I see you!

[E_2_hunt]

on my new property i have yet to be busted,with as many as 6 deer around me at once.on my old property and other places i have hunted it seems the deer look up,you know your up wind 30yds away and the deer says "i see you" stomp and run.this must be a learned behavior?how are your hunting areas?what are your thoughts?

[archerystud]

I think deer definitely look up more into the trees.

Then again when you are hunting with a bow it can be tough to find that really good tree with cover.

I also think sometimes you scent swirls around a bit and they might catch wind of you a bit but they aren't sure. I have a couple of stands where under certain winds my scent is mostly going into the water. I don't seem to see deer looking up when I'm in those stands. I haven't hunted them yet this year but I know the water is gone around one of them.

[DonBo]

Just my observation, but I think with as dry as it's been that deer just flat out can not smell as good as when there's some humidity in the air.

BTW E_2, welcome to the forums.

[CC Hurl]

I will second the deer look up into tree's. I had a very nice doe do just that a couple weeks ago and busted me at 10 yards. Once her front hoof tapped the ground a couple times I knew it was done for me. Off she went just a snortin. I made the mistake of letting her come in to close before drawing. This is north of Zimmerman.

Last weekend I had 2 big doe and her fawns come to within 30 yards and one of the big doe's looked to have picked up my scent and instantly was in alarm. Then of course the others were wondering whats up. A few glances up in my tree and they were gone. This was down in Red Wing. My time will happen but dang it can get frusterating out there at times. Lol Good stuff IMO.

I have said it before and will say it again. A big mature Doe will bust you 5 times more than a mature buck. At least for me that is the case. Maybe it's because I see more big doe's than bucks. Lol, all kidding aside them big doe's know there stuff and for us bow hunters they can be a challenge at times.

[Scoot]

Two things-- there's absolutely no doubt that deer will look up into trees. I've been picked off a number of times when the wind was perfect and I didn't wiggle one bit- the deer just looked up and saw me. I used to sit a stand where the deer had learned to come out towards it, look up, and if all was clear, they'd proceed. I had to get past the first deer not picking me off, then I was usually ok. They'd always look up and check out that stand though.

Also, I hunt in ND at a place that sees very little pressure early in the year, but gets more pressure at the end of Oct and into Nov. The tendency of the deer to look up and pick you off before the pressure vs. immediately after is like night and day. After they've been hunted, they look up more and are more cautious.

Regarding bucks and does, my personal opinion is that it doesn't make much difference. Mature deer, regardless of buck or doe, are smart and are good at busting you. Like CC said, I see a lot more mature does than bucks, so I think that factors into more does picking a guy off. JMO.

[slimngrizzly]

Lately, I dont even see any deer so I dont know where the heck thery're looking.

Seriously, I dont think it matters so much the area as the individual animals experiences. If you allow one of those mature does or bucks to pick you out of your setup, they will probably never forget it. Especially if its a near death experience! I do think some does will show their fawns some of these areas to keep an eye on.

Thats why its ALWAYS important to go undetected. We may not care if little jr. sees us up in the tree and runs away... but 3 years later when jr. is high, wide, and handsome, well be wishin wed have never given up our location to that little guy a few years back!

[Musky Buck]

Yo slim I've been seeing a lot of them coming out of standing corn, like my t-cam has 0 deer on it by the river, but the cornfield is where they are right now on my farm. It's so dry in the corn, good food, sneak out to acorn my yard in the night and by daybreak they're back in there, not all of them of course but quite a few.

[slimngrizzly]

Ya Ive still got about 60 acres in next door. Im sure a few are hangin out there! I was just being a whinner

Just waitin for the right day to come along here and then ill get out and shoot a big one. Thats the plan anyway.... Im not gonna sweat it yet!

[Finlander]

I just bought a new Summit climber and you have to climb on a fairly clean tree. So should I put on camo that is similar to more of a sky/tree pattern do to limited background?

[InTheNorthwoods]

I just bought a new Summit climber and you have to climb on a fairly clean tree. So should I put on camo that is similar to more of a sky/tree pattern do to limited background?

This is the one major disadvantage of a climber. But, I still enjoy using a climber as much as any other stand.

A couple tips would be to "go high", or "higher" than you would likely go in a hang on (I like to be at or above 18 feet). Also, I find that it is best to get up to the bigger branches. Once at that height, you'll start to blend in more, even though there may not be branches below you.

[eyeguy 54]

I just love it when they do the stare down and wonder what the heck they are looking at and then look away. what a rush

[surewood]

I get busted less in my climber. I'm with inthenorthwoods. Get higher if possible. I sat last year about 16ft with my summit old doe looked right at me. Moved up to 21ft had three more deer go ten to twenty yards in front and had no clue I was there. 20ft is my magic number. Right around that height I seem to be above their sight line. I buy the 20ft sticks for hang-ons now. Below that height with ladder stands I try to find trees with cover. Spruce trees work good for that.

[matchset]

pick a tree with limbs, or multiple trunks.... that will help anyone not get picked off!

