Tips & Tactics

Add Rocks to Your Bag of Tricks

Add Rocks to Your Bag of Tricks

By Kevin Snyder

I’m an avid bowhunter and have traveled all over North America on hunting trips. I’d like to share one of my tricks with Buckmasters fans. It’s helped me take game on many occasions.

Even though rocks add a little bit extra weight to my gear, I always carry a few carefully selected ones with me on hunting trips.

Of all the technological advances in hunting gadgets today, I know you are probably wondering why on earth I would carry rocks.

They come in handy in certain situations hunters encounter, and I usually only use them in a last-ditch effort.

Here’s a common scenario: When an animal I want to shoot is just out of bow range and not heading my direction, and the use of game calls fails to bring them in, I will throw a rock ahead or to the opposite side of it.

The sound of the rock will often cause the animal to change directions, which brings it back into my bow range for a shot attempt.

Of course, this does not work every time, but I’ve seen it work often enough be convinced I needed to incorporate rocks into my bag of hunting tricks.

Another hunting scenario that’s perfect for rock throwing is for bedded animals, or in places you suspect an old whitetail could be bedded.

The sound of a rock thrown nearby is often just enough to get them to stand up and investigate the noise.

Don’t throw the rock directly on top of the animal, rather, just close enough to get its attention. A direct hit will cause it to take off running instead of standing to investigate.

When selecting stones, look for smooth, round ones that aren’t too heavy, and aren’t too small. Choose the perfect throwing size and weight you feel confident with. Creek beds and riverbanks are great places to select smooth throwing rocks.

– Editor’s Note by Tim H. Martin

One of my longtime hunting buds took his best-ever whitetail with the help of some rock chucking. He suspected the old Alabama buck was bedded in a brushy gulch located smack in the middle of a clear-cut.

My friend quietly walked parallel to the ditch with his shotgun at-the-ready, tossing stones every so often. Eventually, the whitetail stood and looked for the source of the noise, much to my buddy’s amazement. He quickly dropped the 11-pointer with a single slug.

And, if you’ve been watching Buckmasters TV show since the 1990s, you’ll remember an episode where the guide threw rocks into a gulch to help Jackie Bushman take his monster Utah buck.

When the scenario dictates, throwing rocks can be shockingly effective for hunting white-tailed deer.

If you have a unique or special tip you’d like to share with Buckmasters fans, please email it to huntingtips@buckmasters.com and, if chosen, we will send you a cap signed by Jackie Bushman, along with a knife!

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