Hartski

I read that the Indians used to stand in smoke to mask their scent before the hunt. I'm inclined to try it because humans have been killing deer for thousands of years before Scent lock went into business.

rockport

The Indians also probably had smoke rolling 24/7 in the areas they were planning to hunt.

The best bet is to forget all that stuff and just hunt the wind IMO.

Topgun 3006

Yep, hunt the wind and forget all that expensive scent elimination stuff, etc. In five decades of hunting I've never used anything other than some fox urine on my boots if/when I have to go into a stand where deer might cross my path getting in and out of there. Other than that, it's just having stands for the various wind directions, being able to get in and out of them without stinking up the area, and not overhunting any particular stand.

rockport

I'll give my honest opinion.

I think the worst think you can do is start think about everything that might be wrong besides what you are doing.

I see it all the time. I kill big deer and guys want to start crowding me like its my spot and not my ability.....I move where they were and kill big deer while they ruin my hunting spot.

Its a sport of patients, patients, and more patients.

Stay in your stand,hunt the wind and take patient steps at learning.

Take a step back and observe and look for things you are doing wrong. Some will try but honestly we just can't tell you specifics without being there. We can just offer possibilities. Find a spot where you can see a lot and observe for a few days..

Your wind could be wrong, you could be hunting a food source that has dried up, you could simply be in to close to the deer and be jumping them, you could be to far away and they are not getting there before dark.

There are so many things that could be wrong. The way you travel in and out. I have a guy on the property I hunt now that make the mistake of hunting the backside of a food source which has a lot of deer but when you walk through the food source in the morning before dark and in the evening after dark every day it just don't work. This is my go to spot. Every year I fill my buck tag in this spot usually on day 1 and let him hunt it the rest of the season.....it takes him about 2 days to ruin the spot.

If there are deer there and your not getting them its not a problem with the farm. You just have to be patient and learn what you are doing wrong...I hope that doesn't come off wrong it is the same way I go by when I'm asking myself what the problem is...Its me not everything else. Sure there are other factors but you are the factor you can control.

Last but not least enjoy hunting. That is a huge factor. Enjoy the actual hunting part and things will come a lot easier. Enjoy the birds,squirrels,just being in the woods etc. and every hunt is a good hunt and it will come to you.

Skinbasket

This is important. It can be frustrating when you don't have as many opportunities to hunt, but if you're not enjoying your time out there, it makes waiting quietly and still a lot more difficult and will make it feel like you're wasting time instead of biding time.

All the hunting stories you hear leave out the part you're experiencing - those times when everything seems perfect, but nothing walks by. This was my first year attempting bow hunting, and I had three opportunities early in the season that I screwed up in different and spectacular ways, and later wished I had back when hours of waiting turned into days.

I don't know about your area, but here the deer have been keeping nocturnal a lot more than last season and sticking to the thick rather than wandering fields. Everyone has their theories from the excessive acorn output this year to how area game farms have harvested does to climate crisis and everything in between, but it doesn't really matter. They just haven't been moving as much as they did last season around here and I'm not going to pretend I can change what the deer are doing and when.

Give it time and enjoy whatever you can while you're out. You seem like you're on the right track and doing the right things. I wear street clothes, smoke in my stand, always find a way to knock my bow or an arrow against something metal and the only call I use is an occasional fart. But hell, I want to enjoy myself while I'm out there, so I'm not going to go to extremes and make the experience uncomfortable or less enjoyable, but that's just me. I would rather have a good time and miss a deer here or there than stress out and bore myself to death. Point being, if I can manage to have deer walk within 30 yards, someone who's actually doing it right shouldn't have a problem given enough patience. Good luck!