The best buck ever

[TRICER]

Once hiking into my glassing spot in the pitch black I nearly stepped on what had to be no less than 10 deer bedded exactly where I intended to glass. They were snorting all around me it was pretty cool. Only bummer was I didn't see much deer after that.

 

[fraginator]

I took the opportunity to find out what I could get away with for future reference. First one came within 15 feet directly down wind and staring right at me, but she kept eating and looking around. I could turn my head slowly, shift around a little, adjust the position of my bow. No problem, she seemed to only have a mild concern about me. But after she walked passed I tried to slowly set my bow down and she took off. Then of course other two that were behind her knew something was up. They were the harassers. They went back and forth from within 20 yards out to 40 then back in over and over. The huffing started towards the end and I swear they were making some kind of monkey sound too but not sure, could have been some kind of bird. I read that whitetails also spray a warning scent that lasts several days. Anyone know if mule deer do the same?

 

[longbowhunter2]

This happened to a friend of mine.
My theory is this.
It knows your there but it doesn't know what you are.
That means it can't smell you.
And you are camouflage well that visually it doesn't know what you are.
Thus as IVhunter said it snorted to alert danger.
My buddy had a doe walk right up to him and would snort and paw at the ground. Good job of scent control and camo.
Best
Longbow

 

[fraginator]

Once hiking into my glassing spot in the pitch black I nearly stepped on what had to be no less than 10 deer bedded exactly where I intended to glass. They were snorting all around me it was pretty cool. Only bummer was I didn't see much deer after that.

And that’s pretty much the same story here. No deer since then.

 

[fraginator]

Well, I went back out and it looks like everyone split for now. I’ll have to try again during general.

 

[brad nsw]

Looks like a winner for sure....keep at it!

 

[fraginator]

Gave it my best try. Didn't close the deal. But just as with every season before, I have come away feeling like I made some progress. The forky I was after is still out there. I would have preferred to take him home, but knowledge and experience are great consolation prizes.

I'm going to try some different camera locations throughout the next year. I moved my cameras after archery season and found there are a few more bucks in the area including the nice 4x4 in the attached picture. If anything, the cameras show these deer take inconsistent paths, so I'd like to find a spot where they funnel through more regularly. Maybe I'll try a tree stand instead of makeshift ground blinds.

.

 

[ilovesprig]

Every year is a learning experience....That 4x is areal incentive to get back out there next year.

 

[The Deer Guy]

Holy smokes. That’s a stud 4x! If I’ve learned anything from trail cams it’s how inconsistent deer are. I have cameras on water and certain deer will only show up once every 10 days or better yet only once all season.

 

[brad nsw]

That 4x4 is a rare bird if you're in D16 public!! Good for you getting a picture. Six years with several cameras and best I've seen are nice 3x3s with eyeguards.

Big motivation for next year!

 

[ppbets]

I have big bucks all summer and then they go off the rest ot season , I start looking some nice forks again.

 

[TheGDog]

Try putting some of that EverCalm stuff on your boots. It comes in a deodorant stick type of applicator. It's harvested from the bedding areas of them on farms. And definitely get a 3D Leafy suit, or a Mesh Ghillie Suit of appropriate coloring pattern for your area. Also mesh facemask. Be super stringent with your scent control protocol! If you have to hike in... change out of your sweatied-up shirt before you hike in the last bit to the spot. Maybe even carry a large ziploc to stuff the sweaty one into down into your pack. I leave the sweaty one sprawled-out to dry on a particular bush far away from my spot and pick it up on my way back out.

You'd be amazed what you can get away with if you learn how to hold still and freeze. I took 14 minutes of video of a Doe and her young one with nothing in-between us... just the leafy suit! 17yds away broadside at closest point!

And if you're doing bow, make damn well sure to range all the objects you can see around your spot so you already know the distance of all of them ahead of time! And if it's a distance like say 25yds... then make damn well sure you're aiming on him with the mid-point BETWEEN the 20yd and 30yd pins! Do NOT be fooled into thinking that because it's so close that you can just use the 20yd pin or the 30yd pin. That will NOT WORK, and you will be extremely upset with yourself when it misses!

P.S. from the sounds of your story, sounds like the wind is not quite right at the spot you've picked. Or you're not being good at freezing still when needed. Make sure you pay attention to how the winds change during different times of the day at the spot you're focusing on. Learn how the winds change and around what time they change, so you can anticipate that and move to a slightly different spot in the same general area where the wind won't give you away. Also spend some time ahead of time grooming the areas you want to sit in. Clear away the oak leaves, cut away branches that might impede your shot opportunity.

