Finding A Gut Shot Deer

Finding a gut shot deer starts the second you realize it is a gut shot. Most hunters are so excited to go get their deer, they ignore the fact that it is not a good shot, they go looking for the deer, and that is the worst thing you can do to find a gut shot deer. Lets look at some key things to know about finding a gut shot deer.

A Gut Shot Deer Will Die

First and for most lets get this straight a gut shot deer will die 100% of the time. It is not fast and will take time but it will die. When the intestines are cut or busted open it releases poison into the deer's body. Then carried in the blood stream to the whole body. It is no different then when a human's appendix burst. It would kill us 100% of the time if we didn't have doctors.

If Left Alone Gut Shot Deer Rarely Travel Far

When I was 17 I had my appendix burst. If you ever had any problems with you appendix you know that the last thing you want to do is walk around much less run somewhere. Actually the best way to get relief is lay down and roll up into a ball.

That is the same thing a deer wants to do. Most of the time right after the shot, they run a short distance, then walk off hunched over, they find the first place they feel safe, lay down to relieve the pain, and die right there (IF LEFT ALONE).

The Big Mistake Finding Gut Shot Deer

The number one reason hunters don't find gut shot deer is they almost always start tracking the deer and jump the deer up. Most of the time they don't bleed much if any. In fact I put a video below of a buck that I made a mistake on and gut shot. When we was tracking him we never found one single drop of blood. When the deer is jumped up it will run somewhere and there will be very little sign to track.

The Key To Finding Gut Shot Deer

The second you realize it is a gut shot! Not 20 more yards or after you find the first drop of blood. The second you suspect it is a gut shot get out of the area and don't go back for a minimum of 12 hours.

YES, A MINIMUM OF 12 HOURS!!!

What if its raining?

WAIT AT LEAST 12 HOURS!!!

What if its warm?

Yep, 12 HOURS!!!

What about the meat?

If you try to track it before 12 hours the meat will take off running thru the woods with no blood trail behind to follow. Period!

Yes, it is a sick feeling to see an arrow sink into the stomach of any deer or to watch a big buck walk off hunched over in you rifle scoop but it does happen. If you know how to deal with it and actually do it, you will find that deer almost 100% of the time, with little effort, and it will often surprise you how short of a distance it will travel.

I hope you never gut shoot a deer but if you do. Waiting a minimum of 12 hours will save you and the deer a lot of trouble. If you don't wait the deer will suffer more and you will almost never find the deer.

I'm proud to be a hunter,

Jacob Schmitt

Scouting For The Rut With Topo Maps

Using Topo Maps For Rutting Bucks

I was scouting this very hilly area looking for spots to hunt when rutting bucks start to cover a lot of ground looking for does. When I realized that I have not talked about using topo maps much.  I stopped what I was doing to make this video that you see below.

As you see in the video there are a lot of terrain features that a buck will use in the rut. When they begin to cover a lot of ground looking for estrus does. They will often take the path of least resistance to get from one place to another. Looking for areas that have multiple paths of least resistant that bucks use in the rut. Will likely revel some good rut hunting spots in your area this fall. At the very least it will revel key areas that need to be scouted on foot.

Best Of Luck,

Jacob Schmitt

Weather Should Affect Your Deer Stand Locations

Should Weather Affect Your Deer Stand Locations?

There are a couple for sure things about deer hunting. They are so sure that you could bet on them and always win. One is the...

The Weather

You can be sure that we have no control of it, it will throw you curve balls all deer season, it will often not be the best weather conditions for deer hunting, and will have major affects on most hunter success.

Yet all you ever here when putting in stand locations is the wind. Yes the wind is a major player in deciding the exact stand location but the weather should be the most important when thinking about the area or what kind of area to hunt.

The weather will most often be the main player in where deer bed, what they eat, and when they eat.

It only makes perfect since to think of weather patterns and how they affect deer behavior when you are putting together a hunting plan.

I could go on and on with ways that weather will affect deer and how they act but for the sake of my fingers and time that I have with my slow typing I will briefly list 2 major weather patterns, ways they affect deer, and areas to hunt.

Hot Weather

Keeps them in cooler places often with water close by, bedding on north cooler slops, in shaded areas and it often suppress movement

Often the only daytime movement is very early morning and late evening.

