Okay, I feel as though I have the worst luck of any hunter in the woods, however i'm sure most of you have felt like this at some point or another. It's been a while since i've taken any deer with my bow now. Obviously I haven't this year, but it just seems as though i'm not getting any opportunities. My landowner put his cows in the woods, so I can't hunter there since there are 60 cows on about 40 acres of woods. The cows have totally destroyed our woods. We dropped the lease needless to say. Now I am hunting with a buddy who's got some great land. It seems as though I'm just not getting opportunities. I'm playing the wind right. I have been seeing deer however. I just won't shoot a small buck, just won't do it, that's the way I am. I've been wanting to kill a doe, but every doe i've seen has walked just out of range. It's funny cause youre buddy will sit in one spot and see deer within ten yards every day, then you go to the same spot and they walk at 60 yards. That's been the story of my season so far. Hopefully things come together this next weekend. I wash my clothes in scent killer every night before I go out. I get up and take a shower in the morning. I don't put my clothes on until I get into the woods(hunting clothes that is,...haha). I know I'm just getting frustrated and that's the way hunting is. Just needed to vent.

I've had bad luck this year too, don't feel too bad. As my husband tells me, "That's why they call it hunting, not killing" LOL Easy for him to say, he filled his buck tag on the 6th day of bow season!

I've hunted a TON this year compared to the first 3 years I hunted, and I have only had one deer in range during shooting light. I couldn't get a shot at it because I stood up too late and he was already out of my shooting lane.

Hang in there... patience always pays off.

bowtech die hard,

There could be another explaination. You may not even realize it either. You may be moving too much in the stand. You may not be scaring the deer completely off, but you can make them weary and cause them to move a safe distance away. I say this, because if your friend is seeing them and is having shot opportunities, then you need to figure that it is something you are doing. If you are indeed being as scent free as possible, and they are not winding you , then the next logical aspect to look at is movement. Deer don't like fast jerky movements. Thats how a lot of people get picked off. Try getting in the stand and being really aware of how much you fidget and move. Be careful about making noise, and see if your encounters get a little closer.

I feel your pain. Had two nice bucks come walking through the woods just a trashing away at trees but wouldn't come close enough for me to get a shot. Then same problem this morning, seen two, small buck and don't know what the other one was, could get a good view of the head and they where in some thickets. Our day will come then we can be the ones posting pic of our trophies LOL. Good luck and hang in there.

Over time luck seems to even out. Just when you think your luck can't get any worse something great happens. Plus, we can always remind ourselves that just being able to go out makes us lucky.

You have pissed off thehunting gods byrefusing to killa small buck. You have to make it right with the deer gods before your luck will change. Kill one of thoseyoung bucks, it will help BOOST YOUR CONFIDENCE. A confident hunter is a more successful hunter. If you are walking around thinking 'I'm not gonna see anything, They're not gonna get close enough for a shot,' then guess what...not gonna happen.

movement isn't an issue for me. I don't move much at all on stand. Plus, my stands are al 25' high. The other thing is, sorry kenman, can't kill small bucks. Just can't I've already killed a few earlier on in my hunting life. I decided 4 years ago to start hunting for the big boys. I've killed a few with the rifle, just not with the bow. Luck will change hopefully. Thanks for the input.

I know how you feel. I haven't had a deer come within bow range of my stand since season started. Not to mention that I go days without seeing a single one. Thats how mountain hunting goes.

This time last year I had two does down with the bow.[&o]

Are your stands over hunted? If your buddy saw deer early in the season maybe they have learned the stand location. I've always found that after hunting a stand a few times the deer realize that something is up, probably too much accumulated scent from going in/out, and they skirt that area. Move the stand 50 yards one way or another and see what happens.

Sounds to me like your stands are either over hunted or not in the right place. If deer on moving 60 yards from your stand seems to me like it might be a good idea to move it.