raisins wrote:Denisboyko22 wrote:mheichelbech wrote:So I had some does approach my stand over the weekend. I was basically just in an observation set overlooking a bedding area from about 200-300 yards away. I spotted the does moving towards me from way off and did not move at all as they approached. They came across the field directly to my stand and when the mama doe got to about 20 yards, she looked up and immediately spotted me in the stand. It was one of the typical December trees with little cover although I did have some branches from a tree beside me on one side. I was wearing what is typically regarded as the best camo out there...ASAT facemask and beanie, Predator camo over the rest of me and camo gloves and even my bow has sneaky leaves attached. I sometimes have deer look at me in the tree and just move on. In this instance, the doe knew I was a problem, stared at me for a good 15 minutes. She never blew or anything, but she did alter the route of travel to a different direction away from me. There were 6 other deer with her.
Just curious, besides sitting still and having back cover, what else can you do to avoid being picked off in late season? I was a good 20 feet up but I think I could have been 50 feet up and she would have seen me. The only thing I can figure is to have a bigger tree so I don't stand out as much.
Idk if youve heard of Cody D Acquisto and his father but in some of their podcasts they talked about how just about every single hunter goes to that desired height of 12-20 feet up in a tree and deer have learned that throughout the years and sometimes if you're up that high too when standing below looking up you will stand out like a pumpkin , but he was saying he likes being 8 feet up because when standing from the ground looking at you all you see is you blended into the other trees and woods but if you were higher you would stand out because you have nothing but the sky as a background , idk what your situation was but this could be something to consider , but if you're lower you have to be more careful with movement since you're closer to eye level
I don't know, this sounds fishy (sometimes unconventional things are more likely to be said?). Why not take this idea to the extreme and stand on the ground behind a tree then?
Barry Wensel has a YouTube video where he just spats out random hunting tips. He claims the same thing about hunting height but he also said there has to be a gap between you and the ground or deer will get spooky. It’s worth a watch to get you thinking about the basics. I hunted anywhere from 5ft to 30 ft high this year in my camo pants and grey carhartt hoodie and didn’t get picked off when it mattered.
As far as o.p I pretty much set up the same late season as I do early season. Go through the details of the set up and I’m sure you can point out things wrong. Examples like no back or fore cover, sun position, glares on gear and clothes, strap blowing, outline wasn’t broke up enough by tree trunk, she might have watched you approach or set up stand, doe had bad experience near that tree, she saw your sticks or straps, you stared her in the eyes, the list can go on and on