Your opinions, on a last ditch archery attempt.
11-14-2002, 09:44 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Huntingdon, PA
Posts: 246
Your opinions, on a last ditch archery attempt.
Hey everyone
Archery season is winding down here in PA, tonight, tomorrow and then saturday is the final day for deer until gun season comes in in a few weeks.
So knowing that, I ask your honest opinion of which stand I should chooce.
I have 2 general areas that i have hunted most of theseason, both are near bedding areas and go between the bedding areas and the fields. This is a mountainous area, and basically I am hunting on the side of a mountain at either place.
Stand#1:
I hunted this area for most of the early season, but have not touched it for 3-4 weeks, there has been some human activity with turkey hunters here and there occasionally, but not within the immediate area of where I was hunting. The first couple of times I was at this stand, i saw at least 20 deer a night and grunted in a decent 6 point, which i passed on because at that same stand earlier I had seen a bigger buck. Then the stand went cold, a week of hunting that area with the wind in my favor, with no deer sighted at all. i bailed on this area and moved to my alternate area.
Stand #2:
This area is right along an old logging road, with a substantial number of rubs and several scrapes in the area. t this area, have had spotty luck with deer, some nights i see some or call in a buck or 2, and others I am lucky to see a squirrel. This is the stand I have actually taken a shot at and missed that same small 6 point from the previous stand (which means he moved about 1/2 3/4 of a mile away from where i originally saw him and is now using new trails.
I have only spooked deer at this stand maybe 2-3 times, with one actually being my shot at that 6 pter.
Anyway, I am running out of time fast, and just thought I would throw it out, see what you guys would do? hunt a stand where earlier you have had previous success but have left alone for a while, or hunt a stand where you have had recent success but are nervous about it going cold?
PS Last night I hunted stand number 2, and didn't see anything or call anything in.
thanx :-)
Good luck to anyone else who is headed out tonight, friday, and/or saturday :-)
Jennings Buckmaster Bow
.50 Cal Thompson Center Renegade
Archery season is winding down here in PA, tonight, tomorrow and then saturday is the final day for deer until gun season comes in in a few weeks.
So knowing that, I ask your honest opinion of which stand I should chooce.
I have 2 general areas that i have hunted most of theseason, both are near bedding areas and go between the bedding areas and the fields. This is a mountainous area, and basically I am hunting on the side of a mountain at either place.
Stand#1:
I hunted this area for most of the early season, but have not touched it for 3-4 weeks, there has been some human activity with turkey hunters here and there occasionally, but not within the immediate area of where I was hunting. The first couple of times I was at this stand, i saw at least 20 deer a night and grunted in a decent 6 point, which i passed on because at that same stand earlier I had seen a bigger buck. Then the stand went cold, a week of hunting that area with the wind in my favor, with no deer sighted at all. i bailed on this area and moved to my alternate area.
Stand #2:
This area is right along an old logging road, with a substantial number of rubs and several scrapes in the area. t this area, have had spotty luck with deer, some nights i see some or call in a buck or 2, and others I am lucky to see a squirrel. This is the stand I have actually taken a shot at and missed that same small 6 point from the previous stand (which means he moved about 1/2 3/4 of a mile away from where i originally saw him and is now using new trails.
I have only spooked deer at this stand maybe 2-3 times, with one actually being my shot at that 6 pter.
Anyway, I am running out of time fast, and just thought I would throw it out, see what you guys would do? hunt a stand where earlier you have had previous success but have left alone for a while, or hunt a stand where you have had recent success but are nervous about it going cold?
PS Last night I hunted stand number 2, and didn't see anything or call anything in.
thanx :-)
Good luck to anyone else who is headed out tonight, friday, and/or saturday :-)
Jennings Buckmaster Bow
.50 Cal Thompson Center Renegade
11-14-2002, 11:34 AM
#3
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Palmyra PA USA
Posts: 292
RE: Your opinions, on a last ditch archery attempt.
With 3 evenings left, I'd probably rotate between stands. Since you hunted stand #2 last night without seeing deer, I'd hunt stand #1 this evening. That's really a shot in the dark since you haven't been there lately, but it may pan out. If you see deer there but can't get a shot, I'd relocate my stand a little to rehunt the area again the next evening. If there's no deer there, then I'd return to stand #2, where by and large, you seem to have been seeing deer lately.
At the the same time I agree with Dog that some in-season scouting may be in order. If you can get to stand #1 early enough to scout a little and don't find much sign, I'd ditch and head to stand #2 right away. Another option might exist if you suspect or have noticed that deer are moving through each area at slightly different times. You could hunt from the ground in the periferies of the "early" spot mostly to see if deer are moving through (try to find a vantage point), then at some decided time hustle over to the "late" spot to watch for activity. The next afternoon you can set up in a more suitable stand or blind in the location you saw deer. I hunt like that ALOT from the ground in archery season...usually several hundred yards apart between different fields and woodlots, though 1/2 or 3/4 mile might not be too bad of a stretch either.
