I'm a brand new hunter in New England. I'm an active member of the local rod&gun club. I took my hunter education course a year ago, got my hunting permit with deer tag, and got the doe lottery ticket as well. I have a compound bow, camo outfit, permethrin, range finder, etc. Pretty much, I've got all the gear. I've been hunting for six weeks, now, mostly from a ground blind I set up near a game trail in the woods, near the marsh. I've seen two doe's during the first two weeks and nothing since (both times, they were stamping and snorting and looking at my blind). I got some estrus & buck urine and have been spraying around my site. I do see hoofprints here and there. They're passing through, it seems. Yesterday, I heard a snort as I walked quietly to my blind. May have been a deer. I snorted back; I read in Field & Stream of a guy doing that. I try to creep as silently as possible in the woods, and I spray my stuff with scent killer & buck urine, but I guess to them I'm still a smelly, noisy human crashing around and they can hear me a mile away. I'm trying to stay positive despite lack of success thus far. I hung an estrus drip near the stand, and I blow my buck call from time to time, but have seen nothing. Probably my site is no good and I should relocate, and possibly also get a tree stand. Let me just mention -- I love being out there in the woods. Even if I never do get a deer this season, I have learned so much. Maybe next fall, I'll go out there with a better idea of what I'm doing. I get some good advice from the other guys I run into at this hunting site (public land about 15 minutes from home). Also, guys at the rod & gun club have lots of good information, and I read Field & Stream religiously. I guess now that I've got all the gear and have been learning to use it, I need to really be learning the art of hunting. The deer are out there; but they're smarter than I am, so far. Any tips from experienced people would be most welcome!
Is your blind brushed in? Is it in a place where the wind is blowing from the blind to the deer? Are you hunting an area where they are hunted hard? I wouldn't get too discouraged at this point, especially if you're brand new. I've gone entire seasons with only seeing a few deer.
I am really trying hard not to rant not be be the old curmudgeon. Get rid of the scents get rid of the gimmicks you can not buy success in a sporting goods store. PM virginiashadow about relentless scouting, spend 5 times more scouting then you do hunting. It is all about the prep.
Sounds like you might need to move on to a new spot, I think you may have educated the deer in that immediate area. I like to keep the calls and scents down to a minimum. Field and Stream will make you think you need all of those things but I found greater success when I put those things down or used them sparingly. I also found more sucess in a treestand, gives you a better view of the area and gets your scent up off the ground. Best of luck to you, your time will come and you will slowly figure it out.
I think your probably relying far to heavily on gear and things you don't need, magazines etc. are just sales catalogues and every page will show you someone using the latest "essential item" and that will convince the naïve and gullible that they need this equipment. Sitting there calling, spraying and stinking the area up isn't doing you any favors. Read as much as you can on this site, the information is from real life unpaid and impartial hunters who live for this. Stick around, you'll be glad you did!
I would do like SOTA says. Lose the scents, calls, and anything else that makes noise or smells. I would bounce around. If you prefer to hunt from the ground right now, I would not hunt the blind in the same spot repeated times. I have seen deer move their travel route just 50 yards or so once they knew I had hunted out of a tree. I would look more for natural ground blinds or build one in the off season. It takes time to understand deer movement in the area you hunt. It just takes time and more time. I bow hunted for 4 years before I took my first buck. It was a basket racked 8 that I have on the wall because of the time and effort I put into it. When you do succeed, it will be that much sweeter. In the beginning I feel it is good to get busted by deer. When it happens ask yourself why, and try and correct it. When it happens again, ask again and fix it. Bow hunters are like woods ninjas in a way. In time, you will learn what alerts deer and when and how to access certain areas different times of the year. The patterns change as the season does. As said above, talk to virginia shadow. I have been doing this for over 20 years and take pride in studying aerial photos, topo maps, and scouting. It is some of the most fun of it all. He pointed out a spot on a photo I showed him I overlooked because it was close to a road. I had the best day of hunting in my life even though I did not kill anything. Scout, pick your spots, hunt the right wind, and have lots of patience. Hang in there and enjoy the ride.
I appreciate everyone's comments. Maybe I'll spend a little more time scouting and tracking, and less time sitting in a blind. There are lots of hoof prints, so they're out there. Thanks for the encouragement!
