THROUGH A DECOY’S E - Reflecting on how GPS tech has changed hunting

THROUGH A

DECOY’S E

YE

Happy New Year!

GPS technology changed our world. We all carry one on us all of the time. A couple of buddies of mine used one to navigate their way to Iowa this past weekend to hunt Iowa’s late muzzleloader season. They plan to use them to find the locations they scouted from satellite mapping software embedded with GPS technology. Another buddy plans to use one on his late season Iowa pheasant hunt this week, and still another, plans to use it with his Arizona quail hunt in a week.

When scientists started putting GPS trackers on animals, I thought if only this technology could work on ducks. When the technology became small enough for ducks, it changed not only where and when we hunt, but where and why we protect habitats. Several years ago, GPS technology became small enough for woodcock and so many myths about those little brown birds toppled in the first year.

When scientist first started putting GPS trackers on deer the data said deer move for food, time of day, the rut, and human pressure. Most of us looked at each other and said, “tell us something we don’t know.” The studies moved forward and the last couple of years researchers started looking at how deer move in relation to hunting pressure.

New research from trackers on hunters in areas of public and private lands coupled with trackers on deer in those same areas, put real data in the hands of hunters. Kind of like GPS trackers showing us that bucks never really go 100% nocturnal. They move several times in the daylight. But they don’t move into the open or go for long treks showing off those antlers to humans, their primary predator.

After all, harvesting a big buck means meeting him someplace along his path when he actually is there. Not 10 hours or 10 days after, and not before he gets there. We humans have been looking at deer tracks and deer trails for thousands of years.

The data showed that when hunting pressure enters an area, bucks stop using that area in the daylight – no surprise, they move either deeper into area - again no surprise, or bed in thick cover close to the main road in daylight. Turns out most hunters walk in a certain distance off the main road and fan out. Some places we all park in the same place. Turns out we like to use the same paths in too. Big bucks start to take cover between the main road and where hunters start to fan out. Researchers learned a lot about human hunting behavior from this too.

They found on private lands the pressure revolves around stand locations – no surprise there. But they move or bed just outside of the stands view. They found that bucks sense the pressure the first day of multi-day pressure time periods and by the second or third day almost all deer avoid the stand areas. This reaffirms that the best day to hunt a stand is the first time you hunt it. They found that bucks return to those areas within four to five days after we leave, just enough to maintain security, not weeks or months.

Since the research clearly showed hunting a stand one time alters deer behavior in relation to that stand, they made some recommendations about how to maximize hunting times throughout a season. They recommended hunting off of a food plot or feeding area, but close enough that you can see into that area. Obviously that strategy only works for a firearm season. They recommended attempting to encounter the deer on a path to the feeding area. They recommended a doe to harvest take place in the woodlands away from food plots since all deer are moving to the feeding areas, keep your scent away from your plots.

In areas where doe harvest must occur in earnest, they recommended taking out a third to half of the desired doe harvest the first week of the season if possible, and then the other half after the rut.

GPS technology also solved the riddle of a buck that disappears for half a year or more and suddenly shows up again. A few bucks keep more than one home range. And the distance between the two can be many miles.

All this data also shows why hunting remains hunting, not shopping.

Wishing you all a very happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year. Good luck this last weekend but please remember, Safe Hunting is No Accident!

BY

CHUCK K OLAR LOCAL OUTDOORSMAN