short rant on tough season, looking for comments

to help me improve my chances next year.

Hunted two MLD places, one in Brown County 4x; yesterday in Bastrop county (first time)

first hunt was on Thnksgiving weekend; full moon. Next 3 Brown county hunts, conditions looked good
but never saw ANY does. My son's both had buck tags in Nov & Dec, but no 8 pt. critters appeared.
did see lots of less than 8's & spikes.

Hunted hard, over corn feeders; did as much as i could think of to put us in a good condition to
attract & wait. Used doe can some (during rut) and a variable grunt call sometimes.

Yesterday was just too windy on top of the full moon. Also, my lack of success (on every trip) was almost across the
board with most all the other hunters on both places those weekends. Overall, the Brown county MLD was
short of filling their doe quota as was the Bastrop facility.

so here's my questions; do those doe cans work for does?
with the wind blowing in your face, is scent spray (ozone) a help?
what's the biggest mistake hunters make sitting in a box blind waiting for deer?

i've learned alot the past few years & am always trying to improve. Yes, I know it's hunting not killing & I do
very much enjoy my time in the woods, especially when i can help my son connect.

thanks to all ya'll here; I read your comments & answers year round, always planning,,,but yea, i got a new
Kayak last year & have something to distract me till the draws come around in Sept.,,,,

There is evidence that ozone systems work, but I'm not familiar with ozone spray. Either way, there is evidence that the systems cause cancer and I'm not exposing myself or my family to any more risk for the sake of possibly limiting scent.

I've had limited success with doe cans for does. My experience tells me that blind calling of bucks or does (rattling, grunt, bleat) is likely more harmful than helpful. I will, however, call to deer that I see and need to bring into range. Grunt calls have worked best for me, just watch downwind side as they will often circle to windcheck before coming straight to you.

In my opinion, the biggest mistake hunters make is sitting in a box blind too often. I've found that your greatest chance of killing a deer is in your first sit and each sit after that you are less likely than the one before to kill one. I'm pretty mobile during hunting season and try not to hunt the same stand more than once or twice a week-really even the same farm more than that. Disclaimer: I'm not hunting over bait, so that likely changes the dynamic some. Even so, I've had much more success hunting a betting area or travel corridor than an food source. Most of the places I hunt are highly pressured and deer hang out at food sources more at night.

Do you have cams out so you know you have deer coming in? If your cams show nothing, move areas.

My experience if it’s windy deer only come out if they have to. This year was weird for movemnent for me. October saw minimal action but end of nov picked up.

I have seen a deer walk right up to a doe can spray and smell it. So he was obviously attracted to it. I also tried rattling for the first time this year and the deer just ran off.

In the stand I think noise matters the most...I have some of the foam pads on the bottom to help keep noise down. I don’t buy into my scent busting a deer unless they are really close. I have had deer walk within 4 yards of my stand.

Time in stand helps a lot

Thanks for the replies; what Cleric said speaks volumes for one of my issues; time in the stand.

as I hunt an MLD property with assigned & established blinds, i can't really stalk. I do get out within the allowed range to check
alleys & other open areas that lead towards my hunt zone, (but can't see very good from the blind).

my biggest issues this year were the lack of does; heard several reasons why it may be so, but was hoping some
of y'all would have theories; two i've heard is lack of water last summer hurt the mom's & led to newborn mortality,
the opposite theory was too much browse due to fall rains.

I do what i can to minimize noise & cover side & back windows to avoid getting busted (as easy)

thanks; one last thing; are there any good clinics that would be worth while? I listen to some useful podcast &
have found some utube vids. that make sense.

Also, i think the hogs at certain stands have run the deer off

If hunting is getting tough on a lease, I don't check the feeder, fill the feeder, walk around, check a game camera, etc. when I arrive to my stand. I keep the area as scent free as I can. If your seeing deer on your camera that you are not seeing when you hunt, you leaving scent checking the camera or feeder, and walking around looking at stuff before the hunt or first thing when you arrive to the lease is what is causing this. I walk in from downwind and wait till after the hunt to check on stuff. And if your hunting with the wind to your back, your probably wasting your time no matter what you do about scent control.

This season sucked. We shot one deer off of two sections. No does, very little activity at the feeders, flooded sections, flooded blind, no deer/pigs hitting the wheat fields and so on.

I think the biggest mistake hunters make in the blind is not paying attention. I think many hunters are distracted by their phones and may miss deer passing through. I had five encounters with the deer I shot. He never stopped while passing through my area until the day I shot him. He literally just blew through my area fours times and never gave me a shot. Regarding scent while hunting in a blind. I just keep the windows closed and hope the deer don't get my scent.

i usually have the wind in my face; can't really set up cameras (in advance) and usually one of the guys
will corn the feeders a few days before, so that's why i check the first thing when i get there to see if there's any
corn, did the hogs get it (sometimes they knock it down & haul it off [tube feeder)

thanks again for the replies, helping me think logically about my methods.