[mnguy152]

One point would be to make sure you have background cover when chooseing a tree to hang a stand in. plus if she is picking you off everytime, Move to a tree a few yards a way then she might not see you then. If she still is move to a diffent tree and send arrow her way and take her out next time she strolls by.

[leech~~]

I would say it has to do more with your stand setup and maybe you are less back-lit or sky-lighted then your old stand. Have you gone from a Birch to an Oak tree or is there more branches or are you on less of a raise then you use to be?

[BLACKJACK]

You think deer are good at spotting you, try pheasants, everytime I get one walking by, they spot me!!! I think they're more tuned into avian/in the tree predators. Last Sat I had three roosters come walking down the trail, the minute they got into the open, they I spyed me and took off. Later on I had a doe look right at me as she walked by and not get worried.

I do think its a learned behaviour in deer, had a doe a couple years ago that would come out of the woods and look at both stands that I had set up. I'm sure the doe that I mentioned earlier will know better next time because she eventually got downwind of me and started snorting. Thats one of the reasons I like to have many stands, the deer realize in a hurry that Man is sitting in that tree.

[psepuncher]

I moved my stand after getting picked off at a good 50-60 yard pace.

Had a heavy horned mature buck prolly 5 1/2 years old come through the sloughs last year. He was busting every branch he could find coming through at dawn. He popped his head out at the transition, completly stopped moving except his little nose and immediatly had me squared in his sights.

My problem from his vantage point was me being skylined.

He was at a lower elevation/ With the elevation change he had to look up.

My coat was noisy. I barely made a move, and y'all know how the quiet woods are with 0 wind. It gets deafly quiet with no movement from squirels an chirpy birds still tucked in bed. He didn't bust out of there high tailing or snorting but he was leaving. I tried grunting him back, but he picked up the pace then

So now... I moved in the sloughs, and I'm up a little higher.

Went from 15 to 20 feet. It's working great, had 6 deer last night going

into the sloughs, coming from where I sat last year {of course}. Instead of them looking up at the trees, they seemed to be looking inside and beyond me, staring straight into the sloughs.

I do use coon urine on my boots as a calming cover scent.

I figured since the coons are in there what's one more going to hurt.

--

As far as learned behavior, yes.

Neighbor shot a doe with a single fawn last year. Another doe picked him up and it stayed with her for most of the summer. It has now ventured off on it's own. That fawn had to have some survival skills and instincts instilled from it's adoptive mother.....no question about it.

[CANOPY SAM]

I think deer are a lot like people as they get older. They get way more patient, they're slower to move around, and much more careful about what they're doing. Additional years, and hunting seasons, have made them wise.

Old bucks are like old Farmers. They're grumbly, and pushy, and don't take no guff from anybody. They might sit in one spot for a couple days, drink coffee, pee on the same bush, and bang their head against a tree. Then, all of the sudden, they'll get a little giddy up in their step and shoot way out to the back forty just to see if anybody's been messin' around in their alfalfa patch.

Old Does are like old Elementary school teachers. They're tight lipped, uptight, and persnickety. They almost always know if someone has moved the chalk board erasers, or hidden gum under their seat. They snap at their little snot-nosed kids, and sometimes even give em' a swift kick if they've really got their hackles up. Try to sneak something past an old doe, and your pretty much bound to get busted. They've got a nose hard-wired for trouble.

[E_2_hunt]

so you have a busted hot spot two stands 20'ect ect maybe a perminent ground blind,when the wind is right?

[goblueM]

Old bucks are like old Farmers. They're grumbly, and pushy, and don't take no guff from anybody. They might sit in one spot for a couple days, drink coffee, pee on the same bush, and bang their head against a tree. Then, all of the sudden, they'll get a little giddy up in their step and shoot way out to the back forty just to see if anybody's been messin' around in their alfalfa patch.

I have nothing to add, this is great!

[bigbucks]

+2 on the crabby old farmer & school teacher analogies

I have one stand that's easy to get spotted in once the leaves come down if the deer come on certain trails, as they're above you or at best at eye level. If a doe spots you there once & knows what you are, you're done with her for the season from that stand. I've seen them get where they can get a good look at it from about 50 yards away & if you're there, she takes her fawns & goes away. It's still a good stand, I've shot several deer out of it, it's just a lot better with leaves. That's in a basswood clump that has I forget, I think it was 13 trunks, but I finally cut one off that was always in the way, so it's 12. Crazy they can see me in there, but they do it.

[psepuncher]

I'm going into the slough to sit on the ground this afternoon.

No ground blind either. I'm feeling lucky enough as the deer should

be used to hearing other deer move around. So I'm going to play the wind

which will determine my spot.

Heck I've done it before while wearing blaze. At 7 yards had a doe wind up in the sweet spot a few years ago during firearms. I was on the ground sitting in some thorn {no ground blind}. I used a tarsel gland as an attractant from a buddies deer.

Just want to get one close enough to kiss with a muzzy 4 blade

from the ground.

I think in some instances, deer get their guard up higher in less secluded locations.