Deer Blowing / Not seeing deer
10-12-2019, 01:50 PM
#11
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: south eastern PA
Posts: 15,424
maybe its your blind
have you washed it? lots of smells in commercial things made
I always used to wash my pop up blinds far in advance, with scent shampoo's , treat them with UV treatments(deer can see UV colors and a BIG blind that has UV colors will stand out like a spot light IMO)
and then, I would find a nice BIG muddy puddle and roll the blind about in it, let it dry, and then store in a scent free area!
the amount of noise setting up a blind can also alert near by deer and make them nervous when traveling in the area they heard them in earlier!
do you set it up every time you go in and not leave it, giving deer a chance to get used to it
as Blind set up, changes the lay out of the land and will make some deer very nervous!
I always used to try and set blinds up a few weeks in advance to allow deer to get used to them
if worried about getting stolen on public lands, Maybe SKIP the blind and make a more natural one
don't need a commercial blind to kill deer!
keep in mind, that deer on public lands that get pressure will be more sensitive to things, than deer less hassled!
won't call them smarter, just learning to survive is all!
have you washed it? lots of smells in commercial things made
I always used to wash my pop up blinds far in advance, with scent shampoo's , treat them with UV treatments(deer can see UV colors and a BIG blind that has UV colors will stand out like a spot light IMO)
and then, I would find a nice BIG muddy puddle and roll the blind about in it, let it dry, and then store in a scent free area!
the amount of noise setting up a blind can also alert near by deer and make them nervous when traveling in the area they heard them in earlier!
do you set it up every time you go in and not leave it, giving deer a chance to get used to it
as Blind set up, changes the lay out of the land and will make some deer very nervous!
I always used to try and set blinds up a few weeks in advance to allow deer to get used to them
if worried about getting stolen on public lands, Maybe SKIP the blind and make a more natural one
don't need a commercial blind to kill deer!
keep in mind, that deer on public lands that get pressure will be more sensitive to things, than deer less hassled!
won't call them smarter, just learning to survive is all!
10-12-2019, 08:23 PM
#12
Typical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Posts: 516
The blind has been set up a month before the season started and it stays in the hunt area. It is hot here in Florida, even though today it was on the cooler side being 66 degrees when I was walking in at 6am. In blind and ready to go at 615am. The deer blew about 650am. The camera shows deer every morning the past 9 days. I'm assuming they smelled me. It is what it is. I know there's deer in the area, just getting busted or never seeing them is frustrating. This year has been my worse year so far. Archery is usually gold for me. But it happens some years. But plenty of time left.
10-13-2019, 02:26 AM
#13
Fork Horn
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 293
As usual many good suggestions already.
Where we hunt, we've learned if you have deer present when you're not there but none when you are, the deer have patterned you. Through repeated use of your stand, perhaps for years, you've become a distinct, known part of their environment and they check for you every time they get near your stand. It could be scent, sound, sight, alone or in combination, that gives you away.
Maybe try a new stand location, one that intercepts them on their way to your old area. Hunt mid week if you can. Ditch the tent and get up a tree or build a natural ground blind. Change your non scent, park farther away and walk a different path. Anything and everything you can do to break the pattern you've established and the deer have learned.
One contrarian suggestion to try, don't put up your stand in advance. Wait for the best time of year and conditions for your area to hunt, stealthily put in your stand and hunt the next day. Sometimes it catches the deer with their guard down resulting in more deer seen.
Where we hunt, we've learned if you have deer present when you're not there but none when you are, the deer have patterned you. Through repeated use of your stand, perhaps for years, you've become a distinct, known part of their environment and they check for you every time they get near your stand. It could be scent, sound, sight, alone or in combination, that gives you away.
Maybe try a new stand location, one that intercepts them on their way to your old area. Hunt mid week if you can. Ditch the tent and get up a tree or build a natural ground blind. Change your non scent, park farther away and walk a different path. Anything and everything you can do to break the pattern you've established and the deer have learned.
One contrarian suggestion to try, don't put up your stand in advance. Wait for the best time of year and conditions for your area to hunt, stealthily put in your stand and hunt the next day. Sometimes it catches the deer with their guard down resulting in more deer seen.
Last edited by Coastal Mountaineer; 10-13-2019 at 02:30 AM.
10-13-2019, 05:44 AM
#14
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Marriottsville, Maryland
Posts: 1,058
Deer know every tree in the woods --- A tent blind might seem out of place to them.
Turkey hunting with a tent blind is a different story...they don't seem to be alarmed at all when confronted with a tent blind.
If you hunt in bottom land...the wind has a tendency to swirl around in different directions.
Turkey hunting with a tent blind is a different story...they don't seem to be alarmed at all when confronted with a tent blind.
If you hunt in bottom land...the wind has a tendency to swirl around in different directions.