Paying attention ALL THE TIME did get me busted once

There's not a lot out there about specific hunting tactics for blind/bait setups, but here are some great recent ones definitely worth listening to:
http://www.downsouthhunting.com/episode-051-whitetail-movement-related-to-weather-part1/
http://www.downsouthhunting.com/episode-052-whitetail-movement-related-to-weather-part2/
http://www.downsouthhunting.com/episode-053-whitetail-movement-related-to-weather-part-3/

http://www.downsouthhunting.com/down-south-hunting-podcast-episode-013-scent-control-debate-part-1/
www.downsouthhunting.com/south-hunt...rison-w-dan-infalt-john-eberhart-part-2/
http://www.downsouthhunting.com/sou...rison-w-dan-infalt-john-eberhart-part-3/

I have only one enclosed tower blind on my lease. And my new place is a camper blind. Both have a chamberlain driveway alarm sensor over the feeder area with a battery powered receiver in the stand. The tower blind also looks over a funnel area so I still pay attention during the hunt, but I will confess I have taken a whole lot of game animals out of that stand when that driveway receiver woke me up.

Here’s my little piece of advise and it ain’t much.

Hunt hard as much as you can because you never know

I’ve watched deer when the conditions said I shouldn’t be seeing any

I’ve not saw deer when the conditions were perfect

If you have limited time to hunt or only on weekends, just hunt when and where you can. Pay attention to the wind in relation to where your feeder is located.
This year was a tough year for a lot of people, and like you mentioned, the rain made it tough getting any decent action with trying to get the deer coming to corn.

I had a bummer season too.


honestly after striking out on my third big trip of the year I was pretty much over hunting for the rest of the season

I hunted a lot this year during the full moon periods, and have never seen less movement that I remember. If the moon was around movement was nil.

The best way to improve your chances is to forget about scents, magic concoctions, an focus on where you hunt. Believe it or not the sure bet is hunting where there is a lot of Deer.

I've heard alot of people say this season was really bad, I guess it was wet green conditions.

Good advice! Run a good feeder and camera and you should be able to determine if it’s worth hunting.

This season was not as productive as years past for a lot of folks. Too much green stuff to eat. I probably put in 100 hours on point. Finally connected on the big 10pt I've been watching for a couple of years. Bottom line, the more time in the stand, the better your odds. I'll second that about putting your phone down and paying close attention. I had bucks slip through without slowing down. 5 seconds is about all the time you have to shoulder your gun and evaluate headgear. Just keep at it. Next season should be better.

If you don't see Deer maybe there are no Deer.

Like others have said put the phone down if you have one in the blind. We cant get a shot at them for the most part anyway but always see deer crossing that never come to feeders if your looking.

Make sure feed is out and hunt when you can. If your not there you cant shoot them. I cant tell you how many times we have had cameras out year round and all of a sudden one day a new buck shows up for a few days or a week or just one picture and then vanishes never to be seen again.

This year was a slow year for us. Late summer and fall rains had native food in excellent shape. I don't think I saw more than 2 mature does at the feeders this season, mostly young deer, lots we didn't see this year that hopefully will be bigger next year.

I am about 2 miles west of the Brown County line. I was hog hunting over the weekend - usually see quite a few deer every hunt. The wind kept them away for the most part. Full moon didn't help either.

On my most productive feeder, the deer didn't show up until after the wind died down. Within 15 minutes of the wind gusts stopping... deer started pouring out. I usually leave the blind 30 minutes after sunset. Stayed later on Saturday as sunset coincided with the wind dying down and I wanted to see how many doe were remaining with the late season ending. Saw more doe out in the food plot than I had seen all season.

If you're concerned about wind/scent - try finding a different spot to hunt. Even if it's close to the blind. This year has been rough for those who setup blinds accounting for southerly wind. Seems most weekends I hunted the wind was blowing from the north.

While I use scent cover sprays, I don't think they are very effective. What is nearly 100% effective is hunting downwind. I won't hunt a blind if it's upwind of the deer.

I had my stands set up for north and southeast wind, and seems more time than not when I sat it was out of the west, which was bad for my setup.
I can't put all the blame on that because I've hunted long enough to know better. Too much rain and too much to eat, was probably the main culprits.

