Outdoor Writer

I can assure you that deer readily become trained to the sound of a mechanical feeder. Once in the late 1980s, unbeknown to me, I was literally forced to hunt over a feeder -- something I despise with a passion. Heck, I don't even care to hunt from a blind or a treestand, much less over a feeder where all I'm doing is shooting trained game. Anyway, it happened in Michigan on an archery hunt near Roger's City. An outdoors product manufacturer had set it all up and invited several writers along. When we arrived at the place we were supposed to hunt, we found out the property was quite small, with several ground and elevated blinds spread around, all within a 100 yards of each other. They all overlooked either a pile of sugar beets or an elevated, solar-powered corn feeder. I was assigned one of the latter. First problem: It was actually a gun blind about 15' up that was like a little cabin with a roof and two shooting windows facing the open areas. Each window was about 1.5' high and 2' long. The actual multi-pane window folded in and up to get it out of the way, and there was a sill about 6" wide. The distance from blind to the feeder was 20 yards. So now picture me standing with my PSE compound with the ceiling about 6 inches higher than I'm tall, standing back far enough so my top limb doesn't make contact with the edge of the hung-up window frame or the ceiling and trying to shoot downward over the protruding sill through the narrow opening. Needless to say, I had to be somewhat of a contortionist. If I bent my knees too far, I couldn't even see the area closer to the feeder. If I stood too straight up, I worried about what would happen when I released an arrow. Needless to say, all I could do was make the best of the situation. Now back to the subject of trained deer. The feeder was automatic and set to go off just after sunrise and about an hour before sunset. It did so like clockwork, and each time the little motor "whirrrred" and the disk spun to spew out the corn in a about a 15' diameter circle, the woods came alive with critters within a minute. There were deer, turkey, coons, porcupines and all-black squirrels just waiting in the wings for their free meal. I even have photos of several of each all eating at the same time. It was somewhat amusing to watch the smaller critters scampering around and under the deer to get at the tasty morsels before it disappeared until the next scheduled meal. On the first day, I decided to test my shooting location by taking out one of the porkies. There was an old wooden arrow with a two-bladed fixed broadhead sitting in the corner of the blind. Although it was about 6" longer than my normal arrows, I figured "what the heck." I got into my contorted position and held the bow canted a bit just in case. My shot drilled the porkie and literally skewered him to the ground. The next day at breakfast time, two does, each with twin fawns, and a small buck emerged from the brush. I nocked an arrow and waited until they came into range. This time, though, the shot angle was a bit steeper because they were closer to my blind than the porkie had been the day before. When the buck stood alone and broadside, I shot and watched the arrow merrily go over its back by at least six feet and careen into the woods never to be seen again. I had heard a bit of a noise when I had shot, but thought it was the bow's upper limb hitting the edge of the hanging window. NOT! Can anyone guess what happened? -TONY

Does your monitor need cleaning??? If so, go here. -TONY

I haven't heard one myself, but my cousin's aunt knows a guy who told her his brother knows someone who heard one once. Doug, The rains are great, and we likely already have enough moisture for a good hatch this year. The weeds in my front yard are already 6" tall. This moisture will also go a long way to help the deer population as long as we also get some good monsoon rains this summer. You can mail the check to me at my regular street address. -TONY

When you receive emails such as these, you should avoid clicking any of the links in them! That is one way viruses and worms invade your computer because the links often have script written in them to run when you use the link. If you're that curious to see where they go, cut and paste the link into a separate browser address bar and use it. That way no script within the email can run. -TONY

We had a similar message thread on this a while back. Here's the link. -TONY The Good 'Ol Days .