I have an inkling that stand #2 "might" be the better bet, since you have been seeing deer there.
Good luck!
At the the same time I agree with Dog that some in-season scouting may be in order. If you can get to stand #1 early enough to scout a little and don't find much sign, I'd ditch and head to stand #2 right away. Another option might exist if you suspect or have noticed that deer are moving through each area at slightly different times. You could hunt from the ground in the periferies of the "early" spot mostly to see if deer are moving through (try to find a vantage point), then at some decided time hustle over to the "late" spot to watch for activity. The next afternoon you can set up in a more suitable stand or blind in the location you saw deer. I hunt like that ALOT from the ground in archery season...usually several hundred yards apart between different fields and woodlots, though 1/2 or 3/4 mile might not be too bad of a stretch either.
I have an inkling that stand #2 "might" be the better bet, since you have been seeing deer there.
Good luck!
11-14-2002, 11:48 AM
#4
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Huntingdon, PA
Posts: 246
RE: Your opinions, on a last ditch archery attempt.
thanx for your help guys.
Well as far as in season scouting, I am strapped for time, that is my only concern. I work about an hour away from my hunting spot, since it gets dark here at 5:30, I have been leaving work early to be at those stands by 4.
I do have one stand area, that i didn't mention, but I was saving it for mornings. There is an area where there are about 8 rubs and several scrapes within maybe a 30 yard radius, and last saturday morning i called in the bruizer that had been leaving all the marks, a nice 8 point, so for saturday morning, I am set, it's just tonight, tomorrow night, and sat. night I am working on.
the only thing with stand number 2 is that if the wind is blowing the wrong way, i risk getting winded, also if the turkey hunters are around, they would be above that stand somewhere. (if they were normal using camo, all hunkered down turkey hunters this would be okay, but it is an old man and his daughter, neither wear camo, or try to conceal themselves at all)
I may do that tonight, check stand 1 early (it is farther up on the mountain, closer to the bedding area), then hunt my way back over to the other stand, and just find a nice vantage point and stand there til dark.
great idea!! thanx
I will keep you posted on what happens this evening.
Archery is so tough because you can plan, and scout, and everything but it can go all to hell in a handbasket if the wind is wrong, or people have been around, or any number of factors.
Jennings Buckmaster Bow
.50 Cal Thompson Center Renegade
Well as far as in season scouting, I am strapped for time, that is my only concern. I work about an hour away from my hunting spot, since it gets dark here at 5:30, I have been leaving work early to be at those stands by 4.
I do have one stand area, that i didn't mention, but I was saving it for mornings. There is an area where there are about 8 rubs and several scrapes within maybe a 30 yard radius, and last saturday morning i called in the bruizer that had been leaving all the marks, a nice 8 point, so for saturday morning, I am set, it's just tonight, tomorrow night, and sat. night I am working on.
the only thing with stand number 2 is that if the wind is blowing the wrong way, i risk getting winded, also if the turkey hunters are around, they would be above that stand somewhere. (if they were normal using camo, all hunkered down turkey hunters this would be okay, but it is an old man and his daughter, neither wear camo, or try to conceal themselves at all)
I may do that tonight, check stand 1 early (it is farther up on the mountain, closer to the bedding area), then hunt my way back over to the other stand, and just find a nice vantage point and stand there til dark.
great idea!! thanx
I will keep you posted on what happens this evening.
Archery is so tough because you can plan, and scout, and everything but it can go all to hell in a handbasket if the wind is wrong, or people have been around, or any number of factors.
Jennings Buckmaster Bow
.50 Cal Thompson Center Renegade
11-15-2002, 08:22 PM
#6
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Huntingdon, PA
Posts: 246
RE: Your opinions, on a last ditch archery attempt.
Dang it...........
Hunted stand #1 tonight after hunting stand #2 last night and not seeing anything.
I had so much in my favor tonight too.
Very calm, slight wind into my face
Incoming bad weather
Overcast
several scrapes and rubs on my way into this stand
and i sit there all evening to see.....a flock of turkeys and that's it.
I believe my spirit is broken, I will try again tomorrow morning (the last day) near the rubs where last weekend i called in the nice 8 point.
Jennings Buckmaster Bow
.50 Cal Thompson Center Renegade
Hunted stand #1 tonight after hunting stand #2 last night and not seeing anything.
I had so much in my favor tonight too.
Very calm, slight wind into my face
Incoming bad weather
Overcast
several scrapes and rubs on my way into this stand
and i sit there all evening to see.....a flock of turkeys and that's it.
I believe my spirit is broken, I will try again tomorrow morning (the last day) near the rubs where last weekend i called in the nice 8 point.
Jennings Buckmaster Bow
.50 Cal Thompson Center Renegade
