Being dropped off at the stand.


Scbasshunter

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We have watched deer watch us. Don't know how deep deer think, but I do know that when they see a vehicle they may watch it and when they see it leave they usually relax again without fleeing the area. They may watch from cover but they don't usually take off hard. Walking, they see you they will likely blow out of the particular area and it is then a waiting game that they may later return or other deer may come through. If you have someone to drop you off, I would go for it. We have talked about it here. Guys behind us were riding their 4 wheeler in just about right up to their stands and they seem to see a lot of deer or at the very least they shoot a lot during our firearms seasons.

Anything you can do to disassociate a hunter and your stand location will help. I have had to have my wife walk out and blow deer out of our field before in the evenings when I was stuck in the stand. A couple years ago one particular hunt where she scared deer off, when I was stuck in a bowstand, trail cam pics showed that within less than 25 minutes after we were gone the deer I had been watching were right back by my stand. Last year my wife watched a couple deer after she shot her buck as I was coming back with the tractor. They saw me in our yard long before I got to the field they were in. They watched and they saw the tractor coming and they did not leave the field until I came up the hill to the field they were in at which point they walked to the edge of the woods. Then 3 days later I killed another pretty decent buck from that exact same stand.

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I drive my father in a great deal of the time. It's like a piece of farm equipment to them.

The biggest thing is whether you can walk to the stand in stealth or not. If you can't get to it without crossing a field then its better to drive in and be picked up coming out.

I noticed this when hunting in Colorado. When we scout/glass the areas we are hunting, the deer will stand there and stare. Step foot outside the truck and they are gone!

On the other hand, you couldn't do that here at home. These deer will run at the slightest glimpse of anything out of the norm.

That being said, I don't see a problem with dropping someone off at the stand in the mornings or in the evenings as long as it's done well before prime time.

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I agree with what Dawg (Corey) is implying. Depends on how the deer react to it where you're hunting. I can't say.

I know in places like where Pat (hoosierhunter) hunts they will react differently than where Corey hunts in TX. Same goes for where I hunt in MO compared to where I've been hunting in MS. Where I hunt in MO the deer are used to some disturbance from farming equipment and the farmer driving his truck in to check his crops. Where I've been hunting in MS it's mainly timber land so there's very little disturbance during the year, except starting around a month before the season opens until it ends. You won't see a deer in the MS timber land watch you driving in with a truck or an ATV even if their in a big food plot. The ones you see have a blue flame coming out their back side high tailing it out of there. The deer we see in MO act like the ones Pat's talking about in Indiana.

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I have one buddy that I can watch in his stand not fifty yards off one of our main roads. Vehicle traffic and bring dropped off is no issue for him. Other places in the swamp I wouldn't dare drive in. It's a matter if the see traffic routinely in an area or not I think. I'm with William, I see no problem bring dropped off if there's traffic there.

I also have noticed a half ton pickup makes a fraction of the noise an ATV does and have seen deer spook way worse when they hear them coming. You can practically drive up on a deer in a truck with stock exhaust.

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I also have noticed a half ton pickup makes a fraction of the noise an ATV does and have seen deer spook way worse when they hear them coming.

I'LL 2nd THAT!!!

That's the main reason the only vehicles we use in MO to get around are Polaris EV's...all electric. Our neighbor friend in MO that owns ~750 ac. around us made this comment last year to us..."These deer act like they don't even know they're being hunted now". Of course he has had the luxury of knowing how it was before we bought all this property in between his.

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Swamp into ag crops all around us, likeliness of deer seeing/hearing tractors and other equipment here is really pretty good. Does not seem to bother them much. Too many times to count I have watched as I was mowing while deer thought they were hiding just inside the woods watching til I was done. Been a number of times as I was going away I have turned to look and seen them step out of the woods only to walk back in as soon as I would turn and head back towards them.

It is legal to hunt from a stationary tractor or atv in this state now.

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Being dropped off at the stand.

Last year I had the opportunity to hunt at the bosses land, which happens to be farmed year round. The land and whitetail herd is managed year around. They transport hunters to and from stand by SUV. On the second morning after a night of rain fall, my friend who works with us got dropped off at the stand. We didn't get ten feet from stand and the Tahoe got stuck in the mud. After a good amount of time, rocking the truck and flinging mud everywhere. We finally got unstuck. My friend was very unhappy about having to hunt in that stand after all of the ruckus. He texted me all morning about how upset he was. Needless to say he was the only one to kill that morning, a doe and management 7pt. And only buck taken that weekend. Because of all the human activity on that property the sights and sounds don't bother the deer like they would on my property.

Now on my property that only gets human activity durning the season and minimal out of season. We walk in and walk out of stand locations. Only use ATVs for game retrieval. The deer are so spooky on my property I'm scared to fart too loud!!!

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