I have been hunting pretty much every day sense season started on the 14th. I haven't seen very many deer and none in the morning. I have seen all the deer in the evening around 6pm but out of range and they wont come to the grunt. I did have two does come within 10 yards of my stand but I couldn't shoot. I am left handed and low and behold the came to my left behind me. When they came out of the thickets I didn't have a chance to stand up and try to position myself for a shot without them busting me, so I let them walk and they never knew I was there. How do I hunt these deer when they wont come to calls?????? Thanks for the input

What state and what type of land do you hunt

Hunt the travel routes between bedding areas and feeding areas or feeding areas themselves. Don't rely on a call to bring deer in, learn about the deer and figure them out. This can really help when the rut arrives too because if you know what the does are doing and where they are hanging out, then you know where the bucks will be when those does go into heat.

Also, try standing long before they come out into the open and have the bow drawn. Learning when to draw is also a large part of bowhunting IMO.

If you're seeing deer, but just not close to your stand, it's time to put a stand closer to where you're seeing them. And like huntingson said, you need to pattern them better and get on thier travel routes!

Unless it's the rut deer sleep and eat and don't do much else except travel between where they sleep and eat. So hunt food sources and travel routes.....the problem with Oct (and why people say it's such a hard month) is because there's so much mast falling and deer love acorns......especially white oaks, so they don't have to travel far to get full and pack on the fat for winter. I've even seen deer pass up shelled corn from a feeder for acorns.Also acorns taste different from differnt trees, even different white oaks will taste different (there have been attempts to domesticatesome types of oaks but all have failed, ((Read "Guns, Germs, and Steel")).....one of the Korean lady's whos house I hunt behind gathers acorns this time of year and makes pancakes and other stuff from them) ....so if you can find a pin oak or a standof white oak that's tastey that's half the battle....I have this 40 acre horse farm I hunt and there's a big pin oak in the middle of one field andin Oct there are always deer under itno matter what.

I hunt in the southern tier of up state NY. ( Horseheads ) I hunt a 65 acre area. They seam to travel over the next next land where it is very very thick and has thorn apple trees. Hunting that is impossible. I have my stand near a well traveled path and like I said I saw two doe come right up behind me. But now I'm seeing them 75 yard down from me crossing. I don't think its the same set of deer as last night it was a nice buck. I do have another stand and I think that is where they may be coming form, maybe. I haven't seen any tracks going by that stand so they may be coming in from behind that one also. I have scouted the area before season and put my stand near well traveled paths and most of these paths I made by mowing them and they seam to travel them allot. I like they are changing there travel patterns and are only moving at night and about a half hour before sun set. I guess thats why its not called catching and its called hunting LOL.

welcome to the lull.