Can't find the deer

[Radford]

Howdy,  
I started hunting again after about 15 years. When I was a boy I hunted with family over food plots or corn piles. I saw deer then but I never liked the idea of baiting. That being said I need some help finding deer the old fashioned way using woodsmanship. I can't seem to zero in on the deer. This is my second season back at it, I have hunted over two hundred times and seen only a hand full of deer at a distance. Hard not to be a little discouraged with those statistics. Got within range of a doe last year, but only bucks were legal at the time. I hunt mostly public land in my area of Aiken County South Carolina. The Gopher Tortoise  Preserve and Ditch Pond WMA. I'm hunting from the ground using a recurve. My max effective range is 20 yards. I normally walk into the wind until I see tracks or other sign in an area that looks like it may hold deer in daylight, so I usually bypass sign out in the open. What else can I do to improve my odds of seeing a deer or getting within shooting range? If you look at the aerial maps of the areas I hunt there isn't much topo and no agriculture. So not much for funnels or pinch points. I could use a hand pointing me in the right direction. I love being out there though, so I will keep at it for sure. The areas I hunt have a lot of pressure. Also are there any traditional bow hunters in my area willing to share some wisdom? Thanks for any advice.
Radford

[achigan]

Your DNR should have reports as to where deer are being killed, county by county. Fred Bear advised, " Find out where the deer are, hunt there." Not being a wise @$$ at all. Best time for me to pattern deer is day after season ends. Travel routes thru woods are plain, rubs and scrapes still evident. And NO pressure to hunt.

[John146]

There is a guy in Louisiana named Warren Womack that has killed so many deer on public land that it is sort of legendary down here. He would scout much, much more than hunt. When he hung a stand to hunt it was loaded with sign.

Maybe just grab your bow and go walking. Don't bring a stand, just water and food and map and go look for places that have much more sign than you are hunting now.

[Modad2010]

One place to start would be to look for game trails near food sources. Another would be to find a small creek or water way and walk it until you find a place that is used by the deer to cross. When I lived in The Peoples Republik of Illinois one of my favorite stand locations was where the deer crossed a tiny little creek. I took a bunch of deer from that spot.

[Stumpkiller]

When I used to hunt public lands my tactic was to move VERY, VERY slowly in thick cover.

You can't see far, and it can seem like the action must be elsewhere, but that was where the deer headed and when I did see one it was often close enough to shoot.  Play the wind, try to find bedding spots in pre-season (or during the season).  

I also carried a Dean Torges style tree seat.  I'd find a promising looking spot and loop this around a trunk and sit for a few hours.  That paid off several times.  I made mine with three holes in the "loose" line side and it locks itself in place on any size tree.

  http://www.bowyersedge.com/treeseat.html

But ground hunting was a low success rate option.  VERY satisfying when it paid off, though.

[Wile E. Coyote]

Agreed, Scout, Scout, Scout, find out what the major food source is and set up on it. As mentioned ground level hunting is tremendously rewarding but likely only 10% as successful as hunting from an elevated stand. Reason being, any change to ground level terrain will be noticed and scrutinized much more than elevated changes, and movement will be picked up much easier. Also dont forget to play the wind.

[Wile E. Coyote]

Agreed, Scout, Scout, Scout, find out what the major food source is and set up on it. As mentioned ground level hunting is tremendously rewarding but likely only 10% as successful as hunting from an elevated stand. Reason being, any change to ground level terrain will be noticed and scrutinized much more than elevated changes, and movement will be picked up much easier. Also dont forget to play the wind.

[woodchucker]

Hunting public land deer, is a lot like hunting mountain deer. Now many will disagree... But if you're in a new area, or don't know exactly where the deer are, you're wasting your time sitting. Every public land I have ever hunted, has secondary wood roads. Basicly, walk the roads...
Up in the mountains, there are lots of old (and new) logging roads. The deer move around a lot, and seldom use the same trails. They seem to go where their belly takes them, feeding on acorns, beechnuts, ferns, mountain laurel, etc. They bed down where & when they feel like it, usually just above or below a wood road. Walk the roads slowly, taking a couple steps at a time, then stop and look around, scanning every piece of cover. Step slowly and quietly, just like you're stillhunting. Remember, a couple of steps, can give you a whole new angle, allowing you to see things that were hidden, 2 steps before.
Thanksgiving day, I went over to our cabin... I stopped at my Sister's to see if my brother in-law wanted to hunt. She told me he was up on the mountain hunting already. I told her "I'm going up and kill a deer".....
An hour up the mountain, I saw a Doe and a Fawn, bedded in a fern patch in the Hemlocks above me. When she stood up, I shot her, then drug her down to the cabin.

