PeltHunter

I had one like that first I slipped on the creek bank and broke one of the lens tubes off my Nikon binocs. Had a nice 8 point come in and my bearing swivel on my release had dirt in it and wouldn't turn. I was hunting on the ground and turned to get on him and elbowed the tree behind me which some how resulted in me hitting my trigger and sending the arrow about 20 feet in front of him. It's kind of embarrassing to tell.

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Only saw two does and a plethora of rain drops. If it stays dry tomorrow morning and gets cold I think it'll be good.

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In the stand now light drizzle nothing crazy and already saw a doe

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Worth going out this afternoon or not? It's the rut, anything can happen and I have a dryer so I'm gonna go for it.

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Haven't seen a single thing in the light, heard one grunting but couldn't see him since I chose to stay on the ground today

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Already had 2 bucks run does past me

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What do you guys think about this full moon rut?

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It is not going to change year to year as the rut timing has been built into the DNA over the eons.  I can tell you if you are looking for "THE" time to be in the woods, there were dead deer all over the roads on the weekend of Oct 11th.  If those dead deer were the result of a few deer hitting the early rut cycle, then extrapolate 30 days from there for the peak in WNY.  I would put the date at the weekend of NOVEMBER 10th.

That weekend of Veterans day has always been my favorite weekend to hunt.

 

1. Go higher in the tree.  Scent will be usually drift way above them.
2. Add some stands.  Move between them so the buck can not pattern you.

I read a lot of good information.  Wind is always first consideration when hunting deer when visibility is not.

 

I like to pee on trees to mark my territory.  Keeps canines away.

 

I hunted a few different stands I have there and sat on the ground in different spots. I think I'm going to stay out of there and let it cool down until that second weekend of November. Have my new tree all picked out that will be perfect for the climber.

If you have that drainage nearby, I would take the time to piss in that so no scent is left behind.  Don't know why anyone would use scent control then "mark their territory".  Deer are inquisitive by nature.  They smell the urine and come in to check it out....then they smell your ladder steps where you placed your hand while climbing....etc. etc. and now they know you are there.  Be invisible as possible.  Leave as little scent behind.  That includes brushing your legs up against seedlings on the way to the stand.  Buck track does by smelling and tasting leaves at ground level because does will rub-urinate down the inside of their legs to gather chemical from their hocks.  As they walk thru the woods their hocks brush up against plants leaving their scent behind.  Natures way of making sure that does get bred in that small three day window that they are in heat.  Next time you see a buck slowly walking with it's head down "apparently" feeding....look closer.  Bucks will place seedling leaves in their mouth and "taste" who has brushed against it while leaving it's own saliva scent behind similar to a licking branch.  Their secret code of communication.

Yea as much as people say they pee on their tree or out of their stands I'm just way to skeptical to try it. Unless the deer around me like sugar smacks and coffee I don't think it'll help too much.

I missed a nice long beard yesterday afternoon. Buzzed his back about 2 inches high and I think he jumped forward about 8 feet then the 5 birds stood there on the edge of my shooting lane until they went to roost.

Never really thought of the ground blind thing I might try that this weekend. I walk down a little shoot off of the creek for as long as I can but it does run out about 50 yards from my stand. Thanks for the tips guys definitely has me thinking of a couple different things I can try.

Mines the same I'll put the 20 yard pin just above the deers back at 40 yards and check the 40 yard pin to make sure its on before I shoot because if I focus on that pin the whole time I'll have a headache with all that clutter. Thinking about going back to a 3 pin or even trying one of those pendulum sites on my new bow.

The advice you are getting is fantastic! Especially gillt's info...These are veteran hunters with great insight. That situation with a stream bed or steep hills with a valley makes for swirling winds, a mature bucks favorite hangout. Just an example the stream on my land has its own wind current depending on the air temp vs water temp. If the water is warmer on a calm morning the air currents rise off the water creating thermals... and vise versa... all that said wait til the rut and hunt down wind of the best doe bedding area you know. And if possible find the ramping air...