Most successful hunting stands are very close to bedding, close to water, and a mix of both.

Cold Weather

The opposite end of the spectrum often enhances deer movement, they will consume more food especially higher carbohydrate foods, and bed in areas that block the wind that provide sunshine like south facing slops with an open sky to let sun in.

Often more daytime movement and feeding.

Hunting high carbohydrate food sources, trails from them to warm bedding areas, and in the rut over looking one of the two to catch a cruising bucks in the middle of the day can all be very productive.

Like I said I con go on and on about ways that weather affects deer behavior and patterns. I do have a Masters Deer Hunting Course that does have a hunting the weather course in it that goes into great detail on the subject.

I hope the video and post will get you to start thinking of how weather patterns are affecting deer in your area and help you to put your deer stand in a location to take advantage of what the weather does to deer from one day to the next.

Go get em,

Jacob Schmitt

The "This One Is For All You Deer Hunters" Video

"This One Is For All You Deer Hunters"

I made this video for all of us deer hunters. I have many times wanted to share how I really feel but hold back some to keep from offending others that don't like hunting.

Recently I have had strong feelings that we as hunters should be proud of who we are. VERY PROUD!

We have a love for the animals that we hunt that runs far deeper than any so called animal lover(animal rights activist). We understand that without us there would be no habitat improvement or protection. There would be no one to stand and defend what rights that our wildlife have. Our wildlife have the right to have a balance herd that lives within its habitat, the ability to reproduce, and be healthy for future generations to enjoy.

Without us as hunters they would not have that right.

In the video you will see a few shots straight from PETA website itself. One I found very disturbing! It was of a group of pigs that someone was raising to slaughter. They had a change of heart and did not want to kill them(I am totally fine with that). The problem I have is that the pigs were moved to a 120 acre PETA safety farm so they could live happy ever after(I have nothing against them living). What I did find disturbing is there was 11 pigs. I am sure at the rate that pigs multiply this is not near large enough. The only way to keep them there is with some form of birth control.

I have a huge problem with that!

In fact, I have already seen many people wanting to use birth control on deer(and many other game animals we hunt) to help control the population. That is in my opinion the best way to kill all of the deer in the world. They are not wired for birth control! It could mess up how they breed, act, and adapt to changes all across the world.

What I am proud of is the fact that as hunters we are meat eaters as God himself created us to be.

We know that them pigs must be harvested or they will get disease, spread it to each other, other animal and even humans as they start to out grow their habitat and become overpopulated.

I do want to make one thing straight I am not out to attack any PETA members or supporters.  I created this video to show that us as hunter are set apart from the rest of the world and that our roll here is a lot more important then some might think.

We as hunter's, no matter what we are hunting have a very important roll that must be fulfilled and we should be very proud every time we do anything to fulfill that roll.

I AM PROUD TO BE A DEER HUNTER,

JACOB SCHMITT

Using Old Trail Camera Photos To Kill Deer In The Future

Using Old Trail Camera Photos To Kill Deer In The Future

When it comes to gathering information on deer there is no easier or cheaper way then the use of trail cameras. They range anywhere from forty dollars to over five hundred dollars. Even at the top price range you will save a ton of money for the information that you gather. They stay out working 24/7, in the wrong wind, too much hunting pressure, and in the worst weather you can think of.

Studying old photos of deer that are not even alive anymore might not make a lot of sense, but deer are deer and most of them will always act like deer. They all have seasonal patterns and for the most part them patterns don't change all that much from one year to the next.

Old trail camera pictures are one thing that separates the successful deer hunters from the ones that just wish they could kill deer on a regular basis. Most modern game cameras stamp the time, date, moon phase, and temperature on every photo taken. I have seen some that even put the barometric pressure on the picture. I personally like to look at what the weather was doing on wunderground.com and see if I can find weather patterns that make the deer use certain areas.

Trail cameras now a days are a common thing. Almost every deer hunter has at least one picture of a dream buck on their phone that was taken from a trail camera but very few hunters ever take it much farther then having a picture of a nice buck. They never stop to think why was that buck there in the first place. Figuring that out is the key to the puzzle even if the buck that you have a picture of is no longer alive.

