mossbergman11/OH

today as many of you know is the final day of ohio bow season. i was hunting this morning and calling a little bit with my young doe estrus can and at around 9 i can hear deer walking towards me in the ice/snow. 3 does and a big buck pop out, the does walk into the opening of the field and eat some of the corn i poured out and the buck stays back in the trail staring at me. next the does walk out and start heading for the brush on the other side. they were all broadside, i had cover to shoot, and i could have nailed them but the buck was still in the trail staring me down and i kind of wanted to shoot the buck because i have been trying to get him all year. so then the buck comes out and starts heads in the direction that the does went. right by the baitpile (i dont have much cover from there) i drew back my bow and he bolts, i make a noise then he freezes for a second, i shoot and HE DUCKS MY ARROW! and then he is gone.
i know one of my mistakes already. i should have waited for the buck to get into the spot where i had some cover to shoot him. i guess i just got "in the moment" and didnt want him to get away.

could i have shotten at the broadside does when i had cover to shoot but the buck staring at me from the trail or would they all bolt?

is it possible for me to see deer tonight?

i ahve been busted 3 times by deer from this particualr stand and i only get busted when i move to shoot. any advice on bowhunting from a stand and not gettiing busted by sight would be great.

i would appreciate the help, mossbergman11/OH

TGRIZWALD

is your bow quiet? sounds like he jumped the string.

MeanV2

You should always setup a stand with cover. I know its hard this time of year, but if cover is not available you can add some

I'm not sure whether the Deer have other options as far as where to feed, but I would not have confidence to set that stand if I was after that Buck.

You might get a crack at something else that you had not busted, but Deer are not stupid. The deer you busted will more than likely avoid that area for a few days at least.

They would in my area anyway. I'm not sure how it would be over a bait pile since I've never hunted Deer over a bait pile.

Dan

Windwalker7

I see alot of hunters that make the mistake of waiting until the deer is exactly where they want it to be, and then they draw their bow.They draw when the deer is in the open and standing still.

Another mistake is drawing the bow too fast. They yank the bowstring back as fast as they can. This quick movement will catch a deer's attention. Especially when he is in the open and standing still.

The best time to draw is when the deer's head is behind cover. But, you can draw if he is in the open, except you must draw slowly and/or when the deer is walking.

It is harder for a deer to see your movement if he himself is moving. They can see it, but not as good as when he is standing still. Drawing calmly and slowly will help so he doesn't see it.

I'm sure that you yourself notice things in the woods much better when your standing still. The movement you notice the most is something that is moving quickly. (a deer running in the distance, a squirrel running up a tree, a chipmunk running across a log etc...) These quick movements really catch you attention.

Even when you are walking you will notice the quickest movements but not so much the slower moving things in the woods.

It takes a bit of experience of drawing on deer to learn what and howto do it. You learn the most when you make mistakes.

There have been times where I have drawn my bow with a deer looking right at me. The key is to draw in a calm slow manner. They will actually stand and stare at you out of curiosity. If I would have drawn back real quick they will just get spooked and run.

Next time anticipate when a deer is ready to walk into your shooting lane and draw calmly and smoothly before he steps into the open. Drwa when he is walking or behind cover, but draw slowly.

mossbergman11/OH

yes my bow is very quiet.
thanks for that info! it really helps and im confident that if i see any deer tonight that i will nail one

early in

Just a thought, but could you set your stand HIGHER up in the tree? You mentioned that the buck zeroed in on you initially,even though you didn't make any noise or movement. I had this problem (what's that blob up there?) acouple of times this past season as well. That's why I'll be making it a point to hunt higher next season!

dave37

Yeah what they said -but think of it this way. If you'd stuck him this thread would have been ALL different. Maybe it just wasnt in the cards ! Get back out there tonight if theres a food source there theyll be back.

GOOD LUCK your down to the hour !!!!!!!

mossbergman11/OH

i didnt see a thing tonight[:@]
theres always next year...
early in, how high would you reccommend hunting?

early in

I would say no less than 20ft if it's at all possible. I hunt state land, and I'll tell you what. I don't care if you're perfectlysilent, motionless, and thewind's in your face. These deer are hip to danger from above!! That "blob" is very suspect! They do look up regularly!The last day of the season I literally hunted at 30 feet, the highest I've EVER hunted. That's when I saw that coyote.

dave37

little to no cover - 20 + all depends on the cover etc. until this year i never went much over 15 ft unless in my climber ( mostly because i had only ladder stands and short ones at that. but this year i added a couple hang ons and im not below 20 on either i dont think. my ladders are gone ! these hang ons are light / mobile etc. which is great ! not sure what your huntin out of. but i can tell ya a hang on and some nice steps can get ya into some knarly trees that typically you cant access with a ladder stand. which also tend to be the less mature trees that arent just a telephone pole all the way up 30-40 ft - these trees usually have far better cover.
my .2