Any harm in riding your ATV/side by side into the woods?

[bobbuck]

I used to be very anti-ATV/UTV for hunting, because of what I've seen on big clubs that allow hunters to ride ATV right to their stands. Some even build tower stands with covered ATV "garages" underneath the stand. In those instances, I've watched as deer quickly cleared food plots as soon as they heard an ATV being fired up, often a LONG distance away. However, I also have the experiences generated from 30+ years of running trail-cameras and 21 years of running trail-camera censuses. It didn't take long to learn that the fastest way to kill a camera site was to walk to it frequently. All that human scent going to and from the spot, and concentrated around the camera itself, really shuts down older deer activity in the area.

So you have deer that become highly sensitive to ATV traffic when that traffic is associated with hunting, and yet constantly walking to a stand can shut down deer activity in the area as well. What's the answer, walk or ride? I really don't know. Once I began using video mode on trail cameras I learned some really valuable information. Over and over I got video clips of deer suddenly snapping their heads up and looking off in a particular direction, then rapidly leaving the area. The next video is me pulling up on my ATV to check the camera (I only place cameras where I can drive an ATV right to the camera. This reduces scent left on the ground). Checking the time stamps, the videos invariably will be less than a minute apart. The video of the deer reacting is proof the deer are hearing me coming on my ATV and getting out of the area. So even though I ride an ATV around the property regularly, all year, deer are still reacting negatively to an approaching ATV. However, what is most interesting is that the same deer that ran away from the approaching ATV are often right back in front of the camera 5 minutes after I leave.

So which is the best practice? Walk long distances to your stand and lay down scent that reduces deer traffic in the area, or ride closer on an ATV that certainly spooks deer, at least temporarily? Now I would never practice nor recommend driving an ATV right to the stand. On the other hand, walking long distances to stands is probably not the best practice either. I really don't know where the "inflection point" is between the two practices.

Very good information here. Thank you for sharing this with us.

The one thing I did like about walking in was a lot of times you knew when you bumped deer and where they were bedded and how they escaped. Riding on an Atv you do not get all of that Intel unless you actually see the deer moving. When walking you can hear what's happening in the woods.

 

[BSK]

Actually, the ideal scenario is to have someone drop you off right at the stand in a vehicle/ atv, then have them pick you up at the stand after dark. That way, the vehicle pushes off the deer rather than having the deer spooked by you climbing down out of the stand. at, do this on some of our larger fields with airtight shoot houses, and deer continue to use the fields and it takes much longer for them to learn to avoid the shoot houses.

Agree with this completely.

My property is a series of long, narrow meandering ridges, with roads along the crest of each ridge. Going to the stand often means several people in a UTV being dropped off in a string along the road, close to their stand, with the person going to the farthest stand being the driver and parking at least 100 yards from their stand. The UTV going along the road definitely spooks deer, but as hunters are dropped off and the UTV continues on, deer seem to relax once the UTV is out of sight/earshot.

 

[13pt]

Actually, the ideal scenario is to have someone drop you off right at the stand in a vehicle/ atv, then have them pick you up at the stand after dark. That way, the vehicle pushes off the deer rather than having the deer spooked by you climbing down out of the stand. at, do this on some of our larger fields with airtight shoot houses, and deer continue to use the fields and it takes much longer for them to learn to avoid the shoot houses.

I definitely agree; however, how often do you have this luxury? I've only had one time in 45 years of hunting (that I can remember) where I had this luxury, and I was able to take advantage of it almost all season. My brother hunted almost every time I did and he was a couple miles past where I broke off to my stand. It was about a 200 yard walk from the ATV trail, so he would drop me off quickly and keep on going. I could still hear him in the distance as I was climbing my tree. I also kept the last 100 yds raked free of any leaves or rocks, so I could hurry up and get in the tree under the diminishing noise of his ATV and not make a sound. Oh my does that work like a charm. To this day it's been about the best deer stand I've hunted taking 3 wall hangers over 2 years. The biggest came one morning when it was so dark it had to get within 15 yards before I could tell it was my target buck, and that couldn't have been but 15-20 minutes after my brother dropped me off. Yes sir that definitely works when it's available. Having said all that, about 10 years ago I took up the habit of keeping a trail raked out about 100 yards from my stands. I keep the rake in the woods and will touch it up in the middle of the day (when needed) coming out from the hunt. It's one of the best ideas I've ever had...that worked. Last year I took a 125" and 132" (at separate leases) with a bow, both which made the TN Deer Registry, and both stands I had a trail raked probably two weeks before taking either one. I also wear moccasins to my stands and then slip on boot blankets if needed. Between the moccasins and my raked trail, I can't even hear myself walking. The raked trail doesn't spoke the deer, and in fact many times deer walking through will turn and walk down the raked trail for a ways before moving along. The drawback is it gives away your hunting spot to other hunters, so you obviously wouldn't want to do this on public land.

