How are you guys seeing so many deer?...!!!!

[SDLIVIN]

"Dude, how long have you been there?"
"An hour."
"An hour?"
"Are you serious?"
"I've mastered the ability of standing so incredibly still, that I become invisible to the eye. Watch."
"You're eating a Zagnut."
"But my movement... is so slow... that it's imperceptible."
"Mmm, no."
"I'm sure I'm invisible."
"Hi, Drax."
"...Dammit."

 

[TheGDog]

In all seriousness... the biggest things I was told that I feel helped me the most?

1.) Sit down, Shut up, and Try super-hard not to move. If you must move, move super slowly! Look with your eyes first, before you bother to turn your head at all.
2.) Be super stringent on your scent protocol! OMG Especially if you have Dogs! The scent of Dogs scares the piss out of Mule Deer! Remember, what is a Dog in their World? A Coyote!
Don't let them into your truck as the season approaches... and wash out those seats! Wash clothing in Dye-free Scent-Free or even the special detergents that also don't have the UV blocker chemicals. And LINE-DRY ALL CLOTHING ITEMS!!! If you can, leave them outside like 2 days before-hand so they pickup outside scents, not the scents in your garage. I also happened to have bought an Ozone generator that I will run in the garage the night before when the clothes are hanging in the garage to kill odors. I also like to layout the clothes I'm going to take into the field upon the hides I've processed so they will pickup the scents of the dander particles sloughing off from the fur. I know I can smell it, so I figure they can too. I also make sure on the hike-ins that about 1000yds back from my spots I stop to change out the sweatied up undermost shirt... you know since the part where the back is covered by your pack gets all kinda sweaty on the hike in. I'll either leave that shirt on a particular bush and just make sure to pick it up on my way back out... or.. I'll stuff it into a Ziploc. And on my boots, before leaving the truck I have this scent product that's harvested from bedding areas of farmed deer. It's in a speed-stick thing so I rub in down the toe and side of my boots. That stuff is pretty strong, so even though a bit wears off during the hike in it's still definitely there when you arrive, but now more muted.

And I know for sure concealment gear helps like crazy! Was able to film a Mama Doe and her younger one for almost 15 minutes of video. I was seated on Tripod stool, with bow on my lap... and NOTHING in-between us. I was just scooched-up next to a scrub-oak in its shadow, steep hillside behind me. and they eventually passed by at 17 yards! I had the 3D Leafy suit and mesh facemask. I just always wear the mesh facemask now because I've found it help tremendously with bugs! That plus the leafy gear.. as long as you don't move? You hardly get pestered by the insects...but then... once you get up to move? Oh yeah, they key in to that motion real quick and start to fuss with you again. And when you set back down elsewhere... for a bit you'll have to occasionally quietly blow little puffs of air to shoo an occasional few of them that try to land on my glasses or exposed cheek surface. But that's about it. You'll hear them off and on fly up to attempt to cash-in on your sweat/body moisture which they can smell... but being covered head-to-toe with leafy-gear + facemask? they don't find access points and give up and go elsewhere on their merry way.

I used to be very pestered by the bugs in my spot, tried to do the ThermaCell thing, only marginally successful. But since started doing the Leafy Gear and the Mesh strip Ghillie Suits? Bug no longer an issue... AND... I've had Doe pass consistently under 35 yds from me and never know I was there. Just keep your eyes peeled on them. And if you mess up and happen to move a little and they see it. You just pause and do the "freeze game" as I call it, and with the concealment gear, after a brief period of alert... as long as you don't move anymore... they calm back down and figure, they were mistaken or something. It's really cool when that happens and they settle back down!

Matter of fact... one time... I had a Mama Doe and very youngish fawn... resting in the shade of some kind of tree similar in size to a scrub oak, but with less foliage, so you could see thru it a little bit. And they were only like... I'd say 30yds away... and they were there for a good long time. That was very cool to watch. Very relaxing.

When you're checking out for potenitals spots to come back to? PAY ATTENTION to the direction of the wind and how it changes depending on the time of day! Remember that!!! Commit it to memory! Use that info when planning your day in that area! "In the morning I'm gonna go here... then after HH:MM when the wind changes I'm gonna break for lunch then head over to here so that the wind, around 2P starts blowing this other way so I can then sit and watch for them returning here entereing in from this direction in the PM!" That sorta thing.

These are things which have helped me. And these were in areas where your visibility is not extensive. It's quite limited by the all the chapparal surrounding this more open area creating an "edge". Like all the books say... "hunt the 'edge'! "

Also... it sure seems like they like to use gullies (or coolies I've heard them called also) to traverse thru an area, since it keeps them out of the line-of-sight of the main viewing plane across an area. Also they're they're no dummies... they know that walking in that gulch has much less crunchy "potato-chips" to walk on in that sandy/rock ground, then out of the gulch/gullie where there is dried-up oak leaves everywhere being all super noisy.

 

[EZHunter]

After reading/studying this particular forum I’d say I’m extremely excited to get out and get my first deer this coming season! Saw these two ladies today after about 1 1/2 hours of looking/glassing. Walked up on them eating at about 50-75 yards. As you can see I was spotted by one of them but didn’t seem to spook them. Very thankful there’s a website like this that has goldmines of info!

 

[Bowman]

Good deal, read all you can....
Good luck..

 

[TheGDog]

Once you get out there and start getting good with your sitting-still skills, in the shadows... backed-up against something to break-up your outline, with concealment gear and playing the "Freeze Game"... you'll start to be amazed at all the cool close-encounters you'll start to have from Time-to-Time!

