How do you beat them?

[BAK]

The nose, the eyes, the ears, and the focus.  Old momma does are hard to beat.  Love how she walked up to the camera and posed.

[curlis]

They are tuff. I've been hunting an old gal for two years now. Maybe this year she will slip up.

[Pine]

Have a big ol' doe on our place we call Big Mama.
See her in the yard near the house, see her on the trail camera but I've never seen her while hunting. But once in a while, I get a doe blowing just out of site and it will circle me.
Never see a deer when that happens.
I'm sure it's big Mama.
The pictures I have gotten of her she is about 10" taller at the back then the other deer.
She didn't get that big being stupid.

[Friend]

Frequent encounters with old does can make for a tough season.

[rastaman]

They are smart critters!  They seldom let their guard down.

[Wudstix]

4 Year old plus, doe harder than almost anything else.
 

[Friend]

I routinely beat them with this setup.

Was winded last season 3 times in 83 hunts.

[Car54]

I find they are way smarter than me.  Dag-it! LOL

[dragonheart]

Here is another way, this one is in Texas...

[Sam McMichael]

Old does are very cagey. I had one called Doris on my place for years. On multiple occasions, I saw her walk to the edge of an opening and stop while studying the trees looking for me. She was good at it, too. Her fawns also learned to look up. I never tried to kill her but sure enjoyed watching her.

[achigan]

I hunt from ground blinds too. On the ground I have to use the wind, clothing and cover scents won’t do the job at our range. Fallow field the deer don’t use to my back(East). Deer travel north and south in front of me, so only hunt with the wind out of the west. SSW-NNW but westerly. Scent free as possible walking in. Natural cover. Just one of my setups, but perhaps best with the right wind.

[GCook]

I use a big stick . . 
A Primaltech.
You can beat them some of the time but they always have the advantage.  I use a very dedicated scent minimization process.  Hunt the wind , including the walk to and from, as best as possible and kill any doe (first chance I get) that shows an inkling of being one who is spooky and snorts out the area.

[Friend]

When utilizing ground blinds from natural builds, synthetic combination with natural materials or popup blinds such as a Double Bull require strict adherence to wind conditions and that often fails

For those possibly interested:

Have been utilizing the following blind design for the past five years with far better results than even well-planned stand hunting strategizes. I have seven of these and hunt any of these blinds regardless of the wind

Ground Blind:

-6 x 8’ wood construction on skids

-Three front shooting windows cut into the 6’ wide front and meshed.

-One to two front side windows…Note: Less than 120 degrease range of shooting unless you reposition closer to take the shot. Adding additional shooting windows may greatly diminish scent protection.

-Leaves nearly 5 ½‘, of which, I may sit back out of direct air movement.

-Have seven of these sets

Note: the most I have knowingly been winded during a season has been seven times in 102 hunts while
using these blinds for the past five seasons. Have a very hot bottoms area that I could neither hunt from a ground blind nor have my hunters hunt do to quite frequent swirling winds. Placed one of these sets down last year and was not winded once.

[GCook]

Also I'll start leaving a dirty T shirt at my stands in August.  Let the scent be there all the time.  After a while they cannot find the source and get relaxed around it.  I'll swap out the T shirt the next trip down.  It helps with most deer.

[Hoosierarcher88]

Ive always beaten the wise old does the same way. Once ive been busted by an old doe i use it to my advantage. From what ive seen is the old does stick to a very tight schedule and pattern, they know its safe and familiar. So once busted i would take a dummy (old pair of pants and shirt sewn together and stuffed with pillow filler) and place it in my stand. The old does usually loop a bit further out each day they come through and will always be looking up to the tree you were previously sitting in. I put a new stand up around 15 yards past her new trail so she passes between me and my old stand which has the dummy placed in it. Ive never had an old doe bust me again while doing this because they are so fucused on the tree i was in previously. They are wise but i will say they can be easily distracted.

[Sam McMichael]

As previously stated, one must cautiously hunt the wind. The problem is that the wind consistently swirls just about everywhere I hunt. Maybe in the mountains or during a storm the winds stays consistent, but, other than that, it is swirling all around here in the flat land. That is the primary reason I began using elevated stands.

However, I have learned a few things as I have aged. Most deer in this area live around humans all the time. They are used to our odor. As long as we make no alarming moves, they tend to simply side step us and continue on. I now sometimes hunt from the ground, and I commonly see deer. Either way, ground hunting is tough.