 

[Ski]

What if you purposely began taking the hard road? Go down a steep ravine and up the other side, instead of going around. Or walk inside a creek bed, even if it means wearing waders. By making a conscious effort to stay away from where deer typically travel, wouldn't it be logical that they won't avoid you because they likely didn't encounter your trail?

 

[BSK]

What if you purposely began taking the hard road? Go down a steep ravine and up the other side, instead of going around. Or walk inside a creek bed, even if it means wearing waders. By making a conscious effort to stay away from where deer typically travel, wouldn't it be logical that they won't avoid you because they likely didn't encounter your trail?

If that's possible, that's a fantastic idea.

 

[Ski]

If that's possible, that's a fantastic idea.

Hahaha I have no idea if it's possible or not. I've been hunting these darn things for 35yrs and still don't know what I'm doing. Every time I think I know something, I soon find out just how wrong I was.

 

[huvrman]

I blow close to a mile of leaves every year. All the way from my house to every one of my 10 stands. Not only makes it super easy to get in and out in the dark while still being able to hear deer in the woods, but also keeps me from having to take guests all the way to their stands. "Just follow this trail until it stops at the base of the stand," is all it takes to get them there. And no lights, at all. I can walk my leaf-cleared trails in the pitch black. Love, love, love hunting this way.

 

[BSK]

Every time I think I know something, I soon find out just how wrong I was.

I wish I had a dollar for every time I've said that.

 

[TheLBLman]

Very good information here. Thank you for sharing this with us.

The one thing I did like about walking in was a lot of times you knew when you bumped deer and where they were bedded and how they escaped. Riding on an Atv you do not get all of that Intel unless you actually see the deer moving. When walking you can hear what's happening in the woods.

One of my frequent "solutions" is to slip into a stand, actually be on stand about an hour before dawn. For whatever reasons, deer are not "spooked" as much by any movement or sounds made over an hour before dawn.

I then stay on stand all day.
So only coming & going under the cover of darkness.

The biggest single advantage to this tactic is that I don't spook deer coming into a stand location for an afternoon hunt. Plus, being on stand all day generally means more opportunity compared to not.

Most would be surprised, BSK might not even believe, how many mature bucks will just suddenly decide to take a mid-day long linear jaunt, often covering several hundred yards, yet they had been mainly bedded, holding tight within a very small "spot" since before dawn. If you don't stay on stand all day, you never experience this, and rarely would most trail cams pick it up, as these bucks are mainly just scent checking for an estrous doe, often not walking up to a scrape, but scent checking from 25-50 yards downwind.

 

[BSK]

Most would be surprised, BSK might not even believe, how many mature bucks will just suddenly decide to take a mid-day long linear jaunt, often covering several hundred yards, yet they had been mainly bedded, holding tight within a very small "spot" since before dawn. If you don't stay on stand all day, you never experience this, and rarely would most trail cams pick it up, as these bucks are mainly just scent checking for an estrous doe, often not walking up to a scrape, but scent checking from 25-50 yards downwind.

Ha! I've always said we see very little midday movement of older bucks, simply because we never got pictures of older bucks moving between 10 AM and 2 PM. However, that really changed last year, and I have no idea why. We've been hunting mornings and evenings forever, and deer never adjusted their movement patterns to midday (although they CERTAINLY adjust to moving at night to avoid us). As hunters, we're generally out of the woods by 10 AM. This last season, I got a disturbing number of pictures/videos of older to mature bucks moving between 10:30 and 11:30 AM, just after we had left our stands. Again, I don't know why. Deer suddenly adjusting to our hunting pressure early and late? Possible, but why did it take 30 years for that to happen? Most likely due to the near total acorn failure we experienced last year. Deer had to move more and farther to find food.

But even if this move to more midday movement is permanent, would we adjust our hunting times? Nope. At this point in our hunting careers, hunting is far more about enjoying the experience rather than what we kill. And for me at least, anything longer than a 3 1/2 hour sit is true torture, and not enjoyable.

 

[TheLBLman]

And for me at least, anything longer than a 3 1/2 hour sit is true torture, and not enjoyable.

I think is more a mindset than a physical issue, IF you have a COMFORTABLE seat.

As to why you weren't getting more mid-day older buck movement in times past, I suspect it has much to do with camera placements and just how & where those mid-day jaunts occur. Also, I mainly see this just during about a 30-day period that constitutes most of the rut. But then, that's mainly the only time I stay on stand all day as well.

Also, these mid-day jaunts often involve the bucks moving pretty fast, like fast trotting, scent check a scape from 50 yds downwind, stop, trot, stop, trot, stop, trot, appearing to stay downwind from where they might encounter bedded females. They would often be out of triggering range of most our cam placements, and then often missed due to slow trigger speeds and/or their moving fast.

