Stand Approach

[Singing Bridge]

Do you all use the same level of stealth when sitting a rut stand where you know it's a great location but no eyes on a specific buck moving through?

[ Post made via iPhone ]

I do- I've had enough encounters while approaching a stand like this to make it worthwhile.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[justdirtyfun]

In Hill country with hardwood leaf litter even a squirrel sounds like an elephant.
With a target bed 600 yards away and a Ridge over, normal walking is acceptable right?
While still hunting without a stand weighing me down I do well sneaking,even had deer approach undetected.

[ Post made via Android ]

[bwwma]

In Hill country with hardwood leaf litter even a squirrel sounds like an elephant.
With a target bed 600 yards away and a Ridge over, normal walking is acceptable right?
While still hunting without a stand weighing me down I do well sneaking,even had deer approach undetected.

[ Post made via Android ]

Hill country here too. The leaves are so dang loud, especially if there was a frost. Not sure how to beat the leaves unless by adding a lot of extra time or waiting to hunt that spot after a rain has come through. I know you can use deep cuts but sometimes that's not an option. Interested to see what some of the more successful guys have to say.

[DaveT1963]

The number one factor for me is approach and exit. Then I select one or two trees based on wind. Everything follows that. If I find the absolute best spot but I can I get in and out clean.... Then I don't hunt there or its a one time location. I would say approach and exit strategy was the one thing that most improved my hunting.

I'm going to toss a non-trafitional approach. In some areas where I hunt human traffic is very common. The very worst thing you can do is to try to sneak around and enter an area. This immediately alerts deer that something is out of the ordinary. On a couple spots I hunt I walk pretty briskly down walking and horse paths not really trying to minimize my noise or being seen. Then when I get close to the tree I tend to slow down when leaving the main trail. Same thing on farms, deer get a accustomed to the ordinary and it's when you do something unordinary that clues them in that something is up. Doesn't work everywhere but there are those spots.


[ Post made via Android ]

[IkemanTx]

If you are having to skirt around a bedding area, downwind. How much distance would you give yourself? Also, same question for locations where you HAVE to cross upwind. How far upwind is enough?

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[checkerfred]

In Hill country with hardwood leaf litter even a squirrel sounds like an elephant.
With a target bed 600 yards away and a Ridge over, normal walking is acceptable right?
While still hunting without a stand weighing me down I do well sneaking,even had deer approach undetected.

[ Post made via Android ]

Hill country here too. The leaves are so dang loud, especially if there was a frost. Not sure how to beat the leaves unless by adding a lot of extra time or waiting to hunt that spot after a rain has come through. I know you can use deep cuts but sometimes that's not an option. Interested to see what some of the more successful guys have to say.

Yup...we were talking about this not long ago...this has plagued me. Especially if you're trying to hunt possible bedding points. Last year I jumped a big 10 on private land. Got about 50 yards and he jumped up and was staring me down..never could get a shot off. But I was walking 3-5 steps at a slow short stride. Then pause and look. Then do it again. Just trying to not sound like a human. Frozen leaves though makes it tough no matter what.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[dan]

If you are having to skirt around a bedding area, downwind. How much distance would you give yourself? Also, same question for locations where you HAVE to cross upwind. How far upwind is enough?

[ Post made via iPhone ]

Good questions, but I don't think there is a solid answer cause of variables. Not all scenarios are the same. You can walk 50 yards up wind of a buck is there is a trail there people walk a lot... One deer might jump and take off if he smells you at 300 yards, the next might let you walk past at 50...
I try to find a way not to walk up wind of a bed unless I am trying to make sure the buck don't leave in that direction... When I circle a bedding area for a hunt where I don't want that deer to know im there its as far back as possible, and if its up wind its as fast as possible.

I have noticed a trait with a lot of deer letting you walk by then 15 or 20 minutes later they get up and sneak away the other direction... I seen Andrea kill a couple that did just that back in the 90's, and I can remember a bedding area I had no choice because of land borders to walk 75 yards up wind past. I got around and set up my stand and was there in my tree probably 40 minutes after passing when a big buck got up and tip toed out and kept looking over its shoulder looking nervous at the area where I passed.

[BCO]

I used to be a 90% morning hunter and rarely hunted evenings. After reading lots of Hunting Beast posts and listening to Dan's podcasts I am changing my methods to focus on afternoon hunts. It makes sense to sneak in when you can see and avoid getting hung up in a thicket you could easily avoid in daylight. It is really hard to be stealthy when walking in before daylight. Also, it is hard to see fresh sign from a distance before daylight and it is easy to miss fresh sign walking in the dark.

