Deer that come from behind you

[Bowtech12]

So I’m wondering when you set up and you’re facing the tree. In a tree stand you have the tree to your back. The deer can’t see you from behind when/if you happen to be looking out in front of you with minimal movement

in a saddle you’ll be moving your head or upper body to look out past the tree in front of you
If a deer comes from behind you won’t have anything to block it from seeing you or seeing your moving

thoughts on this? I’ve had plenty of deer Come from behind while in a tree stand and since the tree has blocked my head movements while looking ahead I never been busted

 

[MaxJac]

So I’m wondering when you set up and you’re facing the tree. In a tree stand you have the tree to your back. The deer can’t see you from behind when/if you happen to be looking out in front of you with minimal movement

in a saddle you’ll be moving your head or upper body to look out past the tree in front of you
If a deer comes from behind you won’t have anything to block it from seeing you or seeing your moving

thoughts on this? I’ve had plenty of deer Come from behind while in a tree stand and since the tree has blocked my head movements while looking ahead I never been busted

Well, usually you set up in the tree (behind the tree) facing the wind. That eliminates pretty much the deer coming from behind you as they would have your scent long before they see you. Also, if possible, I set up in a tree with something behind me, e.g. another tree as backdrop.

 

[Weldabeast]

Try to choose trees that have some cover.... split trunk, branches, etc

 

[shwacker]

Well, usually you set up in the tree (behind the tree) facing the wind. That eliminates pretty much the deer coming from behind you as they would have your scent long before they see you. Also, if possible, I set up in a tree with something behind me, e.g. another tree as backdrop.

Not true, there’s plenty of real estate in your blind spot and not all of it has your scent.

I had a decent buck slip up from behind me this season, didn’t bust me on movement but was able to get too close before I noticed him and then I couldn’t move to prep for the shot and he got by me. I did have some cover behind me and that will help but it’s just a thing that’s gonna happen if you hunt from a saddle. There are pros and cons to it


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[MaxJac]

Not true, there’s plenty of real estate in your blind spot and not all of it has your scent.

I had a decent buck slip up from behind me this season, didn’t bust me on movement but was able to get too close before I noticed him and then I couldn’t move to prep for the shot and he got by me. I did have some cover behind me and that will help but it’s just a thing that’s gonna happen if you hunt from a saddle. There are pros and cons to it


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I see how that can happen, but is that happening because one is sitting in a saddle? It can happen with any sitting method, and in your case, the buck would have snuck up on you in a regular tree stand as well, right? After all, that's why it is called hunting, not shooting.

 

[lawrence]

I always set up with some cover. Whether it’s being in a split of a tree, or branches around me. If there are no branches then I have to use height to help hide me.

 

[Art_Vandelay]

Just sit still

 

[Bowtech12]

Just sit still

Lol

 

[flinginairos]

Wouldn’t it be the same as a stand when they come out in front of you? Lol don’t overthink it. Don’t make any wild fast movements and you’ll be just fine. I’d say half the deer I kill come in a different way than I expected.


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[Bowtech12]

Wouldn’t it be the same as a stand when they come out in front of you? Lol don’t overthink it. Don’t make any wild fast movements and you’ll be just fine. I’d say half the deer I kill come in a different way than I expected.


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In some cases but usually looking out I can catch movement 180 degrees in front of me and can see them

 

[shwacker]

I see how that can happen, but is that happening because one is sitting in a saddle? It can happen with any sitting method, and in your case, the buck would have snuck up on you in a regular tree stand as well, right? After all, that's why it is called hunting, not shooting.

You are right, in this case. But if I had moved some, and got busted that way then it would be more to the OPs point, that some small movements of your head, etc are hidden when the tree is behind you


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[dalton916]

The first I killed out of a saddle came from behind me and was shot at 30yds at my 5 o’clock. There were two deer and The first turned left and was at my 7 o’clock. I saw that it was a button buck and he actually started pawing the ground pretty good at about 20yds. I had turned in position to shoot, but when I saw it was a button buck I pulled out my phone and took a picture instead.

After taking the picture above a second deer, a doe, came up the same trail and turned right and stopped at my 5 o’clock. Put the camera away and shot her at the aforementioned 30 yds.

This setup is in a strip of thick cover along a creek and I knew full well the chances were great deer would be coming from behind me. Be still and move slow. The ability of the saddle to make getting in position for the previously hard shots is one of the great things about saddle hunting if you ask me.

 

[Kurt]

@MaxJac hit some key points. Inevitably some deer will sneak up on you regardless of the set up. Be as ready as can be, I can be guilty of day dreaming in the tree and not really focused on the mission at hand, hunting. Just seems to be to many cool things to get distracted by in the woods. That might be a good thread question. How much of the time afield in pursuit are we focused on hunting and how much day dreaming or book reading, phone watching is going on?

 

[CZMark]

The doe I shot this past rifle season came from behind me. I stood still, waiting for her to pass by for an easy shot, but she stopped. I waited for what seemed like a very long time, but she was not about to move.

I was leaning on a short, chest-high tether which restricted my ability to turn. I was also wearing heavy clothes and a bit stiff from the cold (I'm old). I slowly turned to my right where I thought she was standing, but was only able to swing far enough to get my scope on her rear end (she was broadside at this point). I very slowly turned the other way and was barely able to get the crosshairs on her chest. She never moved until I shot.

