together to form funnels. One of my favorite funnels is a power line set in hills so I get a natural funnel that pushes deer to cross at certain areas. My problem, at first, was I had many such hills on this same power line. Until I scouted closer and found a place where pines and hardwoods came together. I also got a bonus funnel, a man made one, a dam at the end of a lake which directed deer down a particular hill funnel. Me and my hunting buddies have killed many deer in this great set up. My granddad taught me other great lessons, like deer are colored blind. So you don't have to have all the camo. He hunted in a dark blue coveralls outfit and kept his freezer filled. The friend of the family, who taught me about cover scents, showed me that baking soda makes the best scent killer. So take lessons from past. The latest products may not be the best way to fill your tag.