Frustrated New Hunter Needs Help

MikeyD6

Deleted
Thanks, man! My biggest frustration is that the second half of the season I have not seen much of anything. Also, I have yet to bag a deer off the club I paid and invested so much in. I know it will come in time. Just frustrating.

You are right about the deer sightings dropping off, once the rut is over, they seem to vanish. Like someone said, this is the time when the corn really pays off. The are looking to replenish for the rest of the winter, and most of the natural browse is gone. They tend to move more in the evening this time of year in my experience, and they'll eat that corn if you have it out. Plan accordingly.
 

Esau

Senior Member
It is supposed to be fun not frustrating. Enjoy the experience. Watch the sunrise, the squirrels play, and the birds. Breathe clean air and enjoy the quiet away from phones and noise. Then when a deer comes by enjoy watching them until you see one you want to take. Then remember that taking a life is a serious matter. We owe it to the animal to make a clean quick ethical kill. When you do this every animal is a trophy and you are on your way. Good luck.
 

PappyHoel

Senior Member
If it makes u feel any better it took me 14 years to kill my first gobbler. I went every year.
 

CowtownHunter

Senior Member
I'm not being critical but you've harvested 2 does and shot a buck this season. I'd say you've had a good season.

Look at the big picture, you got to spend many hours with nature away from the daily grind of life. Do yourself a favor try to keep that in mind; look at the positives and learn from the negatives and mistakes. Would I like to see and harvest a monster buck on every outing...yes...does it happen...NO. Set a realistic expectation and know that your season is hardly gonna resemble anything on the Sportsman's Channel.

Be patient and keep at it, if it was meant to be then it will happen. One thing for sure, you have to be there and be ready when Mr. Big decides to pay you a visit.
 

baddave

Senior Member
i've always said there IS a such thing as too much scouting . Like Rack said "be positive" visualize deer .and i don't know if you need to practice shooting as much as train yourself the mental part, relax , remember to stay down (follow through) oh and btw EVERYBODY on here that has hunted any length of time has missed and lost deer so get off yourself:cheers:
 

chrisn1818

Senior Member
Hunt with good friends!!! Eat good food!!! Fellowship!!! Play some cards!!! Be thankful for the chance to hunt!!!! Killing deer will come just by putting in time and enjoying the time in the woods. Good luck in the final weeks!!!
 

Brojbennett

Senior Member
Sounds like you've had a fairly good year to me. Real life is rarely like a hunting show. Take it as it comes, and don't worry about goals and such. Enjoy the time in the woods.

Throw that durn can call as far as you can fling it. Still and quiet in the stand kills more deer than any other tactic the vast majority of the time. Still and quiet means still and quiet. A deer can be out there 200 yards away that you have no idea is there, but it's watching you play with your phone, move that can call, or whatever.

I don't like to hunt the same stand more than two sits in a row if I can help it.

Are you hunting food plots, woods, or what? I see about 50x more deer hunting funnels and travel routes in the woods than I do sitting on a plot.

Sounds like the deer have patterned you. It's tough this time of year. Deer generally aren't going to come out into open area now, they're mostly skulking in the thickets in most areas. You need to change up something.

If the deer are eating your corn, set up 200-300 yards back in the woods along the trails they are using to come to the corn, and hunt that in the afternoon. They'll often stage up in the thick stuff and wait until dark to come feed in the open.

Don't think you have to be in an official stand to kill a deer. You can kill just as many, and sometimes more, from the ground.
Thanks! All very helpful. I have stands in a few different areas. All have mowed shooting lanes, but not wide ones or plots. Just area I put out corn.

I think I have some think areas I should move to for the end of the season. Couple of friends have spots they will let me use. Problem is Most of the club is under water. Guess deer don’t care.
 

MikeyD6

Deleted
Just don't disturb the land too much by prepping it. You're better off putting out bait and then leaving the area alone for awhile so they feel secure.
 

Milkman

Deer Farmer Moderator
Staff member
Thanks! All very helpful. I have stands in a few different areas. All have mowed shooting lanes, but not wide ones or plots. Just area I put out corn.

I think I have some think areas I should move to for the end of the season. Couple of friends have spots they will let me use. Problem is Most of the club is under water. Guess deer don’t care.

When placing stands try to think about wind direction. When possible have stand locations suitable for various wind directions so you are facing the wind. Also consider sunrise and sunset and having to stare towards the sun.
Climbing stands are great for those concerns
 

krizia829

Senior Member
Hi Brojbennett! By no means am I anywhere near as experienced as many folks on this forum BUT I have been hunting for the last 17 years of my life and have learned a lot. There's a reason why it's called Hunting and not Killing. We all go through phases where we don't shoot or even see anything and for the "lucky" ones, sometimes they go years like that.

One thing I can tell you is, slow down. Sometimes starting a new hobby, we want to do everything and buy everything right away without putting time into research first and expect 100% success. That's not how it works.

Putting too much pressure can push deer away or keep them deep in the woods where we would never go. Try to pattern where the deer normally come from and where they're heading to. Have a feeder set up with corn to keep them there but put your stand or climber 100-200 yards back in the direction they're coming from to beat them to it. If you set up right by it, by the time the deer come out, it's too dark too shoot.

