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well i am mad.this is my 3rd season in a row i have came up empty handed.i just wanna vent a lil bit.i have saw 2 "shooter" bucks but i wasnt quite enough so they were sprinting away from me and i couldnt get a shot off.the does i tried to shoot, of course i missed all 3 of them low.i have asked many many times on here for support, which is what i thaught this forum was all about, and i get mocked.i have shown plots of land and no replies.even tho i have learned a few tips for scouting just browsing.i guess i will have to scout ALOT harder next year to bring down the big one. i will have to get up game cameras and scout in the snow after season is over.shoot more often at the range.my dad has gotten 2 nice ones, he is just an avid hunter.in the 10 days i went out 5 because basketball interfeared with the season, o well.so since i am going to scout my brains out for the next year, i need tips.what is the MOST MOST MOST important thing to look for when scouting?? rubs, scrapes, trails, tracks or etc.i find rubs everywhere in my part of the woods, trails up the..u no where....but i dunno if they are cow or not. i will have to wait til it snows.what are some tips for a trail camera. where do i position it at?? pointing towards a rub or scrape or trail??there are a billion places on my land i can think of off the top of my head to place a camera and hunt.i need your help to narrow down my possibilities. i am just asking this time to please help me atleast see more deer next year and i will be happy and a buck will be an addition.well....im all outa vent so plz plz PLZ reply without chritism or mockery

Please don't take this the wrong way. But all the scouting in the world won't help if you can't hit the deer. I would suggest becoming very good at judging distance, and then become a very good shot from varying distances.

Don't feel bad , your not alone I myself haven't scored on one yet but my season isn't over until Dec. 31st but still I could kick my self for not taken a doe or even a young buck back in Oct.
I know how you feel and I don't like eating tag soup ether , just look at this season as another learning experince and maybe next season you will score on huge buck that you'll be proud of.

What state are you from? seems like an early end to the season? Also I wouldn't wine about not shooting a deer since you only hunted 5 times. It takes a ton of time to kill big bucks with a bow. I have hunted 5 times in the last 3 days.

please dont take this wong if your seeing deer and geting shots you are doing something right. everyone miss's sometime. it sounds like you are very discouraged. witch it not a good thing when it comes to shooting a bow. practice daily throughout the year and get that confidence up. also maybe you are using the wrong pin the heat of the moment, are you judging the distance correctly?it will happen just try to stay positive no matter how hard it is. i went throw a simalir year a few back, i missed 2 deer with my bow and then on the first day of shotgun season got my biggest buck ever with the old remington, sometimes the gun is what you need to get your confidence up. maybe try that.

Dont worry. You arent the only one on here that took a while to get one. I got my first deer after 4 frustrating years. I missed my fair share before i got one, and most of that was because I didnt feel confident with my bow. I got a new bow that fit me better, and started shooting a lot of 3-d shoots in the off season, and it has really paid off. I would suggest to try some 3-d shoots in the off season. It sharpens your shooting skills and also allows you to judge distances better so have a better idea when archery season begins. I know you said you are busy but 10 days in the woods isnt really a lot. I am a college student and I have hunted every weekend except 2 since the start of the season. So try to get out as much as possible so you can pattern the deer.

Sounds like you may be rushing it a bit. If you are good with a bow then you are having trouble judging yer distance. Maybe you should invest in a range finder. Oh ya don't think about the negative so much and focus on the positive, at least you got out there and got some shots! The rest will come in time.

I started bowhunting 10/14 of last year. I knew NOTHING about it. NOTHING. I had NO IDEA of where to set up....and "winged it" a lot. What that did, though.....was 2 very important things. No. 1....it got me in the woods..where I might actually see where the deer were....and where they were going/coming from. No 2....it kept my inexperienced axx out of where I've NOW found they ARE......because I likely would have screwed up my area, back then....if I knew where they were.

Don't be so hard on yourself. I'll say this, though.....I've hunted over 30 times in this season, alone. You HAVE to put your time in. It'll also be rewarding when you harvest your first animal (which, to me, is NOT a requisite to a successful hunt).

