Shane G

[align=center]Are you spooking the deer on your way to your stand?[/align]
The answer to this is of course you are. And if they are not, they are aware of your presence. All the pre scouting and work to get your stand just perfect, might well be all for nothing. Have you ever been on your way to your stand and see tails fleeing or hear deer snorting? Sure you have, we all have. Now you get in your stand and your confidence and excitement level is not the same as when you started out. After sitting awhile with out seeing a deer you start to doubt your chances and abandon your stand. If this sounds familiar your not alone. This is something all deer hunters face and no sure fire solution. I have taken many hunters to a stand over the years as well as gone to a few stands myself. I have learned some things about how to increase your odds of the deer not knowing your in your stand. There are many products on the market that help hunters get deer to come within sight, scents, calls, camo you name it it is all for the same goal. The problem is if the deer already know you are there your in for a long day. Let me tell you about this one occurance I observed, This one stand I was in is at least a half a mile from any road that is solid bush and no clearings, and you could hear the traffic go buy . I had been in the stand about a half hour when this 11 point buck appeared. He was slowly walking and feeding without a care in the world. He could hear the traffic as well and paid no attention to it. Then for some reason a vehicle that I could hear heading down the road, started slowing down and eventually stopped. Now remember this is a half mile away from me with solid timber the whole way. As the vehicle slowed to a stop, the buck lifted his head and totally froze. There was a big broadleaf plant in his mouth and he even stopped chewing. The vehicle eventually started off again and the farther it went the more relaxed the buck got . The buck eventually fed his way out of sight. Now you may think that this is nothing new or no big deal but all this took place with the buck only 20 yards from me, he never had a clue I was there. He showed more attention to a sound a half mile away from him, without any concern that I was above him. Now just imagine that vehicle which stopped out at the road was me, and I was on my way to the stand that I was already sitting in. Would that buck be in the area by the time I got to the stand? Would I be able to lure him back out with calls? Of course not , he would already be wise to what was going on. Whitetails ( espeacially bucks) are creatures of habit and routine. The plan years ago to get to a stand was to use the four wheeler the majority of the way then walk the rest. Makes sence right? wrong. In 1995 a older gentleman from New York was hunting with me. Getting off the four wheeler and starting our walk in the dark was starting to get to much for the hunter. One morning he asked me to take him right to the stand with the four wheeler , I stated that this would spook the deer and to walk in quiet would be best. He then stated that we were probably spooking them more by trying to walk in quiet, he said take me right to the stand but do not turn off the four wheeler or shine a light up to the stand to help him see to get in, once he was in the stand and set up I was then and only then to get out of there. The old fellow killed a good buck at first light that morning, he told me that evening that as soon as I left him he was watching the lights of the four wheeler weave its way back through the bush when two bucks started to spar about 100 yards from him. Now those bucks were probably sparring while we were on are way in, and seen and heard the four wheeler coming. They simply stopped and watched the four wheeler come and then go and resumed there match. As daylight approached they had no idea the hunter was in the stand. The 11 pointer I watched from the stand that listened to the traffic, I had someone bring me to the stand with the four wheeler that day, once i was in the stand the four wheeler left, eventuallly it got back to the road and i could hear it being loaded in the truck. I heard all of that and so did the deer. If you can get the deer in your area to get accustomed to hearing a four wheeler coming in and going out with out ever being shut off I would bet you see more deer. To the deer when they hear you coming they think trouble is coming, when the four wheeler leaves they think trouble gone. Do not shut the motor off tho , let the deer concentrate on the bike. My trail camera pics also prove this method works, I have had pics of deer looking in the direction that I always approach when I come to exchange the card for the camera and then I get pics of deer right after I have gone. Try it this fall for yourself early in the year start riding into your stand, sit a few minutes with the motor running then leave. The deer will get accustomed to this activity and figure they have you patterened. Have a friend bring you in to your stand when season starts, maybe you can return the favour to your friend. I hope this helps someone get the trophy buck of there dreams.........................Shane Gulbrandsen

MOTOWNHONKEY

Good advice, thanks.

hardcorehunter

We have used the two in one out method for bear hunting for years. Two guys go to the stand..the other guy leaves when the guy is in his stand,,the bear hears the truck or 4-wheller leave and feels that the coast is clear. Deer hunting I don't use a 4 wheeler. I approach my stand like an animal walks through the woods..take a few steps pause for some time, and than resume more steps and pause...humans are the only animals that walk in a staight line through the woods without pausing...this alerts and scares deer big time. Since I quit the beeline walk to my stands and approach more like an animal does my hunting has improved greatly.

