Question about first deer hunt

[Sperit de bois]

When I first started hunting I tried setting still,,didn't work for me,still doesn't,got to move,,so I was told, "Hunt as if you are the pray".Everything out there is looking to get you.When I thought about it ,,it made for good advice.You become very observant,very careful of where you step,the wind,movement,birds,squirrels.
Like was pointed out don't look for a deer,look for the part/thing that shouldn't be there,an ear/eye,white color where it shouldn't be,four small "trees" evenly spaced,
Most of all hunt the way you want,it's your time in the woods.
Time spent in the woods is the chance to be alone,, without being lonely.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

At 50 feetit is pretty academic what charge to use.

Ya I second that. If you had two does standing side by side exactly the same, at 50 feet with that load..., you'd have a good chance of bagging both with one shot. :grin:

A few things about "hunting".

Do not be confused between "ethics" and "aesthetics", which is what many people do become confused over. "Ethics" in hunting only concerns "fair chase" in the situation that you have cited (it also includes making a humane harvest..., but we're not discussing that), so the meaning pertains to...does the animal have a good chance (arbitrary scale) of avoiding or fleeing from the hunter? ALL THE REST is the personal experience, and is "aesthetics".

Humans assume way too much about deer. They do "look up" and so a tree stand is not cheating nor fool proof, and hunting from trees goes way back in recorded history. There are four North American non-human predators of the deer family, bears, wolves, coyotes, and mountain lions. Mountain lions hunt from ambush, even from trees, so it's natural that some deer will look up.

Hunting over bait,..., food or the use of salt, is also documented way back. We assume that deer will automatically come-in to bait, or a "sex lure". In fact it's been found that unless one does the "bait" in a rather specific manner, it does little if anything to enhance a hunt. The bait must be established and maintained long enough for the deer to find it and become accustomed to it. Sex lures work only if deployed at the right time during the rut, and only for bucks. Does often shy away from an odd estrus scent that's outside of mating season and many will shy away at any time. Dumping some corn or some apples on a Wednesday morning may or may not get you a shot on a deer by Saturday..., though the squirrels, chipmunks, and groundhogs will love it. Launching a "buck bomb" outside of the rut is a waste of money in most cases, and if not..., the buck was plenty stupid and need culling anyway.

Is "bait" really that different from finding a meadow full of clover, with lots of deer tracks in and out, and setting up a blind and watching that? How about the journals where the hunters found a salt spring, and ambushed dozens of deer and bison there? Then what about paleolithic Indians who raised corn..., is it wrong to suspect that they hunted any deer that came in to eat the corn? How about then, hunting an area today where there are modern corn or soybean fields near-by? Or planting clover in a fallow field to enrich the soil and then deciding to go hunting there, or simply planting a patch of clover for the deer and also for hunting?

As long as the deer has a "good chance" of making a choice of where it will be, and that includes places where the hunter won't be or even times, such as after dark..., fair chase is satisfied. Now shooting a bison or deer that is standing in a corral is butchering a captive animal, and that is not hunting as there is no chase at all.

I don't hunt over bait, as I don't have to do so. The areas that I hunt have been scouted by me, and I have learned areas where the deer are likely to bed, and likely to move to water..., and normally I have a natural blind, but sometimes I still hunt, which is creeping along really slowly. In your case I'd say the stand is OK so long as it isn't wobbly and will spoil a shot, AND your host probably doesn't need to lay out bait.

LD

 

[VTdeerhunter]

I have never baited for deer and probably never will, just my personal preference, you do what is right for you, no judgement from me....

I do have a lot of experience as a trapper and use both bait and luer to bring in many animals to my sets, correctly placed attractants allow us to get the animal to put his foot in a 2 sq in area (the pan)....but to do this with any sort of success the animals have to already be in the area to begin with....(scouting)

One important thing to keep in mind for deer is that if the animals are in the area you really don't have to bait and if they are not in the area, IMHO, you are a bit late for this season, it takes a while to attract animals to a new area and you need to continue to provide bait to keep them in the area...just throwing out some corn in the woods is not going to make any hunt a slam dunk, If there is not already deer in the area I'll wager that you loose more of your feed to squirrels and such than deer...

 

[Scorpmann3518]

The deer are there. He sees them all the time. I just felt that I was being forced into doing it in a manner that was not what I wanted. As I said no one else will be anywhere around since he rarely lets any family members hunt on the property so I'll just do it how I feel like after I'm in the area.

Thanks Dave. That was initially what bothered me about it and almost caused an argument. Then I also remembered tribes running buffalo off of cliffs and routing animals into traps,etc. Worst case he attracts everything but back into the general area and It's an excuse to get another gun and hunt something else next time :haha: That excuse might work with the wife.

 

[S.Kenton]

It was late last night and I was tired when I posted...I meant I WOULDN"T have an issue with your father in law spreading corn around the woods..As far as the ladder stand goes...that ones up to you. I bow hunt off of ladder stands, they range from 8 ft to 25 ft high. The main thing as that you play the wind. Situate yourself so that the wind is in your face, wether your still-hunting or hunting from a stand.

 

[Dougiep2010]

My two cents of advice.
Deer do not like to travel in wide open clear areas. If you pick a spot over looking an area that will give you good long distanced, clear shots, you will not see hardly anything.

My "honey hole" for years is at the bottom of a slow sloping hill. I can see 200 yards left and right and 75 yards up the hill, but there are trees everywhere. The farthest gap between any two trees is maybe 20 feet.

I have sat still on the ground in a blind and watched doe and young bucks for a long time less than 50 feet away while smoking.
Deer are more spooked by movement and noise than they are smell. That I can promise you.
Get in a spot, pay attention, and don't move. You will see deer if they are in the area.

 

[Scorpmann3518]

That was my opinion of his stand when I checked it out. The woods are just thick enough to obstruct a good line of sight in my opinion. Unless they wandered out in the pasture next to it (Which isn't likely to happen) I'm going to ignore it and pick a better spot on the ground.

 

[Stumpkiller]

My "honey hole" for years is at the bottom of a slow sloping hill. I can see 200 yards left and right and 75 yards up the hill, but there are trees everywhere. The farthest gap between any two trees is maybe 20 feet.

I can see 15 to 40 yards at my favorite spot but no further in any direction. Most guys would find that claustrophobic . . . but anything I see is in range and it is in an intersection of three travel lanes where the deer are passing through cover. My number two spot has a couple "windows" of 70 yards or so.