zak123

I do not know what I am doing wrong but I am doing it. Sunrise is at 7:06. I get in my stand at 6:40. I make a fair amount of noise walking in. I have to walk through 100 yards of dense woods. What am I doing wrong? It is about 85 degrees here. I see a ton of tracks.

OhioHunter88

zak, first of all scent elimination,are you seeing any deer while in the stand?? if not you might want to think about moving your stand because if you put your stand up too early in the year the deer movement could of changed,another thing is if it is legal put a pile of cracked corn before your goin hunting or keep a steady pile all year long

Ohio Hunter 88

Double Creek

Zak, have no worries, I have been 9 times and only seen one deer, a doe that I killed. This time of the year in MS is horrible. Things will pick up significantly around Thanksging and will stay good through season's end on January 31. Don't let the posts from the guys up north bother you, they are a good month ahead of us as far as deer activity. Our bucks will just start rubbing and scraping good when their rut is over.

It has been way too hot this month for deer movement. Weather in the mid to high 80's and high humidy can bring deer movement to a stand still.

Rickmur

I take it you are not seeing deer. I don't know what legal shooting time is in MS but here in Md it is 1/2 before sunrise so if sunrise were 7:06 I want to be in my stand all set to go 1 hour ahead of sunrise, that gives the woods a half hour to settle down before legal shooting time which in this case would be 6:36. Next thing I do is only use a light spareingly on the way in and it is either green or red in color. I consider the wind before I hunt a particular stand and if it's not right I don't hunt it. Get as close to the bedding areas as possable without disturbing them unless you are field or food plot hunting. If there are logging roads or defined trails throughout the woods try to find a crossing coming across these and set up 10-20 yards off the intersection. Try not to skyline yourself in a bare tree. Those are just a few thoughts, hope your luck turns. In the coming weeks you should see more activity as the rut sets upon us.

Tribal

mdbohuntr is exactly right. You need to enter earlier and also either cut a walkway to your stand or set up just off a intersection or main trail. The best idea when deciding on stand placement is to be able to enter without disturbing anything. Especially bowhunting there is just not enough hunters in the woods at our time to push the deer around. And wind is crucial, have a few setups even if they are reletively close to one another. If the wind is not right dont hunt it. Have a stand on each side of the trail for different wind directions. You will then find yourself seeing more deer. But noise needs to be minimal. When I walk in the woods I feel like a deer. Slow and easy and 100 yards through dense woods inthe dark= no deer for a while. Good Luck!

Tribal

And 85 degrees? Uggg up here in Minnesota we don't even go out of the house when its that hot. lol

kec

Zak, have you patterned the deer? Do you know where they are feeding and bedding? If so - Set up somewhere in the am where they will be returning to the bedding area. Do the opposite in the PM. Pay close attention to the wind and do not hunt a stand that is wrong for the wind that day. Good chance they will bust you otherwise - but not all the time. I know what it's like to play the waiting game. I've been out 3 times and had shots at at 15 yards or less at 13 deer so far. Opening Day 10/15 saw 0 deer in AM (wind changed on me) but saw 8 in PM at different stand (based on wind and i was on the ground) 6 gave me shots but they were all does so I let em walk (had 1 6 feet from me eating apples that fell from the tree. 2'd time out PM hunt had 2 more does I coulda got at less than 10 yards. Went out this AM saw 6 does an 1 5 pt buck. Had the 4 does and the 5 pt in front of me for over 30 minutes at less than 20 yards (let em all walk). I'm still waiting....lol. I've never shot a doe and the 5pt is too small (my criteria). Besides the rut is not here yet and if I shot that lil 5 pt I'm done - I'd rather wait till the rut kicks in and take my chances on seeing a big one (8 or better for me). So waiting is part of the game. There has been seasons where I passed small bucks up like the one today and never got a shot at a bigger one - therefore no deer that year (Now thats a long wait!!!!). One of the keys is that you have to do your scouting and find their travel routes! Travel routes change depending on the food source. (Find the Food source/bedding area's you will be golden. If your stand is not near a travel route you won't see deer. Tracks just mean deer were there at some point. Also I wear a scent lock suit (some don't believe in them, but since i bought mine 6 years ago, I can definatly say I have been much closer to deer than w/o one (just my opinion). I also try and take a route to my stand where i'm walking into the wind. The closer you get to the rut - the better it will get but ya still have to be in the right spot at the right time! I assume this is your first season bowhunting for deer so make your mistakes , learn from them and enjoy. Ya don't have to kill a deer to have fun. Geez...I've had more fun watching those deer the three times i went out than I've had in a long time hunting. Saw 2 lil ones feeding off mama, saw the 5pt wrestling w/a button buck - it was great. Although I didn't shoot anything yet it was a great experience. For me the most fun I have is scouting & watching em - it's like your playing detective reading the clues before the season - then you hunt to see how well you did. Keep at it, the season & future season's will only get better.

Good Luck - Be persistant - and move your stand if ya have to. I usually have an extra stand on hand in case my pre-season stands are not working out or I see something that requires me to hang a stand someplace else. Adapt - just like the deer do! Soon you will win!

Ngtshade

Just like some others have posted , get in there earlier... i usually am in my stand 2 hours before sunrise gives me 1.5 hours for the woods to settle ...i walk in with a red led light and try to be as quiet as possible ... i use a climber but usually have it set up on the tree a day or 2 ahead of time and if that stand loc isn't paying off, think about getting down and doing a stalk/scout ...I have found some of the best little honey holes while stalking/scouting. You move soo slow stalking and observe so much that to me is the best way to scout .... if i find a good area with alot of fresh sign i look for a good tree and move my setup there ..... this technique has taken me from seeing 0 deer to having a small herd eating all around me for hours... it has definately multiplied my deer sightings/shot opportunities 100 fold.... and I practice religious scent elimination.... scent free/eliminating shower with a scent free towel to dry off and get dressed in my scnet free washed hunting clothes all treated liberally with homemade ghost juice(scent eliminating spray) I spray my rubber boots down before heading to stand and approxe 300 yards out i hit em with some interdigital scent to lay a trail.......
Key is be willing to relocate deer will feed on many food sources and will move according to which acorns are dropping the most/best nuts for em so look for those hotspots and set up on em good luck and keep with it and it will all come together for ya

cardeer

Earlier would help. I use to get settled 1 hour before shooting time

Washington Hunter

Try getting there are 6:00 instead of 6:40. I like to be in my stand (when I hunt mornings) at least an hour before first light.

Find water and hunt over it, find bedding areas and hunt over it. Right now it sounds like the dee are going to be moving as little as possible due to the heat. They're going to move early in the morning and just before dark when things start to cool down. Either way they're going to need water eventually.

Try coming in a different way. If you have to go a 1/2 mile out of your way to go around where you usually do, do it. Leave early early in the morning, wear light clothing, and go around the back way.

If you leave early enough and walk slow enough you shouldn't have to worry about a little noise spooking deer. It sounds to me like you're sleeping in, getting up, and rushing to your stand. Don't. Go to bed early, get up early, move slowly.

It's called hunting, Zak. No one claims it's easy. Whoever told you that you would see deer everytime you go out didn't know what they were talking about. You aren't hunting on your time you're hunting on the deers' time. They come when they want to, not when you want them to. All we can do is set ourselves up in a position that the deer are likely to come into.