ORIGINAL: mauser06
lately, i been questioning my hunting ability..my scouting ability..
Don't do that.... reason number one that hunters constantly fail is because they do not trust their instincts, abilities, or "gut feeling". Be humble, and always seek to learn more... but I know I messed up a few opportunities at turkeys this past spring just because I couldn't make up my mind and trust myself... Its very easy to do... so don't. Its better to hold what you got and be conservitive... not spooking game etc then go charging through and hoping to get lucky.
i KNOW i overhunted my stands.
Lesson learned... good for you!
that stand got hunted HARD..too hard i know. i didnt hunt it for 3-4 weeks and rifle season came..2 bucks ive never seen before came through. one whopper big nasty mature 11pt(i seen pics after he got killed 2 days later by some kid over a mile away that got lucky![:@]) and another smaller buck..honestly didnt look at him because he didnt compare to the biggun...didnt get a shot..but that proves my thinking.
Thats how the rut works. Deer will range over miles looking for receptive does. The way you connect during the rut is by being in "a place" at the right time. There is no one RIGHT place... but there are places that put the odds in your favor. You cannot depend on a deer you have been seeing all year to show up during the rut.... it does happen sometimes... but not often.
also got winded pretty much my whole first week till i started practicing scent control...
Or wind control. Watching the wind is MUCH more important than what I consider scent control. I'm not saying you can wear your tennis shoes and gym shorts while smoking left handed cigarettes just because the wind is right... but you'd have a better chance that way...
most of the times when i saw deer it was when i hunted new stands, first time i hunted stands or stands i havent hunted hardly at all.
Thats almost always the case. The best time to hunt a stand is the day you hang it. its your best chance to kill a big buck in that area, especially if you time your hanging right.
my question is...what do you consider "overhunting a stand"? i dont have 100 different spots to keep me busy all season long. i could possibly switch trees..move 20 or 30 or 50yds here and there etc...i do have spots to keep me not hunting the same stand for atleast a week, maybe more..being at school helps..but usually weekends(fri evening, all day saturday) im home...during the week i will probably hunt mon and wed evenings..
just curious how often i can hunt a stand and be safe?
Thats a good plan... move 50 yards or so... mix it up... keep them guessing. Its a trick I learned with duck hunting. Ducks know where blinds are... and will start skirting them... even decoys sometimes.. so all you do is move 75 yards down from where you normally set up... sometimes I even leave the decoys in front of the blind... you can slay'em as if it was cheating. Deer work the same way. Deer learn very quickly what a stand is... and where they are. I have seen deer stop in thick cover and wait for 30 minutes just staring at an empty stand to make sure no one was in it. You can often see exactly how their patterns change after a stand has been hunted a time or two.
also...do you guys hunt different stands for the rut?? i know my one spot doesnt really hold bucks..but it holds a handful of does...its a small finger of woods..i know one day during the rut im sitting there all day. going to try to find other such setups for the rut..and try to hunt food sources for the first month...
Yes I do hunt/hang new stands for the seeking phase of the rut. If I have a good line of cover with several different doe trails running in and out of it... I will set myself up on the downwind side of it... usually 20 yards off the edge. The bucks will scent check several trails at once. I also set up at intersections, where does frequent. If a hot doe comes along with a buck behind her... there is a decent chance she will run a familar trail. However, as it always is with the rut... you just don't ever know. The only sure fire tactic is to not be on your butt inside somewhere. You have to be in the woods... there is no telling when it will happen... or where it will happen.... but if you put your time in... watch the wind, and have faith in your abilities... it will happen for you.