i feel like I'm not getting to my stand properly now that season has started. i got my lease late this year, set it all up mid August, 2 ground blinds and 2 feeders. access to the one blind is not that easy, the other one is more open and accessible. 10 days after i set up the blinds we went back out there to see what was going on. got in the blind around 6:15 am (was running late). saw 3 or 4 deer including a buck. they stayed forever and didn't bust us. went last week and did the same thing except got there a touch earlier.. saw nothing at all. went again a couple days later, same thing. i am walking down a game trail to get to my stand, but thats the furthest point front where they seem to be coming from. its 55 acres so i don't imagine that they are staying on the property too much. i have seen a couple of bedding down spots but not much.... thoughts? or is it just a couple bad sessions?

Could be any number of things. One could be they are bedding down on the place and you are bumping them when you either arrive or walk in. Second could be just bad sits. Third could be deer changing patterns for rut activity, depending on where you are it can start mid October or mid November or mid December, so you may be into that period already.

With getting on the place so late, the deer already set up their patterns and if they use the place as a bedding area it will be difficult to get anything to happen this year, unless you can catch them coming back...sit in the evening and see what happens. Also, they could be using this area as an afternoon bedding area, so an all day sit may prove to be beneficial in a lot of ways to help give you the info you need.

Set up a game cam on a the trail you think they may be using the most to see what time they use it.

55 acres is not going to hold the deer. They are most likely shifting to their fall patterns. Are you in acorn country? If so, that's probably where they are feeding. You would be better off getting a good vantage point if possible and observe the travel routes their using and adjust your sets accordingly. If the terrain doesn't allow for that, set up trail cams in different places to learn their travel routes.

May not hold them but i had 55 acr in center city tx and man i saw some of the biggest deer in my life come across that place and we shoot some good ones but it was really wooded and the way the land was setup it was just perfect , the one thing to remember is to find where they are crossing at and hunt close to those areas .

ok, I've got a trail cam on the most heavily looking travelled trail (however there are very few tracks) it is just worn down. when i checked cams a couple weeks ago, they were like clockwork every morning at the feeder about the same time, then again about 8 pm then again about 3 am.... i thought it might've been me walking in on the game trail... but that didn't matter the first time i was there. there isn't an area i can sit with a vantage point. its flat and hazily wooded on the one side. I'm attaching a pick of the 2 setups. hope its not too confusing but the red is where i would drive with the bad boy and the green is walk. stand a is 25 yds to feeder, b is 35 yds, and the other one is just a gravity feeder on the trail let me know what y'all think i could do here guys. first time with a lease this small and ground hunting.

http://i1372.photobucket.com/albums/ag322/freonfreak82/DEERSETUPS_zps7c53b9a0.jpg

Like posted above acorns and also rains have or can change deer patterns at this time of the year. Your activity on the lease is now before daylight in the mornings and after dark in the evenings. That is very different to them. While 55 acres can hold a lot of deer if it is in the right area of the state, your traffic early can be moving the deer off of it. If they are leaving they probably aren't coming back this time of the year to your feeder until the evening. You might try just an evening hunt the next time out and get in the blind early. TC can show you a lot of how, when and which directions deer are moving.

First off, the set up is a little confusing. Is property access from the tumbleweed trail area and you typically park your car where the two red lines start together? If so, here may be where you are having trouble, and it may have to wait until next year to fix or you could try to fix some of it this year with a chance it will spoil the area for a little while.

first, you are set up so any kind of wind other than a due north wind will give you away before it gets started. If you are parking your car due south of the stands and then driving in like shown , any kind of south, south-east, or really south west wind will give your scent away to any animals in the place, given that it is only 55 acres. also, the distance from feeder to stand is awfully close unless you are set up for bowhunting only, which can be dicey on 55 acres due to a number of different factors.

So...what to do? Quick thoughts on moving stands further away from feeders if rifle hunting. Although doesn't help for bow season. Park your car right inside the gate to the property and leave it there. NO reason to drive further in if you have a buggy anyway. If the stand locations and property access location are non-negotiable, you will need to get to the stands several hours before hunting time to help disperse your scent and noise as much as possible. Walk in as far as possible. Ride the buggy along the fence line and then walk the rest of the way, but keep the buggy out of the woods unless dragging an animal with it. Couple things to start with.

If you have the place next year, you can feed all year round and try to get the deer more accustomed to your sounds and maybe they won't be as scared when you show up.

It is bowhunting only. The only rifle hunting is short range 30/30 kinda stuff for the wife and kids. But majority is set up for bow which is why feeders are so close. I didn't really see anywhere else to put feeders and blinds given the layout. I can definitely park just inside the gate. I can also get there much earlier. I kinda thought that getting there super early might help. Or evening hunts assuming they are showing up with time to hunt. I don't think I'll have this lease next year.

Eh, I wouldn't worry too much. I've sat 3 times and only seen a couple deer from a distance, but when I left my stand, I saw herds of them.

They're not always where you want them to be when you want them to be there.

One of the places I hunt is only 50 acres, shaped as a rectangle. There's really only one way to hunt it, at least the way I've got it set up. South winds only. If It's blowing from the north I stay out. It's in a high deer density area, even so, I don't see deer every time I'm there. Neighbors are throwing corn too, I'm sure.

Texas buckeye brought up what I was going to bring up. I don't know where this property is, but in east Texas our prevailing wind is southeast so you set your stands up on the northwest side. The few times that set-up won't be downwind is when we get some cold fronts blowing in.

If you think this place isn't going to be a long term lease, then don't sweat it. Get there early, use some cover scent and maybe even try some drags while you are walking and see if you can't get something to bite...I would still try to minimize driving in as far and use the buggy for hauling dead deer or fence line only, but other than that, just enjoy it for what it is.

Hope for some north winds, those will be your best hunts I bet.

It's in Lockhart/Dale area