mauser06

long post but i had to give the background info...thanx for reading and giving advice it means a ton to me..looking to tag my first buck with a bow and you all know how that can be...

ok some of you may remember last week i found a scrape and wanted to know about hunting scrapes. went back this week and theres atleast 2 more scrapes within the 50yd area i found..and hes starting to goto town on some trees in his way. all the rubs point towards a small thicket. im betting thats his bedroom and his kitchen is the oak flat hes scraping and rubbing. its not WIDE open woods..its actually a nice diverse area..undergrowth..sapplings..mature trees, boulders, grapevines etc. today when i stumbled upon the scrapes i went to setup down the trail and didnt notice or think about the thicket. i was sneaking along but caught the rear end of a good sized deer 25yds away slipping out the back door. i grunted at it a couple times and it never ran..just snuck out..tail wasnt even up.. im betting it was him but dont know. bet it was him that winded me last week when i setup and didnt know that side of the trail like i do now..i expected them to come from the other direction.

today i stopped and bought a active scent dripped by wildlife research as you guys recomended. i plan to set it up tomarrow after the hunt..then hunt it pretty hard next week. i also been going as scent free as possible, clothes washed in sport wash, sprayed with white lighning or WR scent killer, showered in WR soaps etc...hows my odds looking with a little good luck and good timing next week?? the moon phase should be great..almost no moon. temps are going to PLUMET (sp) starting tonight when a coldfront and rain move in. hows everything sounding?? any tips? changes? advice? anything?? also..should i grunt and use "the can"?? i know its kinda early...but next week will be the 3rd week of oct. i heard the does will start to come into esterous soon because of the moon and the coldfront will help activity..what do you guys think?? thanx guys..sorry for the long post..

Fieldmouse

Your doing good. So here's my general response. If lady luck is with you,
I'll get to see your first buck posted next week.

#1 keep the passion - you seem to have that.

#2 don't over hunt him. I know it's tough but there are other areas.

#3 Have fun while you do it. I've been bow hunting for over 20 years and still waiting for my monster.

#4 During heavy rut, don't be afraid to get down and move a little bit when you see does with a buck in tow. The noise you make shifting and resetting up along the trail they where can make the difference seeing a big buck or having one in shooting range.

RDHunter

Sounds real good to me , if your gonna try some gunting do it softly and not too loud .
I would use a Tru Talker instead of the can , you can make diffrent gunts with a Tru Talker and I would try the doe bleat at first followed by a couple of young buck gunts.
That should get Mr. big buck coming in to see whats happening around his turf , good luck to ya and post the final got'em pictures afterwards.

Sport 2

It sounds like an excellent spot. Although I had a very simmilar situation when hunting an unfamiliar area last year. I 'bumped' a nice buck twice before I realized how good the area was. The outcome was the dropped the use of those scrapes like a bad habit.
Although he didn't leave the area, because he slipped past me on the opener without giving me a shot.

Good luck

mauser06

thanx guys...im excited. i have a primos hands free call i can use to grunt...and the can will bleat. figure it cant hurt to try?

i wont hunt the area too much..i only hunt it once a week..twice if im lucky. i goto school and go home and hunt on weekends. i dont think ill wear the spot out..next week is fall break and my active scrape should be working fully and be at its peak from the reading so im going to try to hunt a bit harder next week..

i dont think i scared him too bad...his scrapes are just starting...last week i got hard core winded..hes GOOD..today i bumped him but he was ever so slowly sneaking out the back door..quiet and barely moving and never ran..

keep the posts coming..i cant wait..i think i got him pretty figured out right now.

Campo

Haha...you think you have that monster figured out. Just when you think you have a bucks number, they will go and do something crazy you never thought they would.
Still, it is most excellent that you optimistic.

Killer_Primate

My season started this past Sat. I've seen a bunch of does and no bucks. In VA at least, they're not moving yet. I've got the signs, same as you, but no buck coming in.
Monday morning three does came through by my new stand and they busted me. Well sort of. I was planning on taking the first thing that came through, but one of the three was looking at me at all times. I had my hand on the bow, but was never able to lift it off the hook.

