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Bad Luck or Lousy Hunter?

D

Dhamilton1

Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2020
Messages
56
Location
West Virginia
Two buck encounters on the same piece of public and screwed up both of them.

1st encounter was a 4 point on Sunday afternoon/evening. Found a tree that looked to be pretty decent but after getting to height and setup, it had a slight lean and was trying to pull me to one side. Tried to tough it out but had to finally get down after a little bit. As I’m getting setup to start up a new tree, a 4 point sneaks up the hill and gets within 40 yards of me. Of course my bow was on the ground so he blew out. Got setup but couldn’t get him to come back in.

2nd encounter was what looked to be a 6 point, first thing this morning. Get to a tree at first light and get all the way up and setup. As I’m getting ready to pull my bow up, a 6 point comes up the hill from below me to about 40 yards. Another opportunity blown. ‍♂️. Couldn’t get him called in either.

No other deer seen after both encounters. One positive is that I have both spots located on my HuntWise app and I know that there are at least two bucks running around there. From the trails and bedding I’ve seen, you’d think there was a whole herd of deer in there.
 
I will say bad luck. Sounds like one of my first hunts this year. I went to a new area and took forever to pick a tree,almost set up on the ground instead. My climbing was not smooth and before I was set up a group of does busted me. Sat for two hours with not a deer to be seen and just as my feet touch the ground a horse of a doe blows at me from 30 yds away.
Keep trying is all I can suggest.
 
If you get it figured out to a 100 % success rate, let us know the secret. It's hunting. Often times evening thinking you all your Ts crossed, and I's dotted, they do something different. Sometimes they win, sometimes you win. But you make it all about the journey. Don't stress your self out over thinking it some times. You will get it figured out.
 
I know I'm a lousy hunter, but keep reminding myself that this is my second season, I'm barely over a year into this whole thing. I usually try to chalk things like this up to bad luck or a learning experience. It can be hard if you let yourself start comparing your own lack of success to a lot of the more experienced/successful posters on here, even worse if we slip into the expectations of being like a YouTube hunter.

Take a different look at it- you've had multiple deer close enough to kill, and those experiences are helping you expose areas to practice or tweak from next time. I spent all last season freezing my butt off stubbornly staying in the wrong trees, had some success (luck) earlier this year, and am still learning by trial and error and error and error. Stick with it, and at minimum take some comfort from the fact that I suck too, and most of the people registered on here do as well, with a group of good, successful guys (and women) that are here to help us learn.
 
thedutchtouch said:
I know I'm a lousy hunter, but keep reminding myself that this is my second season, I'm barely over a year into this whole thing. I usually try to chalk things like this up to bad luck or a learning experience. It can be hard if you let yourself start comparing your own lack of success to a lot of the more experienced/successful posters on here, even worse if we slip into the expectations of being like a YouTube hunter.

Take a different look at it- you've had multiple deer close enough to kill, and those experiences are helping you expose areas to practice or tweak from next time. I spent all last season freezing my butt off stubbornly staying in the wrong trees, had some success (luck) earlier this year, and am still learning by trial and error and error and error. Stick with it, and at minimum take some comfort from the fact that I suck too, and most of the people registered on here do as well, with a group of good, successful guys (and women) that are here to help us learn.
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X2. The YouTube guys generally log many many hours of scouting, and hunting, and all the above. That have learned a lot in there days, but still get there butt kicked on certain days. Not to mention how many hunts you don't see that never have any material to show you. Analyze what you learned and what happened. Try not to do it again. Some would say no Nuts, no bucks.
 
MattMan81 said:
If you get it figured out to a 100 % success rate, let us know the secret. It's hunting. Often times evening thinking you all your Ts crossed, and I's dotted, they do something different. Sometimes they win, sometimes you win. But you make it all about the journey. Don't stress your self out over thinking it some times. You will get it figured out.
Click to expand...
Heck if someone has it down to a 75 or 80 percent success rate, I’d pay for the secret lol… I’m around a 25 to 30 percent (on a good year) hunter usually and I am 0 for 4 on hunts and 0-1 on shot attempts, so far this year. I always tell the wife and my buddy’s son who comes hunting with us, it’s about the trip not the result! Great encouraging advice!!!!
 
