So this year is the first year i am able to hunt in the early season, I was scouting this property all last spring after hunting it later in the fall during the spring i thought that i had the deer figured out I had some good spots where my camera was getting plenty of pictures, so i hung a set there this year about 3 weeks ago and i dumped about 20lbs of corn there, now three weeks later the corn has not been touched and i only have 1 video of a deer coming through the area. So today after getting down from the stand early, i have hunted it for the past 2 weeks and have only seen 3 deer that were off in the distance. Anyway after getting down I looked around and did a little scouting and found a nice spot with a good amount of tracks coming out of a dried up creek bed so i moved my camera there. How often do you guys do scouting during the season, am i right to be looking for a new spot to hang this stand? let me know what you guys think
Definitely move if you're not seeing anything. Be scent free, quiet, and don't change a lot of the area, i.e... Shooting lanes.
I like to use the first 3 weeks of the season to hunt and scout if I am walking around. Toward the chase and rut, I like to be in my "go to" areas however, will still explore if I think one area is hotter than another. In my youth I never had a tree stand and would ground hunt and cover lots of ground. Loved moving during the season to keep it interesting.
I am not sure what the terrain is like where you are but do you have any acorns around you? I know where I hunt you can dump all the bait you want but the deer will not touch it as long as the acorns are dropping!
Nothing really to lose by moving it, if things change you can always move back or someplace else yet. I try to walk around, seems like things change as the leaves start to fall. Before that there doesn't seem to be any real trails, the deer just roam where they wish because there is food everywhere. As fall hits I start to see where their paths again.
If you find a spot to move your stand, then move it. It's just like moving and placing stands any other time of the year.
This is a good example of the importance of a mobile set i.e. Climber/light hang on and sticks/etc. I'll very rarely hunt the same tree twice. Why? Because I'm not that good. I'll find a ton of deer sign: tracks, droppings, trails, acorns, billboards that say "Deer Will Be Here" and I'll set my stand 20 yards from the sign. Low and behold I'll see deer, but they're 30 yards on the opposite side of the sign so the next hunt I'll move my stand closer to where I saw the deer to get in close for a shot.
Wait a bit until rutting sign shows up, scrapes and rubs are the best and most obvious signs of a buck in the area. Being mobile is a great option during the rut though.
Ditto this. We had a couple of cameras on the soybeans. The last few weeks we've only had 3 pic's of the deer in the beans. We can hear the acorns falling in the timber. The deer are in the acorns for sure here. Don't be afraid to move. Do it with as little distrubance as possible. I try to leave the smaller limbs that I trim in the tree with me as added camouflage.
Thanks for all the replies guys, one more question how long do you guys usually wait after hanging a set to hunt it?
Hunt as soon as you get cleaned up and are ready to go and the wind is right. It has worked for us numerous times. It is like they don't expect it at all.