I am a firm believer that using old trail camera photos will help you harvest deer on future hunts. I am sure that 90% of deer hunter have pictures on there computer that would unlock a mystery about the deer in their hunting area. Don't just put them pictures away to never look at them again. Organize them so you can take a look at them from time to time. You never know what you might find!

Go Get Em,

Jacob Schmitt

Jacob Schmitt started hunting when he was about 4 years of age and he has grow to love bow hunting whitetail deer in his home state of Arkansas. He loves sharing what he has learned over the years to help others become better deer hunters. He feels that it is his duty to give back what he has gained from years of trail and error to those that were not lucky enough to have grown up in a hunting family.

The Correct Fertilizer For A Clover Food Plot

The Correct Fertilizer For A Clover Food Plot

Fertilizer is often one of the most overlooked parts of food plotting and with very little work is one of the only things that you can get perfect. Often a hunter spends days, weeks, and in some cases years looking for the perfect food plot seed to put into the ground. While in most cases the type of crop is not that big of a deal because the deer will eat any of the plants that the hunting could plant. Clover is one of the most selected type of food plot seed bought and for good reason.

Deer Love Clover!

The good and the bad thing about clover is that it is a legume. Most hunters that plant clover don't even know what that is. Clovers are not the only foot plot plants that are legumes but they most popular by far. Legumes are special in the fact that they don't need nitrogen in the fertilizer to thrive.

The good thing is...

Legumes have the ability to take nitrogen from the air. They also put nitrogen into the soil for future crops. That is the good thing about clover. Nitrogen it the most expensive part of fertilizer.

The bad part is...

Most hunters don't know that they don't need nitrogen and often buy expensive fertilizer to feed there clover food plots. The problem is all they are doing is feeding all the other plants that compete with the clover in the food plot. This is like shooting yourself in both feet.

The right foot!

Paying a high price for nitrogen that you don't need. OUCH, you need a cane!

The left foot...

The expensive fertilizer is actuality helping the plants that you don't want in your clover food plot. Now you need a wheelchair!

In the video below I show you one of the clover food plots that I put in, the soil test results from that food plot, how to match the right fertilizer required for the clover to thrive, and where to buy your fertilizer for your clover food plots.

Go Get Em,

Jacob Schmitt

Jacob Schmitt started hunting when he was about 4 years of age and he has grow to love bow hunting whitetail deer in his home state of Arkansas. He loves sharing what he has learned over the years to help others become better deer hunters. He feels that it is his duty to give back what he has gained from years of trail and error to those that were not lucky enough to have grown up in a hunting family.

Deer Jumping The String(duck the arrow)

Deer Jumping The String

What Can Be Done And What Can't

Whitetail deer have instinctively fast reflexes and when conditioned they are very nervous animals. Mix fast reflexes and nerves like that and you get super sonic agility.

Many hunters spend hours upon hours in search of that trophy whitetail, day after day shooting their bow to make the perfect shot, and countless minutes on a deer stand waiting for the moment of truth. Then it happens they get the shot they have been dreaming of, sometimes for years. Just to watch the super sonic agility of a whitetail kick in, duck their arrow(jump the string), watch the deer bound out of bow rang, and look back trying to figure out what the heck just happened. All while the hunter is doing the same thing trying to figure out what, how, and why that just happened.

What Do The Deer Actually Hear When They Are Shot At With A Bow

In the video above you see that the sound of the bow being shot at you is a different sound than just the bow being shot from the same distance. You can hear the arrow coming especially at shorter distances. The video below will explain why I feel that is.

Why is the arrow so loud out to 40 to 50 yards.

As you see it is impossible to silence a bow and the arrow. What can you do to help? The video below I will talk about a few things you can do to help silence the bow and the arrow.

What you can do to help with the bow and arrow noise.

All the talk about, noise of the bow, the sound of the arrow, and silencing a bow is getting old, even to me. Lets talk about some deer!

Deer ducking arrows is always something we as bow hunters will have to deal with. Being prepared to deal with it at the moment of truth is the trick. Knowing the attitude of the deer at the moment you actually take the shot is what it all boils down to. The video below talks about that. Check it out!

The best thing to help with string jump.

