Help me kill a whitetail
09-25-2016, 04:39 PM
#1
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 1
Help me kill a whitetail
First real season of hunting and I've put out corn and other feed and have tons of deer coming in but mostly at night....no hunting pressure what so ever...I've been in the stand for a few hours here and there but have yet to see anything but 2 yearlings walk out.....my trail can fills up with photos every time I put it out but can't seem to catch anything while I in the stand locked and loaded...I use heavy scent control tactics but am always up for suggestions of any kind....the land is around 85 acres but the area around it is over 250 acres of unused land and not haunted. These deer haven't seen a hunter in these woods in 4-5 years....not sure what I'm doing wrong but please any and all questions or comments might help me. Oh yea and I did see one nice doe but it was after I got out my stand and was walking to my second feed spot and she bolted soon as she saw me.
09-25-2016, 05:21 PM
#2
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 9,230
You're not putting in enough time. Deer don't use watches. Being in the stand a "few hrs here and there" means you're going to be depending on luck. Get in the stand before first light and don't leave it until it is too dark to shoot. Being successful at hunting requires patience.
09-25-2016, 06:04 PM
#3
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 4,264
I personally don't sit it out in a stand all day when I stand hunt. Would it be better if I did as flags does? Probably, but I would rather enjoy it than get restless. It just depends on what you're wiling to do.
That said, even if you take a "smarter not harder" approach, be sure you are strategic about what times you enter and exit the stands. Clearly you had the wrong plan if the doe you saw was at the other feeder. Be aware that sometimes deer are coming off the feeders before shooting light and returning to them sometime mid-morning. So you might be spooking them while it's still dark and you're heading into your stand.
Make sure the wind is blowing into your face or across you; no matter how much you scent control, it's often the case the deer will scent you if the wind is blowing their way. Also, it's tempting to move a lot while in the stand; I'm often too guilty of this. You want to make sure that even when you pull up your binoculars that you do so very slowly, and when you turn your head, it's incredibly slow. No sudden movements. These also cause too much unnatural sound.
Lastly, I'm guessing you are in a state where baiting deer is legal---make sure you are.
That said, even if you take a "smarter not harder" approach, be sure you are strategic about what times you enter and exit the stands. Clearly you had the wrong plan if the doe you saw was at the other feeder. Be aware that sometimes deer are coming off the feeders before shooting light and returning to them sometime mid-morning. So you might be spooking them while it's still dark and you're heading into your stand.
Make sure the wind is blowing into your face or across you; no matter how much you scent control, it's often the case the deer will scent you if the wind is blowing their way. Also, it's tempting to move a lot while in the stand; I'm often too guilty of this. You want to make sure that even when you pull up your binoculars that you do so very slowly, and when you turn your head, it's incredibly slow. No sudden movements. These also cause too much unnatural sound.
Lastly, I'm guessing you are in a state where baiting deer is legal---make sure you are.
09-25-2016, 06:34 PM
#4
Spike
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: Delco, N.C.
Posts: 11
You're not putting in enough time. Deer don't use watches. Being in the stand a "few hrs here and there" means you're going to be depending on luck. Get in the stand before first light and don't leave it until it is too dark to shoot. Being successful at hunting requires patience.
09-25-2016, 06:39 PM
#5
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: VA.
Posts: 1,415
I have a few questions:
Climbing stand or ladder?
How noisy is it?
How high is it? Is it concealed?
Are you over hunting that location?
Personally, if you are able to do an all day sit, before sun up until after sun down, that is
worth the attempt, as Flags mentioned.
Are you noisy or move a lot on stand?
Once you are able to rule the wind, yourself and/or your methods out, I would make some attempt to have food available to them only when you are there. When you leave, a small amount can be left to entice them to come at a different time-when you and the food are waiting on your next hunt.
Climbing stand or ladder?
How noisy is it?
How high is it? Is it concealed?
Are you over hunting that location?
Personally, if you are able to do an all day sit, before sun up until after sun down, that is
worth the attempt, as Flags mentioned.
Are you noisy or move a lot on stand?
Once you are able to rule the wind, yourself and/or your methods out, I would make some attempt to have food available to them only when you are there. When you leave, a small amount can be left to entice them to come at a different time-when you and the food are waiting on your next hunt.
09-26-2016, 04:27 AM
#6
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: MICHIGAN
Posts: 2,568
"I've put out corn and other feed and have tons of deer coming in but mostly at night..."
