Man what a fine line....I'm finding this to be HARD!...lol

[Roy Steele]

I've hunted selfows for 20 years and recurves and long bows for 10 years before that.And I've shot dozzens of bucks and 12 to 15 feet off the ground all under 15 yards.And a dozzen or so off the ground.Never really hand a problem with being busted.
  You only need to change your tree stand placement a little.I'd olny set up where I'd have my back to the trail the buck was comeing down.And let him walk past me.This is how I'd set all my sd]tands up.
  I've only ground hunted for the last 5 years.And use this system with ground hunting.And never get busted and again all my shots are under 15 yards.

[George D. Stout]

Thirty feet high?   Do you really know how high that is in a tree?  That makes no sense.  Go measure that stand....really.  8^).  That's nearly four times the height of the average room in your house.  

For Heaven's sake....if you have to get in nose bleed altitude to get a deer close you need to revisit your hunting tactics.

[Orion]

Right on, George.  

[Orion]

Right on, George.  

[Orion]

Right on, George.  

[Orion]

Oops.  Guess I hit the send button a few too many times.

[Johnny Reb]

My 2 cents worth,  I'll prop up in  a tree top from a blow down or one thats been cut down for the timber,  thers limbs for some cover front and back, and if I need more I'll use some type of camo cloth or burlap.  
       
    Maybe you can dress up stand so to speak, use some limbs or cloth or both, leave enuff room to manuver around, mite even surround yourself and leave a shootin hole.   Just a thought.

[Two Arrows]

Originally posted by George D. Stout:
Thirty feet high?   Do you really know how high that is in a tree?  That makes no sense.  Go measure that stand....really.  8^).  That's nearly four times the height of the average room in your house.  

For Heaven's sake....if you have to get in nose bleed altitude to get a deer close you need to revisit your hunting tactics.

Amen! That's crazy!

[Hooked]

Jeff,

If you are getting busted reaching for your bow, then hold it.  I hold mine all the time.  Occasionally I will hang it, but only if I am in an area where I will see them soon enough to grab it before they are close.

Also, if they are busting when you are drawing, then you need to completely ignore it.  Pick your spot and when you are ready to shoot, just draw and shoot.  Don't pay any attention to the deer turning its head to look at you when you draw.  Before they realize what it is up, it will be too late.  This was hard for me to learn!  My first few deer I stopped at half draw when the deer looked at me.  You are basically screwed at that point.

I have gotten to where I focus so hard on my spot that I don't even notice if they turn to look at me.

[Ray]

Murphys law is prevalent when hunting.If your not ready,thats when the deer will show up.Amazing how an animal that big can be so ghostlike quiet.

[GMMAT]

Hooked....that'll take a LOT of UNlearning!....lol....but I'll try it.  I've heard it before, but never tried it.  I'm the guy you describe if they look at me.

Ray....that's the no. 1 thing about deer hunting that intrigues me the most.  HOW can an animal the size of a deer go through the forest and hide so well?  Amazing!  I love this about them.

Thanks, guys.  I'll take all of this to heart.  I KNOW having 2 deer down and in the freezer in anyone's traditional whitetail season is a blessing.  I know that.  What concerns me is.....I've put myself on the deer of late....and I just haven't sealed the deal, again.  With "most" all of my efforts being focused on a buck, now.....I'd be lying if I said it didn't concern me, though.  I typically get 1-2 chances (encounters) with a "shooter"/season.  I HAVE to make it happen when it occurs (and I've been lucky to do so in the past....with my wheeled bow).

Thanks, again!

[George D. Stout]

Jeff....some folks have become a bit spoiled, and I don't mean that to be nasty.  From the time I started bowhunting in 1965, until sometime in the 80's, we could only take one deer per year in Pa.; if I shot a doe with the bow, I couldn't take a buck.  Then there came a doe lottery, and we could take as many as two deer per year 8^).  Now that still exists, except where there are D-MAP programs...area where extra does can be taken by permit.

Nowadays, we have folks who can take a deer a day, in many states, but the average guy in Pa. can still only take two...1 buck and 1 doe per year.   Those of us who have lived here all of our lives laugh at guys who only get two, three or four deer and complain about it 8^).  

Hang in there and enjoy the opportunity you are blessed with.  Two deer here would keep a family all winter and curb those grocery bills.  Good luck partner, you are doing quite well already.

[GMMAT]

Like I said, George....I KNOW it's been a blessed season, already.  I DO put a lot into this, though...and I'm really looking for anything that would help me when my chance at a shooter buck comes (and it always has).  I don't get many chances, and I know I have to make them count.

Thanks, again.

Jeff

[Scarne]

Welcome to bowhunting!  Won't be long now and your wheelie buddies will be calling you an elitist LOL...and you will have earned that title.

Killed 21 deer in three seasons with the techie gear did you?  Wasn't so hard was it?  Kinda like shooting a gun...only quieter.  Once you learn HOW TO HUNT as opposed to HOW TO SHOOT you'll tag just as many.  Promise.

I have a friend who has been known to tag 25 deer a year with a long bow out of a ground blind, or just still hunitng.  No bait, range finders, lasers, triggers, fancy rests, expanadble broadheads or whatever.  (For the record there not one ounce of BS in what I just wrote).  You know what the difference is between him and guys like me & you...well mostly like you and I'm not slamming you here...he knows HOW to hunt deer.  Stick with it with and think about what you are doing to get within 10 yards.  Any closer in a tree stand and it gets harder to shoot.  

Always think in terms of getting closer...not covering more ground.  THAT is the main difference between bowhunting and the techguys be it gun or compound thingy.  They think in terms of how far.

BTW...I tag just as many as ever with my recurve as I did with my compound thingy.  Of course three get me through an entire year.  Opening weekend I tagged the first two deer I had in range.  It isn't that hard to do...if you learn how to HUNT.

One thing you are going to find, if you actually stick with this is that there is a huge difference between bowhunting and wheel shooting as well as the majority of people who gravitiate to either direction.  Best part is you get to choose where you want to be.  I'll hang with this crowd anyday.  Good luck...and best wishes for a memorable season.

[pdk25]

Originally posted by Scarne:
Welcome to bowhunting!  Won't be long now and your wheelie buddies will be calling you an elitist LOL...and you will have earned that title.

Killed 21 deer in three seasons with the techie gear did you?  Wasn't so hard was it?  Kinda like shooting a gun...only quieter.  Once you learn HOW TO HUNT as opposed to HOW TO SHOOT you'll tag just as many.  Promise.

I have a friend who has been known to tag 25 deer a year with a long bow out of a ground blind, or just still hunitng.  No bait, range finders, lasers, triggers, fancy rests, expanadble broadheads or whatever.  (For the record there not one ounce of BS in what I just wrote).  You know what the difference is between him and guys like me & you...well mostly like you and I'm not slamming you here...he knows HOW to hunt deer.  Stick with it with and think about what you are doing to get within 10 yards.  Any closer in a tree stand and it gets harder to shoot.  

Always think in terms of getting closer...not covering more ground.  THAT is the main difference between bowhunting and the techguys be it gun or compound thingy.  They think in terms of how far.

BTW...I tag just as many as ever with my recurve as I did with my compound thingy.  Of course three get me through an entire year.  Opening weekend I tagged the first two deer I had in range.  It isn't that hard to do...if you learn how to HUNT.

One thing you are going to find, if you actually stick with this is that there is a huge difference between bowhunting and wheel shooting as well as the majority of people who gravitiate to either direction.  Best part is you get to choose where you want to be.  I'll hang with this crowd anyday.  Good luck...and best wishes for a memorable season.

Wow

[Scarne]

Wow what?

[GMMAT]

I now know:

1.  Where the deer are.
2.  Where they bed.
3.  Where and what they eat (at different times of the season.
etc...etc...etc...

If you can enlighten me (and I say this humbly) on the 'how to hunt' thing....I'd be mighty appreciative.

I'm puttig myself on deer on a semi-regular basis (had 34 in MY bow range, so far this year).  Now...all of those were not targets for me.  Given.  But....some were, and I didn't make it happen.

Any advice is appreciated.  Thanks.

[Traditional-Archer]

Jeff,

I don’t know if this is advice as much as a question or a hunch. Is the reason you are having so much anxiety because you are afraid of missing, or worse yet wounding a deer? I only ask that from your first statement.    

But the main thing...I think...is the knowedge that I can't draw and hold my bow, now, like I used to. I could always (in the past) pick an opportune time to draw. Now....those opportunities are few and far between.
 

If so I felt the same way going from compound to recurve. In short a lot of things changed but you know that, I’m not trying to say you can’t hunt. You are a hunter shooting 21 deer with a bow compound or whatever if a feet not just anyone can say they have done. Going on I think the biggest change I felt wasn’t as much of a change as I had originally thought, “Time “ Time I had more time than I thought. Going from compound like most here did, I felt like I was panicking when deer came in, I had to learn more patience and just let it happen. Because the deer had to get a little closer than with a compound, the deer did see the boogie man a little more than they did when they were out 5 or 10 yards further. A lot changed and it mostly had to be me and the way I think and set up. Am I making sense, can you relate, or am I off target.        

Bruce

[GMMAT]

Probably not entirely off.  I DO likely need to learn more patience.  But the conundrum, I'm finding, is.....not being so high up....and being in tighter cover....I don't have the time I used to have to get "ready".  When I see deer, now, they're on me....and most times already in range.

Afraid of missing?  Never enters my mind.  I've done the prep..  IF I can get drawn...the ONLY thing I'm thinking is DEAD DEER.

Confidence has never been an issue (as far as hitting what I'm looking at)....lol.

[Jason R. Wesbrock]

GMMAT,

Aside from a little more clearance for bow limbs, I've never seen any reason to set up a stand differently for a recurve hunter versus one who uses a compound. Most of my regular hunting partners use compounds, and we have no problems hunting out of each others' stands.

If you feel like you need to go higher, go higher. The height of my stands depends on the individual situation. In early season while hunting flat terrain and thick cover, I'm more incluned to stay around twelve to fifteen feet. During late season or when hunting toward the bottom of steep ravines, I'll go as high as twenty-five-plus feet.