Mainely Outdoors: Watching for whitetails

“Still hunting” may seem like an oxymoron to many folks. The two words actually describe a style of hunting, particularly for big game animals, that is comprised of stop and go, stealthy movement through the woods in search of a quarry. Stalking might provide a better description.
For our fathers and grandfathers, “still hunting” was pretty much the only tactic for bagging a buck in Aroostook County. There were a lot fewer roads and logging operations back then, and plenty of secluded woods harboring a far larger deer population. Walking up to whitetails proved extremely effective and personally satisfying for true woodsmen.
Times change and over the last three or four decades deer hunting practices altered as well for many sportsmen. Fewer deer, sparser forest, bucks-only regulations and nearly unlimited road access forced hunters to develop new techniques to maintain success rates in The Crown of Maine.
Some folks, particularly the aged and infirm, turned to “heater hunting.” They take full advantage of all the woods roads and farm field roads to drive in warm comfort and watch for deer traveling or feeding near roads. It’s surprisingly productive. Others park their vehicles overlooking likely fields where deer are known to feed or travel regularly. They keep at it until a whitetail finally shows up or the season ends.
I call this last method watching for whitetails, it’s letting the deer come to the hunter rather than the more difficult option of chasing down a big buck. Smart sportsmen refine the “wait and watch” tactic; they dispense with a vehicle and utilize tree stands and ground blinds for cover. They research deer activities with plenty of scouting and use of trail cameras, setting up ambush sites near trails, food plots and overlooking rubs and scrapes. When the rut enters full swing, wily outdoorsmen create scent trails with commercially available doe-in-heat products, or false rubs to entice dominant bucks within range of tree or ground stands.
Whereas the North Maine Woods used to be overrun with whitetail and hunters, a few harsh winters did disastrous damage to the Aroostook deer population. A couple of mild snow seasons has begun to reverse the trend, but for the last two falls small woodlots and urban edge farmland seems to produce more dependable deer cover and a lot of bragging size whitetails.
Good cover, fewer coyotes, and plenty of available food throughout the winter keeps the deer in these areas, and the population continues to expand.
Only a week or so into this year’s season and almost a dozen of my friends and acquaintances hunting rural edge areas of towns from Houlton to Caribou have tagged bucks. Results should improve as the weather cools and the rut gets into full swing.
It’s certainly not too late to do some scouting and select a location for a stand or ground blind. Likely there’s a well used trail leading to a field plot, a bedding site, or a big whitetails scrape and tree rubs within twenty minutes of your house. A perfect spot for pre-work wait and watch outings.
Why waste gas and time driving to big woods when deer are close at hand. I live just over a mile from Presque Isle’s Main Street, and deer, as well as bear and moose, show up in my six-acre back field regularly. A 10-point buck was taken next door last November, an 8-pointer across the road the season before. More and more hunters are waiting and watching for whitetails in fields and small woods, rather than hunting the deep woods, and enjoying success. Perhaps this season it’s time for you to try a new tactic as well.
Hunt safe, know your target and best of luck.