Getting closer to animals

[Crittergetter]

Cool deal! I'm up around Big Sandy. If your ever up this way give me a shout and we'll do some shootin or something!

I got with in two feet of a nice eight pointer this year.  Problem was, I had my favorite right hand bow with me and I have a little problem of always taking one too many practice shots with a judo point.  I was looking for my next target and I almost stepped on him.  He jumped up and just stood there about six feet away, at least until I tried to dump the judo and get out a broad head.  He did not like the looks of that broad head.   While still hunting I got between two bucks that were 25 feet apart. One ten feet to my left and one 15 feet to my right.  I blew my first attempt when i hit my arm on a sharp broken branch and flipped the arrow off the string, but he ran, stopped and I got him with the second arrow.

[CRM_95]

Originally posted by crittergetter:
Cool deal! I'm up around Big Sandy. If your ever up this way give me a shout and we'll do some shootin or something!

Thanks!!

[jonsimoneau]

The biggest thing that has helped me get closer is altering the landscape to encourage deer to walk past me at close range. I do this by hinge-cutting trees, blocking trails etc. I am beginning to rely on this more and more as I mostly hunt areas with low deer densities. I may go out hunting 7 or 8 times in a row without seeing a single deer so when I do finally see one, I want the best odds for a shot as I can get! Plus it's really fun to do all of this work around a particular stand in Feb/March and then see it work perfectly in November. I've always done this sort of thing but I have since really increased the use of this tactict after attending Barry Wensels bootcamp and seeing firsthand how much those guys do it. What a difference it makes. Think of it as taking a great spot and making it even better! The other thing I now do to all of my rut stands is make a large mock scrape right where I want the deer to stop. I make it large and obvious. 4 foot in diameter or so. A cruising buck will stop there pretty much everytime and will give you a relaxed shot at a distracted buck.

[jonsimoneau]

Oh and another big one for me. I hate to be in a tree that doesn't have enough cover. Not only are you more likely to be busted by approaching deer but it also adds stress because as the deer moves closer you are concerned that he MIGHT pick you off! I use a lot of pine tree boughs attached to the tree to build a little nest up there in order to hide myself.  Often I'll actually cut down a 6 foot pine or cedar tree and tie wire it into the tree where my stand will be. If I am hunting an area that is full of honeysuckle then I tend to keep my stands much lower in order to use the honeysuckle as cover. A few years ago I shot a big buck from 8 yards in a stand that was only 6 feet off the ground but was well concealed in the honeysuckle.

[KentuckyTJ]

A tucked in well 8-12' stand is my favorite. Being elevated gives you more shot options usually. We spend a ton of time and effort to get into range of that 15 yard circle and game usually doesn't read the script to walk in front of you stopping perfectly. At those ranges they will detect you sooner or later and to be able to have more shooting options most time is the difference in success and failure.

Just a matter of circumstances and how much of a challenge you want to bite off.

[RC]

I killed a button head at 3 steps from the ground once. One of the proudest shots of my bow hunting life. RC

[calgarychef]

I shot my deer at 10 feet on the ground the year.  Op you'll find that that further you can shoot accurately the more deer you'll get.  Once you get beyond a certain distance it's a lot easier get the shot off.  Ideal distance would be 40 yards but that's too far for my liking so 20/25 yards is nice for me.