Third hunt hunting alone
10-12-2013, 05:43 PM
#21
Spike
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: LA
Posts: 21
10-13-2013, 09:11 AM
#22
Fork Horn
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Shenandoah Valley, Virginia
Posts: 193
You said you are getting in the stand right when the sun is getting low? Try going 3-4 hours before sunset to let the woods settle back down after your entry. You may be spooking everything on your way in
10-13-2013, 10:04 AM
#23
Typical Buck
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Buffalo, WY
Posts: 992
10-13-2013, 03:32 PM
#25
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Northern Minnesota
Posts: 2,533
First I have to confess that I'm not a bow hunter. I started to get involved in it in the early 90's, and quickly realized that at the that point in time, I didn't have the time to dedicate to the discipline of bow hunting. At least that's how I felt back then, I didn't feel that the art should be taken lightly, and didn't feel that I was able to commit the time and resources to do it right.
That said, since I started hunting back in 1973 I've read many books, and articles on whitetail habit, and habitat. Mind you I'm no expert, but I try to find all the data I can that the experts put out there. I've also spent thousands of hours scouting over the years.
I'm not sure where you are in MI. but have to believe that your climate is similar to mine in Northern MN. Especially if your in the U.P.
If I were bow hunting here, at this time of the year I would be spending the next two to three weeks concentrating almost exclusively on rut lines/scrape trails. We're going into the territorial phase of the rut. Meaning that the bucks are spending most of there time establishing, and marking their territories. This is one of the times of year that the bucks can be the most predictable, unless they're run off, they're going to be running there territorial scrape trails. By the end of October around here the bucks are in a territorial frenzy. Once the primary breeding phase starts (around here that's in early November), all bets are off because bucks will be about as unpredictable as they can ever be, and will be for the most part ignoring their scrapes.
If your in Southern MI. the phases may run a little later in the season, but I'm guessing only a week or two.
That said, since I started hunting back in 1973 I've read many books, and articles on whitetail habit, and habitat. Mind you I'm no expert, but I try to find all the data I can that the experts put out there. I've also spent thousands of hours scouting over the years.
I'm not sure where you are in MI. but have to believe that your climate is similar to mine in Northern MN. Especially if your in the U.P.
If I were bow hunting here, at this time of the year I would be spending the next two to three weeks concentrating almost exclusively on rut lines/scrape trails. We're going into the territorial phase of the rut. Meaning that the bucks are spending most of there time establishing, and marking their territories. This is one of the times of year that the bucks can be the most predictable, unless they're run off, they're going to be running there territorial scrape trails. By the end of October around here the bucks are in a territorial frenzy. Once the primary breeding phase starts (around here that's in early November), all bets are off because bucks will be about as unpredictable as they can ever be, and will be for the most part ignoring their scrapes.
If your in Southern MI. the phases may run a little later in the season, but I'm guessing only a week or two.
Last edited by Lunkerdog; 10-13-2013 at 03:34 PM.
10-14-2013, 10:54 AM
#26
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 193
10-14-2013, 02:39 PM
#27
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 193
Hunted again tonight, It was so sweet. I heard a big ass crash behind me I would have to say at least a good 30+ yards behind me then ten minutes went by and then I heard a faint grunt, I was going to pass it off as a over active imagination. I'm glad I didn't I grabbed my deer call which is a Primos Buck Roar, and I grunted once, He grunted once, I grunted once. and then he grunted the last time And nothing further.
10-15-2013, 05:20 AM
#30
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Indiana
Posts: 1,186
I have called in deer with calls but always strike out in grunting exchanges with bucks. They have gotten spooked or very territorial, either way their alertness heightens and that hasn't been good in my experiences.