Put your time in....practice. Good formula.

Jeff

Well the scouting is the right thing to do. If you can only go out five times then you need to do some serious scouting so that when you do go out you know where they are. I try to hunt trails that lead in or out of bedding areas, I try not to hunt right on them but in areas I know they have to go. I would set up a trail cam on the trails and you should be able to pattern them better, my cuddeback was the best hunting tool I bought this year! It surprises me your dad has bagged two and you none? Does he not help you or work with you on it? The last thing I can add is I suck at guessing yards, if I can not get out a mark off an area for my twenty and thirty then I do not hunt. practice, practice, practice!!!

Scouting and practicing are importand as is stand set up. You don't need a rangefinder if you hunt on your own land and can pace off the distances in your shooting lanes. In the summer you can mark these distances with little flags the deer will ignore them come fall. As far as cow prints versus deer, this should be obviuos there are a lot of resources and maybe someone can go scouting with you. In the late summer can you glass the areas at a distance, see where the deer are moving? As far as missing low,practice practice practice at 3-D targets and from you treestand or balcony etc. I know it seems cumbersome but the practice is really important! Good Luck to you. Oh BTW for your first deer don't hold out for a big buck any legal sized deer will do!

2 years ago I went 0 for 7 on deer. That sucked!
It was MY FAULT! I had not practiced as much as I should have and missed. Thankfully I did not wound any of the deer, all clean misses.
At the end of that season, after a fine meal of "tag soup" I vowed that would never happen to me again.
I started to practice once per seek for about an hour or so at the local range.
Last year I was 3 for 3!
This year I have missed one deer but that is the only shot I have had.

I do not know how long you have been bow hunting but it took me 5 seasons to get my first deer with a bow.

Keep at it
Realize that the missed shots are your fault and do something about it.
Welcome to bow hunting, if it was easy, anyone could do it.

look im not going to say anything about your shooting because i missed a huge deer this year as well ugh for scouting if you see alot of rubs then you know you have some bucks it just determins the size of the rub but i wouldent pute a camera on the rubs just for the fact that most deer just do not rub the same tree twice and if you have some scrapes then that might be a good spot to pute a camera althow i have had no luck with that others have though. We pute cameras over are feeders in the post season to determin what kind of deer we have and where they are coming from. Plus the feeders in the winter can draw alot of deer on your property who are in need of alot of food. You just need to hunt to i mean i hunted about 100 times this year and only shot one doe althow i did pass of a couple and missed a nice buck and since we have the antler restriction i had to pass on alot of small bucks it just takes time so dont get to beat up and i hope i gave you some info you can use and her is just a picture of one of our cameras over the offseason it sure dose draw alot of deer.

well i will have to wait until basketball season is over,snow is on the ground and then buy a trail camera. then i can look for a spot to put it up at.we do have an antler restriction also...must be atleast a 4x4 so...kinda picky. i dont no for sure what the law is about baiting but i would if it wasnt illegial.i am almost 100% sure it is illegal.

list what equiptment your useing . arrow speed all that stuff maybe we can find something their .

From my experience the most heavily used trails seem to be used mostly at night. Find some secondary trails that lead to a bedding or feeding area and set up there.

If you only got out 5 times that isn't much time spent in the woods. I have probably been in the stand around 30 times, but I do have 2 deer. It takes QUALITY TIME on stand not just being there.

Also LOOSE THAT ATTITUDE! The more you bitch and complain about not getting any help the more people you are turning off!!!!!! That attitude will not help you get a deer while on stand. Lighten up.

well i better fix that before this goes any further, i went out 5 DAYS not 5 times....sorry about that mistake.so big and secondary trails are good for trail camera set up ???i guess it hints the name "trail" camera. any other spot to put them. not on rubs or scrapes??

You're trying to do one of the hardest things on this planet to accomplish, kill a mature buck w/ archery tackle. I've hunted damn hard this year, and you know what I've learned.....IT AIN'T EASY.If you missed all 3 low, you've obviously got a consistent problem.......the deer are farther than you think, so aim higher. That's not meant as a mockery, but an answer.

