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You spot a deer and it’s coming at you

You see a deer. Which encounter do you prefer?

  • From afar. I like time to mentally prep and calm down.

    Votes: 47 64.4%

  • Last minute. No time for mistakes, muscle memory FTW.

    Votes: 26 35.6%
  • Total voters
    73
Exhumis

Exhumis

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2019
Messages
3,954
Location
Northern Virginia
Threw a poll up, kinda curious how folks like it to go down. For me I think it depends when in the season. Early season it’s warmer and full of hope and endless possibilities so a surprise encounter is fine. By late season it’s 20 degrees, takes me longer to move around and I’m pissy So I need a bit to ungrinch. Or as the wife likes to say, towards Christmas you turn into a pufferfish.
 
Exhumis said:
Threw a poll up, kinda curious how folks like it to go down. For me I think it depends when in the season. Early season it’s warmer and full of hope and endless possibilities so a surprise encounter is fine. By late season it’s 20 degrees, takes me longer to move around and I’m pissy So I need a bit to ungrinch. Or as the wife likes to say, towards Christmas you turn into a pufferfish.
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Aren’t you LFTS right now. Get off your phone and hunt lol!!!
 
gcr0003 said:
Aren’t you LFTS right now. Get off your phone and hunt lol!!!
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Lol the ranch sheepdog was making his rounds so I had a minute for a quick post. He didn’t spot or scent me so I guess I’m doing something right. Or he just figured I wasn’t worth the effort. Let’s go with that.
 
I prefer from afar. The only thing that causes me to make a mistake is having to rush because the deer surprised me or is too close. Typically, regardless if it is a doe or a mature buck I stay pretty calm and collected during the encounter. It's after the encounter is over, whether I shoot or the deer just walks off that I start getting Elvis leg and I fall apart. It's funny, even a spotted fawn will cause my leg to start shaking but, not until it disappears out of sight.

Also, another reason I like to spot deer from afar is that almost every encounter with just a single deer I go through my entire shot process. I typically don't do it with multiple deer because there are more eyes and I don't want to spook them. With a single deer I will wait for an opportunity, pick a spot, draw anchor and do everything except release the arrow. One of the reasons stick bow shooters miss is because they do something different in their shot process when shooting at a deer. The only way to practice it is to go through the process with a deer in front of you and MD doesn't give me enough tags to shoot them all.

I don't recommend doing this if you have issues with snap shooting. A friend of my fathers tried it once. Problem was as soon as he touched his anchor he subconsciously released the arrow and shot a deer he had no intentions of shooting. lol
 
From afar. However, I get the shakes when it takes too long! Luckily the buck I shot this year happened before I could start shaking thank goodness. But I do like to be prepared and talk to myself about taking my time which ends up probably being a half second longer than rushing
 
I generally prefer to see (or at least hear) them coming from afar as well. It gives me the opportunity to get setup and I can take a few deep breaths to settle myself down if I decide its a shooter. That said, there is something to be said for having them just pop up and not having time to think about it too much. There is, for me anyway, such a thing as a mid distance where I have just enough time to think about it but not enough time to calm myself back down. Those are the challenging encounters for me. For me the adrenaline is huge component of why I hunt. I had a friend who once put it better than I can. His take was "Once you stop getting that squirt its time to find another hobby". That's probably one reason why I don't enjoy rifle hunting as much as bow hunting. I just experience a larger adrenaline surge with a bow in my hand than I do a rifle.

In reality though, most all of the early season before leaf drop I find myself hunting stuff where it just too thick and/or green to see them before they're right on top of me.
 
Afar, it just gives me time to assess the deer and situation. Look for possible shooting lanes. It also gives me time to see if he or she has a bigger friend in tow that would prefer to die that day.
 
Got to say that as much as I like surprises there is something pretty cool with watching how deer act walking into a set. Setting it up in my head of how I see everything playing out but getting surprised when it doesn’t. And even more surprised when it does!
 
Judge away on this one. Had a hunt with my best buddy in the world in the tree with me. Deer was within 15 yards for 10 minutes. I had tears in my eyes before I even started to draw. Fell apart after the deer hit the ground 50 yards away. Best friend in the world in the tree with me and will probably be one of my favorite hunts till the day I die.

Alll that being said even if the deer gives you plenty of time your instincts are kicking in. That’s the whole point of shooting all summer. So that when your jacked up and more than likely to mess it up your brain takes over and makes it happen.

So I guess I’m an instincts Ftw kinda guy
 
boyne bowhunter said:
That's probably one reason why I don't enjoy rifle hunting as much as bow hunting.
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It hadn't occured to me until I just read this but, the leg shake I described above never occurs with a rifle in my hand. I watched 11 deer walk by opening day of rifle and never once had my leg start shaking. I guess that's why I hunt every day I can with a bow and only hunted 2 days of rifle.
 
Red Beard said:
I like to think from afar is better as well but honestly I think I do better when it's a short time window. Don't know what caliber of shakes @Hall17 gets, but I start shaking uncontrollably if I'm forced to wait for an extended period of time.
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If they take their time I can sometimes settle myself down. So it’s more of a cycle of shakes, calm then back to shakes
 
Best is hearing those grunts getting louder, and then boom, suddenly he's on top of you and all hell breaks loose. I love all bowhunting, but I live to bowhunt the rut.

In general though I would prefer to have at least a minute or two to get my wits about me. But I've converted and blown opportunities in both situations. I don't get the adrenaline shakes until after thankfully.
 
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