Scenario: It's an afternoon hunt and when approaching your stand, deer are already in area. Do you continue and hope they run off and not see you climb tree or leave?
Approaching a Stand with Deer Already There?
- Thread starter UTGrad
- Start date
Sit tight and wait them out. If you feel you can get in do so, but I sure wouldn't leave
I'll hold up until I'm fairly sure they've left. If they won't leave, I'll go to another stand. I try hard to never let a deer see me climb or descend a stand.
ImThere
Well-Known Member
I climb the tree. If I made it to the area undetected I will climb with a tree between me and them. I try to make it a basketball or slightly bigger sized tree so it offers some cover but I can get my arms around it to hand the rope around for the climbing sticking.
I've climbed many trees with deer bedded writhing 25-30 yards away.
I've climbed many trees with deer bedded writhing 25-30 yards away.
Situation specific for me. I'd rather spook them off so they don't see me climbing, rather than trying to sneak and get busted while climbing. If they see me I want it to be on the ground.
Omega
Well-Known Member
Shoot them so they don't tell their friends.
backyardtndeer
Well-Known Member
Have to agree with this.
I prefer to not educate them, I absolutely do not want to let them see me climbing a ladder, but sometimes it happens. I don't even want them watching me climb down. We will do pickups with the 4 wheeler if we get stuck in the afternoons. Afternoon's hunts give a lot more leeway with being able to see them though, mornings not so much, as I know I have been watched climbing up in the mornings.
As said above, hang tight and watch where they go. As soon as you know they are where they can't see you come on up. I have bumped deer at the bottom of a stand or near the stand too many times to count and later that afternoon killed deer from the stand. Good luck.
And this
I prefer to not educate them, I absolutely do not want to let them see me climbing a ladder, but sometimes it happens. I don't even want them watching me climb down. We will do pickups with the 4 wheeler if we get stuck in the afternoons. Afternoon's hunts give a lot more leeway with being able to see them though, mornings not so much, as I know I have been watched climbing up in the mornings.
As said above, hang tight and watch where they go. As soon as you know they are where they can't see you come on up. I have bumped deer at the bottom of a stand or near the stand too many times to count and later that afternoon killed deer from the stand. Good luck.
dsa5455
Well-Known Member
I was ready to get down from a morning hunt a couple of days ago but had a couple of younger bucks (spike & small 8 point) within 15-20 yards of my stand and one of them had picked up my scent. So he was already cautious lifting his head up scent checking the wind when he suddenly zeroed in on me and did the whole head bobbing thing. He started to walk off doing that high step while watching me out of his peripheral. I texted my friend who I was suppose to meet up with telling him to swing by the stand so I could see the buck's reaction to him as he made his way to my stand. This wasn't a buck I intended to shoot. My friend got within 20 yards of the stand and whistled to let me know he was almost there. My observation was they didn't blow, but one deer had his tale slightly up. They went about 30-40 yards stopped and just walked off. I guess my point is if I saw deer on my approach in and they saw me I would just give it a few and get in the stand as quickly as possible. I know some deer can go to the next county and older mature deer might do the same. Honestly, there is always a chance to bump deer you never see when you step into the woods.
Yes, continue on and hunt. I experienced this scenario just this month. Went in, still hunting my way in to the stand, and when I got within 75 yards of my stand I saw tails hopping away about 50 yards past my stand. I continued on, wind in my favor, slowly, and climbed up into my stand, then did something I rarely do, I hit a can call and grunt call a few times. About an hour later this guy came in from above me. A nice 9 pt.
You serious Clark??
JCDEERMAN
Well-Known Member
I usually hang tight until I know they've left the area and then proceed on. That may be an hour though. If I'm close, I know I'm close to where I need to be, so what's it matter? - hang tight. All situations are different. I've been close to an evening stand and heard deer walking. I'd be doing more harm than good proceeding, so I just sit tight. If in the morning before light, I just try to sound like a deer and go slow. They may hear you, but they hear all sorts of critters all night, every night…none of them know you're human. For all they know you're an armadillo. I hear deer snort all the time all over the place. They're used to that
I climbed in my blind several times last year behind my house with deer bedded in the field that I didn't know at the time. One morning 2 does were bedded 20 yards away. No way they didn't see me climb up. But they stood up and went to feeding at daylight. But this property behind my house hadn't been hunted (legally and would be hard to sneak in on it) in 40 years or more when the other owner owned it. But with hunting pressure last year from me it wasn't the same this year.
ImThere
Well-Known Member
Dead serious. I just walked through the woods with crunchy leaves and made it to deer, obviously wind is in my favor. So I just climb, slow, quiet and keep the tree between them and me. Usually if I make the first move with out one busting me I'm good to go.
Walk up to tree, put my first climbing stick on, linesman on and start climbing. I think the second most I get busted is when I reach height and set up the bow hanger.
Seriously, I cannot be the only guy who has climbed a tree in front of deer on this website?
I watch the deer until they leave, I'm never going to intentionally push deer if they are between me and a tree I plan to climb. I'm deer hunting and I have no specific time nor do I have to be in a specific spot to kill a deer, I do not ever get in a rush when I get in the deer woods. I have killed several absolute monsters by sitting tight and watching deer, and in several cases the deer pointed something out with their behavior that had me alter my plans for the day and I ended up killing a stud.
