Pennsylvania Game News - February 2009 - 59

easier for you to hike to your stands and drag deer out of the woods. Every year, more than one hunter dies of a heart attack in the woods. Often times, the attack comes during or shortly after some type of exertion by the hunter. Don’t become a statistic. Get in shape. 6. SCOUT One way to burn off some calories and improve your chances of tagging a buck next season is to get up off the couch and do some scouting in your hunting area. Late winter is a perfect time to explore the habitat in and around the area you hunt. The foliage is all gone, so visibility is at its best. And, with luck, you’ll have snow on the ground so you can find and follow some deer tracks. Even though the season is months away, if you can find a place where multiple trails intersect in the dead of winter, you’ve found a hangout deer likely frequent year round. One place you really want to try to find is the preferred deer bedding area. Consider this your deer-supply warehouse. If you know where the deer bed, then it’s easier to figure out how they get to and from feed sources. Look for this year’s rub lines. They’re easy to spot, because they’ll still look fairly fresh. These are likely areas to catch bucks next season. I’m always amazed at how the same trees get rubbed year after year no matter how many bucks on a particular property are killed. Keep your eyes peeled for shed antlers. The bucks should be shucking their headgear now and sheds will give you an idea what kind of bucks you’ve got still running around your hunting area. If you find a really big shed, you know there’s a trophy around. 7. FIND A NEW HUNTING PROPERTY For those of you who prefer hunting private property over public land, now’s the time to go knock on doors. Landowners are likely to be home and not harried by the FEBRUARY 2009 BOWHUNTING private property is a privilege. Be sure to thank those who granted you access to their lands last season. ample chores of summer and fall. Hooking up with a landowner now allows you both time to get to know one another before hunting season rolls around. It also allows you time to offer to help with some of those upcoming chores in exchange for permission to hunt. Hunting private property that you don’t own is a privilege that’s only going to get harder and harder to come by as human populations grow and open space shrinks. Treat it as such and you just might find more and more doors opening up to you. 8. EXPRESS THANKS On the heels of the Number 7 item on our list comes the suggestion that now is the time to go thank those landowners who gave you permission to hunt last season. A show of appreciation, such as a fruit basket, a handwritten card, a sampling of venison or a gift certificate to a local restaurant, can do wonders for increasing the odds that you’ll be invited back next season. Maintaining contact with landowners outside the hunting season lets them know you are truly appreciative of their permission to hunt, and you’re not just a person who thinks about the landowner only when it’s time to kill something. It also lets them get to know you, which can pay off big time when a landowner has a problem during 59
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - February 2009
