Wednesday, January 11, 2012

A Bow Hunters Worst Enemy

I hear alot of bow hunters complain about things they think ruin their hunt, here are a few.
4 Wheelers keep deer out of my hunting area.
Beagles from rabbit and bird hunters.
Coon hunters run the deer out the night before.
Farm equipment in the field kept the deer from moving.
Chainsaws and wood cutters
Kids yelling and playing from a near by house.

 All of these things have very little or no affect on your hunt. The deer in these areas are used to it. Hunters fear that the deer will be run out of their hunting area or that all of the commotion will turn the mature bucks nocturnal. The truth is the hunter himself has probably already turned the mature bucks nocturnal from traipsing all over the woods scouting in August and September.
Hunters feel they are getting in and out of the woods pretty clean as long as they sneak in and out quietly and pay attention to the wind.
  Walking out after a hunt will leave your scent on the ground for  hours. Even with the best rubber boots on the market or scent lock hunting boots they will still smell you. I have waded across a creek in rubber boots to get to my stand and  had a 1 1/2 year old buck lock up on my trail 2 hours later. I have also had mature bucks cross my trail 15 minutes after I have been on stand and never notice. You just never know when they will miss or nail your scent trail, but I can tell you that if you are hunting the same stand 2 -3 times a week they will pick up your scent a couple of times and start avoiding the area.
 Several years ago I hung a stand in what I knew was going to be a hot spot. Hung the stand about 22' high, and a southwest wind was going to be perfect, plus I had easy access in and out. I was so excited for season to start and just knew I was going to kill a nice buck if I just had patience. The first day I hunted this stand I saw a 120'' nine pointer and 10 does. The very next day I saw 6 does. The third day I saw 1 doe. Over the next week I hunted this stand several more times and saw no deer. When I started hunting other stands I started seeing deer again. I never saw this buck again until the middle of November when he was hot on the trail of a doe.
Bow Hunters can be their worse enemy and never even realize it.

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