Deer Season 2021

[Hieronymous]

My Saturday morning was a bust, other than validating my inability to stay warm after 2 1/2 hours of sitting still in 33° weather. This is my first year hunting on our new property. I selected a long standing hunters hut which had commanding views over the field below. Nothing to see other than Canada Goose flying overhead.

I switched to a tree stand overlooking another field for the evening hunt. Mercifully, the weather had warmed up to low 40s. With 10 minutes before sunset, I spotted two deer on the other side of the field, approximately 175 yards away. My view of them from the stand was blocked by a the branches of a tree directly in front of their position. I had to do a rice patty squat to get an unobstructed view. This was my first time rifle hunting from a stand(it was more awkward than I knew)and to be honest, I wasn’t very well prepared. I have only shot my rifle in supported positions, but found my only option was doing a rice patties quiet on the small platform. I took the shot, missed and was lucky enough to have the spike buck get spooked and run closer to my position and stop. He presented a near perfect shot which I took at about 75 yards. I thought I had missed initially, as he was running directly at my stand. He dropped About 15 yards from my position.

I was pleased with how much the Leupold firedot made low light shooting easier. But overall, I think I got lucky. I am going to start incorporating unconventional rifle positions to my preseason training. I focused so much on getting better and more accurate with my bow, and I took the rifle for granted. Won’t happen again. I’d be glad to hear others’ thoughts on rifle hunting from a tree stand. I wonder if I would be better off hunting from a ground blind. The inability to shoot from a tree stand in a supported fashion really made it harder.

[ccmdfd]

My Saturday morning was a bust, other than validating my inability to stay warm after 2 1/2 hours of sitting still in 33° weather. This is my first year hunting on our new property. I selected a long standing hunters hut which had commanding views over the field below. Nothing to see other than Canada Goose flying overhead.

I switched to a tree stand overlooking another field for the evening hunt. Mercifully, the weather had warmed up to low 40s. With 10 minutes before sunset, I spotted two deer on the other side of the field, approximately 175 yards away. My view of them from the stand was blocked by a the branches of a tree directly in front of their position. I had to do a rice patty squat to get an unobstructed view. This was my first time rifle hunting from a stand(it was more awkward than I knew)and to be honest, I wasn’t very well prepared. I have only shot my rifle in supported positions, but found my only option was doing a rice patties quiet on the small platform. I took the shot, missed and was lucky enough to have the spike buck get spooked and run closer to my position and stop. He presented a near perfect shot which I took at about 75 yards. I thought I had missed initially, as he was running directly at my stand. He dropped About 15 yards from my position.

I was pleased with how much the Leupold firedot made low light shooting easier. But overall, I think I got lucky. I am going to start incorporating unconventional rifle positions to my preseason training. I focused so much on getting better and more accurate with my bow, and I took the rifle for granted. Won’t happen again. I’d be glad to hear others’ thoughts on rifle hunting from a tree stand. I wonder if I would be better off hunting from a ground blind. The inability to shoot from a tree stand in a supported fashion really made it harder.

Congrats on the deer.

A lot of luck involved with hunting, a hell of a lot.

3 days after I left my previously mentioned Kansas hunt, my cousin sat in one of the stands I used and had a massive 12 point show up. He got him. I never saw anything approaching his size.

Agree with practicing non-standard shooting positions. Also recommend shooting out of the stand itself, or one like it. There's all sorts of things which influence your shot.

Also, next pre-season you might want to do some manual trimming of branches around that stand. You might be able to do that now and get away with it, depends on the amount of pressure your deer are facing.

[okie john]

I’d be glad to hear others’ thoughts on rifle hunting from a tree stand. I wonder if I would be better off hunting from a ground blind. The inability to shoot from a tree stand in a supported fashion really made it harder.

Aside from actually being in the field with a rifle in my hands, post-season analysis is my favorite part of hunting.

I’d venture that the tree stand is not the problem—it got you a shot and a deer that you might not have seen using another method. The question is how to get better results based on what you learned. Maybe you could go back out to that stand and just sit there for a while thinking through the possible problems as they occur to you. Look at everything involved: the stand, your preparation, your gear, the environment, the deer’s behavior, etc. Nothing is off the table.

