Deer checking my tracks
01-30-2007, 07:39 AM
#12
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Michigan/Ohio
Posts: 11,682
RE: Deer checking my tracks
What this tells me, and something I have said over and over. Just because we are seeing deer at a stand location does not mean we are "sneaking in". I know I spook deer I never see, and I have a strange feeling these are the one's I want to shoot.
I really have work hard on my travel routes to and from my stands.
Great Picture Gregh
I really have work hard on my travel routes to and from my stands.
Great Picture Gregh
01-30-2007, 08:41 AM
#13
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Northern Idaho's Panhandle
Posts: 4,436
RE: Deer checking my tracks
Greg,
Nice photo. The pic instantly stirred up a dated memory of mine. I was hunting a particular buck in the late nineties. I had his late Oct. bedding area pretty much dialed in, so one evening before the breedingphase of the rut had hitin early November, I snuck in very close to this big thickly brushed and timbered mountain side to do a little rattling next to this big bucks bed. I figured the timing was right to infringe on his turf. Everything, well almost worked out as planned. I set up with a downwind air currentin my faceand begin rattling expecting the buck to be above me. Within 10 minutes after my first rattling session I heard a deer approaching, raking trees, literally just trashing and thrashing, making all kinds of noise. Then all got silent. Suddenly and in the soft powder snowhe appeared directly above me working his way very slowly down the ridge right at me. I was bowhunting off the ground and had backed myself into a nice natural blind of small saplings. He slowly step by single step moved my way. I had the wind and with 10 more yards, all I needed was for him to turn. Once he got about 40 yards from me directly facing me he stopped stone still andeyeballed my exact location. I grunted softly a couple times during the stand still when he turned his head. He would jerk it right back my way and stare. Light begin to fade and after about 5 more minutes the big mature 5x5 turned slowly and walked back into his bedding area. I grunted and he only looked back but kept moving back.I waited another 20 minutes after legal shooting lightand thenslipped off the mountain.
There was 2-3 inches of snow on the ground. My hike was at least 1/2 a mile down off the mountain ridgelineand then another 1/2 a mile up a creek bottom back to my quad. I didn't think anything of it. Figured I had that buck pegged and would hunt him again next to his bedding area.
2 days later I went back in to the same spot. Parked my quad and noticed big buck tracks in my footprints from two days prior.I noticedwas walking in my footprints.Which got me curious. I thought at first "no way".
So I preceded out of curiosity to back track my own tracks. Believe it or not thosebuck trackscovered my tracks all the way back to where I had rattled. I was amazed. I then followed the same set of tracks right up to the inside"EDGE" of brush and tamarack-stand where I had last seen the big boy. It was his lone tracks.
He had pinned me down by tracking me over a mile either in the dark that night or sometime over the two day period that I had been absent. I learned something very valuable about how deer pattern us hunters that day. I never again saw that buck during the hunting season. But saw him while scouting the next summer in the same area.Later after that summer, my neighbors son, killed a 165 inch 5x5 with his rifle400 yards from where he had tracked me while he was chasingan in estrusdoe in late Nov. While score the rack for the young man, I new the buck was definately him.
Nice photo. The pic instantly stirred up a dated memory of mine. I was hunting a particular buck in the late nineties. I had his late Oct. bedding area pretty much dialed in, so one evening before the breedingphase of the rut had hitin early November, I snuck in very close to this big thickly brushed and timbered mountain side to do a little rattling next to this big bucks bed. I figured the timing was right to infringe on his turf. Everything, well almost worked out as planned. I set up with a downwind air currentin my faceand begin rattling expecting the buck to be above me. Within 10 minutes after my first rattling session I heard a deer approaching, raking trees, literally just trashing and thrashing, making all kinds of noise. Then all got silent. Suddenly and in the soft powder snowhe appeared directly above me working his way very slowly down the ridge right at me. I was bowhunting off the ground and had backed myself into a nice natural blind of small saplings. He slowly step by single step moved my way. I had the wind and with 10 more yards, all I needed was for him to turn. Once he got about 40 yards from me directly facing me he stopped stone still andeyeballed my exact location. I grunted softly a couple times during the stand still when he turned his head. He would jerk it right back my way and stare. Light begin to fade and after about 5 more minutes the big mature 5x5 turned slowly and walked back into his bedding area. I grunted and he only looked back but kept moving back.I waited another 20 minutes after legal shooting lightand thenslipped off the mountain.
There was 2-3 inches of snow on the ground. My hike was at least 1/2 a mile down off the mountain ridgelineand then another 1/2 a mile up a creek bottom back to my quad. I didn't think anything of it. Figured I had that buck pegged and would hunt him again next to his bedding area.
2 days later I went back in to the same spot. Parked my quad and noticed big buck tracks in my footprints from two days prior.I noticedwas walking in my footprints.Which got me curious. I thought at first "no way".
So I preceded out of curiosity to back track my own tracks. Believe it or not thosebuck trackscovered my tracks all the way back to where I had rattled. I was amazed. I then followed the same set of tracks right up to the inside"EDGE" of brush and tamarack-stand where I had last seen the big boy. It was his lone tracks.
He had pinned me down by tracking me over a mile either in the dark that night or sometime over the two day period that I had been absent. I learned something very valuable about how deer pattern us hunters that day. I never again saw that buck during the hunting season. But saw him while scouting the next summer in the same area.Later after that summer, my neighbors son, killed a 165 inch 5x5 with his rifle400 yards from where he had tracked me while he was chasingan in estrusdoe in late Nov. While score the rack for the young man, I new the buck was definately him.
01-30-2007, 02:47 PM
#17
Typical Buck
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location:
Posts: 546
RE: Deer checking my tracks
I just found a new way to hunt!!!!! If deer are trackin' ya, just walk in a BIG u and make a 90 to the right and set up and wait for him to come down through there with his nose down trackin' ya!!!! Man I just know this is gonna work!!!! Thanks boy's.........................
01-30-2007, 03:11 PM
#18
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Spring Grove, Pa. USA
Posts: 2,120
RE: Deer checking my tracks
I was rifle hunting walking the bottom of a ridge trying to find bedded deer on the hillside one day.I walked up this fire trail to the top and met up with another hunter.He told me a doe was following my trail about 100yds behind me-walking everywhere I walked
01-30-2007, 03:19 PM
#20
Site Buck Guru
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Racine, Wisconsin
Posts: 5,922
RE: Deer checking my tracks
ORIGINAL: furgitter
Thats a new idea,Ill drag an old stinky sock behind me and hope a deer follows me.LOL
Thats a new idea,Ill drag an old stinky sock behind me and hope a deer follows me.LOL