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Go Get Em,

Jacob Schmitt

Jacob Schmitt started hunting when he was about 4 years of age and he has grow to love bow hunting whitetail deer in his home state of Arkansas. He loves sharing what he has learned over the years to help others become better deer hunters. He feels that it is his duty to give back what he has gained from years of trail and error to those that were not lucky enough to have grown up in a hunting family.

Using Hunting Regulations To Find Good Public Land

Using Hunting Regulations To Find Good Public Land

Go Get Em,

Jacob Schmitt

Jacob Schmitt started hunting when he was about 4 years of age and he has grow to love bow hunting whitetail deer in his home state of Arkansas. He loves sharing what he has learned over the years to help others become better deer hunters. He feels that it is his duty to give back what he has gained from years of trail and error to those that were not lucky enough to have grown up in a hunting family.

How To Shoot A Bow

How To Shoot A Bow

This post is to show you the basic fundamentals of how to shoot a bow. I have made several videos on the topic, I put all of them in this post so you can review them, and work on whatever it is that you need to improve in you shooting.

Remember that it takes time to get good at anything and you will have to work at it.. I have put the first video up just to show you a group that I recently shot at 30 yards. I don't want you to see it as bragging in no way. I just show it to you for two reasons. First, so you can know that I really know how to shot a bow and that I know a thing or two about shooting. Secondly so you can see that with some work, it is possible to be very accurate with a bow even a hunting bow, witch is what I shoot this group with.

In the next video I talk about the best kind of  a bow to buy if you are just getting into bow hunting. It is much more important to get a bow that fits you then to get an expensive bow.

Best Kind Of Bow To Buy IF You Are New To Bow Hunting

Now it is time to start talking about the fundamentals of how to shoot a bow.

First thing I am going to talk about getting a bow that fits you. Mostly I talk about draw length.

How To Shoot A Bow: Get A Bow That Fits You

In the video below I talk about your stance.

How To Shoot A Bow: Your Stance

Next I am going to talk about the grip this is the way you hold the bow. I have seen several different ways this has been taught. This is acontroversial subject but trust me! If you can have a relaxed grip you will be ahead of the game.

How To Shoot A Bow: Your Grip

In the next video I am going to go over your anchor point. Having a consistent anchor point is a very important part of shooting a bow. That is the main thing about your anchor point. It must be consistently the same!

How To Shoot A Bow: Your Anchor Point

Now I am going to talk about the moment that it all comes together. This is the actual moment that you shot the bow. It is more then just releasing the arrow. You must have a good fallow thru. Without a good steady follow thru, nothing else that you do is going to matter. No, I am not saying that none of the other things I have showed you matter. They do! What I am saying is that you can mess it all up if you don't have a good follow thru.

How To Shoot A Bow: Follow Thru

This is the basic fundamentals of shooting a bow. No, it is not all there is to shooting a bow. Yes, it is very far from all there is to hunting deer with a bow. First, you must learn how to shot a bow well before you can kill deer with it. There is and will be much more in other post, my YouTube videos, on the Deer Hunting School Facebook page, and a ton of information in the paid Deer Hunting School educational resources.

I hope you enjoyed this post and the videos on how to shoot a bow. Keep coming back to DeerHuntingSchool.com for more tips on deer and deer hunting.

If you enjoyed this post please comment and share.

Go Get Em,

Jacob Schmitt

Jacob Schmitt started hunting when he was about 4 years of age and he has grow to love bow hunting whitetail deer in his home state of Arkansas. He loves sharing what he has learned over the years to help others become better deer hunters. He feels that it is his duty to give back what he has gained from years of trail and error to those that were not lucky enough to have grown up in a hunting family.

Using Google Earth To Find Deer

Using Google Earth To Find Deer

Google Earth is a powerful tool for deer hunting. It has some awesome features that really enhance the use of aerial photos. You can zoom in, walk on the ground, look at different angles, measure the distance of things and more. In the video below I show some of the features and how they can benefit the deer hunter that uses Google Earth to find deer and deer hunting spots. If you are wondering where to download Google Earth just click on it anywhere in the post and it will take you to the page to download it for free.

If you enjoyed this post please comment and share.

Go Get Em,

Jacob Schmitt

Jacob Schmitt started hunting when he was about 4 years of age and he has grow to love bow hunting whitetail deer in his home state of Arkansas. He loves sharing what he has learned over the years to help others become better deer hunters. He feels that it is his duty to give back what he has gained from years of trail and error to those that were not lucky enough to have grown up in a hunting family.