Very nice buck. Good job. -TONY

Man, Doug, you gave away all my top secret spots. I didn't think anyone else even knew about these honey-holes. -TONY

Well...somewhat coincidentally, I wrote an article on this very topic about 25 years ago for Aqua Field Pubs. -- the company that does many of the 'niche' magazines for outdoor equipment makers. Here it is. -TONY SIGHTING A RIFLE THE EASY WAY A well-known shooting editor for one of the top outdoor publications in the country once outlined how it's possible to accurately sight a scoped rifle by taking only one shot. In theory, if the shooter makes a perfect shot --- no shaking, trigger jerking or anything else that affects bullet placement --- the technique works. In reality, though, the capabilities of the average hunter who normally fires just a few rounds per year precludes using this method. In contrast, others sometimes go through an entire box of ammo before the bullet holes touch the black. When a person shoots a big-bore magnum, the shoulder-busting recoil nearly always produces physical, and sometimes even mental anguish. Fortunately, a compromise exists. With a little preparation and care most folks can learn to zero a scoped rifle with less than a half-dozen rounds by utilizing the simple three-shot, 25-yard method. GETTING READY The key is making sure your first shot will hit the target at 25 yards by aligning the barrel and scope reticle at the same point of aim for that distance. The procedure is called bore-sighting. For brand new rifle and scope combos, it is almost mandatory, and any rifle that has been taken apart or has had mechanical problems such as loose mounts definitely deserves checking. Conversely, most previously sighted guns usually retain their zero quite close from year to year, at least to the point where they will pattern somewhere on the paper. Still, a quick confirmation before firing that first shot is a good idea. One way to bore-sight a bolt action rifle is by placing it perfectly vertical on a firm rest. Remove the bolt, look through the bore and center the hole in the barrel with the bullseye or other mark that is as close as possible to 25 yards away. Then, without moving the gun, adjust the scope's reticle to the identical spot. To be accurate this requires holding the rifle completely motionless. Sand bags work fairly well, or a large cardboard box with square notches cut in the top of the ends on the long axis serves as a good alternative. Once the rifle goes into the cut-outs, tape will hold it completely rigid. To align the bore, just move the box. For those who hunt with semi-auto, lever and pump actions, peering down the bore from the receiver end presents a problem. The only quick and easy solution involves a collimator or bore-sighter --- a funnel-shaped, tubular gadget set on an arbor that fits into the muzzle end of the barrel. Most gun shops or other firearm outlets have one, and they usually will adjust your rifle for a minimal charge, or maybe even free. If you wish, you can buy one for your very own. A collimator with arbors for all calibers costs about $80. Naturally, the bore-sighter works effectively with bolt actions, too. Collimator use is a snap. Insert the proper rod in the holder, place the other end in the bore and rotate the tool until the horizontal crosshair is as level as possible. Turning the scope's elevation and windage adjustment knobs will bring the scope's reticle into perfect alignment with the collimator's back-lighted crosshairs. Since the rifle and bore-sighter become virtually one unit, moving the rifle never alters the result. Therefore, you can even use the device while holding the gun off-hand. Carefully done, bore-sighting often puts the first shot in the black, and at the very least the bullet nearly always strikes the target. THE THREE-SHOT GROUP Pinpoint zeroing requires shooting from a solid rest. Make-shift set-ups like rolled sleeping bags, a pad on a truck hood or shooting from a fairly steady prone position suffice in an emergency situation, but nothing compares to a sturdy benchrest and a handful of sandbags for top accuracy. Another thing to consider is ear protection. Many bad shooting habits come about from the anticipation of the muzzle blast, so a good pair of muffs or plugs might eliminate the problem. If nothing else, they surely will prevent unnecessary eardrum damage. After placing your target 25 yards away in front of a proper backstop, you're now ready to actually