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Deer at dawn- to climb or not?

Marmuzz

Marmuzz

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2021
Messages
1,170
Location
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
What do you do if you encounter deer in the dark right before you’re ready to climb?

Gun hunted the same spot twice last year, bumped deer twice in the early morning. The spot is on a private farm, about 30 yards inside the woods from a transition to a cornfield, about 100+ yards from a county road. Road noise and soft field mud usually offers quiet entrance.

Oct 18, walked in in the dark, almost reached the area I wanted to climb when suddenly I see green eyes looking at me I'd guess 60 yards away (who knows...it's dark). Then, it slinks away. Can't hear where it went but I assume directly away from me. I figure, well, if I'm gonna climb I better do it right now before twilight, and who knows if this deer is still around. So I one-stick up. Saw nothing that day. Quit at noon.

Nov 21, I go to the same spot in the dark, and just about step on one bounding out of its bed. This time I stop there, stood in front of a tree for silhouette cover until 7:30am, then climbed. Saw nothing that day. Quit at noon.

I think it was overcast both mornings, still wind, damp ground conditions.

How do you play that? Knowing a deer is (or was) nearby, and that it knows you're there...somewhere...do you sit tight on the ground until daylight, or do you climb and hope to get a shot later from a better vantage point? Again, this is for a gun hunt. Looking to go the same spot soon.
 
I play it several ways. If they just see me but don't wind me and bound off, I wait a little bit and climb. If its daylight I usually let out some turkey calls. I feel like if they did not get a really good look at me but knew it was some larger animal then some turkey calls will help them delude themselves that everything is OK.

If a doe blows at me but hasn't winded me, I will huff back at her. That way she can convince herself that it was another deer and that they are both being silly. It has worked before.

I've killed several deer I bumped off acorns walking in before or just after daylight and they came back before noon.

During the rut, I would back up downwind and find a good place to hide and let out a quick rattle sequence. If it was a buck, he will likely circle downwind to find out what you are. You want to be farther back than he will likely circle to get your wind. The rattling will give him doubts about if you were a human or another buck. Doe bleats could also help in this situation. Keep in mind of your surroundings though. You don't want to get shot by being too convincing.
 
BTaylor said:
Why were the deer there? Food or bed? Is there an alternate location within 100-150 yards of there you could access and hunt without bumping deer pre-dawn and save that spot for an afternoon sit?
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Not totally sure. It’s an out of state farm so I don’t get to scout it and rely on family intel from what they see out the tractor cab. I’d guess to feed.

For that particular spot the access it what it is because it’s kind of in a corner where property lines and road boundaries come together.
 
Gun hunt, could you set up in the field or on the edge and try to shoot them where you've bumped them? Rookie here, so hopefully that's not a dumb suggestion.
 
I definitely think it would depend on the deer's use of that spot.

Bedding - as mentioned above depending on the situation, I'd probably stay on the ground and prevent making further disturbance and see if it comes back.

Trail/Scrape - screw it, climb because another deer may come along that you didn't spook out of there.

Food source - same, there's a decent chance that more than that one deer will visit the food source later on, so I'd climb.

This one spot I hunt is a well used travel area between food and bedding. I've spooked deer walking in and spooked them lining up for a shot, and have had different deer come into the area 20 minutes later. Hell, last year I shot at a doe. 30 minutes later a good buck came in right to the spot she was at, I just couldn't line up a good shot. After climbing down and looking for her (never did recover her, no blood or hair), I climbed back up and had 4 more deer come walking thru a couple hours later.
 
NMSbowhunter said:
This may sound crazy but if the farmer is driving that field edge and you can get him to drop you off there and then drive on as normal that could mask your entry as normal, everyday farm activity.
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Had the same thought. If available, the drop off/pick up tactic works very well in an ag location.
 
If I can see a deer near my stand, I'm ground hunting until I either get him or he busts. If I've busted him out of there I might not want to hunt that specific area again for a day or two. This is also an argument for still-hunting your way into your stand, unless it's so windy that you can move quickly and have your noise covered by the wind.
 
Marmuzz said:
What do you do if you encounter deer in the dark right before you’re ready to climb?

Gun hunted the same spot twice last year, bumped deer twice in the early morning. The spot is on a private farm, about 30 yards inside the woods from a transition to a cornfield, about 100+ yards from a county road. Road noise and soft field mud usually offers quiet entrance.