One thing I've come to understand is the importance of getting your bow (or other weapon) up into the tree as soon as you set your tether and have your feet on your platform/ROS. AFTER you get your bow hung up with an arrow nocked, you can begin to "get situated".
 
Red Beard said:
One thing I've come to understand is the importance of getting your bow (or other weapon) up into the tree as soon as you set your tether and have your feet on your platform/ROS. AFTER you get your bow hung up with an arrow nocked, you can begin to "get situated".
Click to expand...

This is also what I do

I’ve killed several bucks because I got weapon ready before pulling up pack and getting situated


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Red Beard said:
One thing I've come to understand is the importance of getting your bow (or other weapon) up into the tree as soon as you set your tether and have your feet on your platform/ROS. AFTER you get your bow hung up with an arrow nocked, you can begin to "get situated".
Click to expand...

reverse is true also, if leaving while you still have shooting light

get everything you can ready and then lower your bow right before you start climbing down
 
Dhamilton1 said:
At the risk of sounding stupid, is that a bad strategy even when there’s rutted up and looking for does?
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If they have you picked off, all you’re doing is educating them.

If they hear something, at ground level obviously, and cannot identify it, maybe……..but they’ll be looking right at you when they break cover.

Calling is more often overdone. Best thing to do is put the calls away and work on getting in on deer quietly and purposely.

“Rutted up looking for does” does not mean they are stupid. What it means more than anything is that they are one their feet and moving.
 
Hang in there. Those are great experiences that taught you a lot. Arrive a little earlier, pick your tree more carefully, tough it out longer if you have to, get your bow up and ready ASAP. Take those lessons, implement them, and build from there. I’ve been on quite a journey the last two years. I’ve learned lots of little lessons like that. I was able to get a buck on public this year and all those little lessons came together to create success. Putting in the time means more than time hanging. It’s accumulating enough mistakes to get better. You got this!
 
kbetts said:
If they have you picked off, all you’re doing is educating them.

If they hear something, at ground level obviously, and cannot identify it, maybe……..but they’ll be looking right at you when they break cover.

Calling is more often overdone. Best thing to do is put the calls away and work on getting in on deer quietly and purposely.

“Rutted up looking for does” does not mean they are stupid. What it means more than anything is that they are one their feet and moving.
Click to expand...
This is good advice. DON'T over call! I had to give this exact advice to my SnL on Saturday. The ONLY time I call is when they are leaving the area naturally and most likely I will not get a shot opportunity any other way. You have nothing to lose. Sometimes they come back in, sometimes they don't. If they come back, they are almost always on high alert, looking, and trying to pin point the grunt or bleat they heard. It's uncanny. They know EXACTLY where the sound came from. I've had them come right to the base of the tree. They can be hard to kill when they are on high alert like that. This weekend I called in a big heavy 8 for my SnL. He came in to 35 yds but was leaving. I called him back in to 30 yds but no clear shot. He wouldn't commit to 20 yds because he could clearly see there wasn't another buck and was leaving again. He gave us a clear quartering away shot at 40 yds. I stopped him and he ducked the arrow. He ran away and was snorting a bunch. My SnL asked if we should try calling him back in. I told him missing him and spooking him was bad enough. If you call to him now he will associate his negative experience w/ the calling. Thus educating him not to come to calls in the future. I also told my SnL I do NOT blind call while on stand. If they are close enough to hear you, they are close enough that they might come in naturally and give you a shot opportunity. My reasoning being, the last thing we want to do is alert a deer or multiple deers LOL ( IE see grammar thread in deer hunting section) of our location. Alert deer are harder to kill than unsuspecting deer that have no clue you are even in the area. Another reason I don't blind call is because many times they will circle you and try scent check the area they heard the sound. He will sneak out of the area and You'll never see that deer. However he just scent checked you, smelled a human AND heard a buck grunt or bleat. It won't take a smart buck very long to learn to NEVER come in the next time he hears an artificial buck grunt. Every time I hear a call on TV it's so obvious that it's artificial. Same is true in the elk woods. I can't tell you how many times I've heard a Primos Terminator or a Hoochi Mama in the mountains. The elk go the other way when they hear them.
 
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