What am I doing wrong.
 

I see deer on a regular basis from my stand, but when they get close they always seem to figure something isn' t right. Now when I say close its maybe 10 yards. So that being said should I draw back before they get to that range where they figure me out. My stand is only 10 feet. Is this too low? Ive been bow hunting for only two years and i got lucky and got one last year. But i dont know whats going on this year. Ive seen so many just haven' t gotten a shot. Can you guys help me out?

RE: What am I doing wrong.
 

Hi Kosak, welcome to the board. :)

10ft high in a stand is ok but the higher you go the better off you will be. As far as drawing back your bow there is no definate answer. You' ll want to draw back when you get the opportunity. Too many variables can impact the decision.

RE: What am I doing wrong.
 

I would say raise your stand a little more ( I usually put my stands 20 to 30 feet depending on the terrain). Also try to drawback earlier on them and predict where they are moving to. 10 feet off the ground is not that high and I would think they are seeing you draw at 10 yards out.


Dave

RE: What am I doing wrong.
 

Raise your stand to 20 feet and shoot them at 20 yards.:)

RE: What am I doing wrong.
 

The thing is that i haven' t drawn back on any deer besides one this year and it was too dark to see threw the peep sight so they dont see me move. I don' t know if i don' t have enough backround cover or not. What camo would you sugest other then advantage timber.

RE: What am I doing wrong.
 

the tree im on kinda prevents me from going any higher. I use a ladder stand and from 10 feet off the ground is where the tree is straight and after that it starts to curve off so i dunno if i could add my extra section and still sit in it??? Ill hafta try this off season.

RE: What am I doing wrong.
 

Well, you can go a lot of ways. First off, you got to be comfortable with any increase in height. Just start creeping up a couple more feet at a time. If you' re afraid, you have to get some backcover and maybe even a bush or two hanging in front of you. Secondly, deer can really hear well. You may have something making a noise, like an arrow on a rest, a release, a cam.... all kinds of things. ME, I' d go higher and use more cover and more background and all the above. You have to know when to draw. You learn through trial and error. IF the deer is facing you... freeze. If the deer is looking your way... freeze. If the deer has his head up and alert looking left or right .... maybe. I always try to draw when they' re eating facing away or 90 degrees left or right or they go behind some bush or tree. Each shot is it' s own. I can' t tell you to draw sooner or when they' re at 20 yards or any hard and fast rule. Sometimes you should... and sometimes you shouldn' t. It depends on the deer, his speed, his attitude, the cover, his direction of travel, OTHER DEER....etc etc etc. Just keep learning. If something doesn' t work.... don' t do it. I prefer to be 18-22.

RE: What am I doing wrong.
 

I don' t think your camo color is the problem. Are you scent free? Is the wind in your favor? 15 to 20 feet is plenty of height. I' ve shot most of my deer at 15 yds or less. If they are willing to come close all the better for shot placement and penetration. Is the bow weight comfortable for you? I only shoot at 58 lbs. Most of my shots are complete pass through. I do draw early. It is much easier to hold a little longer than to try to draw and not get busted if the deer are close. Persistance is your best bet for getting that deer. Keep getting out there. Good luck!

RE: What am I doing wrong.
 

The wind is usually in my favor. I only go out when it is in my favor. And for the noise thing. I don' t think thats a problem, because i haven' t drawn my bow back on a deer this year because they usually figure something out. I don' t know ill just keep going out and trying it, maybe tomorrow will be my lucky day:).

RE: What am I doing wrong.
 

10 Feet is high enough, thats about how high I am and I have had lots of deer inside of 15 yards, and had some chances to draw on them. I got a doe at 12 yards at the beginning of the season, so now I am holding out for a buck.

RE: What am I doing wrong.
 

Sorry about the color everybody, I am just having a good time with this, I just figured out how to do this.[:o]

RE: What am I doing wrong.
 

if you are hunting the same tree each time you may want to move to another tree even if it is only 20 yrds away if you get busted in a tree it' s not uncomon for deer to look in that tree when they come in i know ladder stands are a pain to move a round but it may help

RE: What am I doing wrong.
 

Ive thought about moving my stand because i use it so much but i don' t know if the deer know when im in it because they don' t see or figure me out until they get about 10 yards away(well within shooting range). So im not sure what to do. I think ill keep everything the same this year and try some things different when they approach. Thanks for all the help. I appreciate it greatly.

RE: What am I doing wrong.
 

OK Big DADDY... we got you covered. Have fun.

RE: What am I doing wrong.
 

Well hell, if you' re hunting the same tree everytime you' re not going to win. You should move ...move and move somemore. I have one tree I sat in 3 times since Sept 14th and think I' ve overhunted the spot because I had another tree 30 yards away I used twice.[:o] Now that' s 5 times in 3 months.

RE: What am I doing wrong.
 

I agree with David. I try to not hunt the same stands more than twice a week max.

RE: What am I doing wrong.
 

How come you never take a shot? If they spot you at 10 yards, is there a shot to be taken at 20,15,12 yds?

I agree with getting that stand moved right now or leave it alone for a while and hunt elsewhere.

RE: What am I doing wrong.
 

I usually sit 20ft up in my climber. I know its 20 because that is how lng my cord is to pull my bow up. anyways, Deer always see me and stare for sa few minutes. they never run off but rather a fast pace like they know smethin aint right. A few of em would walk away and keep looking back at me over their shoulder :D but usually by the time they notice me i could have popped em if I wanted to. I think the reason they see me is because I am sitting up in a tree with no backround. No leaves-just a bare tree and i must look like a clump up there. Funny thing is that the animals all see me but not other hunters. I dont know if you are using a climber but if you could find a tree with some backround it might help. Like i said, I dont scare em but the dont want to stick around. You have to stay perfectly still when they look at you though (obviously) and sometimes they stare so long it could be uncomfortable if your in the wrong position (like if you got your finger up your nose lol).

RE: What am I doing wrong.
 

heres the way I see it. probably 10 ft isn' t high enough IMO. I usually hunt 20ft off the ground. now with this said, many people kill deer off the ground. I think that back cover may be your culprit. find a tree with good cover and go higher. I have had deer look up at me even when at 20ft. Its their sixth sense i think. its definetly not scent b/c if it was they wouldn' t be at 10 yards. also, think about your tree stand like your living room couch. If I came in and moved your couch you would recognize it right off. well deer are the same way about our tree stands because they are out there day in and night out. they know there woods like you know your living room. the key i think is putting your stand up in a good tree with lots of back cover. I recently had your problem myself. I put a stand up and the deer when they got within 20 yards of me would look right at me. well after about the 3rd time, i got down and looked at my stand from the deers perspective and man i immediately saw the problem was that i was sky lined. i have since moved it to another set of trees and done very well. i could have shot the deer off the 1st stand site but i prefer to have them not no i am there at all. i have also cut back on hunting my stand to only 1 -2 mornings a week. now that may be a lot to some but just right for my little funnell. hope this helps. :)