Calling all deer gurus...

[Archie]

I've given up on hunting whitetails... several times this season.  I really prefer small game.  My quitting on deer usually only lasts from Saturday evening through about Thursday, then I decide to give it another try.

Not this week.

I just came from a 3-hour sit in a nice oak, where I spotted a dandy buck -- looks like a large 8-point -- about 100 yards away.  On the way out at dark, having had no shots, I moseyed over to where I saw him and saw lots of scrapes; it's obvious he is very active in this spot.  And there's a great tree to sit in right in the middle of it.  The landowner told me tonight that he's seen this deer there regularly at the same hour of the day.  If it seems worth my time, I'm going to try again on Monday and Tuesday afternoon this week.

Now... I work full-time and also am the pastor of a small church.  My wife is having a difficult pregnancy and we have a 2 year-old.  I just don't have the time to sharpen my skills like many of you do.  I have the right gear, a good bow, and am a good shot.  But deer...?  I've never gone deer hunting except by myself, so am learning on my own.  And on TradGang!

Those of you who are deer wise, I would like to borrow of your wisdom...

1.  Is it bad to walk down a to a stand along a light deer trail?  Should I walk someplace else?  Due to the lay of the land, there is no way for me to approach from another direction without making a huge amount of noise.

2.  Am I right in thinking that deer tend to bed down during the day in the woods, and feed in the cornfields at night?  Why is this buck going the other way, then?  

3.  I think it would work to put some diluted doe pee in a spray bottle and spray along the trail as I walk in.  Here and there.  Would my own scent make this pointless?  

4.  I have only 1 place to hunt.  150 acres, a mile of riverfront.  It's a wetland, and the deer tend to dribble all across the property rather than create main trails.  The wind always blows W to E, such that I cannot get into the huntable area without my scent getting blown across where I think the deer are.  Unless I canoe in from the river.  This is because of the abundance of water in the hunting territory.  Again, there's no way to come in from the backside without crashing through lots of brush.  Once the deer smell me come in the stand, is it hopeless?  And how far can I expect my scent to carry?

5.  Do whitetails avoid water, or do they muck through it (1 foot deep, mucky bottom) just as happily as dry ground?

I've successfully hunted ducks, coyotes, foxes, pheasants, squirrels, ptarmigan, grouse, and rabbits.  I've bow-killed a very ignorant, unlucky -- but very tasty -- button buck.  But understanding the whitetail is starting to appear too time-consuming for me.  Anyone want to contribute?

[fields]

I'd say its worth your time to be there.  I try not to walk on deer trails, but if you must, walk on the one of least traffic.  It's  rut time, anything you learned, forget it and hunt.  Deer can now move anytime.  I'd say forget the scent, but that's me and I have very little success with it.  That buck want to be where you should be sitting, to me that is all you need.  Get your boots clean, walk through the water, mud etc. and get to that stand.

[overbo]

This time of year,that could have been your best chance of killing him.He'll be looking for does hard for the next couple of weeks.Also,getting close enough to a scrapeline to see the scrapes can leave enough of your scent to alert the buck.If you can't get everything in your favor w/ your approach and stand set-up,then you are compermising your chances.
You know where he wants to be at times and that's a huge part of the battle.Go for it.If dosen't work out this season,then scout hard and prepare stand sites that gives you the best advantage.

[TRAP]

This time of year, you may see 5 other bucks (some may be bigger than him) just about anywhere.  

I agree with the above post that stated just be there.  The chase is in full swing in MO and I'm sure it is in Illinois as well.  I'd try to setup slightly downwind of that scrape line where you saw him and spend as many hours there as you can afford.

It's a great time of year for white-tails and white-tail hunters.  

Trap

[b.glass]

I know what you mean Archie. I have hunted for 11 years and have killed one deer. A nice buck yes, but in this amount of time I should have several deer. I've been taught the same way, the school of hard knocks. I tell my husband I think I need someone with experience to help me figure out how to hunt this place. He doesn't understand. "Just go out and sit", "what is there to figure out?". I see deer during shooting hours when I'm not hunting and I kick myself for not being out. Then when I'm out I don't see anything. I am a mom first and formost and I can't be out hunting as much as it seems to take. I often feel guilty about hunting when I could be home. My family is pretty supportive though. They don't make me feel guilty, I don it to myself.
Thanks for letting me rant on your thread Archie.
(Like you had a choice!)

