Hunting Forum

I and my son went out in the woods yesterday in a woods where I haven't gotten a deer in years. I had a young buck stand under my tree opening day of archery and passed.  My trail cam had pictures of other deer earlier in the year wlking through. Indiana has an extra firearms season for antlerless deer this week. So out we went. We were encouraged as we walked in and saw tons of trails through the snow.

I'm sure you know the ending.  We did not see a single deer all morning.  I am so jealous of those who can spend days in the woods.  I figure we would see these deer if we were able to spend a couple of fulldays out there. Maybe nocterinal, but I don't think so.

Oh well... the worst day in the woods beats my best day at work.

Do any of you use the game movement chart in the front of the magazine for times to hunt?  I would have but could not work out the schedule.

Happy New Year Gang!

In winter deer patterns do change.  Food sources become very important.  The track you saw could be nocturnal but they will point you to possible bedding and feeding areas.  Deer will sun themselves out of wind during the day.  I have flushed deer that had been chewing their cud while walking/skiing in the winter.

That said this fellow avoided my trail cam for 3 months.

-MD

PLenty of tracks but no deer to show for it has been the story of my life since I started hunting in 2010, closest I ever got was fresh tracks I found one morning & followed until I got to a fence with a 'no trespassing no hunting' sign.

I was off last week till the first and went out with the flint lock several days and the tracks are all over by my stand . Saw 4 so far all out of range . Average this time of year , they move less in the day . Those charts are geared more toward active , and not necessarily moving far in colder climates .

Food, it's all about food in the end. Find the food, find the deer.

I spooked a buck my last day out this bow season, followed his tracks for a half mile before I realized the futility of following a deer that wasn't even wounded.

DKLANG - I have heard stories of fellas tracking deer and taking them, but all of those stories were by folks using a rifle. I think a bow hunter stalking a deer would have to be pretty stealthy (invisible, odor free, and silent) to pull it off. :-)

dklang, now if you know your area real well, you might be able to determine where that buck was headed, and take a different route and get there ahead of him and set up for an ambush. I wish our terrain would allow me to do that, but unfortunately, trying to outmaneuver a deer in the swamp is totally impossible.

I've done it and yes with a rifle but that was in the Allegheny Mts in NW pa and the forest there is very large and I knew it well.

I was in a state wildlife management area, a part of it I hadn't been to very often. I normally would be setup on top of a small ridge covered in balsam fir waiting all day for a deer to walk by but instead opted to try a different spot. Something in the back of my mind prompted me to wander off the trail I had been on and head into the woods. I found old tracks about four feet in and followed them until I spooked that buck, the rest of the story y'all know already.

Got an 8 pt. once with a bow like that , saw him move across above me and go into the laural . An hour later I decided to still hunt him and didn't even see him till I was inside 15 yds and he moved his head , he was bedded broad side looking away and I was a tad behind him like an angling away shot . Had a short trail to follow ,got lungs and heart .

I had one shot this year and missed it, didn't even graze the buck. It was a nice 8-pointer too.