It is not uncommon for bowhunters to not get anything in a season or even a few. I never got a shot my first year and I know someone who hunted for 5 years before finally getting a deer. Just keep up the effort and try to learn something everytime you go out weather it is about stand placement, reading trails, finding rubs, or location. Stay positive and it won't be long and you will have a deer on the ground!
If there is a river, give this a try. Find where deer are crossing it, follow it back 20yd or so just make sure you stay on a trail. I did this last season with a large creek where branches connected and seen a ton of deer. It was the be of the season and I didn't have time before the end of the season to connect. I saw more activity on one sit than I did in 5 anywhere else. I'd nothing else you may be able to see another spot from your stand and move even closer next hunt. Just remember to stay down win of the action.
Dont think you'll shoot deer every time you go out,it does'nt work that way.Be patient and have fun,good luck.
Yellow = area scouted several times White = opening day stand location Red = tried to access from river bottom. Too thick and a rock face prevented access to fields.
If I was you I wouldn't hunt that thin strip between two fields, I would look for staging areas inside the woods. If you can figure out where they are bedding and where they are feeding you can set up between the two points. Just my opinion
Sounds like a great place to start. Find some oaks don't know about Gaithersburg but out here in harford the acorns are dropping like crazy. Tomorrow should be a good day in the woods too bad I have to work.
Yeah, they were dropping out here too. I saw little acorns, big acorns, and these things that looked like small peaches. Too bad you have to work! After I drop the kids off at school tomorrow morning I'm free until Wednesday morning!
I'm just waiting till October to start pushing my luck at work, can't piss the boss off this early in the season.
Hey man hang in there. I didnt see anything my first year and it was all my fault. My advice to you is study hard. Learn about the game you are pursuing. There is so much to whitetail hunting. It makes harvesting one that much more of an accomplishment. You'll get yours but you gotta do the homework. Not saying you havent, I just wanna be sure to make the point clear that it doesn't come easy and it doesn't happen overnight. So with that being said my advice to you would be to study and scout the terrain. Try using a topo map to locate pinch points, funnels or areas that deer travel. For example i've found hills are excellent places to find bucks. They like to walk along or below ridges. These are easy to find on a topo map. Google Acme mapper and find your hunting grounds easily. Then you can filter by satellite or topo view. It helps alot! This is all scouting you can do at home! When you get there keep your head down! You arent looking for deer hanging out in the woods. You are looking for sign that they've been there. The sign may indicate they've been there frequently or even recently. Look for tracks, droppings, their food sources (acorns, beechnuts, pinecones, brush and things like that) If you find a heavily travelled trail follow it. If you find an intersection with another trail then you may have found an excellent spot for a stand. If you find a place with high probability of a deers return then get there and in the tree before the sun comes up and stay till it goes down! There is a science to hunting deer. They feed at night bed during day. And there are some grey areas there. But for the most part thats there basic schedule. The morning hunts should be geared towards ambushing deer returning to bedding areas and the night hunts should be ambushing deer on their way to food sources. If you get the basics down and then start studying you can really sharpen your skills and fill some tags. good luck man!
I was in the same boat until yesterday morning. This is my first deer season hunting and I just got one by pure luck. Spent quite a while trying to find any sign of deer on Friday, but had one walk right into my lap the following morning. This was the last weekend I was able to make it out for deer and just happened to get my first one and a good looking 6 pointer at that. I had given up hope the day before, but I guess it was just meant to be. Keep at it and you will get yours. It's an amazing feeling, just be ready for the hours of work to come after you kill him.
Thanks man, great advice! What strategy would you recommend if you couldn't get out there before light? Let's say if you had to go in with a climber in the afternoon and set up for an evening hunt? I don't want go in there and have them watch me climb the tree, lol! Sent from my HTC Glacier using Tapatalk 2
I'd travel to your spot using field edges or any means of being stealthy. Even if it's a longer hike.
Here are some thoughts on where you should look to hunt given the winds (blue arrows), potential deer bedding (red dots) and deer travel zones (Yellows lines).
