North American Super Slam – Whitetail Deer

The most common big game animal in North America is the whitetail deer. They are found in 48 of the 50 states with only Alaska and Hawaii being left out. They thrive in most areas and are legal to hunt in 44 states. Not counting subspecies, only Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and California either don’t have any whitetails or have so few you can’t hunt them there yet. Whitetail deer are amazingly adaptable and can thrive in the frigid winters up in Canada as well as the heat and humidity down in Florida. They are almost always on the top of the list of tasty critters we hunt, and I am a big fan.

My quest for harvesting all 29 species (The Super Slam) included taking a whitetail deer, which happened to be the first big game animal I ever harvested. Don’t laugh at the picture I have included as I had quite the Joe Dirt mullet back in the day. I was also shooting a Muzzy broadhead and an Easton arrow to take that first deer–a combo I still use today. That first deer was taken with a compound, but for my quest, I had to take one with a recurve.

In this article, I will share the story of two of my favorite whitetail deer hunts. They weren’t the largest deer, but the stories and unique whitetail destinations, for me, are what made each of them special.

Rocky Mountain Whitetail

The first one is a whitetail I took in Southern Colorado. Although not usually thought of as a whitetail destination, Colorado is actually home to some big whitetails. I was hunting the south-central part of the state close to Trinidad. The owners of the farm I was hunting are the nicest couple, and they were always out scouting from their truck and giving me reports of what they had been seeing. The deer sightings were good all fall, but I waited until the peak of the rut in mid-November to go.

I talked a buddy into going and running a camera, but he was very concerned that I would shoot the first whitetail I saw because he knows me. While sneaking into our stand, I almost got a shot at a small 2x2 whitetail that came past us in the brush. I was excited, but my buddy was shaking his head and even threatened to take away my arrows so I wouldn’t shoot the first doe that ambled by.

As lady luck would have it, the first deer to show up was a nice buck. He was angling past the stand and I had to react quickly to get a shot before my short window of opportunity was gone. I drew quickly, released, and was rewarded with the solid sound of a good hit. The deer bolted off only to drop a short distance away. The backdrop of the Rocky Mountains and a beautiful, big-bodied whitetail at about 5,000 feet of elevation made this hunt stand out to me.

Unique Challenges

Another of my favorite whitetail hunts took place two years ago. I had an opportunity to hunt with CJ Davis, the president of Montana Decoys. He is a great guy and we always have a great time hanging out together. He invited me to South Carolina and warned me in his southern drawl that, “deer down here ain’t as easy to hunt as other places.” I couldn’t wait. I was excited to go and didn’t figure these South Carolina deer could really be that challenging.

The first thing that happened is that he took me out to the swamp and dropped me off, pointing to a tree stand. I didn’t have any bug spray or a Thermacell and I was getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. I had no idea it was their state bird, and I had come woefully unprepared. I spent more time swinging my hands around my face and neck in the 100-degree heat with matching humidity than I did looking for deer. Had one come by, I’m sure it would have seen me.

While I was feeding the local birds and not seeing anything, my buddy CJ was texting me that he was passing up deer left and right, looking for a big one. So, although I felt I had been gar-holed the first evening, I was ready to go the next morning with a borrowed Thermacell in hand. I was using my Bear recurve on this hunt, and since CJ is also a traditional shooter, his stands were set up in good locations with closer shots being the norm.

Starting another day with some new advantages, I also got skunked with no deer sightings. Meanwhile, my buddy texted me, on both the morning and evening hunts, that he had passed up some nice bucks and had does around him as well. I was willing to take any deer, any size, and hadn’t seen a thing. I was starting to think he was joking with me, but he had pictures to prove it. Day three was similar with hot weather and CJ seeing all the deer. If I am being honest, I did see a few deer in the distance.

Opportunity Knocks

The next day, things turned around for me and I was finally surrounded by deer. They were feeding on acorns, and most of the morning I could see a deer somewhere. A small buck came close, but I couldn’t make it come together. Then, I spotted a nice buck cruising through the trees. He was a ways down in the bottom and at one point bracketed himself perfectly between some trees, leaving only his chest exposed.

It was longer than I usually shoot, but I felt good about it, so I let fly. My arrow arched and the arrow and buck seem to come together in a blur. I couldn’t tell if I hit the buck or had just come close. The only sound I heard was a soft whump, and I couldn’t tell if it was from my arrow hitting a log or the deer. The deer disappeared in the thick brush almost instantly, and I really wasn’t sure what had happened.

I texted my buddy and said I had shot but didn't know if I had connected or not. It was getting to be late morning and we were close to leaving anyway, so he came over and we went to look together. The emotional high of shooting at a deer to the emotional low of thinking you may have missed is something all hunters can relate to. Fortunately for me, my next emotion was a good one when CJ whistled that he had some blood, and only about 30 yards away my buck was lying dead. When most people think of whitetails, myself included, we think of states like Kansas, Illinois, or Iowa. For me, the unique destinations are sometimes the most fun.

I have included three pictures of three whitetails I took in three different states. The first one was a young me with long hair in Florida, then me in Colorado about 16 years ago, and one from two years ago in South Carolina. The deer vary about as much as I do.

My Take on Tactics

If you have the opportunity to hunt whitetails in a little-known or talked about whitetail state, I suggest giving it a try. Whitetail deer can look somewhat different in different areas and the challenges can vary from weather to bugs or terrain, depending on where you go. Either way, it’s always fun. I have listed below a few things I have learned while bowhunting for whitetails. Since I usually hunt with a recurve, I have had to learn to set up for close shots or to lure deer in for close shots.

Scent Control

I believe when it comes to human scent, deer categorize it based on the amount of scent particles to decide if they need to be worried or not. For example, I used to hunt about 100 yards from a farmhouse. I could literally smell the smoke from their fire and bacon if the wind was right. So, the deer had become accustomed to human scent from about 100 yards away. It used to always surprise me, when the wind switched, how the deer would suddenly react to my scent because it was stronger and in a place they knew it shouldn’t be. Therefore, I really pay attention to the wind and even how I walk into my stand because I don’t want them to cross my scent trail if I can help it.

As far as attractant scents, I am a huge believer. There are lots of great scents, but two of my favorites from two different manufacturers are Conquest VS-1 and Scrape Juice. I will often use my conquest scent on my decoy to help fool another sense besides just their eyes.

Decoys

I am a huge fan of decoys because I have taken some of my best whitetails thanks to them. Similar to rattling, doe bleating, grunting, and snort wheezing, it takes the right buck and the right timing, but when it works, it’s amazing. Like scents, there are lots of great decoys out there that all work. I prefer the lightweight Montana Decoy because I don’t use a decoy all the time, but I want one around in case I want to use it. The larger, heavier ones I just don’t tend to use as much.

To me, the biggest key to a decoy is the deer seeing it, and in my experience, they work best in the peak of the rut. This past year we had three whitetails taken on our place that literally came right into the decoy. I find they work best in fields, field edges, or openings because they are more visible to wandering rutting bucks that are looking for does to check.

I also feel decoys work best if they have some scent on them and a realistic tail that is easy to see. If you have a doe decoy with scent on it and you softly bleat or even grunt, you are fooling three senses or possibly triggering one of three. To me, that beats just having a decoy out there that you are hoping will fool just a deer’s eyes. Tricking more senses will just increase your odds that much more.