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By ramping air do you mean it'll be up off the ground on the side of the hill the air is coming from or once it goes over there will be a kind of void created by the hill? I do hunt the right on the edge of the creek and like you said it seems on calm mornings the air really shoots up faster than normal.

There was a study conducted by Field and Stream utilizing different cover scents including an ozonics machine with a hunter in a cardboard box among many cardboard boxes.  The test utilized a German Shepard to find the man in the box.  At conclusion of the test, the dog found the man in the box in a matter of seconds, however, the ozonics machine appeared to trick the dog and bought 20 seconds before being found.  Now 20 seconds does not sound like much, but it is enough to draw your bow and fire on a downwind deer.  The unit is expensive and I have heard it has problems with eating batteries in a few hours of usage.  Heavy too.  Hunting is suppose to be simple.......how much gear do we really need?  My buddy likes to buck bomb his entire hill and I laugh at the deer response when they cut his trail........they run for cover!  As I tell my buddies....I don't need deer urine to kill a deer.

 

Pelthunter, for your unique situation with a creek bottom below two ridges......hunt it with two stands on opposite ends, and only hunt it when the wind is blowing in the same direction as the creek/draw flows.  With a wind crossing you will be a slave to thermals and airfoils as the wind crosses over the hill and you will find it challenging to not get scent busted.  To maximize your limited  hunting time, consider hunting the tops of the ridges to reduce the airfoil gremlins. 

 

PS: For your boots, an old Indian hunter showed me a trick as a boy for cover scent.  Take an apple afield with you.  When you are close to your stand, cut it in half and rub one half into your boot treads, and the other half rub on the base of your tree.

I have a few different stands I can hunt all that make a little difference by the wind. That being said where the deer come from is a thick hardwood patch on top of the closer ridge that I can't hunt and the other ridge is on the opposite side of the road and someone hunts that side. So basically I'm stuck in the middle low grounds with one full treeline to hunt and a tree line that covers half the field on the other side. 

Yea I hate the copper John too lol something about 5 pins real close that doesn't work too well at 40 yards like it does at the 15 yard range at the bow shop. And the peep is much bigger than the site when looking through it so that makes sense.

Just curious what size peep? I had a 1/4" installed and I couldn't group arrows to save my life changed to a 3/16" and my accuracy went way up.

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As for your first point I have shot it at 67lbs and the same setup arrow and broad head/ practice tip wise since I changed to the Rages the first season I owned it. I've really shot the bow a lot to try to get as comfortable as possible with it just thinking maybe all it was was my comfortability level with the bow. As for peep size I was honestly sitting in my tree stand sunday afternoon thinking about going to a bigger peep. I shoot the 1/4 now but was thinking it might be smart to go up on whatever bow I decide to get next.

Chas is right on brace height. If you do buy a different bow id be sure to test every major manufacturer's bows at pro shops before buying. I always said id never leave hoyt and after shooting several others i was surprised how different they feel. I ended up with PSE, but its all about what feels and shoots best for you. Keep an open mind and you'll end up happy. As for your bow id be taking it to someone who knows Diamond and explain your concerns.

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I've shot the new straight Bowtech that my dad got (he's same draw length and everything as me) and it seems much better and the guy at the bow shop I use let me go with him to try out the new Martins when they first released them and I really, really liked the Alien Nitro. I would like to try out the newer Hoyts and Matthews as well but nobody around me really sells PSE's for some reason. I've talked to the guy I know at the bow shop I use and he really couldn't think of anything but had me bring it back in to tune it again and it didn't make any difference.

Also the spot I hunt is only about 200 yards behind the closest house. Do you guys think the close proximity of human activity has something to do with the deer never really blowing out when the wind is in their faces? I've never really thought about it before but I just wanna get this buck lol had the dreams and everything.

A couple of thoughts...

 

This time of year, south weest and west winds are the prevailiing direction, so you should take that into consideration when you set your stands.

 

Do not jeopardize being winded by a mature buck..  It is highly likely that you will never see him again. 