Scent Free Program

Scent Free Program

Having a routine scent free program makes it much easier to deer hunt as scent free as possible. It can seem very overwhelming to get you, your gear, and your clothes scent free and keeping it that way. That is why you need to develop a scent free program, and make it a routine.

Can you really be scent free?

In all reality there is nothing that will make you 100% scent free. It also does not make a whole lot of since not to try to keep you scent down as much as possible. You would not go hunting wearing a bunch of flashing light bulbs, would you? Well then why would you want to go hunting wearing clothes and having gear that to a deers nose is like having flashing Q-beams all over you and leaving some everywhere you step.

How can you develop a routine scent free program?

First, you start doing it. Start by getting you, your clothes, and all your gear as scent free as possible. After you start using your scent free program you will develop a routine and it will become a habit and will not really take much of your time to do. In the video below I talk about my scent free program, some products I use, and things I do to hunt scent free or as scent free as possible.

Do I think that a scent free program is a must to kill deer?

No, I do not! There are people that pay no attention to their scent that kill deer, and some of them very big deer. I also think that most of these people are hunting by pure luck alone. I also think that if you are going to be a consistently successful deer hunter you must rely on your deer hunting skills and the luck that comes along the way from time to time. Not just luck!

These is why I feel that it is important to learn how to beat the deer's nose. That is done by being as scent free as possible and learning how to hunt the wind. These are hunting skills and they must be learned, not just come by chance by just being lucky. And, trust me I am not knocking being lucky. I'll take all the luck I can get!

If you enjoyed this post please comment and share.

Go Get Em,

Jacob Schmitt

Jacob Schmitt started hunting when he was about 4 years of age and he has grow to love bow hunting whitetail deer in his home state of Arkansas. He loves sharing what he has learned over the years to help others become better deer hunters. He feels that it is his duty to give back what he has gained from years of trail and error to those that were not lucky enough to have grown up in a hunting family.

Understanding Buck Scrapes

Understanding Buck Scrapes

Buck scrapes has always been a mystery to hunters and it will always be. Maybe one day the deer will start talking and tell us exactly why they are making them. I defiantly would not hold your breath!

Hunting scrapes can be frustrating and can waist a lot of time, but hunting scrapes can also be one of the best places to hunt if you understand a little information about the buck scrapes. The video below talks about scrapes and the three different types of scrapes that I see. 

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Go Get Em,

Jacob Schmitt

Jacob Schmitt started hunting when he was about 4 years of age and he has grow to love bow hunting whitetail deer in his home state of Arkansas. He loves sharing what he has learned over the years to help others become better deer hunters. He feels that it is his duty to give back what he has gained from years of trail and error to those that were not lucky enough to have grown up in a hunting family.

Deer Stand Spots

Deer Stand Spots

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Go Get Em,

Jacob Schmitt

Jacob Schmitt started hunting when he was about 4 years of age and he has grow to love bow hunting whitetail deer in his home state of Arkansas. He loves sharing what he has learned over the years to help others become better deer hunters. He feels that it is his duty to give back what he has gained from years of trail and error to those that were not lucky enough to have grown up in a hunting family.

How To Find Deer: Using Aerial Photos To Find Deer Hunting Funnels

How To Find Deer: Using Aerial Photos To Find Deer Hunting Funnels

Aerial photos are one of the fastest and easiest ways to find funnels that deer use as travel corridors to go from one place to another. In the video below I look at a property that has several funnels that deer could be using. I also mark and pen point several good deer hunting funnels that deer are most likely using on a regular basis.

Don,t forget to check out my online deer hunting courses on the left side of the page!

If you enjoyed this post please comment and share.

Go Get Em,

Jacob Schmitt

Jacob Schmitt started hunting when he was about 4 years of age and he has grow to love bow hunting whitetail deer in his home state of Arkansas. He loves sharing what he has learned over the years to help others become better deer hunters. He feels that it is his duty to give back what he has gained from years of trail and error to those that were not lucky enough to have grown up in a hunting family.

Looking At Aerial Photos For Deer Hunting

Looking At Aerial Photos For Deer Hunting

Don,t forget to check out my online deer hunting courses on the left side of the page!

