1st year bowhunter need some advice
 

i haven't seen any deer in the three days i've been out. i posted up all day today on trail that is covered in droppings and foot prints but for some reason im just not seeing anything.i am controlling my scentand taking those necessary precautions. is there any suggestions or info you guys have for me that could hopefully lead to my first kill. thankyou

Find the main food source, and a bedding area close to that...set up in between, cut them off going to bed, and then again going to food in the evening.

I was wondering the same thing. Then I checked my trail cam. lots of pics, just all after dark. In my area they are only moving at night. The next several days are really going to suck, with temps in the upper 60's to lower 70's and rain forcasted for the weekend AGAIN, I think I am going to take a few days off from hunting and hope its better next week.

Days "off"and "hope" will get you nowhere. Take it from me. Patience will get you better than what ur getting now. Night time pics are better than none, stay focused and determined. good luck.

keep putting the time in, do some in season scouting, deer move all the time, changing routes...stay on top of them and sit where you plan on seeing deer, i am sure you will be fine and hope to see a pic of you and a buck soon!

That spot will get better once the rut hits. Bucks will start patrolling through there at all hours tracking down does. If you see scrapes or rub activity then for sure bucks will be there when the rut hits. You may want to consider a different spot with more daytime activity for now. It might even be fairly close to where you are. You can even hunt from the ground just to "recon" a new location and see what is moving through the woods. Those deer are bedding somewhere, find out where and set up nearby.

Those nighttime only areas are very frustrating - tons of sign but no deer during the day. I have been there myself and it can get aggravating to say the least.

Lastly, getting a deer is mostly about putting in the hours. Put 40 hours of hunting time in, and good things tend to happen!

If there are deer in the area, and you put in time in the stand, you will eventually get a shot. I sat 8 times (it helps that I hunt in my back yard, only 1000 feet from my back door) before I got my 1st deer this year (2nd deer ever archery, 3rd deer ever). I had sat in that same stand 3 previous times from before sun up to 9:00AM and seen nothing...this time I got my deer just as it got light, and when I was at the base of the tree gathering my stuff 20 minutes later 2 more deer walked within 20 yards of me before seeing me and running off.

Words of advice from someone that just recently lost their archery virginity....practice with a 3D target; practice grunting before shooting to freeze the deer (harder than it sounds);think about the path of the arrow through the deer, not just the entry point; try to go through the same pre-shot routine you use when practicing (I am still struggling with this); When in the stand practice quietly pulling back bow and aiming at expected shot locations; enjoy the woods while waiting for your quarry.

The problem with hunting "just" a trail, even with good sign on it, is that you don't know when they are using it. If you are seeing a bunch of droppings and tracks, there is little doubt they are using it. However, if they are using it at 2am, it does not do you much good.

If you don't want to do a bunch of scouting right now (walking your ground), get a good aerial map, find your food source, then find your thick cover (bedding areas) and then look on a topo map for good funnels in between. It is a receipt that works every time.

Best advise I can give you is to continue hunting. If there is signs in the area, there are obviously deer there. Continue to hunt as much as you can. Deer hunting is all about being in the right spot at the right time, and if you sit there long enough you will see the deer.

just get out there and hunt. My first year bow hunting i saw deer when hunting three times. Last year i was on a creek between a bedding area and a food source. I did not see any deer when in my stand. This year is better so far. Just hunt and it will come. GOod luck.

I'm right there with you. So far it's Green Swamp 8, flbandit 0! However, I'll be out there again tomorrow. If nothing else I'm building up a good knowledge of where they ain't!