MossyOak Man

Thanks

Criggster

I believe that in my part of the woods the four wheelers will spook game whether or no they continue running.
I observed a pair of big toms in a hollow about 300 yards below me a couple of years ago. I was sitting in a treestand about 50 yards from a four wheeler trail. I watched the toms feeding and loafing in the hollow for about an hour and a half. All of a sudden two four wheelers came along the trail and I watched to see what the turkeys would do. They could not see the four wheelers and were about 350 yards away, but they turned and trotted the opposite way! I have also observed this with deer; not always but enough to convince me that the four wheelers will spook deer. Some of the hunters on adjacent property use them quite frequently, and my neighbor uses his all of the time on the farm. I prefer to walk in and have had deer cross my path only a few minutes after getting into my stand. If you are scent free and walk quietly into your stand the deer will calm down. Most of the deer I see after daylight were several hundred yards away when I get on stand and could not possibly know I'm there unless they see or smell me.

ranchand99

I usually park way off,and walk in,but I also have observed 4-wheelers ride by,and then no more than 15 minutes after they have left,have seen deer move through.I agree if they hear you slow down,and then continue on they may not pay you any attention.How many times have you walked into a spot,and jumped a bedded deer on the same path as you were leaving..just because you stopped to look at a track,squirrel etc..They don't know why you stopped,but they aren't taking any chances.Thanks for the story.

chucker34

I'm a believer that it can work. While bowhunting the morning before gun opener, my wife dropped me off on a dirt road near my ground blind. I was in the blind within a minute and perched on my stool and no less than a minute after my wife had driven away, I was surrounded my nine does. I realized later they must have stopped and been watching the car, thinking the threat was gone when she drove away.

bowhuntermws1981

I was sitting on stand one time when three does walked right past me and laid down to catch a snooze (didn't have a doe tag). About 45 minutes later my dad came down the trail on his ATV to pick me up, the does immediately hopped up to their feet when they first heard it, but then hunkered down as it got closer until he passed by. When he shut the engine off, they took off.

Another time, I had an injury to my leg so I had to drive my ATV within about 50-60 yds of my stand. I had been in my stand for maybe 1 hour when a real nice buck walked right past the parked ATV. It wasn't running or anything, but still, he walked right by it, maybe 10 yards away.

nebraskabuckhunter

great advice everyone

Dirt2

Interesting post, good topic to think about. Like at least one other has already said, I don't think the physical presence of a car is particularly spooky to game. I've come back to my car at all times of year to find game feeding unconcernedly within easy bow range of the vehicle.What I do think spooks them is changes in engine pitch. Experiment with this next time you see game near the road. Often they'll pretty much ignore you if you maintain constant speed, but come off the gas or hit the gas and watch what happens! I think they're very clued in to the fact that driveby shooters have to come off the gas and stopto shoot.

Furthermore, I think most hunters heavily overrate a deer's night vision. I really don't think it's that much better than ours. All that rod and cone theory accounts for some advantage, but it's just not as much as most people think. In walking to your stand, if you blow right into them, or give them your scent column, you're in big trouble. But skirt them even by 50-75 yards and NOT ON A SKYLINE and in my experience you can stroll casually past with little or no disturbance.

I picked this out on a dandy funnel stand on the Milk River. The one weakness was that I had to walk along about a mile of field edge heavily used by deer to get to my stand. Idid it repeatedly over the course of several days and saw no diminution of deer action, or big buck action. Finally, on a full moon night with really good visibility,I was able to see why. As usual, that morning I headed ina good hour before daylight, but with the full moon I could really see well out into the field, which was full of deer. Ipassed a couple dozen deer at ranges from 50-200 yards (the limit I could see with binos), and spooked none of them. Many of the closer ones watched me walk past, andthe ones 50 yards away might even skitter another20 yards into the field, but once I passed they settled down immmediately and resumed feeding. Those same deer poured by my stand in the firstminutes of daylight.