Your first clue coming mostly at night. What time of night, early (late evening) or late (early Morning?
They have to be making a trail to and from the feeder/bait pile. Set your stand near (your comfort range of bow or gun) that trail to ambush them as they travel to and from.
Scout for where they are bedding may be late to do this season if you don't want to spook them away from the area.
Once you learn the travel pattern you can then go sit in your stand for a few hours in the morning and again for a few hours in the afternoon till dark.
That is how I bow hunt but I know the travel patterns and times (almost able to set a watch) the deer move thru such and such area.
If they are coming to your bait at night you can set there all day and not see much of any thing if they are not coming during the day.
Al
Your first clue coming mostly at night. What time of night, early (late evening) or late (early Morning?
They have to be making a trail to and from the feeder/bait pile. Set your stand near (your comfort range of bow or gun) that trail to ambush them as they travel to and from.
Scout for where they are bedding may be late to do this season if you don't want to spook them away from the area.
Once you learn the travel pattern you can then go sit in your stand for a few hours in the morning and again for a few hours in the afternoon till dark.
That is how I bow hunt but I know the travel patterns and times (almost able to set a watch) the deer move thru such and such area.
If they are coming to your bait at night you can set there all day and not see much of any thing if they are not coming during the day.
Al
Last edited by alleyyooper; 09-26-2016 at 04:36 AM.
09-26-2016, 07:56 AM
#7
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 2,743
any area that hasn't had humans in it for yrs(hunters) them deer will be a LOT more likely to be scent checking things and will notice small changes
so you could very easy be effecting there patterns , wearing in boots you had on while driving or from being at home, is all it can take
I never wear my clothes I hunt in while I travel to my hunting places, I change and spray down AT the parking area
the way your entering and exiting the area is a HUGE part of things
Personally I think IF you WANT to learn to be a successful hunter, try NOT using bait
and learn to read sign and travel patterns
then you will be a hunter and NOT a shooter of deer!
when you dump bait, deer learn its there 24/7 and can access at any hr they feel safe
learning to read sign and pattern deer
you will be WAY more successful over your career of hunting
bait is a bandaid for poor hunting skills IMO
NOT bashing folks that hunt this way
just saying, its a whole different skill set you learn hunting without bait
adding bait make it easier like it or not, animals are driven by there stomachs
and a pile of food , takes a LOT of skill out of the equation
just cause it might be legal, doesn't mean its right!
so you could very easy be effecting there patterns , wearing in boots you had on while driving or from being at home, is all it can take
I never wear my clothes I hunt in while I travel to my hunting places, I change and spray down AT the parking area
the way your entering and exiting the area is a HUGE part of things
Personally I think IF you WANT to learn to be a successful hunter, try NOT using bait
and learn to read sign and travel patterns
then you will be a hunter and NOT a shooter of deer!
when you dump bait, deer learn its there 24/7 and can access at any hr they feel safe
learning to read sign and pattern deer
you will be WAY more successful over your career of hunting
bait is a bandaid for poor hunting skills IMO
NOT bashing folks that hunt this way
just saying, its a whole different skill set you learn hunting without bait
adding bait make it easier like it or not, animals are driven by there stomachs
and a pile of food , takes a LOT of skill out of the equation
just cause it might be legal, doesn't mean its right!
09-26-2016, 08:46 AM
#8
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: On an Island in Vermont
Posts: 22,605
It sounds like a good situation with 85 acres of a core area and 250 surrounding without hunters. Not sure what part of the country you are in but that should be a good enough set up. If it were me I would forget the bait and concentrate on reading and learning the land. That would be pretty small an area to still hunt and the way I would attack it is to figure out both the feeding and bedding areas and then use google earth to look from above at a good way to get in or out. If they are feeding in the fields at night an early morning shortcut into the transition area towards the bedding would be a great place to put a stand. Go in early without blowing out the fields using scent control and knowledge of the winds should help with that. If you are in a good spot along some major runs sitting all day should produce deer either going to the bedding or the feed depending on time of day. I would try to have a few stand locations since if the wind is wrong you will hurt your chances by sitting along a bedding area if the wind is blowing straight in. When the rutt starts the bucks will be where the does are and deer should be moving a fair amount during the day. My advice is to get a good comfortable climber along with proper safety equipment and use that. No problem sitting in my Summit all day.
