There was never a better bowhunter than Oti’s “Toad” Smith from Sibley Iowa. His I-Tune videos and his book that I mentioned in this column, will make you a much better archer and fisherman.  (Contributed Photo)

  When it comes to bow hunting, there was no one that knew more about being so successful with archery equipment than Otis, Toad Smith who is no longer here us.

  He took over 250 plus deer kills with a bow, as well as numerous turkeys, he also hunted elk, and in the spring of 991 he shot two Pope and Young Record Book black bears.

  I was fortunate enough to spend time with Toad, picking up numerous tips from his book “Toad’s Tricks for Hunting in Standing Corn and Everywhere Else.

I gave seminars with Toad Smith and after his seminars, the lines of folks trying to talk with him, to get more tips was unbelievable.

   He was a legend in the outdoors, and a superb bow hunter, who in 1991 shot two Pope and Young Record Book black bears in this book.

   Toad reveals his tricks for hunting whitetails, techniques for stalking within a few feet of deer, grid search patterns to locate bucks, how to pattern a deer then set a stand at the proper location, and how to use scent to take more bucks. He also gets into hunting deer with a muzzleloader, whether you hunt deer with a bow, muzzleloader, rifle, shotgun or carbine this book will help you to be more successful.

  He also gets into hunting deer with a muzzleloader. Whether you hunt deer with a bow, muzzleloader, rifle, shotgun or carbine this book will help you to be a more successful hunter.

  “Toad” was character, doing things in a joking way, once on a Berkley ice fishing trip, Toad kept us laughing.

  On one occasion, when we were having breakfast, he called the waitress over to where he was sitting, he mentioned something was wrong with his breakfast pizza and when he removed his napkin from the plate, it looked as if the pizza was moving, as he’d put a handful of maggots, our fishing bait, and once they warmed up, they were crawling from the pizza to the table.

  The last thing we heard from the waitress was a scream as she hi-tailed back to the kitchen, we’d thought it was pretty funny, but not to the waitress.

  He also gets into hunting deer with a muzzleloader.

  No matter how you hunt deer with a bow, muzzleloader, rifle, shotgun or carbine this book will help you to be more successful.

  Unpicked corn fields give deer everything they need, including cover, a food source and water found in in the irrigation tracks and other low spots in the field.

  I like to walk around the corn field well before season, to see where the deer are coming and going into the corn to decide where I’d put my stand, like all wild critters, including humans, take the trail with the least resistance.

You’ll also want to wear camouflage that blends with the dry corn, allowing the hunter to not be seen, but also not stand out from the dry corn.

If you have an opportunity to get ahold of Toads book, or check out his i-Tune videos, I’d recommend getting it and going through page by page as it will make you a much better hunter.

T