The answers may prove both informative and interesting for all of us. And I'll post the results here when done.
Assuming you hunt whitetail:
Do you think you have a good understanding of daily and seasonal deer behavior? Yes
Do you think you need a good understanding of deer biology and behavior to hunt deer? I think it would help but I don’t think it should affect if you can hunt or not.
How did you learn deer biology and behavior? (mark all you use)
parent x
friend x
self taught x
seminars x
magazine articles x
books x
videos x
talk forums x
Internet Sites x
How much would you pay for a book that contains fairly complete deer biology and behavior, and fairly complete deer hunting techniques? (any book will probably leave out some of both)
$10
$20
$30 x
$40
more
Are photos in a book important? It’s very important, so people such as myself need a visual to go along with what he just read to understand.
Are good research and conclusions on deer behavior important in a book? x
How long is a doe in estrus? The doe's estrous period usually starts in November, though it changes in different parts of the country. Each doe is in heat for about thirty hours and if she isn’t bred in that 30 hours she comes back into heat in about 28 days
How do you define peak rut? When the majority of the does are in heat and the older mature deer are trying to breed them.
How long is the breeding season in your area? second weekend in November to about the 3rd week or December for the late does that didn’t get bred.
What causes a doe to come into estrus?
fall moonlight
shortening hours of daylight (photoperiod)
both x
What scents or body chemicals are found in the dirt of a scrape? Urine,interdigital
What scents or body chemicals are found on an overhanging branch? forehead
What scents or body chemicals are on a rub? preorbital
What scents or body chemicals are in a deer track? Interdigitial glands
Do you think deer are affected by temperatures? What do they do in high and low temperatures? If its high tempretures the bugs get bad and the deer get thirsty so they have to get up and move. In low tempretures the deer like to lay low and stay warm, until its time to feed.
Do you think deer are affected by wind speed? What do they do in high and low wind speed?
Do you think deer are affected by precipitation? What do they do in light and heavy precipitation? Personally I have seen more deer during a light rain than with a heavy rain.
Do you think deer are affected by cloud cover? What do they do in no cloud cover and heavy cloud cover?
Do you think deer are affected by barometric pressure? Do you think they are most active in falling, rising or steady pressure?
Do you look for heavily used deer trails? Yes, a heavy uses trail is probally a group of does.
Do you look for lightly used deer trails? Yes these are most often traveled by bucks
Do you use either of them to help determine where to hunt? yes early season like bow opener I tend to focus on the lighter trails for bucks and when gun opener rolls around I switch to the heavily used trails and watch the does, and the bucks aren’t to far behind them.
Do you look for rubs and scrapes? Yes this usually gives away a bucks travel route.
Do you use them to help you choose a stand site? yes
When do you start seeing fresh rubs? Mid to early October. The early ones you find are most likely a mature buck whose testosterone rises quicker than a younger buck.
When do you stop seeing fresh rubs? Late November
Do you use them to help you choose a stand site? Yes if you find a rub in early October I place a stand in that area right away, because you may of found a mature deer
When do you start seeing scrapes? Late september
When do you stop seeing fresh scrapes? Late November
Do you use them to help you choose a stand site? Yes if it’s a large scrape that means more than one buck has been there and it’s a hot area
Do you look for food sources to choose a stand site? Yes early season the deer are concentrated on feeding and when the rut starts up I hunt the does to find the bucks.
Do you look for deer bedding areas to choose a stand site? yes
What are your favorite hunting locations? (mark all you use)
Near a deer trail x
Near a rub-line x
Near scrapes
Near nighttime bedding areas
Near daytime bedding areas
Near food sources x
Near transition zones x
Near bottlenecks or funnels x
Near water crossings
Near water
What are your favorite hunting tactics? (mark all you use, in order)
Stand hunting (in a tree stand or ground blind) x
Stalking (sneaking up on a deer you know is there) x
Still hunting (slowly looking for deer)
Tracking (following deer tracks to find deer)
Patterning (figuring out a deer's daily movements) x
Do you think deer scents work to attract deer? Depends on the time of the year I would say they respond to it more out of curiousity
Do you use scents to attract deer? Early November yes
If so what type of scent do you use: tinks
tarsal
doe urine x
buck urine
doe estrus x
buck in rut
forehead
metatarsal x
food scents
other attractant (name the type)
Do you use deer calls? yes
Do you believe deer calls work? yes
If so what is your favorite deer vocalization to use: (mark all you use, in order)
fawn call
distress call
social doe grunt x
buck grunt x
tending grunt (aggressive) x
grunt-snort (very aggressive) x
Do you use decoys? no
Do you think decoys work?
