Whitetail Strategies, Vol. II; Straightforward Tactics for Tracking, Calling, the Rut, and Much More

by Peter J. Fiduccia, Introduction by Jay Cassell

• ISBN13: 9781585748525
• ISBN10: 1585748528
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 2005-07-01
• Publisher: Lyons Press

Summary

One of the most captivating aspects of hunting a whitetail buck is having the skill to track and take him on his own turf. For most hunters, tracking generates a feeling of accomplishment like no other deer-hunting tactic can. Yet while most of us fantasize about duplicating the efforts of the well-known trackers of Maine and Vermont-such as the Benoits, the Bloods, and the Berniers-the reality of effective tracking in heavily pressured areas is that this particular type of tracking requires several critical skills. Many hunters feel less than capable when it comes to knowing how to track a buck successfully in places other than big woods. They have been brainwashed by magazine articles that leave them thinking they must be doing something wrong. Nonsense! Peter Fiduccia tells us in Whitetail Strategies, Vol. II that tracking big bucks in areas where most hunters stalk deer can be done with consistent successes--if you learn to use the tactics Fiduccia suggests in his book, and work to master these fundamentals. In this comprehensive guide you will learn how to accurately judge a buck track and when it was made, and how not to pressure a buck into running onto the next property or into another hunter. Fiduccia explains in commonsense terms how to maintain space when pursuing a deer, which is key to remaining undetected, and discusses crucial factors such as reading sign, when to slow or pick up your pace, and the importance of being able to interpret the subtle signals a buck leaves behind when dogged by a tracker. Fiduccia also discusses how to figure out the favorite trails of a wise old buck, what he will do under tracking pressure, what his preferred escape routes are, where he will head when he knows he is being followed, and how he will use certain type

Author Biography

Peter J. Fiduccia is a nationally recognized authority on white-tailed deer. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Outdoorsman's Edge Book Club, consulting editor of Whitetail Hunting Strategies magazine, and host of the internationally acclaimed Woods 'n Waters television show. He is also the author of Whitetail Strategies and 101 Deer Hunting Tips and co-editor of The Quotable Hunter. He lives in Warwick, New York.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	viii
Introduction	xi
TRACKING
1. Defining Tracking	3	(14)
2. Real-World Tracking	17	(22)
3. Tracking Tips	39	(18)
4. Wounded Deer	57	(16)
5. Body Language	73	(14)
CALLS AND CALLING
6. Deer Calls	87	(16)
7. The Snort and its Variations	103	(16)
8. Bleats and Blats and their Variations	119	(16)
9. The Grunt and its Variations	135
SMART HUNTING
10. The Rut	149	(26)
11. Reading the Wind	175	(10)
12. Moon Phase-Fact or Fiction	185	(8)
13. Unorthodox Decoy Tactics	193	(16)
14. Getting to Know Deer	209	(22)
15. External Glands	231	(8)
Epilogue	239