If you enjoyed this post please comment and share.

Go Get Em,

Jacob Schmitt

Jacob Schmitt started hunting when he was about 4 years of age and he has grow to love bow hunting whitetail deer in his home state of Arkansas. He loves sharing what he has learned over the years to help others become better deer hunters. He feels that it is his duty to give back what he has gained from years of trail and error to those that were not lucky enough to have grown up in a hunting family.

Sight In A Bow

Sight In A Bow

The video below shows you how to sight in a bow. It is a little trick that will help you to set all of your pens.  I used this trick to sight my bow in from 10 to 80 yards and it took about an hour to sight in in at all of the yardages. If you are new at shooting a bow it will take you longer, and it will take a lot of practice to shoot a tight group. If you stick with it and work at it you will be shooting very good groups, and you will have a well sighted in bow.

Don,t forget to check out my online deer hunting courses on the left side of the page!

If you enjoyed this post please comment and share.

Go Get Em,

Jacob Schmitt

Jacob Schmitt started hunting when he was about 4 years of age and he has grow to love bow hunting whitetail deer in his home state of Arkansas. He loves sharing what he has learned over the years to help others become better deer hunters. He feels that it is his duty to give back what he has gained from years of trail and error to those that were not lucky enough to have grown up in a hunting family.

Finding The Preferred Food Source For Deer

Finding The Preferred Food Source For Deer

Don,t forget to check out my online deer hunting courses on the left side of the page!

If you enjoyed this post please comment and share.

Go Get Em,

Jacob Schmitt

Jacob Schmitt started hunting when he was about 4 years of age and he has grow to love bow hunting whitetail deer in his home state of Arkansas. He loves sharing what he has learned over the years to help others become better deer hunters. He feels that it is his duty to give back what he has gained from years of trail and error to those that were not lucky enough to have grown up in a hunting family.

ScoutLook Hunting App Review

ScoutLook Hunting App Review

ScoutLook is a free(with adds) or a paid(without adds) hunting/weather app. It has some cool features that I feel can really help you to hunt the wind and keep the deer up wind of you. They also have a website that you can view most of the features right on you computer or other devices as long as you can access the internet. To go to ScoutLook's website just Click Here or on their name in this post. 

In the video below I give a short review on the IPhone app and talk about the very helpful features that the app has.

One more thing I am not associated in any why with Scoutlook. It is just a tool I think can really help the deer hunter in real life hunting situations. 

Don,t forget to check out my online deer hunting courses on the left side of the page!

If you enjoyed this post please comment and share.

Go Get Em,

Jacob Schmitt

Jacob Schmitt started hunting when he was about 4 years of age and he has grow to love bow hunting whitetail deer in his home state of Arkansas. He loves sharing what he has learned over the years to help others become better deer hunters. He feels that it is his duty to give back what he has gained from years of trail and error to those that were not lucky enough to have grown up in a hunting family.

Finding Deer In Very Cold Regions Aerial Photo Of Swamp

Finding Deer In Very Cold Regions Aerial Photo Of Swamp

Don,t forget to check out my online deer hunting courses on the left side of the page!

If you enjoyed this post please comment and share.

Go Get Em,

Jacob Schmitt

Jacob Schmitt started hunting when he was about 4 years of age and he has grow to love bow hunting whitetail deer in his home state of Arkansas. He loves sharing what he has learned over the years to help others become better deer hunters. He feels that it is his duty to give back what he has gained from years of trail and error to those that were not lucky enough to have grown up in a hunting family.

Adding public land into your mix of deer hunting spots

Adding public land into your mix of deer hunting spots

It really could be one of the worse mistakes you can make by not deer hunting public land. To many people hunt just one spot way to many times because they have no where else to hunt. The video below just might enlighten you on over hunting your deer hunting spot.

Don,t forget to check out my online deer hunting courses on the left side of the page!

Go Get Em,

Jacob Schmitt

Jacob Schmitt started hunting when he was about 4 years of age and he has grow to love bow hunting whitetail deer in his home state of Arkansas. He loves sharing what he has learned over the years to help others become better deer hunters. He feels that it is his duty to give back what he has gained from years of trail and error to those that were not lucky enough to have grown up in a hunting family.