Is this possible? Approach down a narrow plantation pine ridge where the terrain broadens into multiple mature hardwood points with a gentle slope before it gets steep. Several trees holding acorns, scat on the ground, and trails around the edges. The kicker to this place is that all of the terrain is steep so it appears to me that this 1.5-2 acre block of hardwoods is just a natural funnel. I am 100% not going to shoot a doe here and I have no camera intel to go off of.
Using a spot throughout the season without blowing it up (bow hunting)
- Thread starter Bushape
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WTNBowHunter
Well-Known Member
got an aerial to easily visualize? going to have tons of opinions on this but its def possible, just curious what the entry/exit looks like
30-06 type of guy
Well-Known Member
If you're not going to shoot a doe out of there then I'd just run cameras and let him tell you when he's ready. Wait to hunt it hard in November
bowhunterfanatic
Well-Known Member
Agree with above. Let a camera do the work for you. If he shows up early season eating acorns and you get a day where the conditions are right to go kill him then go for it. Otherwise I'd just wait for November to try and hunt it.
ttfreestyle
Well-Known Member
No cameras, I didn't know anyone just hunted the old fashioned way anymore. Good on you!
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Totally possible if it lays out right. I've got a few spots I can hunt over and over and over without any adverse impact. If the deer don't know you're there or been there then you're fine. But soon as you notice an otherwise unexplainable decline in deer then you know they're onto you. You really will have to dip your toes and see how it goes. Hard to say until you try.
deerhunter10
Well-Known Member
This. Its not hard to blow a good spot out imo. It takes a perfect spot to be able to hunt it a lot without issues.
Your question is extremely vague.
Yes you can "use" a spot all season w/o blowing it up. But for what result?
To see deer?
Kill a deer? ANY deer?
To kill a MATURE deer? ANY MATURE deer?
Every time you enter an area you spread human scent. Just breathing in that area spreads scent. But touching objects in the area does to. Footsteps, clothes, hands, etc all spread scent.
And areas where deer have negative experiences with human scent will cause deer that are afraid of human scent to leave the area for a period of time. In some cases for long times.
Also noises associated with negative human encounters (like doors shutting on vehicles, engine nois, gravel popping, etc).
And trust me on this (as I offend inexperienced hunters who buy product) YOU CAN'T ELIMINATE human scent. Rubber boots, scent spray, cover scents, scent free clothing, on and on, will NOT eliminate human scent.
So to be the MOST effective hunter, have MANY spots that are in different doe groups scattered as far as possible and hunt the wind in those spots with as little intrusion as possible.
But if you can only have one place to hunt, use long range surveillance or cameras (not my preferred) and wait until the timing and weather is right.
Yes you can "use" a spot all season w/o blowing it up. But for what result?
To see deer?
Kill a deer? ANY deer?
To kill a MATURE deer? ANY MATURE deer?
Every time you enter an area you spread human scent. Just breathing in that area spreads scent. But touching objects in the area does to. Footsteps, clothes, hands, etc all spread scent.
And areas where deer have negative experiences with human scent will cause deer that are afraid of human scent to leave the area for a period of time. In some cases for long times.
Also noises associated with negative human encounters (like doors shutting on vehicles, engine nois, gravel popping, etc).
And trust me on this (as I offend inexperienced hunters who buy product) YOU CAN'T ELIMINATE human scent. Rubber boots, scent spray, cover scents, scent free clothing, on and on, will NOT eliminate human scent.
So to be the MOST effective hunter, have MANY spots that are in different doe groups scattered as far as possible and hunt the wind in those spots with as little intrusion as possible.
But if you can only have one place to hunt, use long range surveillance or cameras (not my preferred) and wait until the timing and weather is right.
WTNBowHunter
Well-Known Member
here's one of the many opinions...i'd pick a cool morning that is going to warm up so your thermals are rising, paired with an optimal wind direction to minimize blowing out deer walking in alongside that thicket. but you gotta hunt it at some point to see what's going on . yes, you could bump a mature deer but you could also kill him in there too. without cameras to help you scout you're only going off of in-person scouting and you can't not see it. maybe hunt it early as you can to see what you learn then if you want to leave it alone for a better time then do that...but you gotta learn it
That's how I see it. Unless you hunt it you have no idea when to be there.
I approach it two different ways. If I think a buck i want will be coming through then I hunt the spot until he comes through or until I'm convinced I've missed my opportunity. Secondly I hunt it periodically to gather a feel for when it's a busy spot and why. I'm never afraid of spooking deer. If you're not in the deer enough to spook some then you're not in them enough to kill them. It's just part of the game.
Really depends. We have one stand that we can hunt repeatedly throughout the season as long as we are careful. Can usually get to the stand undetected and if getting busted getting down is an issue, we text each other for a ride. Several times have killed deer from that stand and went right back to it and it still be the hottest stand on our property.
It's possible !
tree_ghost
Well-Known Member
There are certain setups that lend themselves to being more bulletproof than others for sure. It's hard to tell from the Ariel photo you sent of what that access may look like. In hill country I like to use the steepest nastiest drainage sometimes for good access. It's hard to find a reusable setup in hill country IMO but not impossible. My favorite bulletproof setup was a white oak that was 2' off a creek. This particular creek was about 3-4' deep for a half mile each direction but had one shallow section that was only about 20 yards wide and the water came to 4-6" deep. The deer naturally crossed there. I would drop in the creek 3/4 of a mile down and wade right up to my tree. Thermals always pulled scent down the creek. It was awesome!
ImThere
Well-Known Member
I hunt like Ski tells it.
The old can't Killem from the couch applies here. If you don't hunt that 1.3 acres it's impossible to kill them there.
To me I'd pick a good day. Wind/ weather/ open season! lol. Climb high, be prepared to observe. Hunt all day, you have no idea if they come through morning, noon or night at this point. If you get busted I'd give it a couple of weeks and hunt a different tree if only by a few yards.
The old can't Killem from the couch applies here. If you don't hunt that 1.3 acres it's impossible to kill them there.
To me I'd pick a good day. Wind/ weather/ open season! lol. Climb high, be prepared to observe. Hunt all day, you have no idea if they come through morning, noon or night at this point. If you get busted I'd give it a couple of weeks and hunt a different tree if only by a few yards.
ImThere
Well-Known Member
You hunting my spot?
Sounds almost exactly like one of my spots except the tree is a willow oak. Anytime I've got a north or NW wind i can hunt it completely undetected with no ground scent because I wade the creek for access.
