Essentials for the deer hunt: Gear to make a good hunt better

Every fall is a new start and a fresh adventure for us deer hunters.

Whether you are a diehard bowhunter stalking a particular buck on your own land, a parent or grandparent taking a youngster on his or her first hunt, or a gun hunter who enjoys one of Wisconsin’s richest traditions at a deer camp or sharing the camaraderie of opening day with cherished friends, every second of our sacred sport is a blessing beyond measure.

I grew up in a hunting family, chasing rabbits every Saturday in fall with my dad, brother and sometimes my grandpa. I didn’t discover the joys of deer hunting until around 1974, when I bought a Bear Grizzly recurve bow for $28 at a Kmart, ordered some Port Orford cedar arrows tipped with Bear Razorheads and called myself a bowhunter.

My older brother Brian and I spent many days chasing whitetails in northwestern Illinois, where we laughed at the lack of deer. Brian managed to kill a couple deer with his Zebra longbow, but I had to wait a few more years until my first compound bow, a Browning Nomad, connected with a button buck.

If it was about killing deer, I would have quit that first few years. Although I love venison, it’s never been about killing deer. It’s about returning to an earlier time in man’s evolution, when the only grocery store was the nearby woods and the only fast food was a sprinting deer, bouncing bunny or high-flying squirrel.

Wearing camouflage clothes and melting into the forest underbrush, the creatures there eventually forget there’s a human in their midst. Small game could sustain me if I was forced to hunt for food, but the white-tailed deer would also provide skins for clothing and perhaps even a bit of bucktail for fishing. A deer’s senses of smell and hearing make them the ultimate game animal, but its ability to see movement is also at the ready, especially when early-fall hunters are swatting mosquitoes or shooing away yellowjackets.

This year, my quest is to achieve what I’ve never done: to take a deer with a traditional bow. If I can’t do it by season’s end, I may get out my crossbow and try to fill the freezer with that, but it’s still not easy with such a short-range weapon.

I’m hunting a new place this year and for the first time since those 1974 hunts, I feel I have a chance at a nice buck. But even a fat doe will be a trophy if I use a longbow or recurve bow (I’m still deciding which I’ll use). And of course I won’t miss the gun seasons, favoring either a single-shot rifle or muzzleloader.

Whatever your choice of weapon, try to relish every moment shared with fellow hunters in the woods. Don’t worry too much about antlers, but make sure you have fun. Deer hunting can be hard work, especially if you drop a heavy deer without much help around. Try not to make it a competition between buddies, but a shared experience that citizens of few other nations can enjoy.

We are truly blessed as Americans and hunters to share the land, share the freedoms (for now, anyway) to own firearms and other weapons, and use them to share the hunting legacy we hope continues for generations. Let’s look at the essential gear needed for deer hunters. In addition to a weapon and ammo, license, boots, clothing and so on, a few items will make your hunt more successful.

• A sharp knife. I’m a knife junkie, with a modest collection that spans many brands and designs.

Anything with a sharp edge will gut a deer, but a 4- to 5-inch blade with enough strength to cut through the pelvic cartilage is sufficient. The traditional wood-and-brass Buck knife has been worn on the belts of deer hunters for decades, and I was lucky enough to visit Buck’s factory in Idaho in 2019, but there are many brands that turn out great hunting knives.

I’m a big fan of the Cold Steel brand, but if you want a made-in-USA hunting knife (yes, even some Buck knives are now imported), take a look at Bear & Son Cutlery. They are reasonably priced and carry a lifetime warranty. I prefer a fixed-blade knife for deer, because they are easier to clean, but a folding knife works, too (at any time, my backpack usually has at least three or four knives).

• A great flashlight. Stay away from the cheap ones. Surefire and Streamlight are two top brands.

LED lights produce more light with smaller batteries and provide longer battery life. A high-quality headlamp with multiple brightness settings offers hands-free lighting when dragging out a deer or walking to your stand in the dark. This is a great gift for any hunter.

• A comfortable chair. A hunter needs to be comfortable if he’s going to sit for hours without fidgeting. The same is even more crucial for new hunters and kids.

Plastic bucket seats with cushions are OK, but noisy in the brush. High-end swivel seats that sell for $80 to $100 are nice, but heavy. My first choice is a lightweight resin lawn chair with a foam cushion. This provides back support and won’t squeak or groan like most folding stools. Many tree stands have adequate seats, but bring an extra cushion.

• A deer cart. The single greatest piece of deer hunting equipment I ever bought was a two-wheeled folding deer cart. Within a few weeks of buying it, I shot the biggest buck of my life, a 164-pound 8-pointer that’s on my wall right now. Once I muscled him onto the cart and strapped him down with bungees, I had a downhill trot on a dirt lane to the public hunting area’s parking lot! Without the cart, I’d probably have had a heart attack dragging him out.

If you have an ATV or hunt your own land and can get to the deer by truck, you still might need a hand cart if the deer dies in the thick stuff. They do that quite often.

You’ll think of many other items I’ve forgotten, but these four will make a good hunt better, safer and more comfortable!

Here’s to hoping you need all four this season…especially the deer cart! Good luck.

Ross Bielema is a freelance writer from New London and owner of Wolf River Concealed Carry LLC. Contact him at Ross@wolfriverccw.com.