Last edited by Erno86; 10-13-2019 at 05:48 AM.
10-13-2019, 03:08 PM
#16
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: south eastern PA
Posts: 15,424
You are the professor, you should be telling us. You may want to check the laws regarding filling in areas of a swamp. I think the answer is there is no exact answer, as it appears that you want.
10-13-2019, 03:35 PM
#17
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 2,743
I know in my area its highly illegal
BUT there is NO set answer as to how long it takes deer to get used to something new
an example will be this,
I have plowed roads and opened sections of forested land with a bulldozer and had deer in them while dozing, and have done the same thing in another place and deer seemed to avoid the new openings for weeks
I have poured concrete in some residential neighborhoods, doing driveways and had deer walk in the wet cement before it dried
A deer is an individual critter and they all think and react to new things differently!
how well adjusted they are to humans or not, can matter
SO< there is NO exact answer for your question!
best answer is
it will take them as long as THEY need to feel comfortable with the new changes to there home range!
10-13-2019, 05:24 PM
#18
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Germany/Calif.
Posts: 2,664
A couple of things I've picked up that seem to be fairly constant are when there is no breeze the air tends to move from the open into the woods early evening, the opposite early morning, Anything coming in from my rear on a still early evening hunt, the Deer usually spooks, especially Doe with fawn.
I carry a smallish Pheasant feather tied to a piece of dental floss. I hang it high enough to check the air movement. I try to stay still, so I don't squirm around a lot trying to see 360 degrees when I hunt. I usually keep it in a 180 degrees fan looking the opposite direction the feather is leaning.
When walking into my stand I try to avoid walking across or on Deer paths. I've seen Deer come to my path into my high seat and stop right where I've flattened the grass. Either my scent or the scent of broken grass or both.
I've fooled feeding Deer before. Usually, they'll hear me before they see me if I'm walking a woodline. I try to keep some cover between me and where the Deer usually feed when I'm walking in. If you've ever watched a Deer come out of cover they step, pause, step, step pause. I try to copy that cadence when walking into my hunting area, You are going to make some sound no way around it and Deer have exceptional hearing. Try to make your noise as natural as possible. Like moving when the breeze is blowing and pausing when it isn't.
You can mitigate your scent some, but it will always be there, you have to breathe. You can mitigate your eye-catching motion or unnatural sounds.
I've watched new hunters sitting for Deer, the biggest mistakes they make are fidgeting too much and jerking their head around too much trying to see everywhere at once. Your face jerking around iooks like a camera flash going off at a distance, especially in low light.
I carry a smallish Pheasant feather tied to a piece of dental floss. I hang it high enough to check the air movement. I try to stay still, so I don't squirm around a lot trying to see 360 degrees when I hunt. I usually keep it in a 180 degrees fan looking the opposite direction the feather is leaning.
When walking into my stand I try to avoid walking across or on Deer paths. I've seen Deer come to my path into my high seat and stop right where I've flattened the grass. Either my scent or the scent of broken grass or both.
I've fooled feeding Deer before. Usually, they'll hear me before they see me if I'm walking a woodline. I try to keep some cover between me and where the Deer usually feed when I'm walking in. If you've ever watched a Deer come out of cover they step, pause, step, step pause. I try to copy that cadence when walking into my hunting area, You are going to make some sound no way around it and Deer have exceptional hearing. Try to make your noise as natural as possible. Like moving when the breeze is blowing and pausing when it isn't.
You can mitigate your scent some, but it will always be there, you have to breathe. You can mitigate your eye-catching motion or unnatural sounds.
I've watched new hunters sitting for Deer, the biggest mistakes they make are fidgeting too much and jerking their head around too much trying to see everywhere at once. Your face jerking around iooks like a camera flash going off at a distance, especially in low light.
Last edited by MudderChuck; 10-13-2019 at 05:27 PM.
10-13-2019, 05:52 PM
#19
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 2,743
when you use your blind do you open ALL the shooting windows, or just one?
as if you have more then one open, its very easy fro deer to see you inside a blind,
and sounds can be louder in a blind than you think, also alerting deer to you being inside it!
as if you have more then one open, its very easy fro deer to see you inside a blind,
and sounds can be louder in a blind than you think, also alerting deer to you being inside it!
10-17-2019, 02:09 AM
#20
Spike
Join Date: Oct 2019
Posts: 4
It all depends on the situation. I have been blown at completely covered in cover scent in a tower stand with all the windows closed. The buck is alerted to "something" that is not right, not so much just you. I have also been in the same stand with my youngest at the time (8 yr old) and hes playing with his gameboy and eating a sandwich and chip and making tons of noise and out walks a nice 6pt about 50 yards away that he shot at and missed. I figured it was just a day out with dad getting use to it and out walks the buck. So I think its really different for each situation.