 

I have a similar situation with a buck I am hunting..  I have a stand set at the southeast corner of a field..  I have no option to get a stand down wind of his travel corridor.  I can only hunt it with a NW to East wind.  I have to just wait it out.  I tried hunting it a couple of years ago with the wrong wind and the big boy showed up and was gone, never to be seen again.

 

Be patient and wait for the right day...

I can't set a stand anywhere upwind in this certain situation, the spot I hunt is basically a spot where deer funnel through and I can only hunt that side of the funnel. The other thing is I can't really pick my days since I'm going to school in Oswego and the spot I hunt is just outside of Victor.

My best advice would be to control your own scent as much as possible. Use anti bacterial soaps and scent free sprays. More important though is to learn the wind currents as they apply to the areas you hunt. As a small example an airplane wing has air travelling faster and swirling as it goes over the wing. Hills, depressions, flats temp changes in am and sunset all have an influence on wind currents. I have wind notes for all wind directions in the area I hunt. These notes show patterns of how wind acts on my property. Thus telling me which stand sites to hunt and when not to. Funny thing, some of the best times to hunt some stands is when the wind seems right for the deer. If you find a spot that has what I call ramping air you can get away with just about anything. You can find this spot usually on a ridge that the wind is hitting and ramping over. You can tell by a wind checker, (goes up first) or look at the leaves around you pushing up the branches. Hope this helps, once you have a big buck smell you its most likely over for that spot. Good luck!

Ps don't buy into cover scents, they don't work period! a deer can smell way better than we can imagine.

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I'm basically in a creek bottom between two ridges right at the bottom of the eastern ridge and about 800 yards from the western so I'm not too sure what that would mean for what you're saying. That being said he did cross the close ridge halfway up about 150 yards from me with the same wind and came down to the edge 40 or so yards away but it would have been roughly an 80 yard shot. The worst part is the first time I saw him it was real cloudy and he passed 15 yards from me at a time that would normally have enough light to shoot but I couldn't get a pin on him because it was right at that light where your pins are clearly visible but your peep blurs everything up.

Hey guys I've been looking at the weather and its calling for a pretty solid west and South west wind for this weekend. This takes away about half of my hunting area. In the past including this weekend I've used the Buck Bomb as instructed to be a cover scent and its worked with mixed results. I keep my clothes in an air tight box with leaves and sticks and spray my rubber boot soles with the buck bomb before I walk in. Just wondering what is a good cover scent once in the stand as there has been a monster 10 point coming from what would be the downwind side of my area and I'd really like to get him into range.

Real nice buck DvdeGeorge hopefully next weekend the rut kicks up and the rest of us can follow suit

Saw a ton of doe this morning and a spike. Looks like theyll be cutting a lot of corn this week so hopefully the rest of the big bucks will be pushed into the hardwoods.

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Either the buck i saw this afternoon has 30 inches of grown shrinkage or he's a high 140s- low 150s 10 pointer.

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Legacy you're not in southern zone NY anymore is all that says.

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Rainy and windy here. Had a buck come out grunting like crazy just before light. Couldn't tell any size but once he got up wind of me he really stunk bad

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Does anyone have a Diamond Stud or similar Diamond that is as disappointed in it as I am? I bought mine in 2010 brand new, copper john II sight the Apex rest all the "best of the best stuff" and have had it tuned twice since my original fitting for it. First big bow purchase for me did a lot of research and it was supposed to be a great bow for the year. I came off a 2003 Martin Tracer I bought for $150 from my dad, whisker biscuit and one of the old Cobra 3 pins which was a great sight then. I still can't get over how loud the Diamond is and how much it vibrates, both significantly worse than my old Martin, I also can't get the same consistency out of it that I could the Tracer. Does anyone else have a similar review to this bow or other Diamonds or could it just be that I'm not as comfortable with it as I thought I was when I bought it. Either way I think I'm going to trade it in and go back to a Martin Alien Nitro after this season.

Pretty good exit on the rage punched through but the arrow didn't exit on a quartering to shot at 17 yards

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