Ran home after school, changed, cleaned up and went straight to the woods today. Was in the stand by 3. I drug a estrous wick in and hung it in my shooting lane. At 3:45 I made 2 soft higher pitch grunts. The woods came alive about 60 yards straight in front of me (the deer like to go there in the morning, then go back and bed in the other corner of the woods at night) a nice 8 or 9 point was walking around checking the multiple does. I tried everything to get this buck to come in. He wouldnt respond to estrous bleats or light grunts. I waited 15 minutes and tried a deep grunt along with some tending grunts, again no response. He didnt spook, he just stayed with the does and eventually followed one out to the bedding area. How can I get him to come in to my stand? Do I just hope a doe comes in to feed and he follows or are there certain calls I should try? Should I still hang the estrous wick or no? Sorry for all the questions but its my last week to hunt this woods and I want to make it count! All help is greatly appreciated.
Become a doe in heat. Not likely for a buck to leave the does they have in front of them that are ready.
The drag and scent, calling is all to catch a buck that is looking, not one that has already found the hot does. Is it possible to get a stand closer to where the does are and the spot they are bedding during the day. Does your path in cross the path the bucks use, if not than the drag isn't likely to do much. If you can't get where the does are, or can't get the does where you are, you are going to have a hard time. Perhaps an attractant might bring the does to you.
This is a pic of the woods. It is a hit or miss on if he will cross the drag, there is a scrape where his path (11/7), my path and the trails meet where he usually goes when he comes across here(he was alone on 11/7 and with another buck around 10/20). It would be difficult to get closer to the does but i do have a little bait and some nice rye planted and they usually stop and eat. *now that i looked at the pic, the curved red trail should go farther west and my stand is a little more to the west but it still gives you a good idea whats going on
If he's got does with him, there's no sense of him leaving them to find another one, especially if he thinks she has another buck with her. Your best bet is to probably move closer or try to catch him when he's alone.
LFTS update: deer were on the move today. Had 1 pass through while I was climbing my tree and 10 more after that. This was before light and many stopped for a bite to eat. No antlers. 7:30 I look up and he's 35 yards away in the brush almost downwind looking at my wick. He then walked to the clearing on his 11/7 path (all alone) and started trotting. Stopped him twice with the can but he kept going. I would assume he heard/smelled/saw a doe. I currently have 7+ does/fawns no more than 50 yards to the southwest of me bedded. At noon I'm going to rerun my drag and get back in the stand. If I don't get him tonight I'm going to set another stand. Should I set up on the clearing where there is a lower chance of spooking does or try and move right in on the does?
No luck tonight. At 11:00 3 Consumers trucks started working on the windmill on the south west corner and scared the deer out. They left at 4:00 and came back at 5:00 . Only saw 3 deer just before dark tonight. After that i set the stand in closer to the bedding area where I can still watch the clearing and also have a quiet entrance and exit. Fingers crossed!
