7 Tips from the past

[LampLighter]

Below I list 7 tips given by Barry Wensel, and Rick Blase back in the 90's, on their video Bowhunting October Whitetails

Do you think all still apply ? Which one if any is BS ?

1) do not hunt in an area that the deer you want does not exist in. You must know he exists.

2) Never take a stand with you while scouting. The temtation to stop & hunt at the first fresh sign found is too great.

3) Never use hunting to determine if a spot is good. Scouting will determine if the spot is good.

4) Do not hunt in a tree because it is a good tree. The spot must dictate which tree even if the tree is not perfect to placing a stand in it.

5) Set up within an 18 yard circle of where you expect to have a shot.

6) Wind determines where in that circle you set up.

7) Always have a choice of more than 1 stand

[ncboman]

no bs there.


5) Set up within an 18 yard circle of where you expect to have a shot.

18 yds exactly is my much preferred shot distance. ;)

[DaveHawk]

only 5 and 6 really apply. When I go in cold caring my stand I will scout and I've set up with my knowledge of deer and woodsmanship and have killed many deer on a cold hunt. I think these statements are for the novice hunters and are good to follow until one get a good grasp of there personal skills.

[Twanger]

While I think these are generally good rules, they are by no means absolutes.
Take this one... 1) do not hunt in an area that the deer you want does not exist in. You must know he exists.

The biggest buck I've ever killed was last year and I never laid eyes on him before the day I shot him. (I was actually hoping another big buck would come by, but 144-inches of bone was good enough for me! :D )

Anyway... I generally do agree that you'll hunt harder, longer, and with more hope if you KNOW a big boy is in the area. To say "do not hunt in an area" is just a bit strong for me. Big bucks roam for miles during the rut, particularly later in the rut when the number of hot does is dwindling.

[dave-t.]

I don't like #3.

There have been several times I've set up a stand as an observation point, where I could also get a shot. That lets you see right where to move the stand with your own eyes.

I did just that Sunday, and put a ladder stand on the peak of a ridge, 38yrds from one major trail, and 23yd from another at the edge of a bedding area, just to see with my own eyes which is a better final location. I don't care who you are, there are many times that moving that stand another 10-50yds will vastly improve your bowhunting chances. Nobody is going to pick'em right the first time every time, and the more you see a deer use the area, the more info you have to get that stand in the "perfect" location.

The location I put the stand up has potential to be a hot rut stand and late winter stand in the doe bedding area, on a tight cover brushy ridge, with two funnel fence crossings entering it, and trails heading to a pond, another to oaks, and the corn across the road. With that much going on, I'll take the time to see the best spot. I may not get moved just right this year, but I will get it figured for the long term.

The other thing is entry. I'll have to come up with something good to get in there unnoticed.

[LampLighter]

I may not get moved just right this year, but I will get it figured for the long term.



That statement is exactly how I have come about my good spots. I know quite a few spots right now that are regular crossings, only learned from years of seeing deer. Come late December and January ( rut here) those doe crossings are the place to be.

I don't ever carry a stand scouting, but it is usually stashed somewhere near.

[GF.]

I've learned an awful lot from 'not quite right' stand placements over the years.

IMO, if you're not 'scouting' every minute that you're on stand, you oughtta be... Funny how 15 yards in any direction can really change your perspective i the woods.

And FWI - I think if you get to a spot and you're not quite sure where to set up, you ought to pick a spot as far down-wind as possible from where you think you really ought to be. Then you can not only hunt where you are, but you can get in a full day of unobtrusive scouting on the more promising place.

And always use good binoculars, of course....

[DaveHawk]

binoculars are something I can take or leave. I figure that I can't shoot something over 25 yards so if I do not see it I don't get to worried over it.

[LampLighter]

binoculars are something I can take or leave. I figure that I can't shoot something over 25 yards so if I do not see it I don't get to worried over it.


