I've always tried to let deer pass by me that I knew were close by, but I've never hunter near beds before. This questions is for when you hunt a bed that you can't see or a bedding area where you might not know the exact bedding location.
If he doesn't come past in daylight, do you give it some time to see if he comes by after dark or do you start sneaking out at dark if you don't hear him coming? I don't mean sit there for Intel purposes but rather to not have him bust you while packing up.
Then again, the beast mentality is not to hunt the same bed multiple times so maybe it isn't that important
When do you climb down?
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- oldrank
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Re: When do you climb down?
I usually get down as soon as legal shooting time is done if I don't have action. If I have deer moving around I will wait till they move on. I have been pinned in my stand alot. Last year it happened a few times. The buck will move right at last light n hang up out of shooting range until light fades.
I guess my thought on Intel gathering would be , I want to know what the deer are doing in daylight, not dark. I trust my scouting and knowledge from yrs past. If I am hunting there it's because I know it is a good spot already.
I guess my thought on Intel gathering would be , I want to know what the deer are doing in daylight, not dark. I trust my scouting and knowledge from yrs past. If I am hunting there it's because I know it is a good spot already.
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Re: When do you climb down?
If I hear or see a target animal and get no shot, and intend on hunting the spot again, I will wait out a deer or sneak out quiet and watching air currents... If not I climb down and walk out with no regard for lesser animals or noise/scent.
- Jhand
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Re: When do you climb down?
Like Dan said if I see the buck I'm after and plan on hunting the area the next day I will take my time and sneak out slow and quite. If I don't see the buck and don't plan on hunting the area soon I get down after legal shooting light. If there's Does or small bucks I don't don't care if I bump them on my way out since I won't be back there anytime soon.
- tgreeno
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Re: When do you climb down?
My thought is unless I see a shooter buck I'm planning on pursuing in the near future, it doesn't matter at all. I may be back in a couple months, I may not be back at all that season.
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It's better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid, than to open it an remove all doubt
It's better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid, than to open it an remove all doubt
- ThePreBanMan
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Re: When do you climb down?
Depends on a few things for me... How long / difficult the walk out will be is one of them, how hungry I am, if I have someplace I need to be at a certain time, etc. The piece of land I'm on makes a difference too. There's one piece of public that one env. po-po always like to drive by at last light and wait for hunters to come out. It's not state land though (I'll get to that in a sec). Once I waited out a few does in the area so I could sneak out and the EPO was waiting for me. He wasn't happy I made him wait so long. But I explained the situation and I didn't get jammed up. Had to wait out the deer, take down and pack up the stand and sticks, was in deep, etc. Other hunters I've run into on that track have said it's always the same EPO and he's just kind of a jerk about it.
That said - here in Mass all WMA (wildlife management areas) close 1/2 hour after sunset. Period. If I had made that EPO wait as long as he did and I was on a WMA - he could have jammed me up pretty good if he wanted to. Even if I wasn't hunting after dark - it's the law that the land is closed and everyone has to be off it. So that's the bottom line. It limits the kind of evening hunting you can legally do on a WMA. Like if I'm going to hunt until the buzzer then I have to stay close to the truck when in a WMA. I certainly can't wait out deer. I've kicked a good one or two getting out of the tree. But it is what it is. I don't want to test the patience and understanding of an EPO who's missing his dinner because he's stuck waiting for me to get out of the woods.
Thing that gets me is that the WMAs don't open until 1/2 hour before sunset either. But the EPOs never enforce that part of the law. It's always on closing hours they jam people up. But I've been in WMAs at 3:30ish AM, drove by an EPO to get in, and the woods were stuffed with trucks parked in every little nook and cranny off the road.
That said - here in Mass all WMA (wildlife management areas) close 1/2 hour after sunset. Period. If I had made that EPO wait as long as he did and I was on a WMA - he could have jammed me up pretty good if he wanted to. Even if I wasn't hunting after dark - it's the law that the land is closed and everyone has to be off it. So that's the bottom line. It limits the kind of evening hunting you can legally do on a WMA. Like if I'm going to hunt until the buzzer then I have to stay close to the truck when in a WMA. I certainly can't wait out deer. I've kicked a good one or two getting out of the tree. But it is what it is. I don't want to test the patience and understanding of an EPO who's missing his dinner because he's stuck waiting for me to get out of the woods.
Thing that gets me is that the WMAs don't open until 1/2 hour before sunset either. But the EPOs never enforce that part of the law. It's always on closing hours they jam people up. But I've been in WMAs at 3:30ish AM, drove by an EPO to get in, and the woods were stuffed with trucks parked in every little nook and cranny off the road.
- Dewey
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Re: When do you climb down?
I generally pack up and get out of there right at closing. Problem with hunting mature bucks is more often than not you will get busted at last light because they usually wait till then to move. Those last few minutes before and after dark are key. I have been caught halfway down the tree by a 150" I was hunting. Many times my feet touch the ground and I hear or see a large deer bust out back into the bedding area where he came from. It's not fun but when you are hunting right in staging areas it's all part of the game. If a buck comes in before I start climbing down I will let him get clear before I climb down hoping to get another chance at a later day. Problem is he likely will have figured out that I was there if he returns to the same bed that later that day. I have never had luck with second chances with a buck in the same spot with a hunt the following day. I realize it can be done but you need a bulletproof entry and exit for it to even be possible.
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Re: When do you climb down?
If something is close I might wait it out but usually I'm out right at end of legal time
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