I filmed this 15 minutes encounter with my cellphone. Sitting on a Tripod Stool... with 3D Leafy concealment gear... with NOTHING in-between us... and them passing by at 17yds at the closest point! And me sitting there... with a bow with an arrow knocked in it... on my lap.

 

[SOLUTESHUNN]

I am a very big fan of 10 power and Swarovski are the best, they are a hell of an investment but if you are serious about the sport they are simply that. an investment

think of them as being more important than your rifle or bow. How you harvest them doesn't matter if you can't find them.

I will say that I bought my daughter a pair of 10 power Vortex's this year and they are really good glasses.

Having something to rest them on, having a bio harness, and being comfortable make all of the difference in the world.

I think there is something to the post about training your brain, I grew up in NE Washington and it was a game whenever we went somewhere I would see how many deer i could spot on a drive. I still do the something to this day with my kids. Yesterday I saw a big buck about 50 yards off the side of the Sepulveda pass at 330 PM.

As far as how long do you spend glassing an area I would say it depends on what you know about the area. I have spent an entire day in 1 spot and I have spent a few hours at certain times of day at another. I have a piece of property up in Coalinga and we have a spot that is like a deer highway. We have made the spot we glass from very comfortable and we have taken a lot of deer from there. I sat there from an hour before daylight until noon on the last day of the season last year I saw quite a few deer and a couple of decent bucks, just not what I was looking for. I needed to be on the road by 2 PM. I got up from my position at noon to stretch and gather my stuff. I was making quite a bit of noise, when I climbed off of the rocks a nice 4x3 jumped up from under where I was sitting. He was no more than 15 yards below me and I either never saw him come in or he had been there the whole day. and other deer had walked right passed where he was. I did not attempt a shot because he was moving at a good clip. my cousin got him that evening. and he got up from the same spot about 30 minutes before dark. somehow that buck slipped back in there in the hour that nobody was sitting there.

sometimes you can stare at a spot that you just have a gut feeling about and see an ear twitch, or a hot shine a bit

you won't see that in a cursory scan...

If you know the area, get as comfy as possible. get as well hidden as possible, and stay put as long as possible. its amazing how much deer move throughout the day.

If the wind shifts and I am in a bad spot. I give up and get out before I ruin a spot though. Take your time and you will be successful. If you get impatient, take the book with you. I have done that to give my eyes a rest from glassing, bring snacks. stay well hidden and remember, if you see a deer and they are not looking at you, you are doing it right... If everything you see is staring at you, they have known you were there for a long time....

Sage advice!

 

[Shooter]

Anyone ever have any success with hunting D15 north of Borrego Springs?

 

[cadeerhunter]

opening eyes and looking....LMAO

 

[Kellendv]

Anyone ever have any success with hunting D15 north of Borrego Springs?

Do you mean D19? D15 is west of Borrego Springs.

 

[Shooter]

Sorry. Yes I meant D19.

 

[Kellendv]

Sorry. Yes I meant D19.

I hunted D19 for the first time last year and got a nice buck on the opener. In my experience the deer density is pretty low but they’re in there. I posted a long write-up of the hunt here:

Success On The D19 Opener

To be perfectly honest, I was climbing a lot this summer up in the Sierra and I just plain forgot to buy a second D16 tag on August 2nd. So, when I realized my mistake and confirmed that they were sold out, I checked what was still available and saw that D19 had some tags for sale. I've been...

schoutdoors.com

If you have questions on tactics/strategy you can PM me.

 

[Shooter]

Kellendv, thanks a lot! Great post. Very detailed and nonetheless more importantly keeps me hopeful for D19. This is my second tag as well. Was hoping to purchase my second one out of D16 but was too late. My first will be here in D12.

 

[Kellendv]

Kellendv, thanks a lot! Great post. Very detailed and nonetheless more importantly keeps me hopeful for D19. This is my second tag as well. Was hoping to purchase my second one out of D16 but was too late. My first will be here in D12.

You can buy a D16 tag, but you have to wait for August 2nd because you already have a Premium/Restricted tag (D12). You would of course have to turn your D19 tag in as you can only have two tags. D19 is unrestricted, which is why you were able to buy one now.

 

[Shooter]

Good deal I’ll pit that I’m my calendar.

 

[DirtHunter]

In D13 on Friday before the season, I saw a nice buck and four does, and another doe driving home.

 

[ratz]

What was she driving?

In D13 on Friday before the season, I saw a nice buck and four does, and another doe driving home.

 

[DirtHunter]

What was she driving?

A Tesla SUV

.

 

[Gcddarren]

Can you find the spike buck? A zone mendocino CA. 140 yrds. Posted on here a few times but the longer I hunt the more I learn. Biggest advice is walk slower 3 to 5 steps, stop and listen. Cover ground, be quite as possible.

 

[GUNDOGLOVER49]

Can you find the spike buck? A zone mendocino CA. 140 yrds. Posted on here a few times but the longer I hunt the more I learn. Biggest advice is walk slower 3 to 5 steps, stop and listen. Cover ground, be quite as possible.

Yes, yes I can. to the left of shorter stripped trunk. top center.

 

[IVhunter]

Can you find the spike buck? A zone mendocino CA. 140 yrds. Posted on here a few times but the longer I hunt the more I learn. Biggest advice is walk slower 3 to 5 steps, stop and listen. Cover ground, be quite as possible.

awesome pic