Deer don't move in the...

hoytcanon said:
I don't bother with decoys in deep bush where there is limited visibility. I often use them as confidence decoys at food sources, alfalfa/clover fields etc..., positioning them facing where I expect the deer to come from. Many times this draws bucks out into the open during legal light. I also use them in small clearings or old growth fields while rattling and calling. In my experience, decoys do not spook deer, they often ignore them, and other times come in to check them out, but I haven't experienced strongly negative reactions to their presence. Last fall I had a dozen does and fawns come in and surround the decoy and after introductions, they bedded for an hour and chewed their cuds, all with in 10 yards of the decoy and 20 yards from my position... I would have liked to have taken a picture but I didn't dare move with that many eyes/ears watching. IMO, don't ever leave the decoy out overnight, take it in and out with you, or at least bag it and stash it somewhere nearby, personally I take it in and out every time. I also reposition the decoy everytime out... if going to the same stand twice I move the decoy so that moving deer are seeing something new. I spritz the hind end and face of the decoy with a doe urine in the early season and switch to a doe in heat sent as the rut approaches... I also take pains to not get my scent or other foreign scents on the decoy. One trick to add realism is to tape three sheets of toilet paper to the rump, so that it flicks in the breeze, it actually does look like a contented deer at rest, but don't do this in a high wind or you end up flagging like a frightened deer. I proabably only use a decoy 10% of the time out, but when it works, it is often spectacular, and I have taken several nice bucks bowhunting over decoys. It is just another tool in your bag, to use when conditions are right.
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I was throwing the decoy up in the stand at night. It's insanely light, and smells like plastic, even when de-scented. Has to be tent pegged down or the slightest breeze will dump it.
But on this property I have an old farm field, now full of raspberry and blackberry, that the deer like. I may give the decoy a shot there.
Hunters each have their own ideas of where a stand should be, and as a result, this property has a dozen stands from previous owners. one of those is in that old field. I had already decided I would rebuild it, now I have another reason. I'll have to be careful placing the decoy though, don't want it visible from the road. I live on a fairly remote road, and poaching is an issue.

BTW nice deer, and bow. I had planned to go back to a long bow when I retired, but, I wore out my shoulder, it needs surgery. They want to grind some off my collar bone. So far, I have avoided that, because I no longer pull wrenches. The practice required with a long bow would do me in.

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2016 eight point. 280lbs one big fricken deer. I doub't I'll ever shoot another like that. Hunting alone, in rifle season, Frosty day you couldn't walk anywhere without crunching. 3pm in the afternoon getting him out was a long haul. I've posted the story before. The ATV was being held together with wire and straps. The other deer i shot 1st week was 170lbs, also eight point, out in the damned swamp, and again middle of the day. Ended up getting him in by breaking ice with the trappers punt out to him.
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my wife was there 1st week, so I used her tag.
 
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That was one of three little meat bucks from 2016... our freezer died and we lost all of our meat... so I was in restocking mode, nothing better than a six or eight pointer for meat. I have taken many larger bucks over decoys combined with rattling and calling.
 
Best 'decoy' story I ever heard was from a game warden, he put out a decoy just past a 'No Hunting'sign and waited until after dark...used to make a real haul,the stories( excuses) were amazing.Most of them shot from the truck, used a light and racked up a number of charges, pit lamping, shooting after dark, shooting from a vehicle, shooting in a 'no hunting' area....that decoy paid for itself many times over ...funny thing was some guys kept shooting , couldn't believe they had missed...
 
this year, I took a little one too. The bigger bucks are here, just not co-operating.
It's the meat I'm after anyway, and with the boys bagging two moose this year, the freezer is stuffed.
Anyone thinking deer don't move on really cold days, well, I live on a migration route to the yard. We walk the perimeter of the property every day, by snow shoe (now). Even with temps of -27 and more, there are fresh tracks overnight.
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This guy may be part of why:
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yomomma said:
One thing I have learned over the years;

Whenever people say deer never do that, they will
Whenever people say deer always do that, they won't
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That seems fair.

My observations have been that deer will eat when they get hungry, run when spooked from their beds, and especially, they have not read any of the 'books' that suggest otherwise, so they go about their business as they see fit, not as per the phase of the moon, or whatever week of the wifes cycle it is that supposedly make all the difference.

I have chucked pine cones at Bucks that were nowhere near the rut, so I couldn't say they were stupid because of that, but have also hit bucks with snowballs, and had them immediately drop their nose back into the trail they were following, so can say that those ones were about as p***y-struck as a teenager that got his first piece.

All that I am willing to stand behind as a generalization is that "It varies", and you hardly hear about anyone finding deer hanging about in the Bars (actually a Rule, in one that I went to fairly regularly, that said the Patron that lured the deer inside, was responsible for the mess and damages! Never say never!).
 
trevj said:
That seems fair.

My observations have been that deer will eat when they get hungry, run when spooked from their beds, and especially, they have not read any of the 'books' that suggest otherwise, so they go about their business as they see fit, not as per the phase of the moon, or whatever week of the wifes cycle it is that supposedly make all the difference.

I have chucked pine cones at Bucks that were nowhere near the rut, so I couldn't say they were stupid because of that, but have also hit bucks with snowballs, and had them immediately drop their nose back into the trail they were following, so can say that those ones were about as p***y-struck as a teenager that got his first piece.

