Dr. Ken Nordberg's Whitetail Hunter's Almanac 5th Edition

Whitetail Hunter's Almanac, 5th Edition: a guide to new and improved methods for hunting whitetails on foot. Subjects include portable stump hunting, an amazingly effective ground level stand hunting method utilizing a backpacked stool, mile-a-day still-hunting, still-hunting in its original and most deadly form, selective trailing, trailing wounded whitetails, improved stalking and adult-buck-effective drives

John Nordberg -- We use a variety of hunting techniques. This Almanac is all about techniques. If you wander around the woods without understanding stalking, this Almanac is for you. If you have been just using tree stands, this Almanac will give you many new options. I love hunting from tree stands -- I love the wide view you get. However, upon reflection, I haven't been in one since about the time this book came out! Portable Stump Hunting is for me! For my biggest buck, I was sitting on the ground with a very limited view of a feeding area/trail hub. I was so well hidden, I had deer running all around me without them detecting me. When the big buck walked into sight, it was just 25 yards away, right were I had planned. You see, I had this buck walk by me two years before. I was sitting in exactly the same spot. That year, it walked by me just 10 feet away without detecting me -- it was only a 6 pointer then. My 2004 buck, I couldn't even see until it walked around a rock just 4 feet from the tip of my barrel! The tips Dad gave us when we were young, on how to walk right by a deer without alarming it, I just love. The sections in Chapter 5 starting with "Stalking Without Displaying Hunting Behavior" covers these great tips. Then there is the topic of wounded deer. I have wounded 3 deer -- one we never recovered. I have helped others track their wounded deer. These hunting memories are my most vivid. I am appalled at the lack of knowledge most hunters have in this area. This is essential reading. The tips on reading wounded deer tracks are superb!

Author's Introduction

Chapter 1: Portable Stump Hunting
Birth of a New Hunting Method
Recipe for Success
Definition
A Portable Stool
A Difficult-to-Identify Hunter
Effective Stand Sites
Four Essentials of Ground Level Stand Sites
Planned Hunting
The Soft (Non-Agrressive) Approach

Chapter 2: Mile-a-Day Still-Hunting
Still-Hunting Today
Mile-a-Day Still-Hunting Resurrected
Definition
Guidelines
Characteristics of Effective Still-Sites
Mile-a-Day Still-Hunting in Action
Detecting Approaching Whitetails
Dealing with Unalarmed and Alarmed Whitetails
Avoiding a Non-Quarry
Closing the Range on an Intended Quarry
Mile-a-Day Still-Hunting for Adult Bucks
Using Cover Scents
Using Buck Lures -- Scents, Calls and Rattling
Period of Still-Hunt Route Effectiveness
Group Still-Hunting

Chapter 3: Selective Trailing
Introduction
The Key to Successful Trailing
Whitetails Vulnerable to Trailing
Favorable Conditions for Trailing
Whitetail Early Warning Traps
Recognizing the Quarry's Activity, Probable Destination and Looping
Ambushing Trailed Deer
Two-on-One Trailing
Avoiding Preemptive Identification
Signs of Discovery
Trailing an Alarmed Deer
Make Yourself Difficult to Identify
Trailing as a Scouting and Learning Tool

Chapter 4: Tracking Wounded Whitetails
A Whitetail Hunter's Obligation
Wounds, Initial Responses, Trail Signs and Recommended
Recovery Methods
Heart/Lung
Hump (High Shoulder)
Brisket
Neck
Head/Brain
Spine
Descending Aorta and Ascending Vena Cava
Hind Quarter
Leg
Abdomen
One-on-One Tracking
Two-Man Recovery Method
Night Tracking
Escape Route Landmarks and Compass Bearings
Marking a Wounded Deer's Trail
Lost Trail
Trail Projecting
Likely Destination
180-Degree Fanning
360-Degree Search
Re-discovery Drive
When to Give Up

Chapter 5: Improved Stalking
Definition
Stalking a Whitetail in Sight
Favorable Whitetail Activities
Whitetail Body Language
Favorable Weather Conditions
Stealth
Stalking Without Detection
Stalking Without Identification
Stalking Without Displaying Hunting Behavior
Hunting Behavior to Avoid
Non-Hunting Behavior
Oblivious Passage
Oblivious Tangent
Oblivious Bedding
Area Stalking
Stalking Normal Bedding Areas
Stalking Stormy Weather Bedding Areas
Stalking Feeding Areas
Stalking Corn Fields

Chapter 6: Adult-Buck-Effective Drives
Introduction
How Adult Bucks Escape Drives
Elements of Adult-Buck-Effective Drives
Adult Buck Drive Areas
Initially Unalarmed Deer
Drive Upwind
Adequate Escape Cover
Properly Positioned Standers
Properly Prepared Stand Sites
Proper Intervals Between Drivers
Slow and Silent Drives
Difficult-to-Identify Drivers
Zigzag Drives
Proper Execution
When the Shooting Begins
Small Group Drives
Drives Without Standers

Epilogue: Sing a Song of Suet

The Whitetail Hunter's Almanac 5th Edition © 1992