Rookie mistake by a veteran... nothing else to say, except sometimes you just need one additional experience to help "cement" your learning into a foundational thought process and ingrain it into your methodology of hunting. Two events have helped crystalize it into much clearer focus for me: One, watching Dan Infalt's "Hunting Marsh Bucks", which I thought was probably the single most educational hunting video I've ever watched. What a great job these guys did mixing in teaching tips -- and not your "hunt rub lines and funnels" type of useless, redundant verbage we hear over and over. Dan (or one of his buddies) made a GREAT point on their video of explaining that when they're running and gunning and scouting hot sign in a swamp, they NEVER go in further than they'll hunt; if you watch their video, you'll undertand why -- it's extremely tight quarters, and you simply almost have to brush up against the reeds and rushes as you walk through. Last night sealed the deal for that becoming a foundational plank in my hunting platform, even though it was vaguely there before. I will abide by it completely forevermore. I'm back on the new farm last night where I took my daily double a couple nights ago. Not wanting to hunt the same corner because of the disturbance from two nights ago, I chose the opposite side, and where I'd watched those two mature does with the fawns cut across and enter if you remember reading my story. Plus, the wind was slightly better for that other side as well. Obviously, I'm really hunting this farm blind... very blind. Never even seen this area before, and really all I'm going over to is a 20-yard wide fencerow overlooking standing corn, with the exception that my landowner took out the turn rows up against the fencerow. Corn on one side, standing beans on the other. I quickly found a good tree to get up into overlooking the corn, but I got greedy; I wanted to be able to shoot to both sides as I could the first night on the opposite side. So... I walked into the fencerow looking for a tree in the middle somewhere. Man, what sign I found... thick trails... a freshly opened scrape (mock, early season, not important other than letting me know they're walking through there....) but no tree to hang up in. I backed out with the nagging thought that I'd been 10 yards FURTHER than the tree I was going to hang up in. Yep... see where this one's going?? At 5:30 p.m., I hear her coming to me moments before I can see her. I spot her walking non-chalantly right at me, and she's going to pass by my tree at three yards, and walk out into the cut turn rows, giving me an 8-yard shot quartering away. No joke, I whispered "Welcome to my freezer!" and started mentally writing the first paragraph on the hunting boards for my buddies to see... Except she locked up. Full alert. I could literally hear her sucking in air at 8 yards, attempting to vacuum up the scent she couldn't explain. She lifted her head, stretching it skyward as high as her neck would allow in an attempt to pick off scent molecules in the highest thermal she could reach. Getting antsier, she turned and did an about-face. If I leaned back just so, I had one hole about eight inches around that perfectly revealed her vitals... so I placed my top pin on the top of her heart. The gig was up, but it didn't matter... she was going to be dead all the same. She would have been -- if it hadn't been for the VERY top of the bottom limb framing that hole allowing me to see her vitals. At that short "gimme" distance, I didn't counter for my the path of the arrow flight actually being below my line of sight; it wouldn't have mattered by the time it got to her, but only four feet out one of the blades on my MX-3 nicked the limb barely enough to send the arrow out to who-knows-where. The doe still has no idea what happened, and hopefully we'll meet again. I stared at the gash in the limb, and it was so slight that if I had been shooting a mech with all its blades tucked in during flight, she would have went in the books as the third doe in tw
Good story and advice Greg. I understand trying to maximize your shot opportunities from a given spot, I've done the same. So far this season I've not been busted once nor any of the deer I've been seeing show any signs of suspicion but I've hunted this particular stand only twice and have been walking through the cornrows to my stand, plus the stand is hung in a triangle of trees in a corner of 3 fields and a weedpatch/old pasture, a great bedding area. I am sure if I had entered that weedpatch/pasture I would not have the amount of deer walking past me within shooting range that I have so far.
Greg: The "never go in further than you will hunt" is a great tip. Something we all should know by common sense, but also something I know we all let slide occasionally. I gotta get that video at some point........I've heard enough good things about it now that I really should just get it on it's way.
