Shotgun Tactics for Success

Shotgun Tactics for Success

By Ryan Graden

Opening day of the Iowa shotgun season is like Christmas morning for many hunters in our state. December has just started and fall is giving way to winter. Breezes are turning more brisk and if we are lucky enough, we might have already had a layer or two of snow on the ground.

The first shotgun season opens with hunters searching through Iowa’s timber and prairie areas for the flicker of a white tail. For a good number of Iowa hunters, this is the one and only method they choose for deer hunting. Slugs and shotguns enable them to chase down a challenging quarry hoping that they might fill the freezer.

The shotgun seasons in Iowa were my first deer hunting experiences. I was lucky enough to be raised in a hunting family where deer hunting was just what you did in the winter. It was routine and expected. When I was very young, I remember when the shotgun season would come around and my Dad would leave for the weekend. He would meet up with my grandfather and few other friends to chase deer in the timber.

Truthfully, in the middle 80’s, success was not as widespread as it is now. When you applied for a deer tag, you never knew if you were going to get a buck or doe tag. Occasionally, you didn’t get one at all.

I was first allowed to go along with my Dad on a shotgun hunt when I was nine years old. I loved it! The “guy” time I was exposed to included stories of past hunts, great food, and fireside chats. I was hooked! Prior to coming, my Dad gave me a warning. He said, “Ryan, if I hear you complain even once during the hunt, I’m taking you home.” I understood what he was saying. December gun hunting was tough. It was cold. You had to have patience. You had to be quiet. If I let any of that get to me, my Dad was not going to deal with it. My chance would be over!

Opening morning we got out to a tree that Dad had chosen to sit in for the morning. We typically sat still in the morning and after the deer came back to bed, we’d start some deer drives. It was SO cold that morning. I remember climbing into that tree while the wind blew in the single digits. My Dad sat above me in a crotch board seat he had placed in the tree. I sat below him on another limb, (climbing harnesses and official tree stands were not a part of a hunters arsenal back then!) As the cold slowly crept through my clothes, my skin, and into my bones all I thought about was my Dad’s warning. “If you complain, I’m taking you home!” I didn’t say a word. I just dealt with the cold and kept quiet as a mouse.

After a good amount of time in the tree that morning, Dad looked down at me and saw me shaking uncontrollably. All 70 pounds of my flesh shook from the cold that had invaded it! I’m sure the tree was shaking along with me! Seeing me shaking, Dad’s feelings changed. His concern was no longer for the hunt, it was for me. But he has told me since, “When I saw you shaking but knew I hadn’t heard a peep from you, I knew you were going to be a serious hunter!” He was right. That day taught me that you have to face the elements with determination and continue on to the goal of making a harvest!

In the years to come, I learned quite a bit regarding the tactics used in different types of deer hunting. There are many different ways to have success and fill your tag. I’ve also realized that each hunter or group of hunters have their own ways of doing things. Some have worked for years!

They have been applying them on the same property season after season with much success.

So let’s talk about some of those successful tactics of hunting during the shotgun season.

Tactic #1
First off, most Iowa deer hunters are shotgun hunters. This translates into quite a bit of hunting pressure for deer during the first few weeks of December. As groups of deer hunters push through the timbers and grasslands, deer are forced to move out of familiar areas seeking areas with less hunting pressure. This could work for or against you! Let’s discuss this further.

If you are hunting a property that has quite a bit of pressure surrounding it, consider letting your property being the “safe zone” for deer. If there are groups of hunters putting tremendous pressure on local areas, deer will naturally seek areas that they aren’t being hunted. When they move into a “safer” area, they will settle down and make a temporary home until the activity in their home area is gone.

Allowing your property to be the area where deer feel comfortable and safe could work to your advantage. Instead of doing drives on your property, let the deer come in and settle down. Shift your method of hunting to sitting in stands. Let these deer wander around without being pushed in certain directions. Let them find food sources as well as bedding areas. Then, choose a stand and sit. When deer find a relaxed setting like this, your hunting will oftentimes become easier. You might even have deer to choose from that wouldn’t normally be there!

Tactic #2
Deer drives are effective but they do have some drawbacks. When hunters go marching through the woods conducting a deer drive, it will get the deer moving. However, the drawback is the deer are moving FAST! A fast moving deer does not give a hunter a very ethical shot. I can’t tell you how many deer I have found, over the years, that are results of poor “running” shots during deer drives. These deer might be hit, but not in the vitals. Gut shots or less lethal shots are sometimes hard to track and deer end up dying days later.

An alternative to a deer drive of this nature is something called “scent bumping”. Scent bumping is as effective, but does not carry the pressure that a deer drive would. If you know where deer are gathering, try to scent bump them towards your shooting line. For example, move in upwind of a bedding area. Deer have a highly keen sense of smell. Make sure your shooting line is downwind of the bedding area. Instead of charging through that bedding area on foot, let the wind blow your scent over that area. Deer will get up and move, but in less of a panic.

Oftentimes, they will run, stop, and look back. They know they smelled something, but they are unsure of what it was. Deer moving away from something they smelled are in less of a hurry. This will certainly give anybody set up for shots a more ethical opportunity. As the deer stop to look back and figure out what bumped them, you have a much better chance at their vitals.

Tactic #3
Using the contours of your property for deer drives is VERY important. Deer will naturally take the path of least resistance when they are pushed. Trying to force them into areas that don’t cater to that will often cause the deer to scatter leaving you with tough shots!

Look at your terrain and search for natural funnels or man made funnels. For example, a bedding area is on the edge of a ravine that slopes down to one single point. Set your walkers up in such a way that they will push those deer towards that ravine. By doing this, you could make all the deer on a multi-acre property filter down into the ravine leading them to a funnel that might be 20-30 yards wide!

Also, look for man made funnels. Open gates and breaks in a fence are perfect examples of man made deer funnels. If you are hunting pasture ground, position your walkers to push deer in the general direction of funnels like these. I would position your shooters PAST this point 40-50 yards. Allow the deer to funnel through this point without having somebody right there to shoot at them. Once they commit to this crossing, you will have ample yardage to still get a great shot. As with any deer drive, pay attention to the direction of the wind. Your shooters MUST always be downwind of the funnel points.

Tactic #4
This is probably one of my favorite tactics to use. The good old spot-n-stalk method. All you need is wide-open spaces and a good set of binoculars.

When deer are pressured, they are going to move into extreme hiding. And trust me, they know how to do it! After the initial days of deer drives are complete, deer will be seeking areas that will give them great hiding spot as well as visual advantage. They want to be able to see long distances for their safety.

If a person has a good scope or pair of binoculars, begin to look for those hiding spots in your hunting areas. They could be fence rows in the middle of fields, flat “benches” on the sides of ravines, fallen trees, thick switch grass fields, and other places like this.

Once you’ve spotted a deer worth chasing, take into account the wind, terrain, and how many guys it might take to cover certain escape routes in the immediate area. Once you’ve come up with a plan, slowly execute it and be ready to take the shot.
As always, use safety when you are out there shotgun hunting this season! No deer is worth the life of a fellow hunter.

Take some time this year and look at those areas that you’ve been hunting. Maybe, if you choose to adopt one of these tactics, your rate of success might just go up! If you are looking to hunt a new property this year, do your homework in advance. Get an idea of what’s happening around it. Who else hunts the neighboring areas? What does the terrain look like? Where are the deer feeding and bedding?

Take all that information and choose a hunting tactic that will best suit you and the area that you will be hunting. And as always, good luck!