A lone hunter works over the grounds with his eyes.
He uses his legs only to carry him over the terrain he has carefully scrutinized.
Each time he comes upon a change of grounds he must pause to scan the area about him.
It is best to adopt a systematic procedure in searching the terrain effectively.
A quick search from left to right will suffice to detect any movement of game within shooting distance, and a standing or browsing whitetail at close range should be spotted at once.
Now a thorough study of the thicket should be made beginning with the foreground, sweeping back and forth in a wide arc, and extending the search farther into the background with each sweep of the head.
Such an examination is best made from any convenient elevation, however slight.
After the survey is completed--and this could take several minutes-the hunter moves on at a slow pace, picking his way carefully in order to avoid snapping any twigs underfoot or brushing against overhanging branches.
His movements, like those of a bird-watcher, must be smooth and slow, for such movements are less likely to attract attention.
It must be remembered that the solo hunter is looking for standing, browsing, or bedded-down deer.
If he is just looking for any whitetails, chances are he will see them more easily--but they will be mostly out of range and running.
There will be a difference in your mode of walking and searching if you make up your mind that you are seeking the stationary target only.
It is hardly possible for any person walking through the woods to refrain from making a disturbing noise sometime or other.
The experienced stillhunter will pause for several minutes after such an incident, for he knows the whitetail, if within hearing distance, is now awaiting further evidence of an intruder.
A deer's memory is somewhat short and if there is no follow-up of disturbance, the animal will soon dismiss its anxiety.
It is the series of man-made noises that is the bane of the hunter.
In canvasing deer country, the hunter should avail himself of any high ground along his course of travel.
Those slight depressions on either side of him are worth some investigation even though they take him a bit off course.
It is in these depressions, sometimes hemmed in by small ridges, that the whitetail can best be taken by surprise.
These shallow basins, especially if located on high, flat ground, are ideal sanctums for the unmolested animals.
Such spots are pretty well insulated against outside noises and odors.
On many occasions during buck season, I have spent considerable time studying a group of antlerless deer in such seclusion.
A big advantage for the solo hunter is his ability to follow successfully in the wake of heavy group hunting.
Deer driving can become very noticeably ineffective after the hunting season has progressed for some time.
About the middle of the season, gang hunters start scurrying about, searching for fresh areas to infiltrate.
After one unsuccessful group leaves a tract of deer country, another gang moves in with great anticipation-but often with equally poor results.
The fact is that, after the whitetails have been shunted about day after day in any territory, many of them gradually enter secluded pockets where they might remain for the duration of the season, if they're not molested.
These odd spots could be the thickets along a fence line adjacent to a pasture, or the wooded pasture itself, now devoid of livestock.
I remember finding many such hideouts, some of them practically in my backyard, after I had spent the season scouring the remote hinterlands.
Once, an old buck had taken refuge for the entire season in a portion of the pasture scarcely 400 yards from the house.
At night, he fed on a dense clump of sumac in full view of the farmstead.
During the day, he withdrew to a thicket just outside the fence line.
There was nothing her to disrupt his simple routine and, like a true slacker, he let the season go by sitting it out snugly on the sidelines.
The last day of one hunting season, I cut across a four-acre wedge formed by the intersection of a highway and a railroad.
As I skirted a small swamp that formed the other boundary of this triangle, I started a veritable explosion of shaking brush and bobbing flags.
Seven deer bounded out from this small retreat.
There were no tracks leading in, and the snow was two days old, so it appeared the animals had hoped to see the season through in the safety of this confinement.
This withdrawal to odd recesses is common among whitetails, especially the wily, old bucks, when the large deer areas are heavily and continuously hunted.
The animals seem to recognize patterns in the hunters' routines, and they find respite from disturbance by retiring to the edges.
Most hunters, meanwhile, helpfully probe the depths of the big country, thinking they will find the whitetails concentrated in happy numbers.
Some of the older lone hunters I know carefully probe these lesser grounds.
This strategy is especially successful when the legal bag is bucks-only, for any animal with a noticeable rack soon learns his hide is a prime target.
The seasoned patriarchs long past their physical peak are often taken here.
After a buck has attained a respectable age and becomes aware that he is a marked animal, he is willing to forsake his species and lead the life of a recluse.
He has, perhaps, attained the age where he is less interested in does than in his own safety.
He becomes fat and lazy from inactivity, his reflexes might be on the decline but, from his years of hazardous living, he has acquired the simple knack of self-preservation with a minimum of exertion.
Sometimes, if these refuges are partly open, like pasture lands, a buck will bed down on a hillside under some scraggly growth or alongside short shrubbery.
From his elevated couch, he might occupy his time watching highway traffic or studying movements of hunters as they gather in groups to plan an attack on the big deer area across the road.
All the activity outside the sphere of the buck's limited domain causes him little concern.
The whitetail becomes uneasy only when his immediate grounds are invaded.
Even then, if the trespasser seems unaware of the deer's presence or makes no overt attempt to approach, it is likely the animal will trust to the security of his bed and just stay put! Good hunting!