Dan Vogt Passes on The Hunting Heritage

By Brandon Butler

Dan Vogt is a field director for Whitetails Unlimited, covering Missouri and Arkansas, and he pretty much eats, drinks, and sleeps whitetails 365 days a year. So when Dan told me he had experienced the hunt of his life last season, I knew I had to hear about it.

The story wasn’t what I expected. He didn’t tell me about a double drop tine booner closing inside 20 yards. It wasn’t a story about a state record, or some big nasty freak animal. In fact, it wasn’t

about antlers at all. The story of Dan’s best hunt ever was of his 8-year-old son, Jacob, killing his first deer.

Jacob Vogt with his first deer.

Jacob Vogt, who is now nine, is your average boy. He enjoys spending time with his daddy, going to school, and playing video games. Deer hunting doesn’t consume him (yet), but since it is so important to his dad, Jacob has gravitated toward it. When he recalled to me the story of killing his first deer, a big healthy doe, there was excitement in his eyes, especially each time he looked up at his father as if to reconfirm the admiration being bestowed.

Like many young folks, and quite a few of us older guys too, Jacob doesn’t like sitting still for long. So when Dan and Jacob decided to call it quits on their ground blind hunt, they figured their chances of success were over. But on the way back to the truck, they jumped a group of deer from a ditch. They formulated a plan to sneak up on them and it worked.

“I was like 50/50 on whether or not I should take the shot, but I did, and I got her,” Jacob said.

Dan said it was really a pretty close shot and Jacob made it count. To young eyes, 60 yards is a mile. Consider buck fever and shaking hands, and it’s easy to understand how the youngster was hesitant to pull the trigger.

“I was so excited because I shot and I thought right away that I got it. I started calling all my family. I called grandma first because she’s the closest, just across the street,” Jacob said.

Dan said it was hard to put into words how much it meant to him to pass the tradition of hunting on to his son. Here’s a guy whose career is based on turning people into deer hunters and deer hunters into conservationists, but his ultimate reward was passing the flame to his own son. “When I grow up, I might work for my dad, maybe. If I’m not a professional swimmer,” Jacob said.

Well, whether or not Jacob ends up working for Whitetails Unlimited really doesn’t matter much. What matters is that at 9 years old, he’s an advocate with a story to tell. A story he’ll recount to his friends that may create a desire in them to venture into the deer woods. Hopefully, they’ll create their own stories too.

Each of you has an opportunity to connect with a child through nature. It doesn’t have to be deer hunting. Take your child fishing, or squirrel hunting, or just for a long nature hike. You don’t have to ban them from video games to inspire a love of being outdoors. Encourage a balance. You’ll be giving a child the gift of a lifetime, and you’ll never be more satisfied with yourself than when they look up at you and smile about nothing more than the pure joy of being outdoors.

The Nose Knows

The Nose Knows

Deer use their noses for a number of tasks, and protecting themselves from predators, including humans, is the primary task. Running an important second is finding a mate. If you can control and reduce your human scent you will be a more successful hunter. If you can learn how to present odors that are attractive to deer, you will be on the road to those trophy bucks. Our friends at Wildlife Research have a DVD available with solid information on both human and seer odors, called Scent Secrets. This is a preview, visit www.wildlife.com for more details.

It’s In The Air

Deer constantly check the air for danger, and they are fast to respond if they find anything they think is a threat. If you control your human scent, you can be a more effective hunter. It is almost impossible to completely eliminate your scent, but if you can reduce your smell to a small amount, the animal will not be alarmed, because it will think you are either far away or long gone.

First Time Is The Charm

The first time you hunt on a stand is often the most effective, and one reason is that human odor molecules can build up around a stand, and increase every time it is used. In addition, your walk to and from the stand can contaminate the trail, alerting deer to your presence. Your boots, pants, and body parts brushing against foliage can leave human scent as you walk through the woods. The more often you are in one area the more likely it is that the deer will detect your odor.

Keep It Clean

Wash all of your hunting clothing (not just your coat and pants) with a detergent designed to leave no human scent. Then store and transport your hunting clothing in a clean, airtight container or plastic bag. Hang clothing outside, away from car exhaust, camp fires or barbeque grills. When you shower before hunting, use scent-free soap and shampoo designed for hunters, and use a washcloth and towel washed in scent-free detergent. Don’t use your normal shave cream, deodorant or aftershave; there are deodorants designed for hunters and you really don’t need to shave.

Keep Looking, And Sniffing

Use an anti-scent spray on all your clothing (gloves, hat and boots, too), and avoid tobacco smoke and food odors. Start looking at everything as a potential odor problem, and the nuttier you are about cutting odor the greater your chance for success. How about your watch, glasses or wallet, and what did you step in with those boots in the last few months?

What Kind Should You Choose

There are several types of scents, and deer respond to them differently:
Territorial or Challenge type scent – urine, or a scent from the same animal that you are hunting, which will be seen as a challenge to a resident buck
Hunger scent or food scent  – use early or late in the season, and for does during the rut
Curiosity scent – other scents that deer find interesting, most effective early in the season, or anytime for does
Sex-type scents – most effective for bucks, two weeks before rut to end of season.

Drip, Drip, Drip

The method of dispensing scent can improve success. There is a wide variety of wicks, drippers, foams, and solid scent dispensers. Scrape drippers can be set up to drip only during specific parts of the day, day, forcing bucks to visit during daylight.

Cover It Up

Cover scents imitate plants, food, urine of other animals, or earth. Their smell is fairly strong, but not offensive to deer. Red fox urine, coon urine, or plant extracts, like pine or cedar, work well.

Scrapes

Hunt over natural scrapes that you locate, or create mock scrapes. When creating mock scrapes, use a stick from that area, rather than scraping with your feet. Your boots can impart odor to the earth that deer can easily detect.

Read The Instructions

There are many scent and scent elimination products on the market, and they all have instructions on how to use their products. Wildlife research has a DVD available with solid information on both human and seer odors, called Scent Secrets. Visit www.wildlife.com for more details.