Where it is safe to do so, one unconventional deer hunting technique is to quietly slip down a creek bed, come up to the creek bed's lip, do a rattling sequence and wait a half-hour. (Lynn Burkhead photo)
September 20, 2016
By Lynn Burkhead, TheSportsmanChannel.com
To harvest a white-tailed deer during the autumn months, conventional hunting wisdom often applies.
From the mesquite flats of Texas to the agricultural fields of Kansas to the rolling hills of Iowa and Illinois to the river bottoms of the Southland, the prescription is usually the same: Find – or provide – the food, hunt hard and smart during the rut, and don't give up guarding a food plot until the season's bitter end.
Many times, it all works out with the opportunity to unleash an arrow from a bow or to pull the trigger on a deer rifle sporting a .30-06 Springfield, a .270 Winchester or a 6.5 Creedmoor cartridge loaded into its chamber.
But sometimes it doesn't work out since the truth is bucks – particularly those old hat-racked wise guys most of us seek – aren't stupid, nor do they always play by the rule book of deer hunting's conventional wisdom.
In fact, during the course of an autumn deer hunting campaign, it can actually pay off at times for hunters to throw the proverbial playbook out the back door and into the campfire.
Because sometimes, offbeat hunting tactics can actually save the day.
Take Fred Eichler for instance, the multi-show talent on both Outdoor Channel and Sportsman Channel . When I posed the question of whether he ever used offbeat tactics for whitetails, Eichler laughed, said yes and indicated sometimes he chooses public land over private hunting ground.
Read the rest of “Whitetail Hunting Tips to Bag a Smart Buck” on TheSportsmanChannel.com .
