A little advice...

I've been hunting traditional archery for a couple seasons now and have yet to get a shot on a deer, much less harvest one. I've seen several deer and I either pass on the deer because of a bad shot angle, too far away (couple of occasions) or I get busted before they are in my effective range (majority of the time). Question is: What is y'alls strategy for having the opportunity to release an arrow without getting busted. I typically hunt out of a climbing stand, so I'm typically in trees with little to no limbs. However, if possible I look for a tree that is in close proximity to other trees for cover. I also hunt anywhere from 15-20 feet up. Do you wait for the deer to pass by you before moving? Any ideas or feedback would be greatly appreciated...

Good question. Nobody is going to be able to tell you what you need to do to be successful. The old adage "experience is the best teacher" is perfectly applicable here. The thread entitled "how to shoot a deer" will help you a lot. Look for it in the sticky section up top. It was written by one of the most lethal people that has ever hunted with a stickbow.

If I had to offer advice from what my experience has taught me it would be short and sweet. Simply 1) keep your shots CLOSE. 2)only take a shot if the animal is quartering away. Broadside is good, quartering away is perfect. 3) if you can't see the animal's eyes, the eyes can't see you. 4) do not give up!

I use a lone wolf sit n climb for trad hunting. It's a smaller compact climber. I find a tree I can climb without cutting limbs on my way up. But once I get up, I want to be in a thicket. Either surrounding trees real bushy or tree is in has thick canopy. I try to break my outline up as much as possible. Once you get to your hunting height then you can use a saw cut limbs make sure your bow clears no limb contact above or below. Another thing scent control and the wind. If it's wrong for your spot. Go somewhere it's right. It took me a while to learn this. It's better to pick and choose your wins An losses. If it's wrong don't hunt or adjust for it.

Those are my hard learned lessons,

1. Don't hunt trees that look like power poles.

2. Be smart with scent, outside contaminates can make u super unnatural. Examples (Gas Station, Pets, Restaurants).

3. Wind deer can smell you, way before you ever see or hear them.

I'm in the same boat as you, so I will be watching this thread carefully. I wear glasses and wonder if they aren't seeing them. That's about the only thing on my body that is exposed. I try to put my stands in thick stuff and make sure I'm not silhouetted against the sky. Some folks say they want the sun at their back so the deer can't see as good in the bright light but most of my deer come by at dusk and dawn. My main problem is staying still, I want to see what's happening around me in the woods and turn my head too much, even though I turn it slow. Got to develop better discipline.
I had a good stand and got busted on it. Every time the deer would come by after that the first thing they would do was look up at my stand. I had to abandon it and move. Maybe both of us will get some good advice from this post.

sawtooth said:

Good question. Nobody is going to be able to tell you what you need to do to be successful. The old adage "experience is the best teacher" is perfectly applicable here. The thread entitled "how to shoot a deer" will help you a lot. Look for it in the sticky section up top. It was written by one of the most lethal people that has ever hunted with a stickbow.

If I had to offer advice from what my experience has taught me it would be short and sweet. Simply 1) keep your shots CLOSE. 2)only take a shot if the animal is quartering away. Broadside is good, quartering away is perfect. 3) if you can't see the animal's eyes, the eyes can't see you. 4) do not give up!

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Great advice. This guy's pretty deadly too. Number 3 is particularly true. Make your move when their head is down. If you hunt feed trees you'll get close shots. If you're seeing a lot of deer out of range you need to fine tune your scouting a little bit. Do a search for Warren Wommack's methods about hunting feed trees. And keep after em! I'm in a bit of a dry spell myself.

Maybe an out of the box suggestion...

Why not try a ground blind? I killed my first trad deer last Saturday out of one and man, what a difference. There is more room, you can be a little more lax on moving, and the deer simply cannot see you.

I had several deer within 10 yards...even when they looked in my direction, they could not pick me out. It gave me plenty of time to wait for the best shot.

I used a Barronett Grounder 350--think it's 130 or so online.

Think on these things.

Josh

I have found there is a big difference in a place you can see deer and a place you can get a good shot at one. Feed trees are the best if you can get hid but sometimes there's no way to hunt them without being seen.

Wind is the most important factor for me. I mostly hunt from 8ft to 12ft because I set up for those close shots, and want to keep the shot angle in my favor. I get away with this because I stand a lot, when I hear something that sounds like a deer, or prime time in the mornings and evenings, get up on your feet dont wait cuts down on movement. You can get away with a lot but if the wind gets you, you are finished. Others gave you good advise read RC's how to shoot a deer and Womack's writings. I don't hunt deep bottoms because of wind issues. I like to find a good bench or trail about 1/3 way down the hillsides or the top saddles. Old roadbeds, edges and feed trees. Todd was right if you are seeing deer just out of range get that wind checker out and fine tune your set up, if you are set up in the wrong tree they may not get any closer. I do sit a lot sometimes without getting up, I just enjoy the hunt, good luck.

sawtooth said:

Good question. Nobody is going to be able to tell you what you need to do to be successful. The old adage "experience is the best teacher" is perfectly applicable here. The thread entitled "how to shoot a deer" will help you a lot. Look for it in the sticky section up top. It was written by one of the most lethal people that has ever hunted with a stickbow.