pull the trigger with a live round in the chamber, specifically the same cartridge you plan to hunt with. Load, lock and fire one shot with the crosshairs set on the center of the bullseye. Then put the rifle down for a few minutes to allow the barrel to cool. This does two things: it prevents a shift in impact that occasionally takes place with a hot barrel and also duplicates a typical hunting situation where the first shot always comes from a cold barrel. Repeat the identical procedure twice more, then walk downrange and examine the target. Although it really doesn't matter where, the three holes ideally should form a fairly tight group somewhere on the paper. If two bullets hit close together but the third went awry, it's a good indication you probably flinched, jerked the trigger or just plain wiggled. In this case, either fire another round or merely ignore the errant shot. Next, determine the center of the three-shot group as closely as possible. Where only two holes are close, and you elected to forgo a third shot, guess at a likely center. From here on, you can zero the rifle in either of two ways. With the minute of angle method (MOA), you must determine how far the center of the group came from the actual aiming point. If your target has 1-inch squares marked off, you easily can figure the horizontal and verticle deviation from the bullseye. Otherwise, you will have to measure or guess. A MOA consists of one inch at 100 yards. Thus, you must know the distance that one "click" of your scope's elevation or windage knob will alter the bullet impact at that distance. Unfortunately, MOA graduations differ from one scope maker to the next at times. Some use a 1/4 MOA or four clicks for a 1-inch change at 100 yards, while others prefer a 1/2 MOA, which translates into two clicks for 1-inch of change at the same yardage. At 25 yards the number of clicks necessary to move the impact point the same amount as at a 100 yards will quadruple. In other words, 8 clicks on a 1/4 MOA scope would move the impact point 2 inches at 100 yards, but at 25 yards it would take 32. If all of these numbers sound too involved, find solace in the fact that a much faster and uncomplicated way exists. Instead of calculating the distances from the bulleye to the group's center, just mark the impact point with a heavy felt-tipped pen or a stick-on dot and go back to the firing line. In fact, leaving the bench is really unnecessary; simply adjust the scope to a reference point that you think is the center of the group. Here's how. Remove the caps from the scope's adjustment turrets, take a solid rest --- preferably on sandbags --- and aim at the exact spot you used for the initial three-shot group. Without moving the rifle, turn the scope's windage and elevation controls until the crosshairs center over the mark or black dot or on the spot you estimate while remaining at the bench. That's all there is to it. The whole process takes just a minute or two, and if you fire another round to check that the bullets are going where they should, you will have used only four or five shells. Furthermore, a degree in mathematics is unnecessary. Now, here's the really neat aspect; the 25-yard sight-in distance takes full advantage of the ballistic capabilities of most rifle cartridges. Somewhere downrange another exact zero comes into play. For example, a factory-loaded .243, 100-grain bullet in the black at 25 yards will hit 2 inches high at 100, 1 ¾ inches high at 200 and be at zero again at 240 yards. A 175-grain, 7 mm. magnum bullet will be 1 ¼ inches high at 100 yards and be on again at 200 yards. After the second zero all bullets will strike progressively lower. What does this all mean? Well, if you use a flat-shooting caliber such as .270 and push a 130 grain bullet at a muzzle velocity of 3100 feet per second, you can hold dead on from zero to 300 yards and realistically hit a 6-inch circle with the point of aim as its center. While other calibers vary somewhat, the end result comes out nearly the same. Shooting your own rifle and loads at 100, 200 and 300 yards will provide the basic trajectory information needed to show how far you actually can shoot without making corrective adjustments in your sight picture. Without question, a properly sighted rifle instills a certain degree of confidence. It also can mean the difference between an unsuccessful or a fruitful hunting trip. Hopefully, sighting your rifle the easy way will lead to the latter.