[BCO]

There are a lot of situations where I hunt a buck bed that is near the road or parking area but I need to go a long distance to get around to his back side undetected because he is set up to watch and or smell hunters approaching from the road or parking lot... Approach is one of the most important things in hunting. I also think actually seeing the buck beds and knowing where he is, and why he is there is another one, and its one most hunters don't put enough value into.
In a lot of cases, mature bucks will set up to watch your entrances to the woods. If you enter somewhere where he can see or smell you, the game is over before you even get to the tree.

Glad I got to see this post. I have found what I am pretty sure to be buck beds in these same type of locations. But when I find them I think man this is 200 yards from this main trial entrance and no way a good buck would bed here because I think he would get bumped everytime a hunter entered that area. Maybe I should change they way of thinking?

Got turned around coming out one night and got into some really thick stuff so I stood up on a big log and pulled out my compass and turns out I was 90 degrees off. Put my compass away and looked down towards where I needed to head out and there was a buck bed with a well worn out exit trail. I walked about 20 yards and bam there is the road. I thought no way a good buck is bedded that close to the road. Now I wonder...

[dan]

Glad I got to see this post. I have found what I am pretty sure to be buck beds in these same type of locations. But when I find them I think man this is 200 yards from this main trial entrance and no way a good buck would bed here because I think he would get bumped everytime a hunter entered that area. Maybe I should change they way of thinking?

Got turned around coming out one night and got into some really thick stuff so I stood up on a big log and pulled out my compass and turns out I was 90 degrees off. Put my compass away and looked down towards where I needed to head out and there was a buck bed with a well worn out exit trail. I walked about 20 yards and bam there is the road. I thought no way a good buck is bedded that close to the road. Now I wonder...

Its not coincidence, cause a lot of my best bucks have been shot using beds like this... You do have to use some common sense to make sure your not looking at "night beds" ... One common theme is that they have good escape, and even though its close and often monitoring humans, people rarely walk there.

[BCO]

Not sure about the exit for the bed I found walking out in the dark I haven't been back to look at it yet but I am pretty confident nobody walks there. The only way I ended up there was because I got turned around in the dark and walked in unknowingly and got into some stuff so thick I couldn't see 2 feet. When I got out I was about 100 yards from an easy entry point. No way someone would walk through there when they could go another 100 yards to the easy entry.

[Killemquietly]

What do you guys think of entering and exiting on different routes? I.e. a giant arc or j hook instead of coming and going on the same trail. Keeping em guessing so to speak. In 2006 myself and two friends took the same entry route in a giant j hook and we each dropped off about 150 yards apart. We J hooked around swampy marsh grass in which I had previously and unknowingly found his bed in the middle. When the last guy posted, I started grunting aggressively. Buck stood up in the grass 30 yards in front of the middle guy, who shot him from the ground. As you can guess I was the first to drop off. The buck wasn't big by you guys standards, but was second best on the wma according the the game warden at the check station. Ever since then when conditions allow I make one route and don't backtrack going out.

[ Post made via Android ]

[Mathewshooter]

What do you guys think of entering and exiting on different routes? I.e. a giant arc or j hook instead of coming and going on the same trail. Keeping em guessing so to speak. In 2006 myself and two friends took the same entry route in a giant j hook and we each dropped off about 150 yards apart. We J hooked around swampy marsh grass in which I had previously and unknowingly found his bed in the middle. When the last guy posted, I started grunting aggressively. Buck stood up in the grass 30 yards in front of the middle guy, who shot him from the ground. As you can guess I was the first to drop off. The buck wasn't big by you guys standards, but was second best on the wma according the the game warden at the check station. Ever since then when conditions allow I make one route and don't backtrack going out.

[ Post made via Android ]

I have done this before. I usually do it when I have deer head in the direction that I have to exit when I leave my stand. When this happens I'll take a different route back to my truck so I dont spook the deer by walking out where they went. I also do this sometimes based off wind direction. I'll walk in a diffferent way than I exit to keep my scent from blowing towards where I think the deer SHOULD be.

[creepingdeth]

first year guy who made the decision that simple things like wind, thermals, and in/outs will make my sits more productive. i actually have seen deer and thats a victory for me personally!!! lots to soak up, thats why im here, thanks to all

[Singing Bridge]

first year guy who made the decision that simple things like wind, thermals, and in/outs will make my sits more productive. i actually have seen deer and thats a victory for me personally!!! lots to soak up, thats why im here, thanks to all

It will definitely improve the quality of your sits. After a while it will become second nature.