This situation has happened to me a couple of times in the last few years and I was wondering if any of you had experienced anything similar? The first time was about 3 years ago on the first day of bow season so that puts it around Sept.10 or close. I had been noticing how much damage the deer had been doing to this one field of sweet potatoes and I was going to hunt it early in the season. For those of you that don't know about sweet potatoes, deer love 'em. Early on they eat the vines/leaves and when the farmer plows them up to pick, the deer will eat the leftovers until a few hard frosts/freezes. Anyway the place that I wanted to get had only a couple of trees with very little cover but I went for it anyway. Opening day found me perched in this little bity tree drenched in sweat during a 90 degree afternoon. Later that evening 6-7 does came in which included 3 big does and their fawns. I picked the one doe that I did not think had any fawns and when the shot was there I took it. Well when I shot her I had to move around some to keep my eye on where she was headed. At that point 1 or both of the other big does saw me, blew a few times and ran off with the fawns in tow. I didn't come back for a week but when I did come back those 2 big does would always look up at me when they got within 30 yrds. of me even though I was still and the wind was in my favor. I would see them coming and stayed perfectly still but they still saw me and bolted. That's when I took my climber and moved about 10yrds. over to an even smaller tree with even less cover. When the does came in they kept looking at the hang on stand that I had left in the original position and would see it empty. They would then come on in with no worries. The other time was similar. I was a few miles down the road on another farm. It had just rained and it was hard to hear anything walking in the woods. A big doe with a couple of fawns had gotten within about 20 yds. of me when I turned around and saw them...she saw me too. She did the usual stare,stomp,blow, run routine with the fawns following suit. The next time in there I brought my climber and got up a tree that was about 6 trees away from my hang on stand. Sure enough late in the evening here comes mama and the little ones and sure enough when she gets within eyesight of my hang on she starts looking at it and doing the "boxing-head-bob" routine. Finally convinced that "nobody was home" she and the little ones came on down the trail past me and on towards the field. I was just wondering if anything like this has happened to any of you or if you have left your hang on there as a decoy. I mostly use my climber but there are a few places/times that I put hang ons especially for the early days of 90 degree temps when I don't want to be soaking wet by the time I sit down.
I have never experienced this with a hang-on but ive watched does come in and stare down trees that i have been in the weeks prior with my climber. i think this is an effective strategy for does but probobly not so for a non skin-head. he'll skirt the area completely more times than not.
I have seen this happen. Couple of points: - I believe a mature deer (buck) will find a place/angle to check the stand visually before revealing itself. Or, they will scent-check the suspicious tree. - It always pays to have as many set-ups as possible. If you're gonna shoot freezer does from a stand, you probly won't get a crack at an older deer unless you're lucky/good enough to avoid being visually and scent checked
Excellent topic, wolfpack! I have a two-man ladder stand which has produced regularly from the same tree for 3 consecutive years. My father and cousin have both killed awesome ten-pointers and I've taken a smaller buck and a doe from this stand. I noticed this past season that like yours, they're now paying attention and skirting its location by 30-40 yards. I decided to let it hang as a decoy and set up about 20 yards away, on the opposite side of the trail. Wouldn't you know that I had several opportunities to whack does and a couple smaller bucks that day (though I passed on all; already had meat in the freezer). My "Cadillac" stand will definitely be in another location next season, but I will use it as a decoy without hesitation, if need be.
Kwilson and Dave I agree. When I am hunting a buck/bucks specifically, if I get busted or winded even by a young buck I will move a minimum of 30-50 yds. uptrail UNLESS I am at a very good intersection of trails or near a large community scrape and the rut is in or very close. I will still try to move to another tree even if it is only a couple of trees over. That's why I like climbers...just not so much when it is 90 degrees I do try to shoot as many does as I can (we have an unlimited number of does that we can shoot) but not from the second week in Oct. thru about the first week in Dec. I usually shift gears then like alot of people do:d