OK, you want to know the most important things to locate while scouting. Beds, and feeding areas. If you can find where they sleep and where they eat, you stand a much better chance of killing one. I, by the way, am still looking for the bedding areas.....There are many, many more things to locate though. Rubs, scrapes, hidden trails, funnels...the list continues for miles...

not to sound retarted but what are some ways to no if its a bedding area[&:]??

Quote:

ORIGINAL: kwaldeier

not to sound retarted but what are some ways to no if its a bedding area[&:]??

LMAO!! If I knew that answer, I wouldn't still be looking for them!! Hahahaha....Um....beds are pretty obvious when you see one. They are a flat, indented oval patch on the ground, and if you look closely you will find white hair in them. Trust me, you'll know what it is when you see one.

Does really like tall, overgrown grassy fields. Those are pretty easy to find. Bucks on the other hand are far more secluded, and I've had a very hard time finding them. Ridges w/ lots of tree tops seem to be a good one....They are in really, really oddball places I've noticed. It almost seems that if you think of the LAST place you would look for a deer, check it out. A buck is most likely bedding there. Strange...But hey, I'm no expert. I've never shot one w/ a bow.....[&o]

well i have seen where deer have bedded...looks just like a place where a cow has laid down. a bedding area is just a mass "bed" for many deer is it not?sorry for my stupidity but i am trying to be 100% clear

Yeah, basically it's a bedroom for one deer, or a family group. They may or may not use the same bed, but will bed in the same area.......hence, bedding area.

'Give and you shall recieve'
I'm sorry to hear that you didn't get a deer this yr. I don't hunt w/maps as the area I hunt is fairly flat forrest. You really have to be there to see the land to be of any true help. Experience comes w/time...... count your 5 days in the woods as experience. Learn from every trip. Where you see deer now they will be again. I remember every deer I have ever seen and where they were, where they were coming from and where they were going to. Learn to make out the patterns.
At your age basketball may be more important.........many moons ago mine was hockey. I made a choice to put school, hockey, and girls in front of hunting. I also didn't go deer hunting until after I left universtity. That was my choice ..... Now make yours. If you can do it all, good for you. I commend you. Count yourself as lucky to be in your position.
Don't be so lippy....... we're not your B-ball chums in the locker room, and most of us are out of that stage. Try that sort of talk w/your Dad and see where it gets you.
Your profile doesn't say where you are from but your signature hints towards Sask., I'm in MB. If B-Ball brings you this way maybe I could take you out to the bush I hunt and show you around. Stand loc, deer sightings and kill sights, as well a knowledge from other hunters kill sights and insights. If ya got the time. All else comes w/time.:eek:Didn't mean to be harsh

im from MO but i liked the picture of the buck so i used it as my signature. very good advice thank you

I hunted maybe 15-20 times, last year.

I've hunted over 30 times, this year.

I found my deer's bedding area about half way through THIS season. I'm glad I didn't find it earlier. I NOW (well....I think I do) know how I want to hunt it for the rest of THIS year......but that has NOTHING to do with how their patterns will change for late season ths year....and leading into the eary season next year. I STILL have to scout and follow them.

This isn't easy. I've harvested 3 deer with the bow, this year. I've put my time in, though. I leave for work before daylight......in hopes of learning travel routes. I scout after work.....to learn travel routes. I go home for lunch and hang stands. I go home for lunch and move trail cams. I plan my hunts around what I see. I've hunted out of the same tree, this year, exactly twice with a climber.

ALL THIS......and I have messed up more times than I care to mention. I had the best buck I've seen in my area at 12 yds. I didn't seal the deal.

This isn't easy.

