A cool trick to not spook deer
#1
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Little Rock,ARK USA
Posts: 249
A cool trick to not spook deer
Heres something my buddy and I came up with over the last few years and it works. In the mornings, before daylight, we were spooking deer as we headed to our stands. Then one day I was sitting in my stand listening to an armadillo walking through the woods. They make a ton of noise, but it is not foot steps like a man...just a constant rustle in the leaves because they are low to the ground and always rooting around. While I was watching and listening to the armadillo, some deer came through and they did not give the armadillo a second look. I thought...why not try shuffling my feet instead of walking on my way to my stand? I tried it the next morning and I did not spook any deer. OK..I think, but maybe no deer were nearby. I talked to my hunting buddy about it and he said he would try it the next morning. Well...he came back to camp that afternoon excited. He said he started shuffling--without really picking his feet up off the ground--about 150 yards from his stand (in the dark). After going a ways, he stopped to rest for a minute and heard deer feeding in the area of his stand. So he shuffled a ways further. The deer didnt leave. To make a long story short, he did a stop-and-go shuffle all the way to his ladder and the deer were within 30 yards of his stand--they did not even spook when he shined his flashlight on them (it was does)! They finally spooked and ran off when he started climbing the ladder. Needless to say, we use this technique in the daytime now, too. Try it and report back on your experience with it.
#3
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location:
Posts: 65
RE: A cool trick to not spook deer
We don't have any armadillos here in Wisconsin, but maybe I can try to walk around like a possum. Great tip though. Deer seem to know the sound of a man walking compared to that of another animal.
#5
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Georgetown, Texas
Posts: 528
RE: A cool trick to not spook deer
I will give this one a try. . . .being in Texas I get to Hunt them in my yard during the summer nights. Makes my wife nuts. . .I get up a few times a night go out on the back deck and take a quick listen for them schuffling around. Then get out the red light and the 22short with a laser pointer and the rest is history. Three so far this summer and 3 last summer as well.
They sure tear up your flower beds. We leave the Deer, Foxes, Skunks, Racoons and Posums alone but those Dillos are a real problem.
They sure tear up your flower beds. We leave the Deer, Foxes, Skunks, Racoons and Posums alone but those Dillos are a real problem.
#6
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: NW Ohio , 5 min from Ottawa National / Magee Marsh
Posts: 2,051
RE: A cool trick to not spook deer
When I walk to my stand after sunrise I use a turkey mouth call . I have jumped deer out of their beds bed down again after a PUTT or PURR.
#7
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: North West Arkansas
Posts: 422
RE: A cool trick to not spook deer
Like johnch, I use a turkey mouth call but I also cut a 3ft long swich and use it to scratch the leaves just like a turkey as I move through the woods. It works! The closest I've ever gotten using this method was about 20Yds. A big doe was feeding on acorns on the other side of this big briar patch. About the time I cleared the briar patch, we saw each other. Don't know who was startled the most the doe or me...LOL
firstshot
firstshot
#10
RE: A cool trick to not spook deer
When I walk to my stand after sunrise I use a turkey mouth call . I have jumped deer out of their beds bed down again after a PUTT or PURR.