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Seven Myths of Deer Hunting Debunked by Sarah Kirk

20100918_sarah2Deer hunters may be brought down by things they shouldn’t even be worrying about, and things that may have kept them from that monster buck in the past. Many things that some hunters believe are just myths. Fear no more, seven of the top deer hunting myths debunked!

Myth: You can never win a battle over a deer’s, eyes, ears, and nose.

Truth: It isn’t difficult to defeat the eyes and ears. To do this all you have to do is wear your camo over as much of your body as possible and remain still. The hardest thing to overcome is a deer’s keen sense of smell. If you have the time in the morning, take a shower with scent free soap and keep your clothes sealed away from your everyday clothes.  Make sure to wear scent eliminator sprays to cover your scent.  Also, consider the wind direction in contrast to your stand or ground position.

Myth: Hunting in the wind is pointless

Truth: Deer don’t like strong winds because they can’t hear predators easily, thus the deer will head to an area that is guarded from the wind. These areas mainly consist of lower elevations such as hollows and valleys.

Myth: A buck grows his biggest rack between the ages of 3 and 4

Truth: A buck on average will have his best rack between the ages of 5 and 7.  Although there is no real way to prove a deer’s age before you shoot him, if you don’t want to wait around for two more years to see if he’ll will grow meet his full potential you could shoot and then check his dentals. You can read online about how to determine age by a whitetail’s molars.

Myth: Urinating around or off of you stand will scare bucks away.

Truth: behind doe estrus, human urine actually attracts deer more than buck urine does. If you’re worried about the noise you will make urinating off your stand, just bring a bottle with you. Men have this advantage while hunting. Though, your urine should not be used as a tool to attract deer. I wouldn’t trust it!

Myth: Kill all spikes

Truth: Why kill spikes? If you’re a trophy hunter, by all means, a spike has potential to become a trophy in the future. Just give him time to grow! It was said for a long time that spikes or small young deer have bad genes and will never grow to full trophy potential. But it is very untrue. If you feel you need to kill him, go right ahead or if you just need some food for the table and size doesn’t matter certainly take him.

Myth: The rut only lasts a few days

Truth: wrong, wrong, wrong. The rut can last up to two months! A doe will go into estrus for 28-36 hours at a time. Older does go into estrus earlier than younger ones. Also, if during an estrus cycle, the doe doesn’t breed, a new cycle will begin in around 28 days and be repeated until she breeds.

Myth: Lots of scrapes in one area means a big buck is around

Truth:  Younger bucks will make a lot of small scrapes instead of one large scrape.  These younger bucks make a lot of these scrapes to demonstrate their prowess. A large or old buck will make few, very large scrapes.

EDITORS NOTE:  We would like to hear your comments on these myths both for and against…Share with our team your opinions and feelings on deer hunting and what you have learned from being in the field

Kevin Paulson

Kevin Paulson is the Founder and CEO of HuntingLife.com. His passion for Hunting began at the age of 5 hunting alongside of his father. Kevin has followed his dreams through outfitting, conservation work, videography and hunting trips around the world.

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