Pay attention to the wind and entry points to your stands. Go in from an area where the deer won't wind you.

Don't check the cameras so often either. We normally check them at most, 3 times all season long but that's because we don't live there so timing is key for us in our lease. Unless you're patterning a specific buck, don't worry about the cameras.

You need to be where the deer want to go. Not where you think they may come out or because a spot looks like a nice shot. Look for where their bedding areas are, look for food sources, water sources like creeks, rivers, etc.

Deer are very smart animals. Try not to hunt a specific stand too much. They will know something isn't right. Hunt it 2-3 sittings and move on to the next. If you're hunting with a bunch of people at the same time, there's way too much pressure all around. Go hunt further in, hunt the spots where no one has gone, use a climber, etc.

Also, forget the calls. They may help catch the attention of a buck but remember during the rut, they're chasing so they could care less about the call if they're already after a doe. Just take your time, you will have your chance. And let me tell you.. For being a new hunter, you've had great success already just shooting does! Lot of people don't see much action after hunting for years!

Don't give up so fast on a hobby that is not guaranteed success. It will take some time. I didn't shoot my first nice buck until 15 years into hunting!! Only shot many hogs, does and one big spike before that. When I took the time to study deer and their habitat and learning from others, that's when things changed for me. Keep your head up. You will get your buck! Good luck and hunt safe!
 

Jack Ryan

Senior Member
All 4 other deer I have shot have been spot on. HIT Exactly where I aimed. Not sure what happened with him.

It's easy.

You missed. Period.

Either because you don't know where to aim for the presentation you were given, it was a bad presentation to take a shot and you got figety, you just missed, or all three.

A sack of corn isn't going to fix that. Not even apple flavored.
 

elfiii

Admin
Staff member
5) Other tips and advice much appreciated. Just about feel like throwing in the towel. Was really hoping to get that first buck this year.

You need to do a better job managing your expectations. You got meat in the freezer and you had a shot on a buck. That's an excellent season.

If it's all about the kill you will never be satisfied with any deer season because it will leave you wanting to kill more. The kill is the last event in a chain of events. You need to slow your roll and focus more on the chain of events and learn to appreciate each link in the chain. Your first buck is going to come when you least expect it. Keep pushing too hard and it will never come.

It's called deer "hunting" for a reason. Hunt more, expect less and get more out of each hunt. When you come out of the woods at the end of the day even if you didn't see so much as a squirrel, if you don't have a sense of satisfaction then you're doing it all wrong.
 

Sixes

Senior Member
How many deer have been killed on the club you joined this year? It could be as simple as a low population and a lot of pressure from other club members and that either caused the deer to go nocturnal or move off the land or already be ground and cubed by other members.
 

garveywallbanger

Senior Member
Forget food plots and corn piles and cameras. Find you a portable climber that you can backpack such as a portaclimb or tomcat...if you are compound or recurve bow hunting you will not be able to use those from either of those 2 Climbers. Give the noisemakers to your kids to play with. Throw the scents away but do buy some pure vanilla and pour some on your rubber boots 100 yards from your hunt area. Think like a deer. Sit quiet... and hunt hard... look for horizontal lines cause there are few of those in the timber... often it is made by a deers back. Agitated Blue jays and squirrels are your friends. Don’t hunt the same tree more than twice in the same month. Adjust to the deer. And finally take a kid hunting.
 

Mr Bya Lungshot

BANNED LUNATIC FRINGE
Forget food plots and corn piles and cameras. Find you a portable climber that you can backpack such as a portaclimb or tomcat...if you are compound or recurve bow hunting you will not be able to use those from either of those 2 Climbers. Give the noisemakers to your kids to play with. Throw the scents away but do buy some pure vanilla and pour some on your rubber boots 100 yards from your hunt area. Think like a deer. Sit quiet... and hunt hard... look for horizontal lines cause there are few of those in the timber... often it is made by a deers back. Agitated Blue jays and squirrels are your friends. Don’t hunt the same tree more than twice in the same month. Adjust to the deer. And finally take a kid hunting.

Man you just gave a lifetime of expert knowledge away.
Teach em slow jeezfacepalm:
 

Shipwrecked

Senior Member
Seems like every time I changed clubs the first year was never productive. The new guy does not get the best spot. It takes time to figure out the patterns on any property. Deer sightings get much harder once the property starts getting regular pressure. Just be glad you have friends and something in the freezer. My best results on club property has always been mid week, if that is an option for you.
 

kingfish

Senior Member
Since you are familiar with this sight, I'd spend a good bit of time on the Traditional Bowhunter part of this forum. The reason is that those guys HAVE to get deer and hogs close because their maximum range is only maybe 30 yards. I spend as much time or more reading about how those guys hunt and I'm not even a bow hunter. A good percentage of those guys hunt public land and kill deer with incredible consistency. No food plots. no corn, just natural food sources. Several posts have already mentioned the wind. When I got serious about the wind direction and hunting accordingly, I started killing bucks. Lastly, you're pressing. I did the same thing trying to kill my first mature racked buck. I wore myself out treating deer hunting like a second job. I finally took a deep breath, went back to basics, found a funnel between 2 cypress ponds and killed a monster 7 pt. You've got the right attitude and you're willing to do the work, just settle down and scout smart. Then hunt smarter.
 
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