Question for the vetrans

[poncho72]

Hello, I will be starting my second year of bow hunting this weekend. I have a good spot to hunt and it's my only place to hunt. I have two spots, one a treestand and another spot with a groundblind set up. Both spots are set up along a fencerow that borders my farm. Across the fence is 250 acres of timber, on my side its picked corn, Or will be picked by the weekend barring any breakdowns. If you stepped off the space between my treestand and ground blind you might get to 30 yards. The reason why I have things set up this way is because this is the spot where the deer enter my farm. I am a pefectionist when it comes to scent control. Everything I wear is clean and scent free to the best of my abilities and I shower before I hunt. I know that it is impossible to be completely scent free.
My question is this, how much can I hunt one spot before I burn a place out? I really like hunting and I would love to hunt this place every chance I get, but I don't want to ruin it before prime-time. I have some other places on the farm that I could hunt from the ground and leave this area alone until that time presents itself. I probobly already answered my own question, but I would like to hear your thoughts on this topic. Is there anyone else out there who hunt out of only one stand or one distinct area the whole year?

 

[DOR]

Not to be harsh, but get more spots! There is a lot of public ground in iowa and I have found private ground is not that hard to get on if you keep at it! Don't be afraid to drive a little. Oh, and to answer your question. If you hunt your spot exsclusively all season it wont take long to burn out your area. Hope that helps. If you need some ideas people on this site would likely help you out if you PM them.
Shoot straight!

 

[NWBuck]

I believe early in the season you can burn a spot out in a weekend. However, when the rut kicks in and deer are cruising, you could probably hunt there day after day and perhaps never see the same deer. Most spots can take a lot more pressure during the rut.

 

[Old Buck]

Keep in mind that it is not only the deer that detect you while you are out there but also all the deer that come by later, especially after an evening hunt, at pick up your trail. One thing I do to minimize that is to clear a trail of anything over an inch high that could come in contact with my boots or pants and pick up scent. It also helps for a quiet approach if you take it down to bare dirt.

Old Buck

 

[scout]

Is it because of the size of the property,lack of trees or lack of treestands?
Some deer tolorate much more than others, so it's a difficult question to answer. There is no exact answer. You can't kill deer if you don't go to the woods. If it's all thats available I'd error on over hunting it rather than be in hunting. You go in low signature scent wise, enter and exit undetected and you can hunt it alot. Get sloppy and you blow it. I've hunted with does under one stand two and three times a week. (same deer) when the seeking phase hit I smoked a nice buck with the same does standing around as bait. If you get detected, seeing you or winding you, lay off for 5-6 days. (By getting winded i don't meen they blow and run, that would be flat a$$ busted... game over)
I have a friend who I often see in town because "conditions are less than perfect"

You can't kill'em at the carwash.
I thought this would have to do with military service, so perhaps i don't meet muster.

 

[poncho72]

Scout, the property is an 80 acre field. the property has no timber on it. The south fence row is bordered by 250 acre timber. There are few trees that I can attach a treestand to. At this point I have only found one tree that is suitable to my liking. Its a shame when you have an awesome tree to use, except for the fact that it is 5 feet on the other side of the fence, I won't trespass so that is not an option. The deer that I am hunting are bedding in this timber to my south. They come into the field in the evening to feed, I also forgot to mention that I am set up aprox. 50 yards from my pond aswell. It is a very good spot and I have seen tons of deer here in the past two seasons. Like I said in my previous post this is my second year actually bow hunting, but the year before I started bow hunting I went out in full battle gear, minus a bow, and stood in various spots on this farm. That year I had two trophy bucks, together, in front of me less than 25 yards. This is the spot I started to focus on, there are some other spots on this farm that will work, but to see deer consistantly, I have found this spot to be the ticket. last year I had several deer close but nothing that I wanted to shoot at. The bucks that were takers never seemed to get close enough, they walked right by me but they were too far out for me to feel good enough to shoot at, didn't want to wound them. I guess, as many times I have been on stand in this particular spot I should know my limits on pressuring the deer. I never hunt this spot on any kind of north wind. But any other wind is a go. I pay very close attention to my scent control and so far it has paid off by not being detected. One thing I think pays off huge when I hunt this place is the fact that during the spring, summer and early fall I am out at the pond fishing and several deer come to the pond in the evening wanting a drink. I usually sit still and most times they get a drink and walk off, other times they get a little skittish and move on, but I think they get used to human presence and in time they get a little braver than say a deer that never sees or smells humans. Heck 4 yrs. ago before I had ever thought about bow hunting, I was bass fishing on a unusaully warm mid-November day, and out of the blue a Monster buck walked right by me, 40 yards, never noticed me and had his nose straight down to the ground, I know this was a deer that most likely was just passing through and wasn't a "local" resident to the farm, pretty cool no less.

 

[scout]

I refuse it watch a shooter go by out of range. Rattle,grunt,bleat but do something besides wish. You can only fail!

 

[poncho72]

Who said I didn't try to coax them in? Sometimes there isn't a whole hell of a lot a person can do when a shooter is out too far in open field, you make a sound and your busted, you make a move and your busted. I figure if I let them go by without bothering them, my chances are better next time to get a suitable shot.
I have tried grunting and rattling bucks in, but this tactic only works at certain times of the season.
Experience will allow me a nice buck someday, but I am not going to shoot at every good buck that walks by me, just because. Let me put it to you this way, I really don't care if I fill a tag, I feel this way when I am shotgunning deer, turkey, ducks and geese. And I feel the same way hunting with a bow. It's what you get out of hunting that makes you happy. For some people, and I have a lot of friends that feel this way, have to shoot everytime they are out, if it's slow and nothing is moving around, they get a little cranky. For others, including myself, Its the love of the outdoors and experiencing nature when they have no clue you are there, I love it. There is nothing wrong with either theory. I have shot lots of nice bucks...with my videocamera