Haven’t got my stand yet so I’m still sitting on the ground. Was out yesterday morning and as soon as it hit official sunrise, I had a buck hop out right in front of me barely 12ft away. Stared me in the eyes and I thought he was going to keep walking towards me but then put his head down and went behind a bush. Slowly started lifting my gun and of course he comes back into sight right before I get my gun all the way up. Looks me in the eyes again for about 2 seconds and turns around and prances off. Don’t think he knew what I was but he didn’t like it. So frustrating. Lets just say I’m getting a stand so that doesn’t happen again.
the worst luck would be putting in tons of time and not finding anything for it. you at least have deer found and yes get a stand. also getting there right at sunrise is def too late…get out there and set up ready to go about an hour before sunrise if youre hunting in the morning so that way if you do kick something up it may settle down by the time shooting light comes along. if you were there that early yest you would have had him on the ground right at sunrise instead of kicking him up. dont have to be ridiculous but no such thing as being ready too early! i was out yesterday and had a couple right below my stand about 10 minutes after i was quiet, hung around until 10 minutes before i could see my sights, then of course during daylight all i saw was squirrels. you have the idea and try to learn from every mistake you make in the woods. keep at it and you should have one on the ground soon.
I was out there for at least 45 min already. He was just too close. I went and picked up a cheap stand at walmart that afternoon to try until I want to drop some good money on a nice one. I didn’t want to spend the money on one right now but after costing me a deer, had to do it. Been beating myself up over. Went and found a nice place to set it up only to get settled in and then have a friend fall out of a little tree he tried to climb with no stand to sit in and dislocate his shoulder.
what kind did you buy? for fm i def recommend a climber since you can put it up and take it down in a couple minutes each and most models can be rigged to carry em like a backpack. regardless of what you bought practice putting it up/down in a tree in the backyard or elsewhere before you hunt with it. climber stand you can also go as high or low as you want. i doubt many of us here would recommend leaving a stand in fm as every year people have em stolen out there. i know its hard but try not to be too hard on yourself you at least found deer and anybody who tells you they have no moments of shame in their hunting career either has good beginners luck (new hunter) or lying (veteran hunter). deer huntings not easy but hang in there youll get one.
Its a hang on. All they had. Actually wasn’t too bad to put up but I know a climber is easier and plan on getting one for Christmas. Unfortunately its still out there right now as I had to go to the hospital with my friend.
I hunt from the ground a lot. open sights or really low power scopes are your friend. I have stands but I prefer the mobility of the ground!
I dislocated my shoulder last year…you are a true friend to abandon your hunt to take care of him! I know from experience (the doctors used propofol to knock me out to reset my shoulder).
Buy a quality stand, use extra straps when you put it in place, and use a climbing harness. No stand will help you if you fall out and crush your spinal cord (or worse http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2013/10/23/hunter-76-dies-in-apparent-fall-from-tree-stand/ )!
most stands come with a safety harness included and it only takes once to make for a very, very bad day. learn how to use it and wear it.
I mostly hunt from ground now. I have a Savage over and under for close up shooting. It is a 30/30 on top and a 12 gauge on the bottom.
Hunting, fishing, and poker are my sports. Work when necessary.
I’m using a 30-30 with cheap tasco scope I bought quite a few years back. Has raised rails so I can still use the open sights if I want to. Probably should just raised the gun real fast and hoped the deer froze but the only time it wasn’t facing me head on was when it was behind the bush.
Went out yesterday evening and sat in the stand until I couldn’t see anymore but no luck. Found an area with so many signs of deer but they never seem to be there when either my friend or I hunt that spot. He won’t be hunting for a while so its all mine.
I killed my first deer in Francis Marion from a tree I climbed. Now I carry a cheap climber. Check Craigslist, I bought mine for $40 last year. Personally I never go above 12ft up and always wear a harness. Also I always carry one screw in step to stand on to take the pressure off the harness in case I do fall. Also keep a whistle or something in your pocket so you know it’s on you in case you fall and have to try to alert help.
Thanks. I do always where my harness. Didn’t think about a whistle.
How long should I keep trying a spot before I move somewhere else?
up to you really. youve been seeing deer so id keep trying it, especially if youve been seeing more and more activity. i noticed that in fm i had more luck in the morning when its cooler out than in the warm evening although i have taken deer in 80 degrees and was dripping in sweat dragging them out too. being new what i would do is stick with the spot youve been seeing deer at for now, then when done hunting in the morn scout out another one to add to the list of places to try. took me 3 or 4 tries to hit the right one but once i found it i usually saw at least something when i sat there in the morn. oh yea village grocery outside of moncks corner is where i checked my fm deer at.
So the bad luck continues. Got busted by a doe last night and tonight. Not sure whats going on. Last night I was fixing to get down because I couldn’t see anymore but saw a shadow and tried a grunt to get it to walk out into the moonlight and out of nowhere back behind me a good ways a doe blows. I grunted again and it blew. I went on with that for about 10 min before I got down. I guess she was calling bs on my call.
Tonight was a similar situation but she was much further away and I wasn’t calling. Wind possibly but I don’t think there was much wind.
I took my stand down and gave up on that spot. I know there are deer there but they are moving too late where I can’t see.
next scouting trip go to where yove been seeing the deer, backtrack where they came from, figure out where they came from, then hunt there. should fix the showing up late problem if you can figure out where they hide 20-30 minutes ago.
Just got a climber so going in the morning to try a different spot
sounds good i expect a picture! if not im putting you on 30-5 hunting hours 