If I had to offer advice from what my experience has taught me it would be short and sweet. Simply 1) keep your shots CLOSE. 2)only take a shot if the animal is quartering away. Broadside is good, quartering away is perfect. 3) if you can't see the animal's eyes, the eyes can't see you. 4) do not give up!

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Great point about the eyes - I've had a few much more experienced hunters hunters tell me to never look a deer in the eyes. Sorry but I disagree. If you don't follow their eyes (or at least their face) closely you'll never know when it's safe to move. If you hunt from the ground like I do you are literally eyeball-to-eyeball. If they could see your eyes/face they would be long gone already. So if your face camo is good you might as well stare them down so you can see exactly when their eyes are on you.

Dendy is much to kind.
I began to not get busted when I started wearing a glove on my bow hand and a mask or paint on my face.I once hunted a field edge with my cousin and about dark at over 100 yards his face "glowed" it seemed. I also believe that the modern day camo is too slick and bright. In my opinion cotton or fleece absorbs light and does not shine. there is a reason old timers wore flannel. You must have something behind you to break your out line and you must climb out of the sun.
Never take a shot you have to think twice about but remember...there aint nothing dying if the arrows aint flying!RC

Good advice from RC and Dendy here. David, if you have been busted in that particular tree on numerous occasions just move to the opposite side of the trail and hunt a different wind. Keep 'em guessing so to speak...has worked for me lots!!! I also agree that being up and ready during prime time or when you hear something, etc puts the odds in your favor a bit. I am extremely attentive on stand. Get some practice getting into position etc when other critters are around such as turkeys, etc. if you can get up, bow in hand at the ready with them in close, you can kill anything IMHO!! Shoot straight and have confidence!!! Oh, X2 ofn the face paint and gloved bow hand, etc. I actually cut out the fingers on my string hand glove and mount the shooting glove over it, leaving my middle three bare and only covered by the glove..

I carry a folding saw in my pack and a hand clippers on my belt for trimming limbs out of my way. I like a quartering away shot best and look for my shot to go to the opposite shoulder. On straight trees with no limbs, I press my back against the trunk and become part of the tree's trunk till the shot present itself. I like to shoot standing but I do practice shooting sitting. I use face paint on my face and wear the Under Armour liner gloves. They cost too much but fit tight and long to cover up my writs for those biting no-see-um.

dm/wolfskin said:

I carry a folding saw in my pack and a hand clippers on my belt for trimming limbs out of my way. I like a quartering away shot best and look for my shot to go to the opposite shoulder. On straight trees with no limbs, I press my back against the trunk and become part of the tree's trunk till the shot present itself. I like to shoot standing but I do practice shooting sitting. I use face paint on my face and wear the Under Armour liner gloves. They cost too much but fit tight and long to cover up my writs for those biting no-see-um.

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3 of my 4 deer this year have been seated w small windows for shots. The standing one I heard coming and stood because there was a shot opt as they entered the plot from where I heard them.

Thanks guys for some great advice. Based on the pictures of harvested animals and associated discussions I've seen on here for the past couple of seasons, I knew that you guys would be an excellent source of advice. I'll keep you guys updated on the outcome If and when I'm blessed to get the opportunity to take a shot...

I finally broke the ice and got my first traditional bow harvest.

I had the tree stand setup adjacent to an old grassy road and on the opposite side of the tree that I expected to see deer. A couple of does moved up the road from the side of the tree that I wasn't looking and caught me totally by surprise. The lead doe was ~7 yards from me and broadside and my bow was hanging on the tree hook. I moved slowly to retrieve my bow and the lead doe caught my movement. She jerked her head in my direction and stared. She didn't run off, but became real fidgety. After about a minute of acting skittish, she provided me with a broadside shot. At the same time that I focused on a spot behind the shoulder, she started to bolt. I let the arrow fly and made contact not behind the shoulder, but in the hindquarter. After sitting in the tree stand for an hour or so and being disgusted with my shot placement, I decided to get down and look for blood. At times she left a good blood trail, but I lost her several times in the thick stuff along a creek. After searching for a couple hours and finding no doe, I decided to go back to the truck and wait for a couple of hours. I took up the search again just outside of the thick undergrowth of where I lost blood and got lucky and found blood. Approximately 5 hours from the time I took the shot, I found her.

Even though the shot placement was awful, it was definitely my proudest archery deer harvest.

50# Bear Kodiak Magnum (passed down to me from my dad),
Beman Centershot Carbon Arrow
2 Blade, 125 grain Magnus Stinger Killer Bee.

Congratulations man! Way to stay after it. Each one will get easier now.

Congrats.

Awesome good job

You are now officially "hooked". Great job, way to hang in there, especially after the shot. Congratulations.

Congrats.