[Bowguy67]

First of all congrats on not baiting. Now as others said I'd look to a food source. It may depend in an area what the preference is.
Say this is oaks and you have both black and white. They key in first on the white oaks and once depleted they head to the blacks.
I'd personally use binoculars in the summer/early fall to scout by looking up into the trees and this way have a "plan".
You also need to know different food sources may change according to stage they are in. For instance a bean field is almost unbearable when green. Once it turns yellow the deer don't go in much and they'll return some once brown so seeing deer in the bean when it's green and hunting it yellow would be a waste of time.
Same with some corn types. Not everywhere but where I live corn is planted right to tree edge, the deer also find pretty much everything they need in the corn and being its thick almost never come out. First few days cut can be an area bonanza.
Say it's real dry, look for for water, say there's heavy pressure in an area, find escape routes, say it's the rut, you can set up by dif sign depending on stage or pick buck travel routes.
If you sat somewhere 200 times and saw few deer you're certainly not in the correct area.
Why would a deer be where you picked in daylight is the question you need to ask yourself before you set up

[Bowguy67]

Oh and yes the post about the wind is very very valid. It's pretty much the first thing you should consider when picking spots. Is your scent gonna blow towards the deer

[Babalawu]

Radford

Hunting pressured areas is a challenge but you can be successful. Two fundamentals to success are to determine where they are feeding and where they are bedding. They will generally move at least twice daily between those two areas. I am not familiar with the area you are hunting but as mentioned by several of the previous guys locate some producing white oaks and look for signs of feeding there. Preferred feeding areas usually change throughout the season as some food sources deplete and others become available. Once you determine where the deer are feeding you will need to scout to determine where they are bedding. Generally speaking they will be in the thickest available cover; cutovers, young pine plantations, swamp/marshly areas, etc. You should be able to find some trails/tracks, old rublines etc that will clue you in to where they bed. As mentioned in previous responses check the creeks and logging trails in the area and they may reveal trail crossings. All of this is a little easier said than done when you don't have the experience but if you dedicate yourself to it you will become more successful with time. I wish you the best.

[Cory Mattson]

couple a things - one is if you are seeing sign out in the open areas this at least tells you there are deer within a distance probably less than a quarter mile. Baiting is illegal on public land so that seems a non issue, didn't catch if you had experience bagging game over food plots and bait?. Experience shooting deer that are otherwise alert would be very helpful. Deer are food eating machines and in SC are on acorns middle September through until acorns run out. Warren Womack and his friends are a super successful public land bowhunters who use treestands. Rifle is open four months ?? Four and a half each year in your area. That probably has the biggest effect shutting down opportunity and hunt quality.

We have had many successful stalk and still hunts on public land in SC. We have taken many dozens of hogs stalking. Deer we got using treestands and setting up on acorns dropping with fresh sign under the tree. SC for us is a September and October deal as all the public land we hunt in SC is shot out by guns before Thanksgiving.  

I'd stay in the woods though and make notes for next year.

[Stumpkiller]

Here are a few more thoughts:

Pattern the hunters.

Public land gets a big inflow of hunters at the easy access points and they come clomping in - using the easy roads.   Sometimes ATVs up the ridges and access roads.  Deer will get out of the way but may button hook back (the old ones have been through this before).

Get in early and deep (in cover) and wait for them to push the deer to you.  I liked to be settled down an hour before sunrise.  

Find a blow down, tuck in with cover BEHIND you to break up your silhouette and be patient.  When you get stiff, cold or need to off-load coffee move a step or two every minute and scan, listen, scan, move S-L-O-W-L-Y.

A deer will run if it smells you.  But if it's not sure what it's seeing may hesitate.  Do not make eye contact (close one eye, squint, look at it's hooves)and do not move when you can see it's eyes.

And one of the hardest things I had to learn as I recall . . . take the shot.  If you don't launch an arrow you'll never kill a deer.  Small game hunting helped me get over that.  If you can kill a squirrel with a blunt you are ready to kill a deer.

[ron w]

Very important........hunt where there are deer. All that has been said is pretty much spot on, but if deer numbers are low........you will have seasons like I do. Very hard to stay in game if time after time you don't see anything.

[dirtguy]

Modad mentioned this but it works for me.  Follow a brook or creek until your find a place where they consistently cross.  The set up a stand there based on prevailing wind.  If you are staying on the ground, build a brush blind.

Last week one day at a public area I had 18 deer come with in my shooting distance.  The one that I wanted was not with them, I saw him later about 3/4 of a mile away with my binos from a hill side. On the way home I stopped and a guy said a doe came by him, it was his first deer in range for the year.  He missed, couldn't get his sights lined up.  His first year with a compound.  Talked to him last night, he got that doe with his old recurve.  I think the deer numbers are up and he thinks the deer numbers are down.  A few miles can make a big difference.  Around here clover and alfalfa mix is the key.  There is corn every where, but the green stuff pulls them in.  For SC terrain, even public land, look for food sources that have a longer season.  If I could be a little bit of a smart ass, but still kind of serious, move to north east or southern Iowa.  The Iowa economy is pretty stable at all times and north east and southern Iowa have lots of deer and public land. I bet you would like it.  We always have room for one more trad archer.

