As I edged down the hill, trying to pick out the black trunks of the trees against the lightening night sky, I kept my hand cupped around my flashlight, using its beam as little as possible. I stepped carefully, keeping my balance against the weight of my tree stand, which I wore on my back.

I found the tree I’d marked with a reflective thumbtack, hooked up my safety harness and attached the climbing tree stand. Slowly, sliding the wrapped cables of the stand along the tree’s rough bark, I climbed to a height where the surrounding foliage would break up my human outline.

Soon after daylight, I heard deer running down the hill toward me, coming from a corn field where I’d thought they’d be feeding. A young button-buck, belly full of corn, frolicked in front of a mature doe, running in figure-eight circles around her.
The doe, wise by several seasons, paused continuously to look carefully around, and raise her muzzle to check the wind. The young buck skidded to a stop, nose to nose with her, his mouth open and tongue out as he panted, dog-like. It was time. I shifted my index finger to……the shutter button on my camera.

You may not like hunting. I do. I also like “hunting” with my camera. You can get better, closer pictures of wildlife like white-tailed deer, turkeys, coyotes and squirrels, by using the same techniques hunters use.

To get close to animals, hunters pay attention to scent control and wind direction. They wear camouflage clothing or use cover, and may add calls, scent lures and decoys. They scout, looking for animal trails and tracks, food and water sources, and bedding areas.

Scent Control
Wild animals have senses of smell that are nearly beyond our comprehension. They associate human smell with danger, and you must take every step you can to reduce those scents.
Hunters use unscented detergent, which also goes a step further. Nearly every regular detergent contains “UV Whiteners” to keep our clothing colors bright. Relying on scientific study of the cones and other structures in a deer’s eye, biologist believe that when we wear clothes washed in detergent with UV whiteners, deer see us as surrounded by a near-neon glow. The special hunters’ detergent is unscented and does not contain UV whiteners.

Clothes must also be kept scent-free. You can keep them in zippered plastic bags, or in unscented garbage bags, until you are putting them on in the woods. Even if it’s warm, you should wear gloves. As you’re walking, everything you touch with your hands is about nose-high for a deer, so you shouldn’t touch any vegetation with bare hands.

You can also purchase scent-killer spray, and touch up clothing and boots before entering the woods. Wear rubber boots if you have them; they carry no scent. Also, wear a hat, since most of our body heat, and scent, escapes through our heads.

Wind Direction
Even with your best precautions, if the wind is blowing from you to a white-tailed deer, they will almost always figure it out. Try to set yourself up so that the wind will not be blowing from you towards the deer.

Let’s say you’re after photos of turkeys, and not deer. Turkeys have a poor sense of smell, but have terrific vision. Why worry about scent control?

You still need to be careful, because all animals have good instincts. When a deer is alarmed, it will snort or “blow,” with an explosion of air like a sneeze. That’s an alarm sound all the animals of the woods recognize. If a deer smells you, and snorts, other animals will avoid the area.

One of the best ways to control scent is to get off the ground, as hunters do using tree stands. You should never take a step off the ground without wearing a safety harness which is attached to a tree. With quality safety harnesses running about $60, and basic tree stands starting at $150, this may be more than you want to spend.

Camouflage/Cover
Camouflage clothing will definitely help you blend in with the natural surroundings in the outdoors. If you’re going to really get serious about camera hunting, you should invest in a set of pull-over camouflage, such as coveralls or “leaf camo,” which is constructed with fluttering outlines of leaves incorporated in the clothes.

If you’re not ready to take that step, wash your regular clothes in the hunters’ detergent, choosing greens, browns and blacks. Animals will more readily pick you up because of movement, not colors.

Many hunters and professional animal photographers use “blinds,” which are tent-style structures. The “pop-up” styles are light-weight and compact. You can get away with a lot of movement inside a blind; I’ve read the morning newspaper and drank coffee while turkey hunting.
Anytime you are in the fall woods, sharing the outdoors with hunters, as a precaution you should wear a blaze orange vest and hat.

Calls, Decoys, Lures.
It’s a regular symphony out there sometimes. Squirrels chatter, field mice squeak, deer grunt, coyotes howl and turkeys yelp. Wild creatures make those sounds to communicate with each other. Learn to “speak their language” and you may draw them in closer.

But to do that, you’ll have to learn a little about where and when. For instance, there are deer calls made to imitate a doe in heat, ready to breed. Those calls are meant to attract bucks. But, if you use that call in September or October, long before the breeding season in mid-November, deer won’t respond because their instincts tell them something isn’t right.

The same goes with scent lures. “Doe-in-Heat” scents only work when real does are in heat, but “buck urine” lures work anytime, because deer are always curious. Probably the best scent product you can buy, though, instead of a lure, is a “cover scent” spray such as “Scent Killer.”

If you want a picture of a coyote, set up on a recently-harvested farm field and squeak like a suddenly-homeless mouse. Or, buy a “rabbit in distress” call and set up a rabbit decoy.

If you want a gray squirrel to freeze with an expression of round-eyed wonder, blow on a hawk call. If you want a whitetail buck to have a look nearby, use a “grunt” call that imitates the guttural sounds male deer make to challenge each other.

Where and When
Animals leave sign behind when they walk through the woods. Deer often travel the same routes, making paths which are visible through the leaves. They also poop a lot, more than 20 times per day, leaving little piles of round droppings.

Animal movement is dictated by two main needs, food and water. One of the easiest ways to find a deer trail is to walk the edge between a farm field and woods, looking for tracks. Or, you can explore a stream, looking for animal crossings.

Most animal movement occurs at daybreak and dusk. Deer rarely step into an open field during daylight hours in the fall, because leaves have fallen in the woods and their natural cover has disappeared. You’ll have to back track trails for a distance to intercept them with enough light to get a photo.

Getting Started
These are just the basics. You’ll learn something each time you enter the woods. Your venture into improved camera hunting can start at an outdoors store.

Although the majority of clients in those stores are hunters, the same techniques apply for those who want to get close to wildlife. Look and listen, read and learn, and you’ll get the same results, whether your finger is on a trigger or a shutter.