Oct 18, walked in in the dark, almost reached the area I wanted to climb when suddenly I see green eyes looking at me I'd guess 60 yards away (who knows...it's dark). Then, it slinks away. Can't hear where it went but I assume directly away from me. I figure, well, if I'm gonna climb I better do it right now before twilight, and who knows if this deer is still around. So I one-stick up. Saw nothing that day. Quit at noon.

Nov 21, I go to the same spot in the dark, and just about step on one bounding out of its bed. This time I stop there, stood in front of a tree for silhouette cover until 7:30am, then climbed. Saw nothing that day. Quit at noon.

I think it was overcast both mornings, still wind, damp ground conditions.

How do you play that? Knowing a deer is (or was) nearby, and that it knows you're there...somewhere...do you sit tight on the ground until daylight, or do you climb and hope to get a shot later from a better vantage point? Again, this is for a gun hunt. Looking to go the same spot soon.
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I had this same issue with one location, I just kept going in earlier & earlier until I beat them there……… climb in & take a nap. You may also come to realize you need a different spot……
 
BTaylor said:
Had the same thought. If available, the drop off/pick up tactic works very well in an ag location.
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That’s not a bad idea. Usually though my uncle who’s the farmer is hunting himself, and the first few rows of corn have been harvested off the edge of the field. So it wouldn’t help access or busting them.
 
Marmuzz said:
That’s not a bad idea. Usually though my uncle who’s the farmer is hunting himself, and the first few rows of corn have been harvested off the edge of the field. So it wouldn’t help access or busting them.
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Actually it can help. Deer are used to trucks and tractors in the field and will move off but it is a different kind of "bump" than walking in on them. But you do need someone willing to drop you off and pick you up.
 
Assuming you're walking in with the wind in your face and the deer haven't winded you I'm waiting a few minutes and then continuing on being as quiet as I can. Sounds like the deer in both scenarios walked farther in the way you were already going. Why not continue to your original spot unless it's still several hundred more yards?

If it's gun season, I spotted the deer, and the deer was bedded then I'm just trying to make sure I'm in range and ready for first light
 
I have a similar situation where I normally hunt. With a gun I wait until shooting light to walk out just so if I do bump them I can get a shot. Not normally the case with a bow but I have even done that with a bow if I knew there was a good chance I would see some and could put a stalk on them.
 
Thanks for all the input guys. I Have been pretty busy since posting the question. Looks like lots of interesting thoughts. When I get a chance I’d like to read through everything and consider the commentary.
 
I’m climbing and hunting. Not like it’s the only deer in the woods. The deer you are hunting could just be leaving the food source and could still be over an hour or more away from your location. Chances are, unless the deer can smell you, they won’t spook. I’ve walked right past deer both standing and bedded at less than 30 yards in the dark and they just stayed where they were and watched me walk by or they just walked off like nothing happened. Whether they can smell you or not is really the key. Also, with the light I use I can not only tell you if it was a buck, but I can tell you how many points he had lol.
 
Marmuzz said:
What do you do if you encounter deer in the dark right before you’re ready to climb?

Gun hunted the same spot twice last year, bumped deer twice in the early morning. The spot is on a private farm, about 30 yards inside the woods from a transition to a cornfield, about 100+ yards from a county road. Road noise and soft field mud usually offers quiet entrance.

Oct 18, walked in in the dark, almost reached the area I wanted to climb when suddenly I see green eyes looking at me I'd guess 60 yards away (who knows...it's dark). Then, it slinks away. Can't hear where it went but I assume directly away from me. I figure, well, if I'm gonna climb I better do it right now before twilight, and who knows if this deer is still around. So I one-stick up. Saw nothing that day. Quit at noon.

Nov 21, I go to the same spot in the dark, and just about step on one bounding out of its bed. This time I stop there, stood in front of a tree for silhouette cover until 7:30am, then climbed. Saw nothing that day. Quit at noon.

I think it was overcast both mornings, still wind, damp ground conditions.

How do you play that? Knowing a deer is (or was) nearby, and that it knows you're there...somewhere...do you sit tight on the ground until daylight, or do you climb and hope to get a shot later from a better vantage point? Again, this is for a gun hunt. Looking to go the same spot soon.
Click to expand...

Look up the term, bump and dump. Sometimes setting up near where you bumped them works. It depends on how badly they spooked and why they were there in the first place.

Another option I would suggest is stopping sooner and don't get as close. You said this spot is 30 yards into the woods from a field edge. Stop and setup right on the edge. If it is for a gun hunt, you don't have to be right on top of them to get a shot.
 
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