All that I am willing to stand behind as a generalization is that "It varies", and you hardly hear about anyone finding deer hanging about in the Bars (actually a Rule, in one that I went to fairly regularly, that said the Patron that lured the deer inside, was responsible for the mess and damages! Never say never!).
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I like hunting deer in the rain, I have a rain tarp screwed to the tree branches above my ladder stand to keep me dry. I think the deer tend to move more during the lower light levels of a cloudy rainy day, there are usually less hunters in the field due to the rain, it is quieter walking in to my ladder stand when the woods are wet from rain and if it is raining it is usually not that cold and I can have long sit in the stand.

I have taken quite a few deer over the years in the rain. I have taken deer in sunny weather as well as with lots of snow on the ground also, but I really do like to hunt in the rain.

What really puts a damper on my deer hunting is when wolves come through, always happens at least once or twice every season. I don't know if the deer move out for a while or just stay low but it always takes a few days before the deer get back to their normal routine.
 
Northshore said:
I like hunting deer in the rain, I have a rain tarp screwed to the tree branches above my ladder stand to keep me dry. I think the deer tend to move more during the lower light levels of a cloudy rainy day, there are usually less hunters in the field due to the rain, it is quieter walking in to my ladder stand when the woods are wet from rain and if it is raining it is usually not that cold and I can have long sit in the stand.

I have taken quite a few deer over the years in the rain. I have taken deer in sunny weather as well as with lots of snow on the ground also, but I really do like to hunt in the rain.

What really puts a damper on my deer hunting is when wolves come through, always happens at least once or twice every season. I don't know if the deer move out for a while or just stay low but it always takes a few days before the deer get back to their normal routine.
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i like to roof all my stands. Getting a roof that's quiet and doesn't leak or attract porky takes some doing. The steel ones we have at moose camp are noisy as hell in a wind. creak, pop bang. But they are nice in the rain. the ones I build here will be boards, even if they leak a bit.
 
My biggest mule deer buck was taken in one of the worst wind storms in that regions history. Trees were crashing all around me.... not exagerating one bit. It was a scary solo hunt LOL
The buck , a 165 B&C typical 4pt literally walked out of the trees right beside me, not 10 feet away.... again not exagerating. I was there for a doe draw and was just standing there in the tree line on a game trail and he was there for the same reason as me that windy , frosty november day..... looking for a doe haha.
So now, when i see the weather go to hell..... it's big buck hunting time :D
 
Deer live in the weather year 'round. IMO they have learned to deal with it.
They may take different routes than a nicer day, but move they will, if they want to.
Good to remember that most of us have seen the days when deer seem to have vanished from planet earth. Those can be windy days, but they can also be quiet days. Hunting pressure can make them do that, maybe human hunters, maybe predators.
A lesson from my dog hunting days. The same chunks of bush would be pounded over and over by different hunt gangs, and their dogs. Sometimes nothing for one camp, followed by one or more kills by the next. The deer might have moved in between chases, or they may have simply laid low only to be found by the next gang. They are very good at hiding, even from dogs.
 
John Y Cannuck said:
They are very good at hiding, even from dogs.
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Not from good dogs ! cou:

You just can't make unequivocal statements about deer behavior in a hunting perspective without myriad dissenters. And they might be right !!
But it's all fun an as we talk we all learn.
 
Dukester said:
Not from good dogs ! cou:

You just can't make unequivocal statements about deer behavior in a hunting perspective without myriad dissenters. And they might be right !!
But it's all fun an as we talk we all learn.
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good dogs, or just dogs that happen to take a different route than the previous dogs. no doubt there are some useless dogs when it comes to hunting, and we had our share over the years. bush shy dogs that would head for the truck as soon as released, dogs that chase rabbits, dogs that corner squirrels, and dogs with an incredible stupid taste for porcupine.
One day we were all piling out of a van to do a run we called Cap't Joes.
This truck pulls up, and the guy in it says we're wasting our time, they've got all the deer cornered over by the lake. They used big black and tans, and plot hounds, we used beagles.
They had indeed had a good chase, and the radio collars on their dogs told them where they were. However, I shot a nice eight point in front of our dogs that morning. he'd simply watched the other chase go by. The dogs were occupied with a large group of does.
Nice of them to take the does away so our dogs would find the buck.
dogs don't differentiate, a deer is a deer to them. They tend to chase more does than bucks, because the does are easier to find I figure. If I went through our old camp record, it would show many more does than bucks were shot, and when a buck was shot, frequently the dogs were not on it, it was trying to sneak out the side, or out behind the chase.
BTW I feel big dogs and small dogs work just as well, only big dogs are further away at the end of the chase. One camp up there uses an incredible collection of non-barking mongrel mutts. they put bells on the works, it sounds like a Christmas sleigh coming.
 
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Deer don't have cabins , or warm up shacks or plantations nor do they read road signs and have maps.

Deer are outside all year long, I know it's a hard theory to grasp but if you go outside you get way better odds of find thing them.

One thing I will predict and am 100% accurate is that you cannot predict their behavior.

Yes, they may frequent a barley field more often or have a favorite watering hole or preferred bedding spot they also may travel more during specials times but it is far from saying they don't move in certain conditions.

How many times have you go to your favorite spot where there is always deer and had nothing show up? well they are somewhere else, go find em.

Sometimes the crappiest of days have led to successful hunts as well as perfect days, there is just no rationalization.
 
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