Whenever possible, draw your bow or raise your rifle to the ready when their eyeball passes behind a tree, or when they lower their head to the ground to graze. They can see motion even better than you can. If you begin to move when there eye is up and you are within their visual FOV, you'd better just start hurrying the hell up and trying to rush getting on target 'cause they aren't gonna stick around once they've spotted you.

 

[fraginator]

Try putting some of that EverCalm stuff on your boots. It comes in a deodorant stick type of applicator. It's harvested from the bedding areas of them on farms. And definitely get a 3D Leafy suit, or a Mesh Ghillie Suit of appropriate coloring pattern for your area. Also mesh facemask. Be super stringent with your scent control protocol! If you have to hike in... change out of your sweatied-up shirt before you hike in the last bit to the spot. Maybe even carry a large ziploc to stuff the sweaty one into down into your pack. I leave the sweaty one sprawled-out to dry on a particular bush far away from my spot and pick it up on my way back out.

You'd be amazed what you can get away with if you learn how to hold still and freeze. I took 14 minutes of video of a Doe and her young one with nothing in-between us... just the leafy suit! 17yds away broadside at closest point!

And if you're doing bow, make damn well sure to range all the objects you can see around your spot so you already know the distance of all of them ahead of time! And if it's a distance like say 25yds... then make damn well sure you're aiming on him with the mid-point BETWEEN the 20yd and 30yd pins! Do NOT be fooled into thinking that because it's so close that you can just use the 20yd pin or the 30yd pin. That will NOT WORK, and you will be extremely upset with yourself when it misses!

P.S. from the sounds of your story, sounds like the wind is not quite right at the spot you've picked. Or you're not being good at freezing still when needed. Make sure you pay attention to how the winds change during different times of the day at the spot you're focusing on. Learn how the winds change and around what time they change, so you can anticipate that and move to a slightly different spot in the same general area where the wind won't give you away. Also spend some time ahead of time grooming the areas you want to sit in. Clear away the oak leaves, cut away branches that might impede your shot opportunity.

Whenever possible, draw your bow or raise your rifle to the ready when their eyeball passes behind a tree, or when they lower their head to the ground to graze. They can see motion even better than you can. If you begin to move when there eye is up and you are within their visual FOV, you'd better just start hurrying the hell up and trying to rush getting on target 'cause they aren't gonna stick around once they've spotted you.

Thank you, I appreciate the advice. Much of what you suggest are things I have already started doing. I haven’t tried anything to mask scent. Been fairly diligent about scent control. Unscented laundry detergent, body wash, no toothpaste, no deodorant (I find that works better than unscented). But I will look into evercalm.

I have realtree max-1 camo, seems to work just fine. I’m have heard that camo doesn’t have to match surroundings as long as it breaks up my shape, sounds logical to me. I use camo jeans, long sleeve shirt, a face mask and hat. Spent what felt like an eternity upwind within 15-20 yards in plain sight of some does. I drew my bow a couple times (not at them) while they were nibbling on acorns. They definitely caught my scent, but went back to browsing pretty quick. Major change in body position finally blew my cover, but I was really just kind of testing the situation.

For sure the wind is not my friend in that spot. It’s completely unpredictable and has on occasion shifted in every possible direction within a 15 minute timespan. Not surprising I didn’t see any deer those days. I do clear out the oak leaves while scouting so there’s minimal clearing needed when I get there for hunting.

I do range all the trees in the area. At home I have practiced at in between distance ranges to see how to judge a shot. I also have been working on ranging based on intuition then verifying with my rangefinder. Getting better.

I think being in the right place at the right time is my biggest challenge. I’m going to work on finding the right place.

 

[TheGDog]

As someone who has a good nose, believe me, you NEED the deodorant. I use the Dead Down Wind one. I like it, use it everyday. Works good.

Also... for myself... another thing that has helped is like I've got an Ozone generator. A Big one for in the garage and a small one for in my car.

They work really well for killing odors on your garments. For even if you are good about unscented this and that.... if the next load going thru has all the other things... and your clothing is within that same enclosed confined space (the garage)... IT WILL pick up the scents from those subsequent loads.

One of my tricky ones is washing my little dogs scent from out of my truck. I've personally observed how Mule Deer react to the scent of MY dog. IT sends them RUNNING away like the devil himself was chasing them! Because what smells like a dog in their world, hmm? Coyotes!

I keep my one backseat folded-up all the time and the other one I keep covered whenever I allow them in my vehicle. The little one rides on my lap, so that's just my clothes that get the scent of that.

Night before a hunt I leave the Ozone generator that plugs into the cigarette lighter socket running all that night.