Good points Greg! I try not to go In further than I have to either, I don't always do what I shouldn't! The rubber boots thing, I've never been sold on them. To me they have a scent of there own. I can smell rubber boots easily. I'll just stick to my regular boots that I wear exclusively for deer hunting. Good thread!!
My man John states not to tuck your pants into your boots. He claims when we walk a pocket of air gets pushed out top and down. As for not going to far in, man I agree, and stick to it like crazy. I call them walk abouts, and I never go on them. To me it's about cofendence in a spot, if you are then there is no need to look, but we all do it I had 8 deer walk across my path, but I also dip my boots in the river. The stank on them is bad
I've done it that way too, Gary... I'm convinced it doesn't matter. And I had Scentblocker socks on anyway. I've stepped in mud puddles, deer poop, corn husks... you name it; if it's natural, my boots have been in it. Years of experience tells me that sometimes it seems like a herd of deer can walk across my entry trail; there's other days that for whatever reason, it looks like they've been smashed in the face with a two-by-four when they come across the tracks. Nothing changes per the boots... From now on, never going any further in than I will hang will be as much a part of my regimen as always having my release with me. If I feel the need to explore further, I'll equally feel the need to find a tree further.
Exactly right Greg, sometimes it seems they just don't care what you do. They will walk right in front of you. Other times one molecule out of place and they turn inside out.
I agree with you Greg the doe I shot last night came in and smelled the weeds where I took a look into a woods before I got into my tree. She turned around and headed west and good thing she left me a quartering away shot. I had my boots and pants sprayed completely and yet she still knew it was not right. What helped me is I left that scent past my stand and not before it otherwise she would of never walked by.
Well what the heck does John know, LOL I agree 100%, I just did not know if you tried it they other way. I do like X-scent socks, I have done some test of only wearing my X-scent socks in my hunting boots. Like you said, sometimes it does not matter. I had an old doe last year pick me off 4 times, it got to the point she would come look in the tree:bash
Maybe you just smell really bad Greg. ? (heh, kidding!) I wore my alpha burlys out on the boat while I was bowfishing earlier in the year. Nothing like carp slime as a cover scent. We'll see if it continues to work for me. :D I generally try very hard not to walk anywhere I don't need to or to cross the same paths I expect the deer to come in on. (But in some spots, you can't help it). I also make a point to not touch any thing with my hands on the way in. I see lots of people grab/push/touch stuff as they walk in.
I've been mowing trails to some of my stands the last 3 years. I'm seeing a lot more deer. I am very careful about trimming any twigs or grass that can brush against my legs. You're right about the shoes but I've had very good luck with just using rubber boots and spraying down upon leaving my truck. I've watched deer coming to my stand, unless they are actively feeding their nose doesn't hit the ground very often, but they seem to nose everything to go by at their nose level. I've had deer use my mowed trail coming in and they never hit the ground with their nose. Of course you want to mow a couple of weeks before hunting. lp
Great post Greg! These are the kinds of helpful "tips" that correspond with real-life experiences that we can all relate to and learn from. I'm sure everyone here is guilty of wanting to go a few more yards up to get a better look at things before backtracking to their stand location. I know I sure am, and it's something that I'll be giving a little bit more thought to this season. In fact, I'm planning a Saturday PM hunt where I'm going hang a fresh stand in a spot I've never had a stand before. Mike and I have looked the area over and identified a few potential winners, but I think I'm going to err on the side of caution this first time in and not go any further than I absoltely have to. I'd rather not go in far enough and miss a shot opportunity at a relaxed deer and move in later than go in too far and alert them to my presence. Good stuff indeed.
Nicely said Greg, I enjoyed reading your story and will definetly keep that to mind when I'm in teh field. Thanks.
Nice read there Greg. Something we can all learn from, & I'll put that one in the back files to come up some time. Isn't just the dangest thing, just a little further, Just a little peak into that set of woods, always looking for the perfect tree, & then busted! So much for descenting soap, spray, foam, antipersperant, foot powder, clothing, cover scents, boot spray, mouth spray/gum & finally scent wafers.