Jeff

guess i will really have to devote more time then ever to get a nice buck

Hey, keep your confidense up you probably saw more deer than alot of hunters. Sounds to me like your doing all the right things. Just consentrate on the shot at the heat of the moment. Pick a small spot on the deer to aim at and talk yourself through the the release.I tell myself anchor,aim,elbow out, aim, release every time I shoot.
As far as scouting goes the most important thing to look for is DEER. I would say some people get so involved looking for sign of deer they miss the deer.
Can you tell where they are bedding? Can you tell where they are feeding?...Put you camera on the most active trial you can find probably near some natural food. good luck next year...practice shooting,

Kwaldeier, don’t get too discouraged. It sounds like you have a very short season where you are. Here in VA the archery season starts in early October, goes to Nov 17 (the lastweek of which is also muzzleloader season, so the deer really start to get paranoid from all the noise and their buddies dying), then rifle season is in (where you bowhunt, if you’re crazy enough with all the yahoos in the field with their guns (and too often beer)), then late archery comes in Dec 4 through Jan 6.

I’m not telling you this to make you jealous, I’m telling you this because, even with all that time, the success rate for bowhunters is around 30% in VA, which means an average bowhunter (combining novices and people with 20 years’ experience) gets one deer bowhunting every three years. So, don’t feel bad or inferior at all. Bowhunting is a VERY difficult sport in which to be successful!

Also, to echo what other have said, it would probably help you to get better at judging distances. One of the first things I do when it’s light enough is to carefully estimate 10 yards and 20 yards from my stand (I don’t shoot much beyond 20 yards, partly because I’m hunting in the woods, and after 20 yards, there are usually branches in the way), then mentally draw a circle at those distances and note where those circles cross my shooting lanes, so I can make more educated guesses when I actually see deer.

Good luck!

You asked what is the most important thing but I think there are two things.

1) Practice the way you intend to hunt. If you hunt elevated practice elevated.

and

2) Hunt where there are deer. So find the trails. Rubs and scrapes are no gaurantee.

You've seen them and shot at them so you're doing a lot of things right. Now practice and scout and it will come together.

Tom

My opinion, In order of importance.

1) Read Read Read.
This is a great place to learn. Alot of knowledge here if you spend the time. Also pick up some books on Deer. There are alot of good reads explaining everything from anatomy of the animals to the rut phases and even feeding cycles.

2) Scouting,
I scout 365 days a year, I live where I hunt so I have that advantage, But it is KEY that you know where and WHY the deer are where they are even when it's not hunting season.

3) Be proficiant in shooting.
3D tournements. Perfect way to field judge distances ad get put into real life situatiions that you dont get at the indoor ranges.

4) Stand placement
Setup more than one stand per browsing area so you can play the wind and have options. If the wind is not right, dont force a hunt. May try hunting natural funnels and bottlenecks, and cruising trails that cut through smaller trail that are used by doesto and from feeding to beddingduring pre-rut and rut and hunting near food sources early season and late season.

5)Patience.
I took me 5 years and 267 times out bow hunting before i even got to draw on a shooter buck. It don't happen overnight.

My 2 cents.

Good Luck

BB

5)

This will probably be a long post. I'll try to give some info.Remember, some of this is just based on my opinion,so here it goes.

There are 3 basic factors to be succesful in any kind of hunting. The first( and most important to me) is accuracy. You need to be able to shoot your weapon of choice accurately. You need to practice until you are confident that you can hit what you shoot at. If you are using a bow, you need to also be able to judge distance.The best hunting place in the world won't be any good if youcan't hit what you are shooting at. If you only get one chance all year, you want to make your shot count.

The best form of practice with a firearm( this is my opinion) is dry fireing. Get some of those Snap caps( fake shells designed for dry fireing with a cushoined primer) and practice. The thing about dry fireing is, that you can do it almost anywhere. You don'tneed a range. I've practiced in the backyard, living room, etc... ( beware of nosey neighbors)Shoot at birds, leaves, marks on trees, etc... I've even cut out photos of deer from magazines and taped them on a big piece of poster board for my daughter to practice at.

Also dry fireing doesn't make any noise. This is good and helps reduce flinching. It is also cheap. You don't need to buy boxes of shells or drive anywhere. You could fire hundreds of shots and it won't cost a thing and you will benefit greatly from it. Dry fire practice works!

