Bob Clark

What Deer Management is all About -- The Blausers of Butler County Part 3 by Bob Clark

PENNSYLVANIA'S MASTER DEER HUNTER

To receive the honor of being designated a "Master Deer Hunter", one needs to have and share knowledge of the hunt, proven experience in the field, and thus be recognized by others for what they have given back to their peers and to the resource.  I know of no other whitetail hunter in Pennsylvania that possesses all of these qualities plus more than Richard J. Blauser.  Dick to his friends has shared his secrets, if you will, about how he, through trial and error, some help from his Dad, the deer and the land that has influenced his life; to become a dedicated conservationist, son, father and deer hunter.

PREPARING FOR THE DEER SEASONS

Practice, practice, practice and year-round scouting of the areas he hunts are priorities.  To predetermine trails and crossings, day bedding areas and understanding the difference between deer that move in the a.m. vs. deer that move in the p.m. is just one of the important details that he records on every scouting trip.  This documentation provides great information along with sightings of individual deer in his plan of where and when to place tree stands or ground locations.  Regarding his five (5) record book archery bucks taken, three (3) were from the ground.  Last year's whitetail buck was taken on the ground and scored 176 Boone & Crocket Nontypical.

SCENTS AND LURES

Dick is not a great believer in scents and lures, especially in areas where there is considerable hunting pressure.  Over the years he has noticed that "I've scared more deer away than I have attracted".  Cover scents sometimes work for him but having and leaving no scent and special care of all clothing and equipment is critical to his success.  Showering with no scent soap, washing clothes in no scent soap and hanging his clothes outside is what really works for him.

CLOTHING

In archery season he recommends that you travel as light as you can.  He wears an old lightweight army jacket with standard camo patterns from the 1960's (that is when he purchased the jacket and pants).  The pants don't fit him the way he would like but the pockets are large enough to put all of the stuff he needs in them.  When it really gets cold, he adds an army field jacket liner under his lightweight jacket.

SCOUTING

Scouting is something Dick does year round and he highly recommends it to every deer hunter.  Using his past scouting records, watching particular deer for a couple of years, he is hunting old bucks 3-5 years old.  His first priority is to check on large bucks that have survived another season.  Noting new large bucks (1-3 years old) is also part of his plan for success.  Late winter and early spring are ideal times to get out and see how the deer (and turkeys) are traveling and taking special notice of their trails in the snow.  He works as a forestry consultant which keeps him in the woods more than the average deer hunter and he takes full advantage of this opportunity.  Consistent monitoring and regular sightings contribute to his annual success.  In spring, when grasses and crops are just starting to appear above the soil is a perfect time to watch hay fields in the evenings to find out what and how many deer are in his various hunting areas.  Late summer is when he starts spotting deer and recording their antler size and breaking down the specific areas that he will concentrate most of his scouting to pattern specific bucks.  Sometimes he will put as much as 20 to 25 hours a week on this part of his detailed planning and record keeping.  September is when he really gets serious locating scrapes as they appear and their distributions are just as important as the rubs found.  Noting food sources used most is very important in his overall plan and finding apple trees with fruit, oak and other mast producing trees are the food baskets of the big bucks he hunts.  This is the time he clears shooting lanes for both archery and rifle if necessary.  All these efforts increase his knowledge and ability to have annual success and take large racked bucks more than most Pennsylvanians.