"ENTOURAGE OF CHAOS"

By Fred Abbas

The physical questions were posed in mid-July, and Now in mid-August we had returned to sift out some of the physical answers. In a rather roundabout way we were asking the deer questions that only they could answer. Ironically, by yielding the information we were seeking, could, and would, be used as leverage against them. The planning for the physical questions were formulated in early June where my two sons, Greg, Freddy, and I poured over aerial photographs and topo maps covering the several farms that we hunt in three Southern Michigan Counties. We were attempting to divert a deer's natural travel patterns and habits to fit the advantages each farm's terrain or structure offered, ultimately leading to some sort of an advantage for us. We were well aware that this type strategy, while little known , would be no easy task. We were virtually asking the deer, would they be willing to follow a man made trail (mowed, or weed-whacked leading to different food and water sources, with possible linking trails to some of the mock scrapes, if we gave them easier travel routes, or shortcuts to their destinations ? Not only were we posing that question, we also wanted to know exactly which trails they preferred to travel to interlink with our shortcuts ? That vital information could have an impact on them as well. The timing was such that it allowed the deer time to turn the paths into a routine, and in turn, warrant no further visits from us ... for now. Unknown to the deer, they had been conditioned into a habit that has proven to-be safe on a continuous basis, for months on end. All of these questions and answers came about through the use of over 70 mock (curiosity) scrapes spread over the several farms. Every mock scrape was positioned only where it favored us, for example, funnels, river bends, valley mouths, ridge junctions, wind, ect, and duly noted on the maps. Each mock scrape (non-urine type scents) begins as a one foot circumference scrape with an over hanging licking branch. The scent (about 2 oz. initially) is then sprayed on the scrape and the licking branch. When making these applications we take the same precautions as we would during an actual hunt, that means we gear high rubber boots and our scentlok suits, cover sprays for exposed skin, we also use latex gloves just during the applications. Upon our later return those scrapes which had been ignored by the deer, would be abandoned by us as well, and again noted on the maps. Those scrapes which were expanded would receive further treatments, the extent of the treatments were dependent solely on how vigorous the deer participated. At some point the curiosity scent is no longer needed, usually after the scrape has attained a 4-6 foot circumference. The mock scrape has now come full circle, and has become a beacon for deer messages.
As the messages flog back and forth through the scents and urine deposited by the deer, the mock scrape gill soon evolve into a true scrape. We already had most of the answers to our questions, but we still had a need to know just who was leaving such sign, and when ? Trail timers were set out at certain key areas where high levels of activity were detected. The timers did confirm above average usage on some trails, but they also indicated the trails were being used mostly during the usual time frames of dawn and dusk. That in itself wasn't unusual, so that information didn't quite tell us enough. We now needed visual confirmation that would fit the sign, to fill in the remaining blanks. We then set out two cameras, and within two weeks we had all of the answers. The informative photographic feed-back was rather astounding. Starring in many of the fuzzy pictures was a bachelor group of three mid-ranking trophy bucks. Two were 8 pointers, and the third was a 10 point P & Y candidate. Better yet, their favored travel routes were no longer a secret. We hung nine stands at key interceptor ion points (thanks to Big Buck Tree Stands). During the last weeks leading up to the bog season, Greg, Freddy, or I, each on separate occasions had glimpsed the trio several times, mostly in, or around the bean field. Some stands were we hung to counter minor changes as the bucks began to alter some of their travel patterns. Ironically, each of our written reports noted the exact same unusual conduct. Simply put, the trio were out and out bullies who seemed to delight in beating up other deer who innocently entered the bean field. Apparently the trio was spending an inordinate amount of time and energy guarding the 40 acre bean field as though a single missing bean would make a difference to their livelihood. Any deer that did set foot on this field was inviting a concerted punishing attack from the trio. That type of attitude, or mind-set, would in time become counter-productive to their survival ... we hope. Neither Greg, nor Freddy were able to make the first couple of weeks of bog season. The majority of my time was spent in another County, where I continued the hunt for a huge buck that had begun two years earlier. Leaving this farm for the most part, undisturbed. It didn't take the big buck long to sense danger, he wisely dent nocturnal after giving me a near opportunity, and I wisely rotated elsewhere for some R & R, while biding my time waiting for the next time frame opportunity (pre-rut / rut). While making my rounds I decided to check out the trio. Good news, nothing had changed over here, except the gang added turkeys to their hit list, equal opportunity employers, I guess! The call I had been waiting for finally came, Greg would be down in a few days, unfortunately Freddy had to mind the store, and would not be able to hunt with us. The very next day things started to go wrong, terribly wrong, The bachelor group began splitting up, and now their was one. By the following day their was none ? Deer are complex creatures, so I wasn't taken totally by surprise, but I had to admit I was disappointed for Greg's sake. His limited hunt for success was rapidly slip-sliding away, and he hadn't even gotten here yet.