Off the top of my head, here's what I'd start to think about:

• You mentioned getting cold. Did that affect your performance? How could you address that?
• What other non-firearm equipment did you use on this trip? How well did it work in light of your expectations? What might help on future hunts in this area?
• What’s a typical shot in this area? What goes into that: terrain, vegetation, likely response of game, any other conditions? Do you have the right gear for that? Could you improve your rifle, sights, or ammo?
• How much time do you have to shoot? What is the game likely to do when you shoot? How can you prepare for that?
• What about this shot made it hard? The fact that you had to fire from an unsupported position, the position itself, or that you didn't anticipate the need to use an unsupported position? The Art of the Rifle by Jeff Cooper goes into the issue of odd positions and will provide a lot of food for thought.
• Do you use a sling in the rice paddy squat? Might that help in the future?
• What specific gun-handling skills and drills might help on future hunts?
• You said that the deer came out of the woods. How much time have you spent in those woods? What were the deer doing there? Was that a bedding area or a feeding area? When and where are you likely to see them again? Are there other trails you could study?
• How can you alter the woods to tip the odds in your favor? If the deer appeared on a trail that they use frequently, then could you go downrange with a pair of pruners in the weeks before the season and clear the fields of fire that you get from the stand?
• Can you modify the stand in some way to make supported shots easier?
• If the stand had been a couple of feet lower, could you have the deer seen better?

Congratulations on getting a deer this year from a guy who didn't get one. You’ve already scored at a difficult game. Now you just need to get better at it.


Okie John

[vaspence]

This is the first year in a long time that I haven’t hunted at all in bow season. I did make it out last Tuesday evening during blackpowder season and got to try out my Hankins Scout 45/70 conversion smokeless muzzleloader. Also found a legit use for the Jeep’s backup camera while in transit.

[Hieronymous]

Aside from actually being in the field with a rifle in my hands, post-season analysis is my favorite part of hunting.

I’d venture that the tree stand is not the problem—it got you a shot and a deer that you might not have seen using another method. The question is how to get better results based on what you learned. Maybe you could go back out to that stand and just sit there for a while thinking through the possible problems as they occur to you. Look at everything involved: the stand, your preparation, your gear, the environment, the deer’s behavior, etc. Nothing is off the table.

Off the top of my head, here's what I'd start to think about:

• You mentioned getting cold. Did that affect your performance? How could you address that?
• What other non-firearm equipment did you use on this trip? How well did it work in light of your expectations? What might help on future hunts in this area?
• What’s a typical shot in this area? What goes into that: terrain, vegetation, likely response of game, any other conditions? Do you have the right gear for that? Could you improve your rifle, sights, or ammo?
• How much time do you have to shoot? What is the game likely to do when you shoot? How can you prepare for that?
• What about this shot made it hard? The fact that you had to fire from an unsupported position, the position itself, or that you didn't anticipate the need to use an unsupported position? The Art of the Rifle by Jeff Cooper goes into the issue of odd positions and will provide a lot of food for thought.
• Do you use a sling in the rice paddy squat? Might that help in the future?
• What specific gun-handling skills and drills might help on future hunts?
• You said that the deer came out of the woods. How much time have you spent in those woods? What were the deer doing there? Was that a bedding area or a feeding area? When and where are you likely to see them again? Are there other trails you could study?
• How can you alter the woods to tip the odds in your favor? If the deer appeared on a trail that they use frequently, then could you go downrange with a pair of pruners in the weeks before the season and clear the fields of fire that you get from the stand?
• Can you modify the stand in some way to make supported shots easier?
• If the stand had been a couple of feet lower, could you have the deer seen better?

Congratulations on getting a deer this year from a guy who didn't get one. You’ve already scored at a difficult game. Now you just need to get better at it.


Okie John

I love this feedback, and want to thank you for it (for sure could have benefited from use of the sling). This is my second year deer hunting. I've come to it late in life, much like I have with my boys. I am passionate about learning the craft so I can introduce them to it when they are old enough. The casual observer (I know I did) might think deer hunting with a rifle was likely an easy affair. I have quickly gained an immense respect for how much more complicated and challenging it is.

This is our first year owning our 91 acre farm and are just scratching the surface of figuring things out. We've set up trail cams, taken heed of where the former owner set up their stands, leased fields to a farmer who will alternate between soy bean and corn, talked to neighbors, etc. I love how it feels like a riddle to solve. This picture will give a sense of what I'm working with. Cheers!