Saw the same four does on four different occasions this morning. Here is my tip - don't use a bleet can when the does are close. I was using a bleet can and my true talker together and they kept coming back, problem is, they never got far enough away for me to get down and retrieve my glove that I kicked off my stand as they were coming the first time! The true talker and the bleet can work great, but the fourth time they came in I blew in the bottom of the can, which makes a much softer bleet, they were gone! I was trying to make it sound like I was further away to get them to come in closer, but it didn't work. Normally I'd have waited but I had to get out of the woods early today. They were turning to leave anyhow.

Here is another tip and I'm not kidding! Tie your gloves to a string and run it through your jacket like you would on a small child! I dropped my glove last year once as well and I promised I'd do the string thing and never did. I will before my next outing though!

Here is a tip that worked for me last year when I got my first buck with a bow. After you pull your pack and bow up, tie a branch to it and lower it back to the ground, preferably on some brush. If he won't come in close move the rope around a little to make some noise on the ground. My buck walked right in.

Good luck!

mofireman

My only advice that hasn't been given is "don't overcall." Sometimes hunters get a little over excited and can tend to over call in an area. Take your time with your calling and spread it out a little bit.

Also remember on morning hunts, get in there plenty early. Be in your stand, with bow in place, before the woods begin to lighten up.

The other morning when I went out, I walked some 40 yards through the woods making what sounded like one heck of a racket on a very still morning. I nearly fell in the small ditch, crunched a few dead branches underfoot, not to mention all the sounds of crunching leaves. Once I climbed up to my stand, Ibarelystepped onthe platform to pull up my bow before I heard a deer coming towards me through the woods. I mean I hadn't been in the stand 20 seconds!! The deer began feeding on acorns within 10 to 15 yards of my stand under the cover of darkness (I still haven't pulled my bow up). A couple minutes of listening to this deer walk below me and I heard the footsteps of another deer approaching from a different direction. All of this within 5 minutes of reaching my platform. As the woods began to lighten up, I realized the first deer was a button buck and the second one was a small 8 pt.

Moral of this story, don't underestimate arriving to the stand a little early!!

Good luck!

mauser06

thanx guys!! all great tips im soaking in!!

i really never called before in my life..how much should i bleat and grunt?? i was just going to do it like a few bleats followedby a couple grunts once or twice an hour..i have no idea on calling though..

campo...believe me..i KNOW allll about it. im a turkey hunter every day you swear you got them patterned. ive patterened them down to parts of an hour coming through the same spot...yet every day i thought i had them theyd do something diffrent. though i dont expect to see him every time im there just knowing he uses the area is enough for me. thats 1 step closer. if the scrape dripper helps get him there when im there AWESOME another step. if the calling brings him in close and within range im home! if my arrow finds its mark and he goes on a death run...money in the bank. its not called hunting for nothing. this prekill excitement is what keeps me going back. i love this stuff. scouting..preparing..thinking..planning...question ing..wondering. i wonder what hes doing right now?? probably sleeping at the bottom of the tree im going to climb in the morning. hopefully hes a fat slob bruiser.

if its the same buck as last year...this is him LAST year..i was turkey hunting and jumped him in the same area...foolish young guy let me take a bunch of pics of him. looks to be around 14 wide..decint mass for being young..i cant make out points..cropped it..zoomed them..i didnt get a clear enough pic..but you can make out a basket rack. if its the same buck he should be 4pt to a side or better legal and DEFINENTLY make me happy.....the same rubs are getting hit this year..plus more in the rub line..same scrapes there this year...good chance its him. and he lives behind a parking lot. 200yds away on state game lands! he aint dumb believe me. but bowhunting im the only pressure he sees..rifle season im sure more guys move through that area..but right now i havent seen anyone else up there..here he is(well maybe)...LAST YEAR