rbaker7 Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 Hello. I wanted to get some feedback as I am new to bowhunting. This is my first season and yesterday was quite an experience. It was awesome, uncomfortable, dissapointing and still sweet day. I hunt in MD on private land and use a climber. My gameplan was to sit untill like 1030 or 11in my morining spot, warm up my toes,eat and head back out for the rest of the day to my afternoon spot on the other side of the property. I got settled in about 6 am, daylight came and I saw a few does running the top of this hillside to my left. Few little guys under my tree nothing really goin on untill I saw the outline of about 15 deer on the hillside to my left. it was about 930am.They moved past me and about 2 mins later I heard what sounded like a stampede comin through the woods. I stood up grabbed my bow and peaked behind my tree. No exaggeration probably 25 deer comin straight at me about 75 yards and gettin closer. I turned around wtih my back to the tree and stood with my bow waiting for them to get to me...after about 30 secs i got curious and peaked back around and they had stopped and were feeding at about 60 yards directly behind me to the right. All i could see was racks..probably 15 of em were bucks and I could see 3 absolute monsters..2 big 8 points and one that was at least 11 pt....the rest all little scrubs.. So im watchin them for about 20 mins feed shaking like a leaf prayin that none of the scrub bucks or does wonder my way and bust me...and then all of the sudden they all lay down and bed. so my plan is next thurs n fri my buddy and I are going to be hunting this same spot to finish out the season, so i really dont want to get busted. Im pissed that they bedded down bc I know it could be awhile and im freezing my ass off. so I get my nerves together after awhile and jsut sit tight n watch...the bucks stay down and get up every hour or so for about 5 mins shake off and lay back down...occasionally a doe would wander my way and then lay down. around 1 some of the does wander down below my stand, and all of the sudden all of the bucks get up. this 8 point starts following behind the does about 25 yardst.. i see the big one get up like hes going to follow too..im standing with my back to the tree watchin the does in front and peeking behind, the does move in front of me and the 8 follows about 15 yards in front of my stand...so now i have the 8 in front of me and the big one at about 50 yards behind me looking like hes about to follow ( i figure hes goin last) so i wait...i was freakin out cuz i was tryin to keep and eye on him and the deer in front at the same time...then the 8 point circles the does back up to where they were bedded and then pushes all the does into the field which seemed weird, then he walked rigth back in and laid down with the rest of the bucks...everytime it seemed like they were gonna make a move either into the field of the swamp below me they would lay back down...it was mentally exhausting bc there was so many deer around me I was worreid about gettin busted, ive never been so cold in my life, and the exctiement. one thing that was sweet was that a couple times during the day this smaller buck would stand up and go over to the big ones and nudge em to get up and then they would lock horns which ive never seen in person before....it was pretty amazing....i ended up stayin in the stand untill dark and snuck down and got out, i coudlnt see them bc it was dark and i kept my light off...im hopin that they didnt catch on to me..but i was literally watchin them from 930 untill 6 pm and they didnt seem on to me. so if i would have shot the 8 pt it woudl have been my best deer so far, however i was thinkin im hunting here with my buddy next thursday only way im shooting with this many bucks aroudn is if its the big one...what would you have done? now i dont know if i should have done anything different to get them to come my way or not..the only thing i could think of was if i would have brought my rattle bag but again i didnt wanna risk gettin spotted bc i was so close and there was so many deer. what do you think? the reason i think they were all herded up was not only cuz of the cold but because they just cut the corn in the last week due to how wet the fields have been.all year long i was seein deer enter the corn after daylight and now they cant. where i hunt is surrounded by corn fields, a swamp, and soy beans with decent woods seperating the fields. do you think thats accurate on why i would see so many deer together? thanks..i cant wait to go next thursday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnf Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 If it's legal in your state I would put 3-4 bags of corn about 15-25 yards out from you. This may pull them in closer to you when they are bedding. As far as shooting the 8pt. If you're meat hunting, shoot the biggest thing that gets close enough to you. You're obviously close to their bedding area and probably within a week they will have forgotten it ever happened, especially shooting a bow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 Welcome to the forums. Think holding tight was probably the best thing to do if you seriously think you have a chance on the deer you are after. Had a similar situation here about 3 weeks ago where I got stuck in the stand with the bow in my hand after dark. Was not nearly as many deer, but I did have at least 10 around(6 of which were in a food plot out in front of me and never had a clue what was going on back behind me), one a doe that busted me right before the buck I was after got where I wanted him. Those deer came back right after legal shooting light ended. Got a little cold, but there was so much movement going on I was not thinking too much about being cold. My situation hunting the backyard I was fortunate enough to have my wife push the deer off when she realized I must either be stuck or something happened. No telling how long I would have been stuck had she not bumped the deer off the clover plots. Trail cam pics showed that those same deer came back within an hour of me getting out of there. I ended up killing that same buck I had hoped to kill with the bow 3 days later when our rifle season opened up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camoman1 Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 Good job staying put for so long...that must have been hard. If you are able to get between where the deer are bedding and feeding thats where I would go. That would most likely eliminate you being stuck up a tree for so long, and would still give you a prime chance at that big guy. Welcome to the forums too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamond Archer 01 Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 Wow, sounds like you got a really good spot. I agree with camoman and you should put the stand in between the feeding and bedding areas. I think that would be your best bet. Welcome to the forums! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatetomiss Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 i would have stayed put to ,i know i wouldnt mind that problem of watchin deer all day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbaker7 Posted January 8, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 thanks...im def going to move up a little higher and try to catch them moving before they bed down...ive hunted there probably 5 times this year and ive always seen them traveling through but NEVER bed down where they did. they were only 40 yards from the field edge...im pretty sure its because the corn was cut in the last week and before they just laid down in the corn. that would also explain why there was so many new deer esp bucks i havent seen this year right? assuming they had no clue of my presence do you think they will bed there again? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camoman1 Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 The deer by me bed in the same general area...maybe not the exact same spot though. They seem to plop down where ever they find themselves in an area of cover. Was there a reason for that many deer to be in one area??? Was that spot protected from the wind or is it the safest place closest to a food source....if its something like the first one, they may not come there until they need to be protected from wind/weather. If its cold, deer by me will use the closest cover to a food source that they can find....which means they will probably be there again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeaveragehunter Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 That is about the best problem to have. I have new advice just keep after it and you'll get em Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monofletch Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 I say you should hook me up with an out of state tag to help you with your problem! :1eye: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bloodtrails Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 :camera::jaw::camera: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muzzy1 Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 If the 8 pt would have been your best ever ,i would have shot him....Waiting for the biggest one almost never works out.You could go back with your buddy and not see anything..Good luck hope you both stick one !!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckee Posted January 10, 2010 Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 For it being your first season hunting, you've got a pretty good understanding of deer behavour. You know where they feed, and now you know where they bed when the corn is down. Take the above advise and move somewhere in between, and you'll have a good hunting spot, for years to come, by the sound of it. Happy Huntin...eh;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbaker7 Posted January 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2010 so i went back out this thursday and set up where i thought they would be traveling close to where i got stuck last thursday....i found an amazing path and set up along side of it... i had a few doe 15 yards behind my tree comin up the path...i was turned facing my tree lookin out behind me at them...all of the sudden they stopped and were staring at me( or so i thought) ...then i heard a loud crunching in the snow comin from behind me...it was really close i slowly turned and saw the same monster at about 20 yards coming up the same path...when i turned i must been busted the does bc they took off. the buck stopped for a second and i raised my bow and he took a step forward only shot i had was in the ass so i just waited.. he stood there with one leg in the air frozen and then after about 30 seconds trotted off. man i was shakin i was so pissed..i would have seen him comin from about 200 yards away if i wouldnt have been watchin those does...i have hunted about twice a week all season bow only no gun..i have had so many close encounters with big bucks and the littlest things have gone wrong..i feel like since this is my first season god is makin sure everything goes wrong, literally everytime i get out of the woods im like damn i guess i know what to do next time...its frustrating but i think by next season i will have everything down pat...still got 2 weeks left of bow so we will see what happens. ps i got a sweet video on my phone of those bucks fightin last week idk how to upload it tho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckee Posted January 16, 2010 Report Share Posted January 16, 2010 Sounds like maybe you're moving around in your stand too much. The height of your stand can give you away easier too. How high are you ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbaker7 Posted January 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2010 i was close to 25 feet bc my bow rope was almost off the ground when i pulled it up...the tree i was in was super skinny tho and there was pretty much no cover. but i didnt have anywhere else to set up near the path. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckee Posted January 16, 2010 Report Share Posted January 16, 2010 Sounds like you were high enough alright. I found 20 was good, because whenever I tried 15 the deer would look up every time. If there is little or no cover, you really have to sit perfectly still. I deer's eyes are uncanning at catching movement, never mind something odd sitting in a tree, that wasn't there before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisSeb53 Posted January 26, 2010 Report Share Posted January 26, 2010 literally everytime i get out of the woods im like damn i guess i know what to do next time... Thats what huntin' is all about but... trial and error is the best learning experience... you can try and do what they do on tv all you want but the only way you are going to become a better hunter is through your own experiences... it does suck when your learning experiences occur around big bucks though... just remember... They don't grow big for no reason... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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