Doug, -TONY

I rotated the images so folks can read them without lying down. Click the image to read them fullsize. -TONY

I've had the list of subspecies for a while now. I think I originally found it somewhere on the web, so it wasn't a lot of work for me to cut & paste it. That said, many biologists would probably say it's a bit too broad and separates a few isolated populations that do not deserve their own subspecies classification. In reality, the number of actual subsepcies is probably more like 25 or so. -TONY

It's the same as far as the bonus point total, but putting in together still only gives you ONE number in the draw. Either both get permits or both come up empty. Obviously with the second option, you will EACH have a number in the draw, but the probable outcome is only one of you might draw or neither of you will. Getting hits for two low numbers so you both get a permit has terrible odds, especially if you apply for primo units. If you want to hunt together where you both have permits, applying together and going with the outcome will give you the best chance to do so. -TONY

Guess he used the same distribution map you posted. -TONY

It would be good if Jim Heffelfinger gave us some input. I don't have his book yet; if you have it, does it mention anything about the deer distribution in Mexico?? -TONY

It'll be interesting to see what happens with the research. I tend to agree with B&C on it, though. There are just too many other subspecies around that southern section of 8 to conclusively say the ones in Durango or that area are pure Coues. So who actually drew up that distrbution chart? As an interesting aside, there's a guy on another hunting site I visit who claims the Carmen Mt. whitetails in TX are nothing more than Coues deer. He also claims they got there when his dad and uncles transported them from ARIZONA after a trade for TX mule deer. This all supposedly happened during the realm of Roosevelt's Conservation Camps. The deer relocation was allegedly part of it. When I first read his claims, I called Wakeling to see if there are any records of such a trade. He couldn't find anything. -TONY

Amanda, I'm guessing the subspecies I've seen at El Salto are the sinoloae. The lake sits at the northeast corner of 8. That said, IMO, that map has the Coues range extending too far south, which basically encompasses all of the Sierra Madre. But what do I know. -TONY

