What am I doing wrong??? Kind long

S

ScottsGT

New member
OK, I'm new to hunting. This is only my second season out in the woods. I even started late last year. But man, I have bought the gear. Neat hunting cammo, a really nice .308 Enfield I built myself,sporterized of course with a synthetic stocks, best boots I could afford. I even bought an ATV at a bargain price. But I've yet to see any bucks. I'm hunting in the southeast (SC) rural area, on a 145 acre tract of land that is surrounded by other hunting properties. Now we have been in a serious drought this fall, and we finally got an inch of rain last night, and I'm planning on my white tail assault this Sat. evening. I'm as quiet as I can be, sitting in a perminant stand built out of plywood on top of 4X4 posts about 12 feet in the air. It is a box I'm in, so I cannot be seen except my shoulders and head. I sometimes even use a climbing stand, as I plan on this Sat. Out hunting times are usually a morning hunt, or we get out there about an hour before sunset, and leave when it's dark. Any pointers you could give me would be appreciated. Also, I try not to use any deodorant, and do not shave and use aftershave before going out. I know it's not all me, because the processing plant down the road told us that he has seen a small ammount of bucks coming in this year, and he believs that the rut has yet to kick in since it has been unseasonably warm and dry.
 
Are you seeing any sign at all in that area?
If so, maybe they're traveling entirely at night.
The 14th will be the new moon. If your season goes until then, they may be more active during the day.

You may also want to try some scent removing detergent without UV whiteners so you won't glow. Deer can supposedly see the UV spectrum and clothes washed in regular laundry detergent will supposedly glow like a white shirt under black light.

By the way, Arm and Hammer makes an unscented deodorant.

If you smoke, Don't.

Good luck to you. Let us know how you make out.
 
The deer tracks looks like foot prints at an elementary school playground. There is one buck leaving prints the size of my hand! :eek: I've been thinking about the UV detergent. May be too late for this season, since we end on Jan. 1, but I've got a couple more days I can get out. I'm actually planning on going on this Sat. Might even convince the wife that that is the last big chance I'll have and get to spend ALL day. Up at 5:30 and back in the evening.
 
You can always set up a "What's out there?" station, some 50 yards or so from your stand: Go to a feed store and buy some corn, maybe some Calf Manna; a game block and maybe some salt. Put out a quart or so of the corn and C.M. each time you go out; a handful of salt and the game block. It may take a day or so for them to find it, but find it they will!

That oughta bring in does and maybe little bucks. If there are does around there are bucks around. The "real" bucks tend to hang out in the brush and watch their ladies' activities...

You oughta see critters at first light and then around sundown.

:), Art
 
Make sure you get to your stand well before daylight and make sure your ATV is parked well away from your stand and any traffic area.
Your chances will probably increase as the moonlight decreases.
Good luck.
 
Hey Scott!

Two problems here - one, no rain has made the deer orient more on water. Try hunting creeks and cuts.

Two, the warm weather has them staying nocturnal. Today and yesterday were good days - cold snap came in (sorta).

My club is east of Fort Jackson and the harvest for the last few weeks is off.

I hunted Fri/Sat/Sun last week and nada. Next weekend should be better.

You can't kill'em if your not out there.

Giz
 
Hey Gizmo,
I'm not far from you. Ft. Jackson is in my back yard. I live right off Clemson road in the Woodlands. I'm hunting up on the other side of Elgin at a friends farm. We've been hanging around the creeks. But I think the warm weather is the big part of it all. I have already informed my wife that she best not even start looking for me until Sat. evening. This weekend looks like the last real good possability for the season. Wet, cooler weather and the new moon.
 
Things are off this year in South Carolina...

Scott,
My Buddy Gizmo is right, the "harvest" is a little off this year in SC. We had a realy goodearly season here in the Upstate, but its been slow the for the last month or so. At my farm, we are holding alot of deer, and yesterday, 3 of us hunted in the morning, and 4 of us in the afternoon.....and we saw a total of 1[!] doe. This is unheard of! We are used to seeing alot more activity than this. This year has been very strange all the way around....draught, and VERY warm weather. Don't let it get you down. We have killed about a dozen bucks @ the farm this year, and we will probally take a few does in the next few weeks. The deer are there...I know my property and the herd pretty well, they just aren't moving the way they normally do.

Thats why they call it Hunting, instead of Shooting;)
 
No deer yet, but...

What a rush on Sat. evening. I was in the stand for about an hour, the wind laid down and all was quiet. But about 35-50 yards to my left, just across the property line, I could hear a big old buck scraping is rack on a tree. It must have lasted 10 to 15 mins. Man, it was driving me crazy to not be able to get out of the stand and go for a better look. I had a big scrub oak still full of dead leaves blocking my view. Then on the walk out of the woods, I startled two more on the road out. The guy in the other stand just saw a small Doe. But I did take notes on how to imitate the scraping noise. Almost sounded like a beaver eating a tree. Damned fool was even knocking on the tree with his rack. Sounded like someone driving nails!
 
You never know with deer. Dry warm weather definitely in my experience makes the big deer move at night. At the same time some things are not always true. Some buddies hunt out of a permanent blind sitting in there smoking, grilling and shooting the bull and they shot deer most years. My wife's cousin goes to the edge of a field on his farm and sits in a lawn chair without camo and the truck radio playing and shots a deer every year at 150 to 300 yards. I called BS but had others backed up his claim.
 
