I'm hearing the deer I spook, must be getting better

[Travisimo]

I just got home from another hunt with my tags un cut. Even though I didn't get a shot at anything, all I want to do is get back out in the woods again, funny how that works. I learned a lot, and since I found it so rewarding i wanted to share my experience.

As someone from a non hunting family in a non hunting area, who took up hunting as an adult with no one to learn from, the learning process can be really frustrating. The feeling that I'm bumbling around in the woods doing everything wrong somehow, but not sure what to do differently is a difficult thing to deal with mentally. Reading and researching is helpful, but once out in the woods it seems to all go out the window. Or rather, I can't decide what advice to follow. Still hunt the timber? Find a spot and glass? Walk up the road? Sit and wait? The "Grass is Greener" syndrome, or in this case the "The deer obviously are just over that little hump so I better go there instead" syndrome is so hard to fight.

I made progress though. This last weekend I bumped 3 deer in the timber(2 does one unknown), and saw 2 (doe and fawn) more that never saw me. That was more close encounters than I have had in the last 5 years of hunting. I have had encounters before, and even managed shoot 2 bucks, but only had a couple encounters where I felt like my skill was actually involved.

The big difference was getting some advice from an experienced hunter. I had the good luck of running across him as he was skinning out his deer at the Forest Service site. He has been hunting the area for 10 years, and shared some of his knowledge of both that area, and deer hunting in general. The 30 minute conversation with him probably helped me more than the last 3 years of unsuccessful trips. He helped me narrow down to focus my hunting near a ridge top, and I started seeing deer. I still wasn't seeing bucks, and I still wasn't seeing anything when I was out walking, but now I knew they were in the area, so I was able to shake the "Grass is Greener" syndrome a little bit and put in some time.

Once I started spending some time off the road I started finding well used trails, beds, and a couple rubs. That helped me narrow down even further so I could put myself in the zone at the right time of day.

And, like magic, I spotted a doe and fawn! I nearly missed them as they slipped by completely silent about 60 meters away, but I saw the movement and got them in my binoculars for a couple seconds before they disappeared. Later I bumped a doe at about 40 meters, then the next day another deer from about 30 meters but in thick brush and I didn't see it.

The last two showed me I'm not nearly as sneaky as I think I am. Both of them spooked when i had been ''completely quiet" moving less than 200m/hr according to my phone with the wind in my favour. I have probably been spooking deer all over the place but not even noticed because they slipped away before I was even within sight. If I hadn't gotten the help from the other hunter I probably would never have had the patience to stick with the area, and slow down enough to not spook the deer before I could even see them.

I had a milestone in my hunting skills, and that is a gratifying experience just by itself. Now I'm looking forward to my next hunt, maybe I can twist things around and get out again before the end of the season. Thanks for reading, and thanks to all those who share their knowledge with beginners like me.

[trowt]

yer onto it now. things are heating up in your area. sounds lke yer doing all the right things.
good luck

[KodiakHntr]

Sounds like you are trying to still hunt terrain features, good on you.
I used to be pretty successful still hunting whitetails in transition zones between feeding/bedding/breeding when I lived down south.

Watch the wind, and try and keep it in your face. But as important, slow down when you are in the area where you are seeing signs. Two or three steps, and scan 200* with your binoculars, slowwwwwwly. Two or three slow steps, and repeat.

[Wild one]

Good advice ^^^

Also if you find a bunch of scrapes find a good hiding spot and sit. That buck may not show that day but it will if you keep going back. Something many forget ambushing deer is it takes time and sometimes days but odds are you will get a good shot when it comes together.

So think of it this way you can burn boot leather and fuel for multiple days probably see deer run off possibly get a shot or you can find a good spot where you know deer will return and wait them out with much greater odds of a deer being seen that has no idea you are there

Both ways can for one seeking numbers in hopes a deer slips up the other you wait knowing majority of your encounters will provide a shot opportunity

Typing this from a blind right now and I have passed up multiple bucks since late October but I have also had days I froze my a$$ off all day and seen nothing lol


No matter which method you choose slow or don’t move at all and take time to just sit, look, and listen

[Centerfire]

I feel your pain, Travisimo. Your situation sounds similar to my first 6 years of hunting. I too came from a non hunting family and live in a non hunting area.

What is the relationship between mule deer and ridge tops? I've heard this mentioned a few times. And what exactly constitutes a "ridge top"?

Thanks in advance.

[Travisimo]

I feel your pain, Travisimo. Your situation sounds similar to my first 6 years of hunting. I too came from a non hunting family and live in a non hunting area.

What is the relationship between mule deer and ridge tops? I've heard this mentioned a few times. And what exactly constitutes a "ridge top"?

Thanks in advance.

Basically what I learned from the other hunter is that the deer tend to move downhill in the evening to feed, then in the morning they move uphill to bed for the day. They also have a big preference for bedding on the top of a hill, or on a knob or bench uphill from where they feed. The area I was hunting was a south facing hillside, with a ridgeline at about 5000 feet running east-west sloping down to about 4000 feet at the base of the hill. I don't know exactly what the deer consider a "ridge top", but what I found hiking around was that there were lots of beds near the top of the hill, or on any little knob or bench near the top.