Just be sure your weapon is sighted in. A few rounds of live fire practice won't hurt either. Just shot as often as you can. Practice, practice and more practice. Get to that point where you know you are good!

The next factor, scouting;

You need to get out and find the game you are after. Scouting can be done year round. Even if you are not looking game sign you can look to find out how food sources are doing. Are there apples starting to form on those trees in the spring? Is the farmer rotating crop fields this year? This is just a small piece of the puzzle.

Food sources are where the deer will be at until mid fall. In the fall about the second week of October, everything in the whitetail's world starts to change. Cornfields will be harvested, acorns start falling as well as some kinds of apples. There are more humans walking in the woods. The rut is getting closer and bucks start becoming less interested in food and more interested in rubbing, scraping and looking for does. Things change at a fats pace during this time.

The deer you found and patterned in late summer will start changing their patterns. Food sources are changing. The deer patterned in late summer will still be in these patterns until very early fall. But as acorns start falling deer will maybe switch from feeding in an alfalfa field and start feeding on acorns, for example.

White oak acorns are a deer's favorite food. They usually prefer these over all other foods. Learn to identify white oak trees and acorns. White oaks have rounded lobes on their leaves while red oaks are pointed. Deer will eat red oaks, but like the sweeter white oaks better. The acorns of a white oak are elongated and look about the size and shape of those foil covered chocolate easter eggs. They are usually a bright greenish yellow when they first start falling and alot of times do not have that cap on them.

Sometimes you will find lots of red oak acorns all over the ground but it doesn't look like deer are eating them. REMEMBER these spots. This is where you will find deer later in the winter when the snow is on. After everthing else is gone they willl be going after these red oak acorns. Sometimes in the snow, you will see places where the snow and leaves are all kicked up by deer. Chances are, they are digging up these acorns. These acorns are short and stubby and almost always have a cap on them.

Bedding areas are usually thick places. If you walk in the woods in the dead of winter, you can easily tell where the thickest places are. Scouting as soon as you fill your tag is probably the best time to scout for next year. Most guys put away their stuff and hang it up after they fill their tag. Don't do that. Keep going out and try to learn where the deer go and what they do during the season. Snow helps greatly. You can see tracks and trails that let you know how deer travel. If you are scouting and jump a deer when there is snow, back track it. Find out where it came from and what it did. LEARN!If it was feeding , back track it and find its bedding area.

Just get out there and learn all you can. The more time you spend in your hunting area the more you will learn. Scouting after the season closesis good because you won't be spooking the deer you will be hunting. This is a good time to back track and stomp through those bedding areas. If you do your scouting after filling your tag, or after the season closes, you'll be able to find a good spot for next year.

The last factor, persistance.

Don't give up, keep gioing out and keep trying. If you practiced shooting until you are confident in your abilities, and you've scouted enough to know that you are in a good area, then all it takes is time. The more time you spend out there the better your chancesand the more you will learn.

Scouting cameras;
Cameras can be used many ways to scout. Some guys just put them out there by some bait. This gets good photos and lets you know what kind of deer are in the area. Other guys put them on scrapes.This lets you know what bucks are there and how big the are. This will let you know if you want to passon the small 8pt and wait for the big 8 or maybe that thick 10pt. Get the idea? Still others put the camera on a deer trail they may plan on hunting over. This way they can see how often it is used and at what times. Basically cameras are used all these ways to helpaid in success.

Then there is the whole issue of scent control/ Deer have awesome noses. It is there No.1 defense. You need to get your cloths as scent free as possible. Wash them in baking soda or a commercial deer detergent and store them in a plastic bag.. There is much more to this which I'm siure you can find more info on in these forums.

I know this post is long. I just wanted to give some info to help you out. Much of this is just based on my opinion. Others may feel differently. These things have helped me fill many tags over the years I hope they help you the same.

After rereading my post, I realize that alot of it pertains to hunting with a gun. But the basics are the same even with a bow.

