huntman

this weekend was fall break, so we got off school thursday and friday, so we went to the lake to hunt some public hunting land. We scouted on thursday morning, and found a spot with TONS of fresh tracks, so we set up a treestand in a mesquite tree facing the direction we thought the deer were traveling into and out of these trees. im sitting there thursday night, and its about 5:40 when i turn around to see a 4 point eating behind me at about 60 yds. then i hear an arrow flying through the trees and the buck runs about 10 yds to my right. another bucks runs out from behind this big oak behind me and stands next to the first. i watch them for a while, pissed cuz i thought one of my friends had walked up to my stand, seen a deer, and shot, and i was about to yell at whoever it was, when a nice buck, about a 6 or 8 pointer (good for central texas public land) walks around the oak coming straight for me. i watch it, but i cant stand up to turn because the other two bucks are pointed my way. so then the buck starts looking at me. it gets within 10 yds, just staring at me. im kinda watching it out of the corner of my eye, and he walks right into my shooting lane to my left, but i cant move because hes staring at me the whole time. then he walks back behind me and to my right, right into another shooting lane. he starts to lose interest and walks back kinda in the direction he came from, and when his head gets behind a bush, i stand, but the buck thats standing about 60 yds away sees me and takes off snorting, so the other two follow it.that night i saw 2 more does, but not in range, and the next morning my friend saw 3 does, then i saw 1 that night, then the next morning he saw 1, and the next night i saw 2 more. i think i have a good location, but im afraid that i might not get another opportunity to hunt it before the deer become much harder to find due to hunting pressure. this morning there were about 4 or 5 trucks there, and the field is only 1 mile by 1 mile.
sorry... i just needed to tell my story...

mauser06

thats hunting....4 or 5 guys bow hunting an area that big wont be much of a problem i dont think...id hunt it until i knew there wasnt a chance of deer moving...sounds like a good spot...or find a better one...but that cost a day in the field...i rifle hunt within a few hundred yards of other guys that are just there sometimes and i still see deer...just have to set up right...keep posting stories guys like me like to read em because i dont bow hunt so i cant deer hunt yet....so keep em coming and good luck!

GaBowman

huntman,

Stay put as long as you and your friend are seeing deer. You might consider placing your stand in a tree nearby that has some cover since the deer seem to spot you in that particular tree. If that isnt possible, cut you some evergrren branches to hang onto your stand for some cover. Try to place your stand to where you can draw and shoot sitting down if possible. This might eliminate some movement necessary for a good shot.

Just my opinion...

GB

Smack 'em where it hurts!

huntman

yeah i forgot to say that after the first morning we moved the stand about 50 yds back towards where we saw the deer, and it gave us a perfect view down an old road bed that they used a lot. we thought the tree had pretty good cover, but obviously we were wrong. maybe they smelled us? i dunno.