I'm just the opposite. My Leupold Yosemites are vital. When I am out of the tree, scouting, I am slipping. I quite often spot deer that have not spotted me. I am always head-to-toe headnet included in camo when on the ground. I feel comfortable on the ground and sure of my stealth. It is not for everybody. When I was a warden, I snuck up on 5 poachers taking a break under a shade tree. I got within 15 yards of them before one of them looked up. Man you should have seen his face. They all took off into the palmettos. They left behind a spike buck. I can't believe someone payed me to sneak around in the woods.

[ncboman]

I can take or leave binos also, been busted too many times 'flashing' a deer.

Gun hunting, binos are good, but bowhunting ~ good right at dark, otherwise maybe.

When I'm trophy hunting I often leave the binos in the truck. A really good one walks into bow range, I doan need binos to know it and not having them means not moving around 'looking'.

I like all seven of the tips but as Twanger pointed out, they aren't absolute.

:)

[GF.]

Just depends on how sure you are of the spot that you're in. For standing off and peeking into the areas that I think are where I'll want to hunt later, I feel less exposed to the deer when working the glass, and glassing near the big funnels has allowed me to get a good look at a number of bucks that I never would have guessed were using the area...Sitting in the UberFunnel, I don't need to be looking around, because if that's where they're heading, they're gonna have to come through there and they'll be in range when they do.

Last fall, with that bigger buck, I spotted him unaided, glassed him just long enough to totally underestimate his size, and still just barely had time to get set up for the shot without getting busted. Still kinda rushed the shot, though, and we've already been over how that worked out....:rolleyes:

Like LL, though... On the ground, they're a total lifesaver. Make that hunt saver; because for me, they've cost more deer their lives than they have saved. It's walking around too fast and not seeing the animals until it's too damn late that saves their bacon...

I've walked up right on top of a lot of Elk, only to have them get up and walk off like a PO'd church lady before I can locate the animal that my tag allows me take, and if there's anything better than seeing them with their eyes bugged out like those poachers of LL's did, it's having a little bunch of them sift through the woods 15 yards away without the first freaking clue that you're not somewhere in another zip code.

I dunno, though.... Maybe I'm not half so sneaky as I think, and they only do that when they know you've got a bull-only tag with a 4-point minimum, and those nasty old bossy cows just want you to see how many underage boyfriends they've got:mad::mad::mad:

[Twanger]

2) Never take a stand with you while scouting. The temptation to stop & hunt at the first fresh sign found is too great.

I learned this one from our own NCBowman a couple of years back in Ohio. I tend to scout/hunt when I'm in the big woods, and do get sucked into hunting fresh sign. Bowman rarely (if ever?) hunts while scouting, and will scout for two weeks before breaking out the stand. I have a lot of patience, but not that much!

[DaveHawk]

Unlike many of you when I 1st started deer hunting for many years I would just carry my tree spikes and safety strap. If something looked good I would get up a tree with good limbs and sit a while if for nothing else to get a good look of the lay of the the land. Spot good trails through thickets. Usually I would see a better tree and make a move. I get a different perspective for the area then on the ground.

[dave-t.]

I rarely take bino's. I'm with Dave on this. A deer 30yrds away in thick brush is unshootable anyway when you're locked in 15' up a tree. You can change position next time, but this time, seeing him better doesn't put him on the meat pole.

[Twanger]

If I'm scouting/hunting I take binos.

I rarely use them when bow hunting... only if I see something a long way off and want a better look. I often use them gun hunting but again, not continuously. I feel like I move too much to use them continuously. Also, here in the east the shots are typically so close that if I see a deer the gun comes up and goes bang in about the amount of time it took to read this sentence.

If I'm bow hunting a tree stand that has been a known producer for 5 years the binos stay in the truck.

[dave-t.]

That my take Twang. The deer is close enough to shoot, or not. They just end up being another thing to carry that don't help all that much, if at all. Also, if it's a dandy, that rack tends to stand out.;)