If so do you use a buck or doe decoy, or both?
Do you think deer hear better than humans? yes
Better than dogs? yes
Do you rattle bucks? yes
Do you believe rattling works? yes
If so do you use real or synthetic antlers, or a rattling device, or wood in a bag? I have tried all but I had better results when they were real horns.
Do you think deer see color better; or movement better? movement
Do you think deer see in black, white and gray; or see in color? Black white and gray.
What colors do they see? Black white and gray
Do you think deer see ultra-violet light? no
Do you think deer see infra-red light? no
Do you believe camouflage works? yes
Do you believe large camouflage works best, or do you believe small camouflage patterns work best? Depends on your surroundings
Do you think one camouflage can work in all situations? no
For hunting in multiple types of habitats - do you think a realistic camouflage works best, or a non-specific pattern works best? realistic
What brands of camouflage do you use? Scent lok guide series
What colors of camouflage do you normally use? (mark all you normally use)
white (snow) x
gray (no leaves at all or sky pattern)
green (mainly green leaves in it) x
brown (mainly brown leaves in it) x
Do you think deer can smell better than humans? x
Better than dogs or coyotes? x
Do you use scent control products? x
Do you believe scent control products work? yes
If so do you use: (mark all you use)
activated carbon clothing (such as Scent Lok) x
silver anti-bacterial clothing (such as X-Scent) x
chemical anti-bacterial clothing (such as Contain) x
odor trapping clothing (such as No Trace)
Would you buy a product that uses moisture wicking material, with a chemical anti-bacterial, and odor trapping material, if a suit cost under $120? yes
How do you learn productive ways to hunt? (mark all you use)
parent x
friend
self taught x
seminars x
magazine articles x
books x
videos x
talk forums x
Internet sites x
If you use talk forums, do you think most of the posters really know what they are talking about? I assume they do and Ill do some research on it.
Do you think it helps to have a professional/staff hunter, researcher, biologist, or guide posting? yes
Do you think it helps to have a writer, book author or seminar speaker posting? yes
Do you think most professional hunters or guides understand deer biology and behavior as well as researchers or biologists? Yes that’s why there still in business
Do you think most writers, book authors or seminar speakers understand deer biology and behavior? yes
Do you think most professional hunters and guides can provide you with good hunting techniques? yes
Do you think most outdoor writers, book authors and seminar speakers can provide you with good hunting techniques? yes
Based on your answers above, who would you rather learn from 1. a person who is a professional hunter; guide, 2. a person who is a researcher or biologist, 3. a person who is a writer, author or author; 4. a person.who is all of the above.
Who do you know that fits that category? 4
What time of day is your favorite hunting time?
morning
mid day x
evening
When do you most often see deer?
Between Sunrise and 9 AM x
Between 9 AM and noon
Between Noon and 3 PM x
Between 3 PM and sunset x
When do you most often see bucks?
Between Sunrise and 9 AM
Between 9 AM and noon x
Between Noon and 3 PM x
Between 3 PM and sunset
What is a trophy buck to you?
100-120
121-140 x
141-160 x
161-180+ x
What is your primary reason for hunting? (list in order of importance)
meat x
antlers
recreation/outdoor enjoyment x
the challenge x
If you had enough land to properly manage deer, would you practice some form of deer management?
Would it be for:
larger deer herds
better balanced buck to doe ratio x
balance the deer herd to the carrying capacity of the land
trophy bucks x
Where state or province do you live in? Minnesota
What is the main complaint you have about hunting and hunting areas? to many people killing the younger bucks not giving them a chance to grow
What do you think deer managers in your state can do to improve deer hunting? Make a restriction or a earn a buck by shooting a doe before your allowed to shoot a buck
Do you think hunting will diminish due to less public land? yes
What do you think hunters can do to improve hunting?
Do you think we need more state and federal management, which could lead to higher license prices to keep and improve wildlife and their habitat? yes
Would you pay more for licenses if we could get more (or save more) public hunting areas? yes to help others deer hunt who don’t have land to.
Do we need more public hunting land? yes
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