1. Sitting in a stand all day and not seeing a single deer; OR 2. Not seeing any deer until shooting light is all gone and then they come out of the woodwork before you can get out of your stand? Yesterday I experienced #1. Today, after the last bit of shooting light expired, 4 bucks and 3 does all walked by the stand, thus #2 above.
deffinately better to not see any deer than to see them when you cant shoot. i had a monster at 25 yards yesterday, were talking a 160" or better.. but was gone far before light came.
I had the same as #2 happen to me tonight.... It's been a hard season so far. Seems like every time I figure them out, the are 10yrds out of range and behind some brush like this morning. So I hunt my Honey hole tonight, thinking it would be a sure thing....saw nothing. Jumped does while leaving. 200 yrds from my stand. Oh well, tomorrow morning is a new day!
#1 is worse. At least with the 2nd scenario you can know where they're coming from and move your stand so you see them during shooting light.
Not necessarily so. Tonight, they all came out of the bedding area on the neighbor's property (and they don't let anyone hunt).
I drove 7 hours and hunted for 4 days and didn't see a thing, but then i come home and have all most hit two with my car down the street from my house. Eats at me every day.
I agree. The last 3 out of 4 all day sits I've done, I've seen NO deer. It's an ugly feeling. I need to find a new place to hunt!
Years ago I drove three hours to my hunting area and almost hit five deer on the highway. Thought that was a good sign. Never saw a deer all week! To answer your question I think #1 is worse at least with #2 you know there are deer where you are hunting.
#1 is worse for me. Feel a lot better going back to a stand when you know there are deer around rather than wondering where the heck their at and what i'am doing wrong.
#1 is worse for sure. That said, #2 can be frustrating. I've been pinned in my stand so long before that I can get rather creative spooking deer off without just standing up and climbing down to spook them off (really only a problem hunting destination spots like food sources or field edges). I've thrown a hand saw to the ground to thud real loud (also successful with a jacket and water bottle before too). I've snorted to mimic a deer spooked, which usually blows them out of the immediate area. IDK which is worse, but I can't help but think a noise or other spooked deer (when the deer don't know why another is spooked) is a better way of scaring off deer than seeing a hunter climbing down from his tree.