That abrupt break-up of the trio could only mean one thing, the pre-rut ceremonies were about to begin, and the once friendly co-conspirators would probably change their patterns and habits (somewhat) to avoid each other, or worse, leave this farm altogether. The latter is our worst case scenario, to even attempt to put a logical twist on it would only invite frustration, because logic is normally not on a deer's resume. Nor is it sometimes on mother natures. She had set in motion the dynamics of the rut at least a week earlier this year than she did from the year before, thus creating the problems we were now experiencing. That meant Greg and I would have to return to square one, which would be no easy feat on this huge farm. Time was of the immediate essence, once the rut kicks in all bets are off. We would have to split our forces. Greg would check the mock scrape areas and connecting trails for higher than average usage, and I would check out food sources to try to determine where the does are concentrating, and which trails they are using to get there. If they are using our man-made trails our stands would remain in place, if not, I would reset stands where necessary, as would Greg. During this time frame the does become extremely important to both the bucks and us. Since does rarely leave their home area every buck for miles around is aware of exactly where she can be found, when needed. She gill soon be lavished with the utmost loving care and attention by the bucks, at least until her estrus cycle-runs it's course (24-36 hours) ... hog human. That afternoon we both hit pay dirt, the does had changed food plots and travel patterns to get to the corn field, that had been anticipated, so those pre-hung stands would now have the opportunity to pay us dividends, Greg's discovery immediately took precedence over mine. Greg had discovered a smoking hot rub line leading from the western edge of the corn field toward known bedding areas. These were the first rut related rubs discovered this year, and they told us plenty. For example, because the rub line was leading away from the corn, it was surmised that the rub was made in the morning, probably this very day. If you were to follow the rub to it's destination,, rest assured, it would lead you to the buck's bedding area. Unfortunately for us the buck had crossed the river, which happened to be the border between Michigan and Indiana, and we did not have a non-residence license. We weren't sure if this buck was one of the trio, but the size of his tracks qualified him as a trophy buck, or a kid with big feet. The good news was that he did use our trail for part of his journey. That meant we would only have to hang one stand for me as Greg's cameraman. Our plan was to intercept him the next evening after he had crossed the river. We knew that despite our scouting precautions, we had left enough scent in the area to make any deer leery, but by allowing the human scent 24 hours to disburse, the buck, or any deer for that matter, would no longer be alarmed.
My stand was positioned about 10 yards behind Greg, and slightly to his right. This would allow me to cover almost everything behind him. The interception point was a perfect bottleneck that extended across the river, on one side was a high ridge formation, and on the opposite side was a fairly open field. We were betting that a trophy size buck would stick to whatever goods were available, rather than cross a field in day light. Because of the yardage separating Greg and I, we had devised a signal to communicate deer sightings to one another. That came about through the most natural sound heard in the deer goods, one soft log grunt meant a deer was spotted to Greg's left, two log soft grunts meant to his right. Not only does this tactic serve us well, it has a dual purpose, it ferrets out enclose deer to expose themselves, deer that we had no inkling were there, and that's exactly what just happened. Greg had signaled 10 minutes earlier of a doe to his left, when I heard a noise behind me. As I slowly turned my head to the left a buck sneaked past my stand, stopping mid way between Greg and I, and off to our left. The small 8 pointer seemed puzzled at not being able to see the deer he had heard. When his head was turned away from me I grunted softly to alert Greg, the buck's head snapped around and turning his body with one motion started walking my way. Greg grasped the situation immediately, and the unspoken mutual fun began. With the buck looking beyond my stand, Greg grunted softly, the buck spun around and started in Greg's direction. We had that poor buck doing that dance my wife and daughters like to do at weddings, we turned him every which way but loose, and he looked every which way but up. Finally we quite calling, and the buck walked off scratching his head and mumbling to himself. We had gained the upper hand with this buck easily because his sense of smell was neutralized by our scent-lok suits, and we wouldn't give him the opportunity to focus his twin radar antenna on us by calling only when his head was turned, also, we gear our calls facing behind us, that way a deer can never pinpoint precisely where the source of the sound came from. No sooner had the buck walked out of sight when I heard Greg signal a deer to his left. The sauntering motion was distinctive of a buck, and when I focused my binoculars on him he turned out to be a big 8 pointer, one of the trio for sure. Although he had been following the funnel up to that point he began to angle away from us crossing the open field to our left. It now was in Greg's hand, my only input was to record. The buck's intent was to cross the river and head, who knows where ? (he wasn't following any pattern). The river was ankle deep, when the buck reached our side Greg grunted once, the buck stopped for a second, turned in our direction and began walking toward us , in the center of the Ride river. The buck was coming from a direction that we had no plans for, but there was one spot Greg could thread an arrow through, if the buck continued in that direction. When Greg drew I focused the camera on the opening, at the shot the buck kicked out with both hind legs, as soon as the buck reached shore he just stood there looking back. I had him in the view finder, long minutes went by, finally he took a step, it appeared his left rear leg was stiff. (many of you readers had viewed this scene on Fred Trost's Practical Sportsman show, where a portion of this tape was played. Read on f or what You didn't see)


Greg motioned for me to be quiet and get down. Greg whispered that the shot hit the buck near the end of the rib cage further back than intended. The Nugent blade had sliced cleanly through the buck, exiting his hind leg. Greg said lets back off until the morning, and give the buck time to stiffen up. Big bucks have a tendency to lay up quicker when Rounded than smaller bucks, but they also have more horse power to escape when pushed. The next morning we went directly to the last spot where the buck was standing. That was the only spot where we found blood, which
wasn't surprising because the hit was high and he was bleeding internally. We began a grid search in an area we thought a Rounded deer would take, with that type of Round. My concentration was so intense, because I wanted to find that deer so badly for Greg, that I lost track of him and where I was. When I looked around to regain my bearings I spotted the buck, his legs were under him as though he were about to get up. I quietly back-tracked behind a tree and used my zoom lens to study the deer for signs of life. He had gone only about 100 yards from the point of impact. I was so excited for my son that when I Rent to whistle for him, nothing came out at first. When I did get his attention he asked if I had found blood ? No, I found the deer. Caught on camera was a jubilant Greg, for all the World to see. Memories, how wonderful.

Note: When this tape was presented to Fred Trost we requested that Fred explain to the viewers the legality of shooting deer in water. It is legal to shoot deer walking in water, and illegal to shoot swimming deer.

Special thanks for C.B.M. scorer Gary Berger who scored Greg's buck for entry into C.B.M. record books.