[Seven_Sicks_Two]

A buddy and I spent two long weekends chasing blacktail on public land in Western Oregon. Lots of hiking, and lots of glassing clear cuts. We saw several doe, but no shootable bucks during legal shooting light.

Duck hunting (almost) made up for it though. We spent a rainy, blustery Saturday sitting in a blind northwest of Portland. I was one shy of shooting my limit, and my hunting buddy managed to limit out. If we were allowed to shoot more than one pintail each, we would've been finished for the day by lunchtime.

[okie john]

I love this feedback, and want to thank you for it (for sure could have benefited from use of the sling). This is my second year deer hunting. I've come to it late in life, much like I have with my boys. I am passionate about learning the craft so I can introduce them to it when they are old enough. The casual observer (I know I did) might think deer hunting with a rifle was likely an easy affair. I have quickly gained an immense respect for how much more complicated and challenging it is.

This is our first year owning our 91 acre farm and are just scratching the surface of figuring things out. We've set up trail cams, taken heed of where the former owner set up their stands, leased fields to a farmer who will alternate between soy bean and corn, talked to neighbors, etc. I love how it feels like a riddle to solve. This picture will give a sense of what I'm working with. Cheers!

That's a gorgeous patch that should produce game for your family for decades. Once you get a better handle on hunting from a stand, you could start trying different methods and comparing your results--maybe still hunting is more your style than stand hunting. I'd be tempted to make improvements for cottontails and squirrel hunting to get your kids started. Your state game department probably has a lot of good information on planting food plots, improving wildlife habitat, etc., and your state may offer you tax breaks for agricultural improvements.

I'd also get a really good feel for the properties in a 5-mile radius from there: water sources, what crops your neighbors have planted, thick stands of brush, saddles on the hills in the background, etc. ALL of that will affect how the deer move across your place.

They say that a the best fertilizer for a vineyard is the owner's footprints, and that may be the case with this. Fortunately, you own it so you have time to learn the place and work the problem. The first thing I'd do is post the hell out of it--a buddy of mine leases well over 10k acres for a commercial operation and he said that he spent much of the first year busting poachers.


Okie John

[ccmdfd]

I'd also get a really good feel for the properties in a 5-mile radius from there: water sources, what crops your neighbors have planted, thick stands of brush, saddles on the hills in the background, etc. ALL of that will affect how the deer move across your place.

Couldn't agree with this anymore if someone wanted me to. As one deer habitat manager talked about in his book, find out what the neighbors are providing, and more importantly what they are not providing, then provide what they are not. That may be food, shelter, something else.

Also agree with talking to your state wildlife agents. They can be very helpful and typically know the area better than just about anybody else.

And finally, totally agree that that's an absolutely beautiful piece of property there. Congratulations!

[Caballoflaco]

@Hieronymous A couple of tips I haven’t seen is study the wind on your property, figure out where it goes and how the terrain and time of day affects it. Learn to correlate the weather forecast with what actually happens on the ground in your area.

Also, your state game dept. should publish a game movement forecast (just google that for your state). If you have a limited amount of time to hunt focus on the days and times they predict high amounts of movement. Also, being out as the day after a front has gone through and the deer have been bedded up for a day has been productive for me.

The last bit of advice I’ll give is that I’ve had good luck making and using natural-material ground blinds. Based on your posts here I think you might find building a couple of those to be an enjoyable activity, once you decide on a good place to put them.

[Hieronymous]

@Hieronymous A couple of tips I haven’t seen is study the wind on your property, figure out where it goes and how the terrain and time of day affects it. Learn to correlate the weather forecast with what actually happens on the ground in your area.

Also, your state game dept. should publish a game movement forecast (just google that for your state). If you have a limited amount of time to hunt focus on the days and times they predict high amounts of movement. Also, being out as the day after a front has gone through and the deer have been bedded up for a day has been productive for me.

The last bit of advice I’ll give is that I’ve had good luck making and using natural-material ground blinds. Based on your posts here I think you might find building a couple of those to be an enjoyable activity, once you decide on a good place to put them.

@Caballoflaco, thanks for the advice, and proving me correct that being a good hunter really does take tremendous knowledge and skill. So far I've noticed that the morning activity is much less and at least this past Saturday, the warmer temperature of the late afternoon seemed to help. When I'm good enough to really know the wind patterns of my property, I will consider myself an advanced huner