I have frequently correlated this sudden movement (bedded bucks jump up and start almost frantically looking for a hot doe) with the wind picking up and rattling the leaves (often mid-morning to mid-day). This is one reason I like to have a few young beech trees scattered around, as when those beech tree leaves start "rattling", actually sounding much like walking deer, you better be on high alert.

I even wonder if the bedded bucks may often confuse rattling beech leaves with deer walking, so they jump up to go see.

Similar is often observed mid-day by simply peeing off a stand from high in a tree, with the urine hitting loudly on dry leaves below. Both bedded does & bucks that hear it will often jump off their beds and run right to you.

 

[BSK]

Interestingly, most of the 10:30 to 11:30 AM pictures and videos of mature bucks I got last year involved these bucks in the background at scrapes or travel corridors, not ON the feature I was monitoring with the camera.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

The few mature bucks we've gotten on camera during the middle of the day have been on pinch points / travel corridors mostly all in thicker cover. I have had a VERY small handful of mature bucks in the open and at mock scrapes during the middle of the day.....and these were all very below average racks for their age. Assumptions would point that they were never targeted by hunters due to their sub-par racks and therefore were not as pressured.

 

[BSK]

The only mature buck I got on a scrape itself midday last year. Not much of a rack (perfect "average" mature buck for my area: 8-point grossing around 120-125), but a nice body and heavy neck. Look at how stumpy his front legs look in comparison to the depth of his chest.

 

[BSK]

I think is more a mindset than a physical issue, IF you have a COMFORTABLE seat.

For me, it's not a lack of comfort, it's pure boredom! If I haven't seen anything after a 3 1/2 hour morning sit, I'm ready for a BIG mug of hot coffee, and maybe some scrambled eggs and bacon!

 

[Ski]

The only mature buck I got on a scrape itself midday last year. Not much of a rack (perfect "average" mature buck for my area: 8-point grossing around 120-125), but a nice body and heavy neck. Look at how stumpy his front legs look in comparison to the depth of his chest.

Same here. I caught this 10pt on video tearing the scrape up for a couple minutes. It's a communal scrape that gets visited by many different deer, but usually at dusk, dawn, or night. I got pics & vids of this deer easily more than any other deer but have yet to see him in person. This was the only time I caught him midday at a scrape, though, and he was visibly putting on a show I assume to something off camera. He's usually holed up during the day in a huckleberry thicket overlooking a saddle between two hollows.

 

[BSK]

That's a stud Ski!

 

[Ski]

Yessir I'm hoping his number is up this fall. I'm sure gona try!

 

[13pt]

I agree with the sneaking out late morning (usually around 11am) and getting a little exercise and food and reset so I can be on maximum alert for the afternoon hunt. I've tried the all day hunting and it's just too draining, and like someone said, this journey is more about enjoying the experience. All day hunting is more like work and I already have too much of that in my life. Kudos to those who can consistently pull it off. It no doubt increases your odds. I'd say the absence of movement in and out midday helps more than the rare off chance of a midday sighting of a mature buck. I'm a trail camera freak, and almost embarrassed to say I own 19 Reconyx, and have most or all of them going at any one time. Those mature bucks moving in midday is no doubt a rare occurrence, but it happens. The few I've observed seem to be mostly late morning which has had me staying in my stand until 11am whenever possible, or probably better stated 5-5.5 hours depending on daylight savings time and weather and timing of the rut. Having said all that, on the same west TN lease over a 10 year period, I can only remember two trophies taken closer to midday...and both were just being in the right place at the right time. I got down a little early in muzzleloader season one morning at 10:30am due to not seeing much and being windy and drizzly. I was walking out down our main lease road and happen to look across a thick grassy hollow at 100 yards and there he was standing looking the other way. He was a 7.5 yr old 9pt scoring 134" (aged by Ben Layton at the region 3 office). The other one a member killed walking in early afternoon at 1:15pm in early December. This buck was following a doe and walked out in the road at 75 yards (bad mistake). That one we had all been targeting that year and was only an 8pt that scored 154" (didn't have that one aged but based on historic pictures probably 6.5). So, no doubt it does happen on a rare occasion, and clearly can be highly rewarding. I do envy those who can do an all day sit and still enjoy the experience.

 

[TheLBLman]

Interestingly, most of the 10:30 to 11:30 AM pictures and videos of mature bucks I got last year involved these bucks in the background at scrapes or travel corridors, not ON the feature I was monitoring with the camera.

Exactly.
That's why I think trail cams have often missed seeing these, but if you're in the woods all day on stand, you may actually see what's happening.

As to an ALL-Day Sit . . . . . . it's "mindset" and preparedness . . . . .

. . . . pure boredom! If I haven't seen anything after a 3 1/2 hour morning sit, I'm ready for a BIG mug of hot coffee, and maybe some scrambled eggs and bacon!

Ah, that's why I pack in a BIG thermos of hot coffee, another of hot soup, a sandwich, and some snacks. I have 9 months out of the year to enjoy scrambled eggs and bacon