Need to find these deer!

[gloszz]

Went out yesterday to shoot some deer and came home with nothing. It was a crazy day. We went to scout property I got permission on and figure out the best way to attack and find where the deer actually are since I have a section of permission. Cameras that have been there for three months did not show much. This property is also where I shot my doe.

Seems like the animals love when you are not prepared. Here we sat down with my uncle to just talk about how we may not see any deer since we have been seeing coyotes and he catches a glimpse of a "calf" crossing from the forest to the pasture. Well I knew the farmer had no more cows on these pieces of land so before I could tell him there are no cows, he said its a deer. 9 mulies crossed (6 does and 3 fawns). We sneak up to them over a time of about half an hour and cannot get any closer than 50 yards. We are about to take a risky shot but I hear a rampage in the forest to the right of us and I see 3 deer wanting to join the herd in the pasture. My uncle draws and so do I, but the deer know something is not right and he gets tired and slowly lets go of his draw and they are gone! That was at about 2pm so we go and just drive around on the roads looking to see if any deer are on his property and see some white tails on top of the hill near his house. 290 yards away so we try to sneak up on them but later we see a terribly placed hunting blind and the deer spook! So now we return to our previous area and wait for the deer to come out. Well we had 3 white tail doe come out and a beautiful 6x6 bcuk with a droptine. The mulies start to come out as well and there is about 20 does and some spiker bucks.


Now how do I bring them closer? We tried a buck grunt but only made the does look at our direction and slowly wander off. I tried to rattle as well for the buck but nothing. Seems like 48 yards is the limit to get to them. I mean it is an amazing experience for me and I did not even care to shoot anything, but just observing these deer, knowing we are fooling them and using the wind to our advantage makes it seem like everything is worth just to get a few pictures and videos haha. The deer being shot is just the bonus, but with my extreme buck fever I need a few more of these encounters to take it for granted and not get worked up and shaking haha!

[yoteblaster]

Sounds like you already found the deer. Now you just have to get closer. Sounds like a great day in the outdoors. Good luck 👍

[elkhunter11]

If the deer won't come closer to you, you place yourself where you will be closer to the deer when they head out to feed, or leave the feeding location. Pay attention to the wind when you chose your ambush location.

[gloszz]

Originally Posted by yoteblaster

Sounds like you already found the deer. Now you just have to get closer. Sounds like a great day in the outdoors. Good luck 👍

We would have had them I bet, but the wind was minimal and was so dang quiet! I hate it. The crunching leaves don't help. Walking like a deer takes so long, we make one step and they make four and are farther out than we are. I may have to listen to Elkhunter and try to ambush them when they come out to feed.

[DiabeticKripple]

yeah find the trails they are using into the feed and set up just off of it, playing the wind.

i thought that the deer by my camera were coming off a grazing lease and into the field to eat so i setup on the far side to take advantage of the wind, but id have to make a longer shot.

turns out they were coming off the acreages behind me and i had deer walking right by me, even though the wind was bad

[MyAlberta]

Originally Posted by gloszz

Went out yesterday to shoot some deer and came home with nothing. It was a crazy day. We went to scout property I got permission on and figure out the best way to attack and find where the deer actually are since I have a section of permission. Cameras that have been there for three months did not show much. This property is also where I shot my doe.

Seems like the animals love when you are not prepared. Here we sat down with my uncle to just talk about how we may not see any deer since we have been seeing coyotes and he catches a glimpse of a "calf" crossing from the forest to the pasture. Well I knew the farmer had no more cows on these pieces of land so before I could tell him there are no cows, he said its a deer. 9 mulies crossed (6 does and 3 fawns). We sneak up to them over a time of about half an hour and cannot get any closer than 50 yards. We are about to take a risky shot but I hear a rampage in the forest to the right of us and I see 3 deer wanting to join the herd in the pasture. My uncle draws and so do I, but the deer know something is not right and he gets tired and slowly lets go of his draw and they are gone! That was at about 2pm so we go and just drive around on the roads looking to see if any deer are on his property and see some white tails on top of the hill near his house. 290 yards away so we try to sneak up on them but later we see a terribly placed hunting blind and the deer spook! So now we return to our previous area and wait for the deer to come out. Well we had 3 white tail doe come out and a beautiful 6x6 bcuk with a droptine. The mulies start to come out as well and there is about 20 does and some spiker bucks.


Now how do I bring them closer? We tried a buck grunt but only made the does look at our direction and slowly wander off. I tried to rattle as well for the buck but nothing. Seems like 48 yards is the limit to get to them. I mean it is an amazing experience for me and I did not even care to shoot anything, but just observing these deer, knowing we are fooling them and using the wind to our advantage makes it seem like everything is worth just to get a few pictures and videos haha. The deer being shot is just the bonus, but with my extreme buck fever I need a few more of these encounters to take it for granted and not get worked up and shaking haha!

You need to be where they come out. Deer take time before they step out. That’s the spot. Drop by during the day and locate their trails. Access the wind potential and build a couple of blinds to serve. Don’t sit if the wind will bust you. I don’t spend much time building blinds. A comfortable seat, cleared shooting lanes, and draw cover. These still evenings are great for hearing them come, but brutal for changing direction. Drawing on a deer st 30 yds doesn’t happen often, you may need to put in the time till it does.

Good luck

[Coiloil37]

Mulies are suckers for a fawn in distress call. The does especially will come in on the run most of the time. Bucks are about half the time.
Whitetails, wait for the rut or get yourself closer to where they want to travel.

[Bub]

^ This. Not just a fawn distress call, but any peep, really. I had mulies running in when calling coyotes with rabbit distress. I had them come in with a cow elk call. They will come to check it out more often than not. They are also pretty curious critters. If they saw/heard you coming in but feel safe enough, they will often move in to check it out. It might take time, but they will. Whitetails will sometimes do the same, but not nearly as often. A couple of weeks ago, I got a mulie buck to move in to 10 meters from me just by standing behind the bale with my head sticking out and him looking straight at me. Took about 20 minutes and he bailed 3 or 4 times (to 30-50 meter marks), but came back every time, 10 meter was the closest and he would probably come closer, but I got tired of it and walked away. When the buck lost interest, I would just move my foot a tiny bit, enough to make a very slight noise (really easy with dry grass) to get him back at it (they will bail if you over do it). I did that numerous times, even in bad wind.

Another thing to keep in mind is that just about sunset, they can't really see squat and if the wind is good, it is easy to move in close enough.

Of course, if there is lots of hunting pressure in the area, it is not quite as simple and quite often you would see them running when they hear you coming hundred yards away. In that case, see where they come in to the property. They will take the same route in and out more often than not. And they will usually do it at the exact same time, like on the clock adjusted for sun movement. They will start feeding in the more or less same spot more often than not as well.

Very often, I would just go and stand behind a bale watching the deer in the field. It's a lot of fun.

P.S. Not calling the fish cops for no reason is key