Kobra's got a point.....

Ya never know. Me and a buddy were bored from unsucsessful hunting one afternoon 2 years ago and started in on the drinks and music from the VW buggy at a tank. We were having a shooting contest at pebbles with .22 pistols when a nice 8 point wandered up. Then some does and fawns. We just sat there with our jaws dropped. After a while, them watchin us and us watching them, we picked a tender young yearling buck and I walked over and got a rifle from the VW and shot the little fellow and we split him up. I don't know what the secret is, but I walk far with no cammo and leave the 4-wheeler behind - I'm talking 1-4 miles here. The deer seem to think I'm part of the wildlife or something. I took this years' young buck with a .223 through the neck at 200 yds. while they milled around browsing and watching me approach - with a jean jacket and blue jeans on. The approach took almost 45 minutes - I put no pressure on them. The 4-wheeler was at leat 1.5 miles from where I first spotted them. My opinion: deer are kinda stupid, (duhhh), but I think they are very wary and know when they are being watched.

Maybe throw feed all over the place and take some sandwiches and a 6-pack into the blind with you? (just a suggestion) :D
 
Uh-Oh...... Cat's out of the bag now...

dwil, Art (the other moderator) is from somewhere in your area...... If I knew it was that easy. I'd of ragged him severely..


:D :D

Giz
 
How is the acorn crop up there? Both the deer I harvested this year have been plump, with lots of fat and with tender sweet meat, a sure sign they have been feeding on lots of acorns. Deer love acorns although I think they like turnip greens and other garden vegetables more. :D

In ours state it is illegal to hunt over a feeding station or salt block.
 
M&M, in the SC low country, stand hunting is tough.. Dogs and bait piles are very traditional. They even work sometimes... :D

Scott - any luck? In my 5k acre hunt club, just three bucks were taken in December. (so far) Went twice this weekend, no luck..

Giz
 
Cats out of the Bag?

Hi Gizmo,
Yep, Art and I are almost neighbors; we've talked on the phone and will soon meet. The story I posted about the deer walking up while we were listening to music and shooting .22 pistols was no BS, but was a fluke I'm sure. The mulies in our part of the country are probably a lot easier to hunt than those critters in the East, but we have to travel (hike) to find them. Go ahead and rag if you will - makes things interesting and fun!!!

Our hunts are on sections vs. acres and we have to hike, climb, glass, and make long range shots. The dudes out here who won't get off the ATV's and fancy 4-wheel trucks with bolt-in bench-rest rigs don't see much - at least not within range. I personally think deer are strangely attracted to music the first time they hear it. Deer feeders work out here and some folks like to hunt from stands on them. I never wear camo and (almost) always bring home the beef. For a challenge, I go for coyotes; hard to fool those rascals and even harder to hit them.
 
For a challenge, I go for coyotes; hard to fool those rascals and even harder to hit them.
Click to expand...

You know, dwil453, that might be the key to Scotts problem, coyotes or feral dogs.

It has been a warm year and food is plentiful, deer hanging out nrear creeks and in hollows from the heat et cetera, but the other factor might be coyotes or feral dogs or other hunters. I wonder if Scott has seen any tracks or other canine (4 legged or 2 legged ones) sign on his place? They would be sure to drive the deer back into the swamps and thickets during the day.

The place I hunt the landowner has given standing orders that if we see a coyote we have to stop the deer hunt and kill it first. They eat the fawns and anything else they can catch, you know. :(
 
For a challenge, I go for coyotes; hard to fool those rascals and even harder to hit them.
Click to expand...

You know, dwil453, that might be the key to Scotts problem, coyotes or feral dogs.

It has been a warm year and food is plentiful, deer hanging out near creeks and in hollows from the heat et cetera, but the other factor might be coyotes or feral dogs or other hunters. I wonder if Scott has seen any tracks or other canine (4 legged or 2 legged ones) sign on his place? They would be sure to drive the deer back into the swamps and thickets during the day.

The place I hunt the landowner has given standing orders that if we see a coyote we have to stop the deer hunt and kill it first. They eat the fawns and anything else they can catch, you know. :(
 
Hmmm. Hadn't thought about music. "The Comparative Attraction for Mule Deer of R&R, C&W, R&B and Pop"; Master's Thesis, Henry Hunter, Sul Ross University, Alpine, Texas, 2002.

Deer hunters don't need no cammies, mon. Deers worry about motion, not color. :) They ain't racist; they're equal opportunity evaders.

The laziest hunting I ever did was at the old family ranch at Austin. I had a nice comfy chair in my loading pen, about 50 yards from the edge of a five-acre oat patch. I'd settle in with a good book in the late afternoon. When it was a bit too dark to read I'd just look out at the patch, pick out a nice, fat doe and kerblooey.

Our problem down in south Brewster County is that drouth and mountain lions have been really rough on the deer herd.

Hey, dwil, both Tennie Anderson and I are looking for a place(s) to lease. Since Luther died and she sold her ranch down 118, her son lacks a place. I'm trying to put something together for me and Johnny & Matt Guest...Know anybody to talk to?

Art
 
M/M, Scott's hunting area is about 10 - 20 miles north of me. Yotes are here (one was killed two weeks ago) but they don't appear to have adversely impacted our deer population. Hard to speak with authority on that one though.

Took a hard look at the records at the club. Majority of deer taken are in low areas. Scott, try hunting funnels and creeks.

Giz
 
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