by Randy Augsburger

Created on: August 09, 2008   Last Updated: September 19, 2008

Deer hunting is a way of life in many areas of the country and they have been hunted in almost every conceivable way. If you are getting tired of hunting deer in the same old fashion and want to try something different, I have a couple of suggestions for you.

You have heard of catch and release fishing so how about catch and release deer hunting?
All you need is a paintball marker and you can use your bow hunting skills to get close enough to mark a nice buck. In many areas this is considered harassment of wildlife so look before you shoot.

A technique that has garnered some fame of late is the cannon. You can find pictures and even a video of a deer being taken with grapeshot. Grapeshot is like a shotgun load for a cannon. It was used to mow down infantry during an assault. It seems to work well for deer also. Similar to a cannon in that it was a weapon of war is the balista. A balista is a very large crossbow that shoots an extremely large arrow or spear. They have long effective range and will kill a deer quickly.

Now we come to the most skilled alternative deer hunting technique, hunting deer with a spear. You do not throw a spear when hunting deer, you must lunge or stab with it to make sure the spear goes deep enough for a clean kill. You must get within touching distance of the deer to do this. There are three practical ways to get close enough to be effective with your spear.

The first is a tree stand. This is the best all-around deer hunting method. The deer rarely look up and do not see someone sitting a few feet off of the ground. For spear hunting you will want to place your stand a little lower than most hunters would while hunting in a normal way. A good rule of thumb is sitting in your stand holding your spear with both hands reach down and have the tip of the spear not more than two feet from the ground. You will want a long spear for this maybe up to 10 feet.

You do not have a lot of leeway in stand placement. A deer at 10 feet is not a kill for someone with a spear unless you throw it and as I mentioned before that is not a good idea for deer hunting. You will need to place your stand so the deer will walk as directly beneath it as possible.

The next way to get close enough is to use what I call a lunge pit. It is a camouflaged depression that you sit or kneel in waiting for the deer to pass by. You can use a shorter spear than a tree stand. Six feet should be ok. Your longer one is still good but is harder to maneuver in the brush. You should put

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