John it only seems to work for me every year the first time I go out.
The last 5 years the very first day its like 17:30 to 18:00 the doe's come through and I get a shot.
So they follow the script. But after I kill one its like the whole place goes out of wack. The doe's will sneeze at me and raise all hell then the rest of the season nothing ever goes as planned it seems.
Now for the bucks I have only 2-3 times that a buck followed the script in about 20+ years.

Twice, for me. Same buck.....two different seasons. I wasn't ready the first time. The second time.....I was

They never play by the rules I set forth and what the heck is it with these swirling winds[:@]. Anyone else have to deal with this stuff?

Huh.. guess I am in the minority here. I hunt alot of new areas every season. The deer and especially the bucks nearly always follow the expected direction. They usually follow script. I would say honestly about 80% of my deer are expected at least.. and maybe more.

The cool thing is I have lots of video of myself with my handheld showing the "audience" where the deer are expected to come from on brand new ground. Including the buck in my avatar from this year... he showed up 45 minutes after my interview from exactly where I point in my little interview with myself...

I agree Mike hunting new areas for the first time seem to follow the script but after that for me not as good.
Heading out to publicFriday by the way with gun in hand. Kind of a scouting mission for bow.

A question I do pose is it the buck you actually expect (Sighted)or any buck you figure?

I catch myself setting up in areas where I've seen deer coming out.....expecting them to follow that same script in future sits. I'll get set up in the exact spot and arrange my stand so that I'm ready when they come out, there. I sit and look in the direction they'll be coming from.....only to hear them approaching from behind me.

[&:]

I would NOT make a good director

I expect them to come from any direction, so yes they always follow the script.

Funny story to share from this past season, I was hunting from the ground and as I sat there, I KNEW the deer were going to walk by me about another 20 yds farther than the trail I was watching. But I wanted them to come on the close trail as it was open (shooting lanes) and I had a nice place to set already. Sure enough about 20 minutes before dark 3 deer came slinking down thru exactly where I kept telling myself they would all night.

It has a lot to do with the topography of your hunting area....I almost always know how deer will move as with steep hillsides and narrow draws around ag fields, they are much more likely to travel certain ways.

Yes! This season for some reasonhas been the worst season i can remember for swirley winds[:'(].
No matter which way the wind is blowing when you get in the stand you can bet it will change 20+ times before you leave[:@]

It really depends. At my property in PA I'm lucky enough to have some terrain features that force them to walk in a certain area, and unless I'm nanny whacking on a food plot these are the areas I focus on. These areas the deer are VERY predictable. Rob has seen this first hand when he hunted a funnel that comes out of a huge mast producing hardwood flat onto a narrow shelf on a side hill. That side hill that runs the majority of the property and the stream below it, combined with the very specific agricultural and food plot feedingareas force them to move in certain ways that are easy to predict. I'm lucky to have this. I'd say 80-90% of the time I see deer there it is as predicted and the wind works for me.

Now Dan's place in NY is a bit different, the woods are much bigger there and have a lot less terrain features and more pressure.You never really know where they will come from but there are still certain terrain features there as well that at least make them move in a certain direction, even if for a short amount of time. These again are the places I like to focus my time on, and where I have had the most success. I'd say maybe 50-70% of the time when I see deer there it is as I planned and the wind works for me.

The other thing I've noticed and really started paying attention to in the last 2x years.......the closer Ihunt to a deer's final destination the less predictable I find their movement, and the more alert they seem to be as well. Just an observation.