[YosemiteSam]

I'm in a similar position as you.  Took 15 years off & just got back into hunting a few years ago.  My step dad taught me about hunting but his version of scouting was driving the dirt roads real slow the Saturday before the opener.  Most of our days were spent hunting from the cab of a pickup -- even with compound bows.  So I didn't learn much from him, other than the "eat what you kill" ethic.

I'm in a whole different terrain as you & chasing blacktails and mulies, which don't pattern the same as whitetails (or at all, it seems at times).  And most of my hunting spots are far away to drive and also require a hike.  So pre-season scouting is virtually nil.  Post-season, the deer are often gone -- migrated out.  I've managed to take a couple deer with a rifle but nothing yet with my bow.  All that to say, I'm still learning.  And I'm feeling like I've finally learned enough to know that I know nothing at all.

But I've somehow managed to find about twice as many deer this year as last and with more regularity.  I took no shots this year -- either it wasn't legal to shoot or it didn't offer a shot.  But, for whatever it's worth, here's how I've found deer.

Find a creek, river or water source.  Hike along it and Look for tracks or trails.  Just a few years ago, I would see human trails and an oblivion of woods.  Now I've learned that there are trails everywhere.  Browse lines, depressions in the earth, smaller, broken leaves, etc. all point to trails being used on a regular basis.  Put your nose to the wind and follow a trail.  Go slow.  Real slow.  If your footsteps are making a lot of noise, you're either going too fast or you've lost the trail since the deer will have trampled the earth & the leaves down to make them less noisy.  

This year, I've learned 2 major things: (1) how to follow a trail and (2) that there's a method to the trails.  There's a reason why they go from here to there.  So once I find them, I start trying to figure out why they're there.  I've spent the better part of this season doing little else than following trails.  I was lucky enough to catch a migration event with the first few inches of snow and was able to trail 5 deer for over 2 miles.  I don't know enough to know if that was a group of 5 deer or if they all just came one at a time.  But they were 5 distinct sets of tracks and the snow was fresh -- minutes fresh.  That was the only time I didn't SEE deer but I know that I was close behind the whole day.  And I learned a ton from that experience.  The deer showed me more about that area than I would have ever figured on my own.

I just got back in last night from a hunt along the coast.  Day 1 was sitting still and I saw & learned nothing.  Days 2-4 were spent mostly following trails.  And I learned where the deer bed, why they like to bed where they do, what time of day they come down to drink, etc.  Unfortunately, I put a lot of these pieces together just in time to leave.  I still have an empty tag but I have zero regrets and a lot more respect for the deer and hunters who can consistently fill their tags in this kind of terrain.

The only other thing I'll add that has helped me this year is learning about the birds in the area.  They are the eyes and ears of the forest and the animals are listening in to their chatter.  If you can learn a few of their calls and behaviors, you'll learn a ton more about how you're moving through the landscape and what sort of presence you're having.  I'm no expert at this.  But I know for a fact that it's helped me find more deer this year.

[John Cholin]

Radford,

Deer need 3 things - food, water and cover. So to find deer you have to find those things and be where those things are when the deer arrive.

I looked at your spots on Google-Earth.  They are tough!  The both appear to be quite flat, with relatively uniform vegetation and sandy soil.

I remember Gene Wensel teaching that to find deer we have to focus on terrain with "structure".  By "structure" I believe he means changes in terrain type, elevation, vegetation type, vegetation density, etc.;  things that create and "edge" between one type of environment and another.  Of the two places you mentioned the Gopher Tortoise place seems better -there is that water course running through the middle of it that changes the vegetation type.  Focus on places where the creek bends sharply.  Since you don't have tracking snow you will have to sharpen your focus on tracks to find where the deer like to be.  Sometimes when the land is poor the deer spend the nights feeding in the neighbor's yard and then bed in the woods during the day.  I suspect you will have to walk every inch of the area AFTER the season to find out how the deer are using the area.

I hope something I mentioned is of help yo you.

Best Regards,

JMC

[YosemiteSam]

Wait.  Sandy soil?  Damp sand is the second best ground substance to track in.  It ages fast -- letting you learn a lot about RECENT activity without all the noise of old tracks messing up what you see.

So there's another idea.  Find those tracks & monitor them while you're out.  Use a stick to clear a few 10' sections of deer trail in the morning & check on them in the evening.  Just brush away the existing tracks so you can see if anything new prints.  You can do that in the morning during a hunt if you're still hunting or even stand hunting and check on it before you hit your sit spot for the evening.  Check back the next morning if you're out again.  Now you know if they're coming in to that spot at night or during the day.

I did this during a 4-day hunt this year and the deer didn't return until the last day.  Either my scent was spooking them off or they just didn't take that trail again for a few days -- either is possible for blacktails.

[Roger Norris]

Stumpkiller says pattern the hunters....he is right.

Check out the public hunting areas on a busy day...Saturday, opening day, etc. Look at where the guys are parking.

Now confer with a map, and find the thickest place as far away from that parking area as you can.

Now leg work. Rabbit hunting is great off season scouting. Off season, get in those thick swamps and find the sign. Be there next year.