[Bill Carlsen]

My wife and I just bought 23 acres of wetland as you describe. It is tough hunting for sure. However, we have made and cut our own trails to walk in on when the river is too low to use the canoe. Having cut the trails the deer take them over...moose, too. So I wuldn't be too concerned about where you walk as long as you wear rubber boots and don't brush up against the brush along the way. I would try to clear a path to your tree (wear gloves when you do this)  with some hand clippers so you don't brush up against brush. Wear rubber boots and spray the deer pee right on the boots. I would  not use doe in estrous lure on my boots as I have had deer get very skitish around some of it. Use plain  old undiluted deer urine.  In the area where we hunt the deer do not seem to mind the muck and the water. I helped an abutting land owner put up some new posted signs two days ago and I found fresh rubs all over the place, even where the water and muck and blueberry bushes were almost too thick for me to walk thru with out hacking them down.

As for feeding, the bucks will be where the does are feeding/bedding. We are allowed to bait in NH and right now all the deer that are eating are does. The bucks will take a bite or two now and then but this week in particular the bucks show up and then there are no more pics for several hours when the does come back.  Here's an example.

 

This buck is, to me, giving the doe in the background the eye...he is not interested in feeding and this is the only pic we have of him. The does came back about an hour later to feed some more. Several times right at the crack of dark we have had bucks come in to as close as ten yards and sight check our baits and then move on because no other deer were present. It's the ultimate chess game!

Good luck and keep us up to date.

[Bill Carlsen]

To demonstrate their ability to traverse mucky areas I  have two pics to demonstrate. The big doe, if you look closely at her feet, are covered in thick black muck. The kind that sucks your boots off. The buck, I killed in '05 and found  him, literally, in a place where I did have trouble keeping my boots on. I was by myself and it was a job to get him out of the muck by myself so I could take the picture. Check out his feet... muck covered. We was laying just off a major trail. Hope this helps.


 


 

[Billy]

I have a similar wind problem..and come from the school of hard lessons learned.
With the wind part; I studied the land and came in as far downwind as I could get,circled into where I wanted to be and got the distance reduced, the deer are still smarter than me but, i keep trying.
Prayers for wife and family.
Enjoy God's Cathedral; as much as you can.

[b.glass]

It's frustrating sometimes but it's worth it!

[dirtguy]

Archie,

I don't profess to be a deer guru - this is my first season of hunting. I can honestly say that I am a wetland expert - its my job.  Deer have no hestitation about traveling through and spending lots of time in wetlands.  You may notice the vegetation inevitably becomes thicker as you get near the edge of a wetland, and that there are lots of good food sources in wetlands.  I spend a lot of time in the woods, both in wetlands and uplands and most of the shed antlers I find are in or at the edge of wetlands.  I have found sheds suspended in rose bushes and green briar where they hung up as they dropped off the buck.

So the good news is, sounds like you have a good spot to hunt!

I wouldn't hestiate to subtly clear a trail into your stand that gives you the best chance scent and soundwise.  They'll notice the initial disturbance at first, but get used to it.  

Does your deer season overlap with small game? One nice thing here is that we can hunt turkey and small game during much of the deer season & it can keep you from going crazy from not getting shots at deer.

Good Luck!

[Archie]

Thanks to everyone so far.  

The property I have to hunt is very nice, and full of game -- coyotes, otters, muskrat, beaver, pheasant, wood ducks, herons... and the list could go on.  I am the only bowhunter during deer season, and the landowner and about 3 friends of his gun-hunt during shotgun season.  In the last 4 years, there have been a total of 2 deer killed there (I got one), and they hunt hard every gun season.  

It's just a hard piece of land to deer hunt.  The placement of ridges, canals, cornfields, bogs, impassable brush, and no-cover areas... it makes it tough to sneak in anywhere.

I grew up hunting in Alaska (>20 years), where hunting is much more active.  Sitting in a tree for 3-4 hours... and seeing nothing... and wondering if I'm just doing things all wrong... it's not the most enjoyable thing I've ever done.  But I want some venison, and I want it with my Black Widow, not my Remington 870!