WEll, if I were in your woods looking it over I could probably help. If I could see exactly what you're doing I could probably help. But, that's not the case. Plots of land are all well and good, except it's not seeing the land and sign in person. We can look for bottlenecks, food etc etc , but that's only part of the picture. Becoming the hunter/ becoming the arrow is a learning process in most cases....especially if you're hunting public lands and all that. First you have to decide what's available. You do that with preseason glassing of fields etc. You'll see where the deer are(at that moment). Food sources change and patterns move. Don't blame us for your current lack of success. We're not given the benefit of what you can see to determine a tactic. So you missed. That just means some more practice from different heights and unknown distances.Maybe shorten shooting distances. I know it can be tough, but you just have to work through it. Beginners make the same mistakes(as do a lot of veterans). Most common: Too much movement. Not hunting the wind. Over hunting a stand site. Poor stand setup. You got to set up where deer will be while it's daylight. Rubs and scrapes are fine and dandy, but they just tell you there's a buck around. Frankly, with dozens of deer kills with the bow, it isn't going to happen with regularity sitting on scrapes and rubs. Scrapes and rubs tend to be at the fringes of a bucks area. He marks his territory in hopes a ready doe will come by and leave her sign. He doesn't HAVE to come back to a scrape. Rubs are usually haphazzard and they never come back to them unless it's got a scrape and a licking branch over it etc. Hunt the travel corridors before you waist a lot of time sitting on a rub. RUbs and scrapes around field edges are usually night time activity. My best advice to all new bowhunters is one thing. Before you get all wrapped up in "Shooter Bucks", "Management Bucks" and all that crap.... JUST SHOOT SOMETHING. Make it your goal to pick out the first deer with some body size(doe or buck) that wanders by and practice "calm myself, pick a spot, draw, pick a spot, does it look right, see the spot, see the arrow hit the spot and the deer should be dead". Limit your range. Success breeds more confidence than just slinging arrows beyond your range. Shoot a deer. Any damn deer. Get a couple of those under your belt and you can then decide if you're the BIG BUCK GUY. Settle down and I leave you with one last thought. "If it ain't working... change what you're doing".

Patience Grasshopper. After a few years it becomes old hat. I say now I can usually take one spin through a woods, especially if I have a map and can drive the perimeter first and leave with some stand sites in mind I'm sure I can kill "A" deer at. Finding THE deer takes some fine tuning. Go to a new woods and it takes a few days of hunting to figure out what's going on at that time. Bedding areas are the key and they come in all shapes and sizes. When you find a good one you'll know it. Just stay out of it. I've killed a lot of deer just walking in, scouting as I go, finding sign, climbing up and shooting a deer that day.

Hey it happens.Pracits.Perfit pracits makes perfit.:):):)

Well kwaldeier, this is my second year in a row with the big skunkola too. So I can say I know how you feel. I am going out tomorrow morningto see if there is a buck out there with my name on it yet. The rut here on Vancouver Island, BC Canada is still on so hopefully I can out smart one. My hunting partner is quite sold on scent control products, so far he has had many successful hunts in the stand with a bow by using them. Have you tried them?

Good Luck dude, and remember "A bad day Hunting is better than a good day at work"!!

In the 7 years that I have been bow hunting, I've gotten 1 buck and 1 doe. Patience and practice, practice, practice. Sounds like you need to learn how to judge distance. This year I startedshooting a practice arrow or 2 from my stand everytime I go out. Look at a different spot,judge the distance and shoot. I missed 4 bucks in one weekend last year from a stand I never hunted before and I never hunted so high up a tree. Because I didn't have a good feel for distance, I screwed up. We all learn lessons the hard way!

I'd say you screwed up.[8D][8D] Anyone that can get 4 shots at deer with a bow in one weekend and only get 2 in 7 years should start over, take up golf or sewing. Obviously you're doing something more than getting too high. Something just not right with that??? And to think, you're giving advice on practice and patience? You got to admit, there's something more sinister here than that.

i got the wildview .3 camera and got it set up today in what i hope is a good trail. i will wait til it snows to find a major trail by alot of rubs. do u guys leave ur cam out in the snow???is it good for it ? what r u suggestions