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How Close Is Too Close?

J

JC Walker

New Member
Really this isn't my first post but my pass & username no longer work. I guess I should use it more often. I do however come here often during hunting season.

OK so here is my question. I am leasing some land near my home that contains probably a 180 plus buck. With help from the farmer who farms it I now know where this pig beds. It's a small strip of trees that widens out in one spot that contains maybe a total of an acre of trees & tall grass with corn fields on either side. At this point my stand is a good 200 yrds away next to a one acre pond that obviously sees a ton of traffic. I do believe from the sign that this brut does make his way by my stand some time during the night. So if I wanted to up my chances of seeing this guy in daylight how close should I put my stand to where he is bedding?
 
Take me along on your next hunt there, and I'll show you exactly where you should hang your stand.
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If you are absolutely positive where he beds, You could consider going into his bedroom 3 or more hours before daybreak and wait him out. Hard to say how close you could get in the evening with out seeing the terrain. I would imagine he is bedding in an area that is to his advantage. Good Luck
 
if it was me Id keep my distance til the end of October or 1st couple days of November and try to catch him on the move before he leaves the area in search of Does.
 
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If you are absolutely positive where he beds, You could consider going into his bedroom 3 or more hours before daybreak and wait him out. Hard to say how close you could get in the evening with out seeing the terrain. I would imagine he is bedding in an area that is to his advantage. Good Luck

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I agree but even this may be risky. I would give it a try anyway. You will never know what will happen untill you try it. Just be very scent free (I would use DeadDownWind---it really does work in my opinion). Good luck with him. Make sure you put his picture up for us to see.
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HunterMan
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I would do what DOR said. Be agressive and go get that sucker!
 
Go get him TODAY! The wind is supposed to blowing hard. Move through the corn and approach his bedding area upwind. If you can find him bedded put a stalk on him and put him down before he even knows what hit him.
 
The biggest mistake I make with encounters with good deer is not being aggressive enough. Go after him. He will be roaming in another 2 weeks so give it a try when the wind is right.
 
I agree that you should go after him, if you know where he is, go get him. I know millions of guys love the rut but remeber, once it starts he could be anywhere.
 
I got about 50 yrds from him the other day when it was really windy. All I could see was brown as he was knocking down trees getting the heck out of there. The sound from him hitting the trees was unreal. I decided to get the heck out of there before I did anymore damage. I hope he sticks around
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This farmer has watched him for 3-4 years now & he said he was a big boy 3 years ago. One thing he told me was that as soon as hunting season is here he will never see him again until summer.

If you folks are not useing Google Earth you really need to try it. This told me the total number of yrds from point A to B. So here is the exact area where I am hunting.
From my stand to the Buck is 283 yrds.
From a the buck to a great possible stand local IS 116 yrds.
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Looks like an easy one to hunt to me. you should be able to sneak in close it looks like. I would definitely be going after him, as soon as that corn is out, I highly doubt he is going to feel secure there, unless there isn't any other bigger timber lots within a mile, goodluck
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I have stalked and shot a handful of deer, mostly because I really enjoy the challenge. On deer you can see and then initiate a stalk, I think my success rates probably run about 25%. Stalking a deer that you think is there is probably about a 10% proposition or less. You are at a huge disadvantage if you do not know exactly where he is in that bedding area.

From the pic it is hard to tell how steep the terrain is. If you get a good strong wind to cover your sound, and favorable wind direction-wise, That is the time to do it. He will be bedded with his back against something (a bank, brushpile, downed log, etc.) to block the wind, meaning he will be watching down wind. Try to cut the wind angle and hope for the best. Move slowly. More slowly than you can imagine. The one time I killed a buck in a similar situation, it took me an hour to go the last 60 yards. I took a step or two, then squatted down and rexamined the surroundings again from the new different angle. Take a pair of binoculars that can focus and use the focus to search carefully (this is soooo tedious) all of your surroundings. If you are not incredibly patient you are going to bust him. Period.

When have done all this meticulous stalking and carefull work for an hour or two, and you get to where you can finally see him, a doe is going to wreck the whole thing for you.

But you will have a story to tell and just maybe you will get lucky.
 
Place your stand (quietly) the first evening the wind is right in your "possible stand location", hunt it that same night and hope to get lucky. If he does not come in by sunset, get out of there before he comes by in the dark. Continue to hunt that location every night the wind is right until you stick him or he leaves the area. Just my 2-cents.
 
If that buck was big 3 years ago(assuming it is the same deer the farmer has been seeing for years) then that is gonna put him in the 6 year range. That alone makes him hard to kill. This time of the year is difficult to nail a good one cause mature deer are completely different animals than the rest in the herd....even old does. Since you bumped him, I personally would have gone ahead in and checked out exactly where the buck was laying. What you can do in that situation is to squat down to a deers eye level from inside his bed....that will give you the view that he has and you will be able to determine if he can see you as you enter, sit in and exit your stand. I would have then brought a stand right in and set up as close as possible to him without getting right in there. I would not hunt the mornings right now, just afternoons with the appropriate wind(and preferably after a rain). This will give you a quiet entrance.

Good luck killing that critter. Sometimes I believe that mature bucks like that are unkillable. My guess is that he has been shot at, called to, seen hunters, smelled hunters(and the list goes on) many times in his life. He is smart and for good reason.
 
Hit the funnel in a tree stand where you have the closer stand marked when the wind is right. I would pass on the ground stalking thing. Good chance you will bump him and be gone.
 
Went in during the day yesterday & I got busted by two does 30 yrds on the outside of his bedding area. I'm pretty sure my only chance now is calling him in during the rut.
 
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