Enjoy. -TONY

The Coues deer range pretty much ends in southern Sonora. I have seen a couple deer while fishing at El Salto, which is in Sinaloa, about an hour north of Mazatlan. They are small like Coues but a different subspecies. All the ones I saw were does, so I don't know what the antlers look like. They still call them cola blancas, though. Below is a list of most of the subspecis of Odocoileus virginianus . -TONY 38 sub-species Odocoileus virginianus acapulcensis : Acapulco White-tailed Deer, southern Mexico (Caton 1877) . Odocoileus virginianus borealis : Northern Woodland White-tailed Deer, southeastern Canada and northeastern United States (Miller 1900) . Odocoileus virginianus cariacou : Venado Deer, French Guiana and North Brazil (Boddaert 1784) . Odocoileus virginianus carminis : Carmen Mountain White-tailed Deer, northern Mexico (Goldman & Kellog 1940) . Odocoileus virginianus chiriquensis : Chiriqui White-tailed Deer, Panama (J.A. Allen 1910) . Odocoileus virginianus clavium : Florida Key White-tailed Deer, Florida Keys (Barbour & G.M. Allen 1922) . Odocoileus virginianus couesi : Coues White-tailed, Fantail Deer or Arizona White-tailed Deer, Sunta Cruz, Arizona (Coues & Yarrow 1875) . Odocoileus virginianus curassavicus : Venado Deer (8), Curacao Island (Hummelinek 1940) . Odocoileus virginianus dacotensis : Dakota White-tailed Deer, Alberta and northern Dakota (Goldman & Kellog 1940) . Odocoileus virginianus goudotii : Venado Deer (3), Columbia (Andes) and west Venezuela (Gay & Gervais 1846) . Odocoileus virginianus gymnotis : Venado Deer (2), Venezuela and Guianas (Wergmann 1833) . Odocoileus virginianus hiltonensis : Hilton Head Island White-tailed Deer, Hilton Head Island (Goldman & Kellog 1940) . Odocoileus virginianus leucurus : Columbian White-tailed Deer, Oregon and western coastal area (Douglas 1929) . Odocoileus virginianus macrourus : Kansas White-tailed Deer, Kansas and neighboring States (Rafinesque 1817) . Odocoileus virginianus margaritae : Venado Deer (6), Margarita Islands (Osgood 1910) . Odocoileus virginianus mcilhennyi : Avery Island White-tailed Deer, Louisiana (Miller 1928) . Odocoileus virginianus mexicanus : Mexican White-tailed Deer, central Mexico (Gmelin 1788) . Odocoileus virginianus miquihuanensis : Miquihuan White-tailed Deer, central Mexico (Goldman & Kellog 1940) . Odocoileus virginianus nelson : Chiapas White-tailed Deer, southern Mexico and Guatamala (Merriam 1898) . Odocoileus virginianus nigribarbis : Blackbeard Island White-tailed Deer, Blackbeard Island (Goldman & Kellog 1940) . Odocoileus virginianus oaxacensis : Oaxaca White-tailed Deer, southern Mexico (Goldman & Kellog 1940) . Odocoileus virginianus ochrourus : Northwest White-tailed Deer, northwesern United States and Canada (V. Bailey 1932) . Odocoileus virginianus osceola : Florida Coastal White-tailed Deer, northerwestern Florida (Banqs 1896) . Odocoileus virginianus peruvianus : Venado Deer (4), Peru (Gray 1874) . Odocoileus virginianus rothschildi : Coiba Island White-tailed Deer, Coiba Island (Thomas 1902) . Odocoileus virginianus seminolus : Florida White-tailed Deer, Florida (Goldman & Kellog 1940) . Odocoileus virginianus sinaloae : Sinaloa White-tailed Deer, mid-western Mexico (J.A. Allen 1903) . Odocoileus virginianus taurinsulae : Bulls Island White-tailed Deer, Bulls Island (Goldman & Kellog 1940) . Odocoileus virginianus texanus : Texas White-tailed Deer, Texas and adjacent states (Mearns 1898) . Odocoileus virginianus thomasi : Mexican Lowland White-tailed Deer, southeastern Mexico (Merriam 1898) . Odocoileus virginianus toltecus : Rain Forest White-tailed Deer, southern Mexico (Saussure 1860) . Odocoileus virginianus tropicalis : Venado Deer (7), western Columbia (Cabrera 1918) . Odocoileus virginianus truei : Nicaragua White-tailed Deer, Nicaragua and adjacent states (Merriam 1898) . Odocoileus virginianus ustus : Venado Deer (5), Ecuator (Trouessart 1910) . Odocoileus virginianus venatorius : Hunting Island White-tailed Deer, Hunting Island (Goldman & Kellog 1940) . Odocoileus virginianus veraecrucis : Northern Veracruz White-tailed Deer, eastern Mexico (Goldman & Kellog 1940) . Odocoileus virginianus virginianus : Virginia White-tailed Deer, Virginia and adjacent states (Zimmermann 1780) . Odocoileus virginianus yucatanensis : Yacatan White-tailed Deer, Yucatan and Honduras (Hays 1872) .

Well, you won't believe how I came up with 5.2 instead of 5.5 when I did the math in my head. I divided the first part correctly by 2 but when I had the remainder of 10, I divided by 5 instead of 2 again. Thus I wound up with 11/2 and 10/5 to come up with 5.2. -TONY

Were those deer sort of reddish colored? If so, probably brocket deer. There are a BUNCH of deer subspecies as you go south in Mexico into Central America and then to South America. -TONY

Great buck, Dan. It sounds like you might have hunted near where Duwane Adams and I did several years ago. We were actually west of Caborca and could see the Sea of Cortez from the higher hills. -TONY

Noel, I just got my Feb. issue copy of Rocky Mt. Game & Fish magazine that has my Lake Pleasant article in it. They used another pix of you and your monster striper on pg. 18. I'm guessing the magazine should be on the a newsstand near you within the next two weeks. -TONY

Doug, No wonder I always got piss-poor grades in math. Thanks for the correction. -TONY

Nixe pix, Dave. -TONY

To answer the question you actually asked: Yes, the total points are averaged. So you would have 5.2, which is rounded to 5 points. Thus, it gives you that many chances to obtain a low number for the draw. -TONY