Scents are a solid tool that can be used, but they need to be used correctly. At the right time, in the right amount 6 weeks of hunting is nothing, a lot of us have been bowhunting for years so we have learned along the way. I think it was 3 years before I killed my first deer/buck with a bow. I'll give you some advice below: #1 Find a way to enter the woods without pushing deer out. That means, setting up in a location with good sign that you can access with minimal travel through the timber. If you can find a ditch or creek bed to walk through, this will help conceal your entry. #2 Identify food sources, water sources and cover or potential bedding areas. Once you know these 3 things, you know where deer will roughly know how the deer travel through that piece of land. Those are the three necessities for every deer. #3 Be as scent free as possible. That mean you can "play the wind", meaning making sure you only hunt that location when the wind is favorable to not blow your scent into the area the deer typically travel. It also means, develop a scent control control system to help minimize your scent. Personally I shower with scent free products. I wear a scent control base layer as well as scent control clothing. I will use a scent control spray for my boots and gear. I will try and hunt where the wind is blowing my scent aware from where I expect deer to travel. #4 Be invisible. The best way to see more deer is to make sure they don't see you first. That means you follow the scent control program. You hunt in a spot where you can enter and exit without deer knowing you came through. Hunt in a stand or blind that is concealed. You are hunting in their home. If something is different or out of place, they notice it and become defensive. The best way to see more deer, is to see them first and don't let them know you are there. #5 Trail cameras can help you understand how deer use your hunting area. Just seeing tracks is not always enough, it does not tell you when those deer are using that area. Does you no good to hunt an area with a lot of tracks, but all the travel is done at 2am. Your just wasting your time. Use the information you gather from the trail cameras to put the pieces of the puzzle together. If you get daylight movement on days that you don't hunt, but none on days that you do, then you know you are the variable and you have to change your approach. If you only have night time activity, then you know you need to change your location. #6 Learn from every experience. Every single hunt and encounter can be used as a building block. You will make mistakes, learn from them and try not to repeat them. Continue to learn. Bow hunting is not a sport where success should be measured from each hunt or even each season. It's a very difficult and challenging sport. Success is measured over time and the ability to put yourself in positions to be successful on a consistent basis. We all get lucky every now and again, but a successful bowhunter can bank on putting themselves in those situations more often than not.
It has just been 6 weeks. I have tagged ~15 deer in the last 10 years. Hunted 4 days one year 8 point with bow and 10 point with gun. Other years hunted ~20 days without seeing a mature buck. Try to set up to where you can see but do not disturb. Learn from your mistakes. In the blind do not open up both sides so wind does not flow through. This will reduce sent. Patience and effort trumps mechanisms. Use rubber boots, have a grunt to call a buck back to you. Sent from my iPad using Bowhunting.com Forums
So, today, it was 34˚ and snow/rain. I went out there to pack up my ground blind for the holiday weekend; no point in leaving it there six days unattended. The snow allowed me to see where the deer have been hanging out. None near my blind; I guess I've done a great job of driving them away. I walked the trail quietly, noticing very fresh hoofprints. When I got to the open field near my car, I stopped and hung out near a bush. The wind was coming my way from the field. After a bit, I saw a doe and a fawn hopping across, and disappeared across the dirt road. I think it might have been the same pair that I saw several weeks ago. I didn't shoot anything today, but it was a rush. Can't wait until after Turkey Day to get back out there. (Too bad it's not turkey season; I saw seven of them just hanging around the other day. Could have walked right up and shot one!)
Always walk quietly and slowly, staying away from twigs/sticks. No scents needed Try using some scent eliminator, like Dead Down Wind or Evolve 3D.(on you and your equipment/blind) Slow movements even inside the blind. Some guys go years not seeing anything....don't get discouraged...use it as a learning experience.
One thing I would also say, bowhunting from a blind can really limit what you are seeing. If you are in the timber, there may be deer moving that you just don't see because you are down on the ground and have a limited field of view. Something to consider would be adding a stand to your equipment. Something that is fairly portable. I'm a big fan of hang-on's and sticks. That way I can easily move if I need to. This would allow you to see more of the hunting area and help you build your knowledge base of how the deer are using the property. Ground blinds are a great tool to have for certain situations, but I much prefer to hunt from an elevated position.
