bigdog02

Hey everyone
Last year I started hunting bow, after hunting gun season here in pa for about 10 years. Last season I went out about 3 times(due to college classes) and managed to get a nice doe This season I graduated from college, and have a nice job that allows me to take time off here and there to hunt.
Anyway, here is the deal, I reall can't afford a treestand or an entire scent lok outfit. WITHOUT these I have been getting with 10 yards or so of some very nice deer, just no shots, or they spook on me before I can get a shot. So my first question is does anyone have any tricks, methods, hints for me? Keep in mind scent lok and a treestand are outta the picture til i pay off some student loans, rent, insurance, etc.
My second question is about deer movements and deer "intelligence"
I hunted a stand that I had scouted in the preseason for a while pre-rut here in PA. The number of deer using the traisl and such around me at this stand has slowly trailed off til now I am lucky to see 2 deer a week, when i was seeing 20 a night. So my question is if, human scent is in a general area, will deer automatically avoid that area then for the rest of the season? I have not hunted that stand for a while now, a couple of weeks, and wonder if I could return or should return?
Any other info you all can offer would be much appreciated.
By the way, in the preseason scouting my wife and i caught on video a very nice 8 point, so eariler in this season I did pass up a 6 point at the above mentioned stand area, but haven't seen that 8 point since a foggy morning on the second week of the season.............and have only seen 2 deer at that stand since I passed on the 6. I beleive the deer mock me......lol
thanx

Jennings Buckmaster Bow
.50 Cal Thompson Center Renegade

spinnerfisher9

I Ground hunt and I am on the edge of this open field so judge the wind and you want to be facing the wind so the scent of you will go the other way so the deer cant smell you also be even stiller than when your up in a deer stand cause they will see you even better then. I know this is true because I was sitting on a chair on the ground and there was a little fawn about 20 yards out and I was perfectly still bout a buck behind me stomped his feat and grunted and it ran so Im pretty sure that if you judge the wind and dont move you can see a deer and it will be even more exciting than in a tree stand thats my opinion
Jeff
"Stop Hacking, get out of the woods"

bigdog02

I have tried my best with the wind, using it to my advantage as much as I can, When the wind is in my direction, closest deer I have had is about 5 yards (have this on video to prove it :-))
When the wind is outta my favor, I have had them spook on me at over 100 yards.
I use cover scents, or try to at least and now that the rut is in, I am using some scent bomb type thing with either doe estrus or dominannt buck.

Jennings Buckmaster Bow
.50 Cal Thompson Center Renegade

Tazman

bigdog I hunt a lot from the ground and one thing I always try to do is have a large tree in front of me, what this does is allow me to draw once the tree is blocking the deers view of me and then I just wait for it to step out into my shooting lane, the secret in using the tree is making sure the wind is right and that you have shooting lanes on both sides of the tree at a minimum to allow you to come to a full draw using the tree as cover.

The Tazman aka Martin Price
Founder and President of
Virginia Disabled Outdoorsmen Club

basserman

bigdog,
I nearly always hunt from tree. The occassions I have hunted I have learned that background and applying wind direction.
As far as decreasing deer sightings, hunters can burn out a location by frequent hunting. There are so many variables in approaching and leaving your stand. Wind direction, sound, bedding area etc. that correctly approaching a stand day after day is nearly impossible. Sounds like location burn out.

spinnerfisher9

If the wind is not in your favor try to move and make it in your favor cause if the deer smells you its all over.

mez

When I hunted on the ground before Double Bull, I always made a ground blind out of dead sticks and limbs in the immediate area. It doesn't have to be big, just enough to cover your outline and hide some of your movement. Wal Mart also sells camo burlap material fairly cheap and you can put that up around a tree for a blind. You can either shoot over it or cut some holes in it and shoot through them. I've had good success with that on antelope so it should work on deer, antelope have much sharper eyes than a deer.

spinnerfisher9

some more tips are the area in front of where you are sitting clear out the sticks and leavs so when you stand up you dont make a sound. be careful if you shoot one to stay still they can charge you on the ground
Jeff
"Stop Hacking, get out of the woods"

bigdog02

Well as my dad puts it, every time you go into the woods you learn something new.
Since I am the only one in my family to ever archery hunt, this is very true.
I am using a lot more cover, there are some large boulders in front of the stand i hunted last night (called in a 6 point at dusk, winded me about 6 inches before i would have had a lung shot on him, and called in a larger 8 point about 5 minutes after that which the bow was on the wrong side of the tree to take a shot at.)
Wind seems to be the key here in early season, gun season.......sit anywhere and chances are you will see something there is enough pressure on the surrounding ground where we hunt.
One of the things I have gained this season is a new found respect for whitetails. I remember getting criticized in college about hunting, how the deer don't have a chance, and it is a slaughter. I would challenege any of those people to try ground hunting for whitetails. Their sense of smell can wind you at well over 100 yards, their eyes can pick you out of cover, their hearing can hear a twig snap at 50 yards, their speed can rival the fastest game species in the continetal united states, and their toughness is above and beyond what you would think an animal could take.

Jennings Buckmaster Bow
.50 Cal Thompson Center Renegade

AK

I do almost all my hunting from the ground as well, and don't subscribe to the Scent-Lok craze. If I get sighted or winded from the ground, that's part of the game...part of the challenge!

I guess the best advise I could give is, &quot;Be still! Se still! Be still!&quot; Don't draw or move until the deer's head is obscured by brush or trees. It's tough to keep your patience (and your wits) upon having a deer within bow range, but you must keep still until the situation allows you to draw. Lord knows I jump the gun all too often and spook deer that are almost in my lap...but I try to work on it. <img src=icon_smile_blush.gif border=0 align=middle>

I use vegetation and terrain features to hide. I often fill in the bare spots with a piece of die-cut leafy camo fabric that I carry in my bellows pocket or shoulder satchel. That material really helps when you don't quite have enough natural vegetation. Two days ago a 6-point walked over and stuck his nose in the blind material...all of 2-3 feet from me as I crouched down behind it! Ohhh, if my buck tag hadn't been used...