Many years of hunting from the ground taught me, you can move as long as you do so slowly.

I am re-thinking the chest-high tether.

 

[Kurt]

I got busted by a small spike the first year in the saddle. It was my own impatience that got me busted. I wasn't committed to shooting him and he was standing dead behind me and dead down wind and was on alert. I had scent out and he was coming in on it. I turned my head to see where he was and he busted me. He was at 12 yds. and on the same level as the bench I was hunting so I was only about 15 feet above him.I knew where he was but I just wanted to get eyes on him. If I wanted to kill him for sure I would have sat still and waited for him to pass me and would have taken him quartering away.

 

[Exhumis]

So I’m wondering when you set up and you’re facing the tree. In a tree stand you have the tree to your back. The deer can’t see you from behind when/if you happen to be looking out in front of you with minimal movement

in a saddle you’ll be moving your head or upper body to look out past the tree in front of you
If a deer comes from behind you won’t have anything to block it from seeing you or seeing your moving

thoughts on this? I’ve had plenty of deer Come from behind while in a tree stand and since the tree has blocked my head movements while looking ahead I never been busted

As others have stated the same could be true about a traditional stand where a deer comes from in front of you. Have to remain still. I played peek a boo with a doe this past season. She came in from downwind of me, opposite side my tree. I heard the movement and swung my head to peek and she looked up and saw me. I held still till she put her head back down, then ducked my head back behind the tree. As she progressed towards me she would look back up but because I didn't move she would put her hear back down and graze. Her jerky tastes great. Ultimately it'll come down to which style hunting is more comfortable to you, facing away from the tree or facing the tree.

 

[Noonespecial]

I had the same concerns when I went to a saddle last year. I hunted from tree stands for 26 years and thought there will be too much movement to get a shot but you have to think differently when setting up in a saddle. Try to set up with the tree between you and where you think the deer will be coming from. However, when that plan doesn’t work you move around the tree slowly always keeping the tree between you and the deer. When you do this there is less of a human profile for the deer to see which allows you to get away with more movement. When looking behind you simply pivot your weight from one foot to another an move your head slightly over your shoulder. Very little movement...keep in mind that you don’t have to move that much because unlike being in a treestand there isn’t a tree for you to look around which creates more movement. I shot two of my biggest bucks this year one came from my right side which being right handed is my week side. I use a ring of steps so I moved clockwise keeping the tree between me and him and shot him at 20 yards and he never new I was there. The second buck came from my left but I didn’t have a clear shot until he got directly behind me. Shot him at 20 yards also never saw me. Before I shot each buck I had a group of doe come by some were 10 yards away and they never saw me because the tree was between me and them. It’s a great way to hunt and I’m never going back to tree stands.

 

[bj139]

@MaxJac hit some key points. Inevitably some deer will sneak up on you regardless of the set up. Be as ready as can be, I can be guilty of day dreaming in the tree and not really focused on the mission at hand, hunting. Just seems to be to many cool things to get distracted by in the woods. That might be a good thread question. How much of the time afield in pursuit are we focused on hunting and how much day dreaming or book reading, phone watching is going on?

Taking photos to post on Saddlehunter.

 

[bj139]

The first I killed out of a saddle came from behind me and was shot at 30yds at my 5 o’clock. There were two deer and The first turned left and was at my 7 o’clock. I saw that it was a button buck and he actually started pawing the ground pretty good at about 20yds. I had turned in position to shoot, but when I saw it was a button buck I pulled out my phone and took a picture instead.

After taking the picture above a second deer, a doe, came up the same trail and turned right and stopped at my 5 o’clock. Put the camera away and shot her at the aforementioned 30 yds.

This setup is in a strip of thick cover along a creek and I knew full well the chances were great deer would be coming from behind me. Be still and move slow. The ability of the saddle to make getting in position for the previously hard shots is one of the great things about saddle hunting if you ask me.

If you are right handed, how do deer know to approach at your 5 o'clock? I had the same thing happen in October.

 

[DanielB89]

I had this happen to me two different times this year. One time the deer came from behind and was 30 yards behind me before I ever knew it was there. The second time I heard a deer in some water and assumed it was right behind me, when I turned to try to pinpoint exactly where it was, I noticed it was 3 yards from the tree directly behind the tree. Somehow the deer made it all the way into 5 yards and I never had a clue. It really made me rethink my set up. I believe i'll be hunting from a stand a decent bit in the coming years. Maybe all the time. I didn't get to harvest the deer and I wasn't happy about it.

Had I been in a deer stand facing the way i would have faced it, I would have been able to bring the deer home with me. Another thing i've noticed about saddle hunting, which wasn't something I originally thought of is having 2 pretty significant blind spots. In a deer stand, you have a solid 220 or so degrees of sight without doing much more than twisting your neck. With a saddle, you have the same degrees of view minus the tree in front of you. In some of the areas I hunt the trees are huge and may take up almost 90* of my view away. Obviously this changes as some trees I hunt are much smaller and the tree doesn't take up nearly as much of my view.