Get used to chest shots.

That’s one thing I’ve had to do since I’ve been using Wild Carrot deer attractants for deer hunting. I have a negative attitude about frontal shots that goes back to my days guiding archery elk hunts in Colorado; they are a lower percentage shot just because the target is smaller. I guess it was in my second year using Wild Carrot that I realized the deer were getting much closer to me and my average shot distance was less than it used to be. In fact, I had just harvested my second buck with a chest shot when that realization struck me.

Hunting from a ground blind up on the hardwood ridges where I usually go, you just can’t trust the wind; it changes all the time. So if a deer is inside 20 yards and walking toward you, chest shot is all you’re going to get. I’ve found that the percentages change when he’s that close! It had never occurred to me that luring the deer to your exact location would present a different shot scenario than, say, luring him in to a bait pile where he’s lingering at 20 yards and broadside. When he’s following my scent trail, he’s typically head down and coming straight in. But that’s a problem I hope to deal with every time I hit the woods!

Here’s a pic of that second buck, I love his symmetry: