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Post by mbogo on Sept 7, 2005 6:51:53 GMT -5
The Situation:
You are hunting 30 yards from a traditional, primary scrape when a decent buck presents you with a good shot. You decide to hold out for something a little better, but in the process of circling downwind to check the scrape the buck also gets downwind of you and catches your scent. The buck immediately bolts and is apparently very frightened.
The Options:
#1. Kick yourself for not shooting when you had the chance.
#2. Give up on that location, remove your stand and go to plan B.
#3. Move the stand farther downwind from the scrape to ambush any other buck that tries to circle downwind of the scrape again. Give the area some time to rest then hunt it again.
#4. Give the area a week to rest then hunt the same stand location again.
What would you do in this situation?
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Post by DEERTRACKS on Sept 7, 2005 10:15:03 GMT -5
#3
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Post by kevin1 on Sept 7, 2005 11:53:49 GMT -5
#3 also .
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Post by jajwrigh on Sept 7, 2005 14:01:45 GMT -5
#3
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Post by Hoosier Hunter on Sept 7, 2005 14:18:59 GMT -5
Number 3 unless that stand is a ladder stand otherwise maybe a numero uno! >  |
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Post by bigugly on Sept 7, 2005 14:32:33 GMT -5
Depends on the cycle of the rut. I hunt out of ladder stands as well so I'd probley go with #4
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danb
New Member
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Post by danb on Sept 7, 2005 14:41:06 GMT -5
First I would do #1, then I would move my stand downwind further, but I'll be danged if I give it a rest. That buck was coming there for a reason, and he'll be back. His being driven by his instinct to breed, search out does, scrape etc is not going to be interrupted by him winding me one time. JMO These are good threads Mbogo.  |
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Post by weedhopper on Sept 7, 2005 17:16:35 GMT -5
I'd go with #4. Who's to say the wind will be in the same direction?
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Post by mbogo on Sept 8, 2005 6:33:19 GMT -5
This one is again from personal experience and I will describe my reasoning behind the choices as I made them in this situation.
#1. I was preparing for a 25 yard shot on this very nice buck until he turned his head and I discovered that his right antler was broken off just after the brow tine. Had he not been broken off he would have been a definite shooter.
#2. I had a good idea several bucks were using this scrape and I doubted that the area would be ruined because one of them scented me. Also, given the knowledge that this scrape was traditionally worked every year I figured this was also a great travel area.
#3. This is the option I chose. Almost all of the deer I saw came from the west and in order to circle down wind most of the time, without crossing open ground they would have to circle from west to north to east. I moved my stand slightly to the northwest and due to college involuntarily gave it a week to rest. It turned out that I was in a pretty good buck travel area and I ended up seeing 6 more bucks from the stand, including one working the scrape.
I'm glad you like them Dan.
Everyone, please jump in with situations and scenarios of your own based on your experience. I would like to keep these going so that we can learn from each others successes and failures but I've only come up with a couple more scenarios so far.
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danb
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Post by danb on Sept 8, 2005 6:56:38 GMT -5
I'm curious if you would've let the place rest if you could've hunted it the next day?
All over the internet I see people telling other people to give a stands a rest. This is a good idea, and we all know it is not good to overhunt stands, but if their is a good sighting or missed oppurtunity from a stand then it should be hunted again ASAP IMO. I'm not saying go into a stand on thre wrong wind or anything, I'm just saying I would hunt that stand again as soon as circumstances allows.
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Post by mbogo on Sept 8, 2005 8:02:28 GMT -5
I try not to hunt the same stand two consecutive nights in a row during archery season unless I have a very good reason to do so. If I had the whole week to hunt I probably would have backed off for a day then hunted the day after that provided the wind was correct for my stand. During firearms season I'm more limited in hunting areas and stand locations so I tend to relax that rule and hunt my hottest stand more frequently. A lot depends on the access to and from a stand but I often see a fair number of deer on the second consecutive hunt. Sightings drop off dramatically from there if I continue to hunt the same stand though.
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Post by duff on Sept 8, 2005 13:39:56 GMT -5
Every area is different. And what one person believes or observes could be the opposite for another person.
In your oppinion what exactly spooks the deer? If you have the wind in your favor, had a shootable deer within 25 yrds, why change?
I don't see other deer changing their pattern because one got spooked the day before or even an hour before. If it is a major travel area then chances are another will be by in given time. You might change the pattern of one deer but I have my doubts about changing anothers.
Example from last archery season. I shot a doe, waiting in stand to let her die in peace 30 min later 2 bucks follow, well before rut. I shot the bigger of the two about 5 yrds from where I shot her. With her was another doe so 2 deer spooked out of there, yet 2 more followed the exact trail. This opportunity has occured on several occasions for me.
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Post by mbogo on Sept 8, 2005 14:32:09 GMT -5
Duff, I highly doubt anything in my situation would have spooked other bucks and that was not my reason for moving my stand. I moved for two reasons, the first was I didn't want to spook this buck repeatedly if it returned and circled again. The second and main reason I changed my stand was to completely blindside any other bucks that tried to circle.
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Post by duff on Sept 8, 2005 15:00:55 GMT -5
I'd say if they were in 25 yards of my stand and feel confident another will be down the line I am sticking it out. I am very conservative when it comes to shooting distance with any weapon, but 25 yrds is within my comfort zone. Only reason to move would be for a better location, not because I spooked one deer.
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Post by steiny on Sept 8, 2005 17:40:49 GMT -5
I'd say your set up worked near perfectly. You had an opportunity at that buck, but chose to pass. No big deal if he scented you, you don't want him anyway.
If it worked once, it ought to work again under the same wind conditions. You just need a better buck to come by.
In regards to resting stands, two times in a row is the most I'll hunt one stand, usually give at least a few days rest between sits.
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Post by mbogo on Sept 9, 2005 6:22:39 GMT -5
To my way of thinking this buck demonstrated a flaw in my ambush plan and showed me how to adjust that plan. Although I would have only had a shooting opportunity at one additional buck from the new location than from the old, none of those other bucks scented me from the new location. Many of those bucks, especially the first one (if he could stay out of fights), would have been shooters the following year and I certainly didn't want to educate any of them.
I should probably mention that I am a tinkerer when it comes to stand location. I believe that each area has one particular stand site that is better than all the rest and I keep making changes until I find it. I have probably hunted from eight different trees in the past five years at this location. Some of my moves have been complete busts but many have been better than the previous and the last has been the best of all so far. It is probably a good thing that I can not hunt seven days week, otherwise, every tree in that woods would likely have scars from my stand on it, lol.
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danb
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Post by danb on Sept 9, 2005 6:47:45 GMT -5
Mbogo~~Just for general knowledge.....how far downwind did you have to go to catch those bucks circling to scent check the scrape, and not get winded yourself?
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Post by mbogo on Sept 9, 2005 7:42:20 GMT -5
Actually not very far at all Dan. Thanks mostly to a conveniently located ditch and crossing I moved my stand aproximately 35 yards from the original location but only added about 7 yards to my shooting distance from the scrape. If I had needed to move farther it would have been a tougher decision, but I probably would have made the same choice.
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danb
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Post by danb on Sept 9, 2005 8:24:17 GMT -5
Just wondering. I had a similar situation with a "trophy" doe picking me off the first afternoon last bow season. Her and 4 other does spooked on out of there. I returned the next morning and hung another stand 80 yards further upwind hoping to catch her trying to wind me or looking for me in my first stand. I left the other stand there. This was a wise old doe and usually the lead doe when they entered a powerline right of way. I got in early at about 2:00 pm the second afternoon of bow season, and sure enough she came out staring down my other stand. She fed into a 30 yard shooting lane stopped and stared at my previous stand. I caught her with a liver/single lung shot, and she was down inside of 50 yards. I know this doe was no P&Y buck, but I feel that to many times hunters give up when they spook a deer out of an area figuring that area won't see that particular deer for awhile. Not so IMO. They will just be extra cautious. Moving stand locations is a wise thing, but abandoning the area altogether is not IMO. Thanks again for a great thread! |
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Post by mbogo on Sept 9, 2005 10:22:40 GMT -5
Good point Dan, I've encountered a couple of those old "trophy" does that left me scratching my head almost as much as a buck would. I doubt a single encounter is enough to alarm most deer enough to avoid an area, but even the dullard of the herd will learn to avoid an area if repeatedly spooked.
Hopefully, I will think of a few more "situations" over the weekend.
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