Hey guys I'm new to the forum and new to bow hunting. I recently got permission to hunt on some new land near my house. I set up my camera and stand for a weekend to see what all was on the land. I found some scrapes and rubs and got a young 7 pointer on camera that I would like to get. Him and some spikes and a few does we're coming in around 7 just before it got dark everyday. So I went out and hunted the afternoon after I got him on camera at that time a few days in a row. I went and saw nothing and they day after also nothing not even anything on my camera for the first time. Did the deer smell me and not come in? Any suggestions on what could have happened what I can use as a cover scent or attractant? Any help would greatly appreciated. Thanks
I agree with frenchbritt,,,plus which way was the wind blowing? chances are, they scented you from the day before, and/or your scent was blowing towards they area they are coming from.
if they were patternd coming thru every evening, and then they stopped, then likely you scented up the area. I assume you went, checked your camera, then decided to hunt the next day? Did you take scent reduction steps when checking your cam? How about when you hunted? "Pressure" is only a factor as to how much trace of your presence is left in the woods. If you take proper steps, you could hunt a stand over and over again and not pressure it too much. However, without the proper steps, you can overpressure a stand before you even have a chance to sit in it.
I guess the perks of hunting a property downwind of a pig farm is that you have a natural cover scent! But I agree they probably smelled you and hung back. After a couple years of checking trailcams without using cover scent on our property, the deer are used to our scent, but we still take all cover scent precautions when it actually comes to deer season. We had one day of putting some corn out in front of a trail cam, and we forgot something back in the bush so we drove back on an ATV and not 5 minutes after putting the corn there there was a doe feeding. They are quite peculiar animals deer are. Good luck this season though and I hope you can put an arrow through one of the deer on that property!!!
When I hang my stands I always try to wait 2 weeks before I get into them. I noticed that I was having the same problem that you were. I hung my stand 3 weeks ago and put out my camera. After hunting it last weekend, I noticed I had 0 pictures for 8 days then it all got right back to normal. I ended up seeing 8 deer the first time in it. Just be patient and give it some time. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free
