Make a Late Check of the Place Where You Hunt Deer

First posted on 11-09-2009

The opening of modern gun deer season is coming up Saturday, Nov. 14, and here’s a tip from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. Any hunter will be wise to make an advance check on things where he or she intends to hunt.

Yes, some sunshine should help dry out soggy woods and roads, but who know what damage has been done, what changes have been made. Can you even get to your stand?

Is your stand, standing?

AGFC personnel suggest that it will be worth spending some time to look over your deer place before the pre-dawn darkness of opening morning. Be doubly careful climbing up into that stand, if it’s one you have left since last season.

The excess of rain has put a different look on this 2009 deer hunt. Some public lands have been closed. Some routes that hunters are familiar with will be inaccessible. Water is everywhere; some conditions could change for the better by opening day.

So, what’s the big deal about not deer hunting when there is high water?

Deer have to bunch up on high ground in flood conditions, and this makes them much more vulnerable to people with guns. Call it shooting fish in a barrel. Call it unfair as well as detrimental to the Arkansas deer herd.

Most deer hunters will adapt and make do in this rainy year situation. Hunters should pause a moment and think a little before heading out to deer camp or to a stand on opening morning. If you haven’t already been to your hunting spot, think about what may be out there.

Do you cross a little creek on foot or with an all-terrain vehicle or with a pickup to reach your area? Will you go to your stand in the dark on opening morning?

Many of us will be wise to plan on wearing waterproof boots instead of the usual leather boots. Rubber or muck boots, the kind some call knee boots, will serve us in muddy and shallow water areas. They won’t help much to get past a flooded creek, though.

Another hint: Carry a garbage bag or two with your hunting gear – just in case. These bags can have a number of uses in wet conditions, including substituting for boots in wet places. Tie a bag around each leg and proceed.

The wet conditions and prevalent mud may affect hunters in getting deer out of the woods. If someone can’t get a vehicle, pickup or ATV, to the hunting spot where a deer is down, the alternative is dragging that deer out. Don’t think of trying to carry it out; drag it.

A length of clothesline-type rope in your pocket or pack can meet this need. Two hunters can handle the task of getting a deer out much better than one.

A simple method is to tie each end of the rope to the deer then step into the loop, and let your body do the hauling work rather than your arms. One method is to loop the rope over your shoulder and under your arms. Make another loop and step into it then pull the rope over your hips. You have the pull from two points then – hips and shoulders.

Most hunters with dragging experience like to drag a buck from the front, so the antlers are up a little up off the ground and don’t snag on bush. But drag a doe from the rear so it slides better.