ACTION LINES ^ +

• Sendinajokethat'sreallyfunnyto the

FFA

magazine.

• Spotlightyourflowerbed.

•

Be

the firstinyourchaptertojoin the

FFA

Alumni.

• Start a collection of

something

that'sjust "you"

—

^likepencils.

•

How

about a sandwich of peanut butterandslicedtomatoes?

• Take pictures at the family reun- ion.

• Justgo ahead andask for advice.

•

Be

^helpful.

• Give_{yourself a}

new

^belt.

•

Climb

tothetopofthe treeonthe backforty.

• Decorateyour

room

withdifferent colorlights.

• Getintoneedlepoint.

•

Go

visitatruckdepot.

• Bring

home

anewsstandcopyofa magazine the family doesn't usu- ally get to read.

• Gatherpineconesinthe

woods

for theseniorcitizens' project.

• Builda

monument

on yourfarm.

• Inviteanother teacherintheschool to

come

to thejudgingcontest with the chapter'steam.

• Trytobe topsalesmanatyournext chapter fund-raisingproject.

•

Hug

aheifer.

• Improve yourhandwriting.

• Christmas gift ideas: jelly

from

berriesyoupicked alongacountry road, ornaments you carvedoutof the osage orange tree

down

the lane,shelledpecansorwalnuts you gathered, fresh mistletoe you shot

down

inthewoods.

TheNationalFUTUREFARMER

•v-*J

.-/*

4 >

I"**'

m*

m* ^#*£

:<V)

77zestrong, silentteam.

,'m

Maybe you can be one of us.

Find

out.

For

information on

Marine

Corpsrequirements,

skills, educationalopportunities

and

benefits, mailthecard or

call800423-2600, tollfree.In California.800-252-0241.

The

few.

The proud. The Marines,

Hunting The

White-tail

Buck

By Samuel

L.

Skeen

IF

^{theFuture Farmersof}

^{America was}

beingformedtodayandthefounders opted to select an animal to represent eachofficer's station,the logicalchoice for the secretary's post

would

be the white-taileddeer. Likecorn, a varietyof white-taileddeercan be found in every stateoftheunion.

And

justascornisthe most popular crop

grown

in the United States,thedeerisAmerica'sfavorite big

game

animal.

Like

FFA,

the growth of America's white-taileddeerherdisasuccessstory.

From

alow ebbinthe early 1900's

when

itappeareddoomed,theherdrebounded and has steadily increased to approxi- matelytenmilliontoday. Severalstates

now

have herds in excess of a quarter million.

Although there are

more

deer today than there were inthe "goodol' days,"

bagging a white-tailedbuck remains no easy task. While millions of nimrods pursue

him

each autumn, the woods'

monarch manages

toeludemosthunters.

Those gunners

who

continuetosucceed yearafter yearare not just lucky.

They

aresuccessfulbecause theyhavestudied theirquarry and done their

homework.

You

can dothesame.

Atfirstglancethe whitetailseemsin- vincible.

He

is

aware

of every nook, cranny, hiding spotand escape route in the one square mile area he

knows

as home.

And

whatabouthissenses?There

is an old Indian proverb that states,

"when

a pine needle falls in the forest, theturkeysees it,thebear smellsit and the deer hears it." Couple this hearing ability with keen eyesight and a nose thatcanoutsniffanydog and you havea

specimen finely tunedforsurvival. But

we know

thebuck is not invincible.

By

circumventing these senses somewhat, the hunter can stack the odds in his favor.

The

highest percentage of successful huntersare those

who

waitforthebuck to

come

tothem.Inthedeerhuntingfra- ternitythey are

known

as stand hunters or stump sitters.

The

successful stand hunter doesnot offer thedeertheadvan- 60

Photos byJ.O.StevensonandLutherC.

Goldman,U.S.FishandWildlifeService

tage.

The

buck'shearingcannotdetecta non-moving hunter. Likewise, the im- mobilehunterofferslittle

movement

for the deerto detect. Since deerare color- blind and see everything in shades of gray, they cannot differentiate between a sitting hunter and a tree stump. But deer

know

thatstumps don't move.

The

stand hunter,

when

he must move, must beslow anddeliberate.

What

about the sense of smell

—

^the

antler bearer's ace in the hole? If you choose a hunting area occupied by a

number

of other hunters, your control over the

human

scent is

more

limited thanifyou were huntinga

more

remote andundisturbedspot. In either situation you can

employ

acouple of techniques.

Several brands of

commercially

pre- pared scents areon the marketthat can beusedtoyouradvantage.

The

truepur- poses ofthescentisto

mask human

odor andnot to attractabuckas

many manu-

facturers claim.

A

^{few drops} on your boots before you enter the

woods

will suffice. Secondly, anticipate the direc- tion from which youexpectthe buck to approach, determinethe directionofthe

The

wiley white-tailed

buck above

is

caughtin

an

unfamiliarpose

—

^still

and

intheopen.Thewhite-taildoe,left, isasevasiveasher

male

counterpart.

prevailingbreezeand locateyour stand so thatyourscent willnotbecarriedto-

ward

thebuck'strail.

Ifthey are legal in your state, atree stand will giveyou an even greater ad- vantage. Deerare accustomedtoexpect dangeratgroundleveland donotantic- ipate it from above.

A

^hunter in a tree stand cansee

more

areaandwill notbe aslimitedinhismovements.

The human

odor will also dissipate

upward more

rapidly.

Beforeyou can bagtheelusivewhite-

tail, you mustfindhim.

Your

searchfor thebuck'sbackyardshouldbegina

week

or

two

prior toopeningday.

The

purpose ofthis trip afield is to

more

accurately pinpointthebuck's whereabouts.

A

likely area to begin scouting is

where you haveseen deerbefore.Forthe most part, deer arehome-bodies.

How-

ever,theareainwhich you

saw

deer dur- ing the

summer

andearly fall

may

har- boronly afew animals by lateautumn.

The

lackofavailablefoodandcover

may

cause thedeerto

move

fromtheirsum-

mer

quartersso

make

yoursearcha thor- ough one.

When

scouting prospective deer habitatlook forfresh tracks, drop- pings, beds and evidence offeeding.

Once

thesetell-tale signs arefound,you

know

youare indeerterritory. Butisita buckordoesign?

The

questioncan'tbe answered so thesearch mustcontinue.

Most everyone

who

^{hunts deer}

knows

the buck

makes

rubs on smalltreesand saplings. Huntersonce thoughtthe pur- pose of rubbing

was

to remove velvet from the hardening antlers. Recent re- search into deer behavior, though, dis- misses this theory in favor ofone sug- gestingthebuckismarkinghis territory and conducting

mock

battlesinprepara-

(ContinuedonPage₆₃₎

TheNationalFUTURE FARMER

CORE-LOKT. — ⁱ

-

—

^{doesn'tsurpriseus.}

^More

^big

^{game has}

been dropped wl

any

otherbulletevermade.

And

that'ssaying something.

isa uniformlytaperedmetaljackettokeepitaccuratein

p

tionassureseffectivepenetration

and uniform

expansion attheproper

moment,

thebulletpredictably

expands —

to(