Much of the state is missing a lot of the mature age classes because of the droughts 5-6 yrs ago. Add in the wet fall and mild winter and the deer just don’t have to come to corn. If you do something and it doesn’t work and then you continue to do it expecting different outcomes is a recipe for failure.

I learned I need a west wind set up. I didn't get a trophy buck this year but had several hitting my feeders. I was extra careful not to hunt stands with the wrong wind and probably got busted the least I can remember for bow hunting all season. I layed off the does for most of the season and that seemed to keep them hitting feeders all season bringing in lots of bucks. I did take an 8 point cull on the last weekend. Over all I would call it a good season.

Very unusual year. Had at least 4 shooters in September and my usual 8 to 10 resident does. I decided to take a large 10 point who ran with a really nice 9 near the end of Archery.We did have an increase in hunting pressure around my 160 acres. Had multiple hunters on all 4 sides. I convinced my wife to pass on several smaller 8's and I guess I messed up as she never had a decent shooter from the 2nd weekend of rifle until the end of the season in January. We hardly saw any deer. Every couple days we'd see a doe or a smaller buck spikes, 4 points and a couple 6's.. Having heard about 4 or 5 individual morning shots around the property I felt our shooters were bagged. Surprising as I reviewed my 4 cameras at the end of the season all the bucks we had in September as well as a couple nice transients were still alive. All were late night pictures. More so than the last 6 years our deer went totally nocturnal. During the rut thanksgiving week we had a number of small bucks chasing but never saw a mature buck after the 2nd weekend.
We are retired and hunt every day of gun and archery so we don't miss much. The good news is we have at least 4 to 5 shooters to carry over and if they survive will be some really nice deer next year.

Lots of variables involved determining what might of went wrong. First of all, better planning for more hunting days in the field.

I'm confused by your post, in that you talk as if your season is over, but it shouldn't be if your hunting MLD properties.

Does will not come to feeders much in wet years when there is plenty of browse. It's not worth the hassle they have to put up with from bucks.

It may be you are hunting places that receive alot of pressure. If so, by the time the end of the season rolls around the mature animals are much smarter about being hunted. I don't buy into the full moon wind scenario. Deer have to eat every day. My daughter and I just hunted this weekend. We saw plenty of bucks and does. But the ranch we hunt is lightly pressured. Many times the way a place is hunted will be a detriment to the hunting itself. Don't get out of your blind and assigned hunting areas mean lots of traffic going back and forth to blinds all season. How many hunters per acre are you hunting? Places being over hunted with too many hunters are often times still "managed".

How much did you check reference wise on the leases your hunting? It could be regardless of what way you hunt there is just not a balanced deer herd with mature animals that exists. This should be your starting point for a good deer lease.
Step two is disturb as little as possible. Scout your lease on Google earth before you ever walk it. Find the water and where the travel routes overlap from different directions, ideally all four; north, south east and west.

I started hunting a new pasture this year, 5600 acres. Just my brother and I. He lives out of state so it was up to me to determine a game plan for where are sets would be. I pretty much knew where I was going to place all six set locations before I stepped foot on the pasture. The sets have been very productive so far. I don't check cameras during the season and I buy feeders that hold alot of feed so I don't have to visit the sets regularly during the season. I put out cameras and check before the hunting starts. And will start again in the off season.

I place my blinds at least 200 yards away from the feeder. This puts the odds much more in my favor my scent won't be detected. I put alot of thought into how I approach and where I park for as little disturbance as possible in the deers every day routine. Also, I don't overhunt one stand. Hunting one stand over and over is a recipe for disaster IMO. The deer are going to pattern you no matter how hard you try to prevent it.

I agree with the bulk of this... I don't want to check cards, feeders, fill feeders, etc until we are headed out or at least thru with that feeder for a week or so. I'll swap SD cards, fill and adjust feeders, etc, and get out quickly. Check the cards at home and plan the next hunt.

As for the wind, all true for close in, and near elevation. In the Pease River bottoms, we have a lot of places with vast elevation changes, and mostly gun hunt at 1st of November, so wind/scent is negligible.

Noise and strange vehicles bother me, and I think the deer too.

I've read nothing but your title, so here goes. This season was more nonrelaxed for the bucks than I've seen in decades. I'd see oneeewait!!, nevemind!! It was another cracked out runner. Edgy bucks in wild free range settings for sure. Lots of unstable air masses and fluctuating temps and crazy weather. Hell the moon patterns were even worthless. May be evolution, who knows.

Too wet and too much natural foods. Hunting pressure from neighbors on low fence properties. Low deer population on property. Being patterned by the deer. All valid reasons for the poor season seems most have experienced.

Being able to hunt a new 5600 acre pasture would be much different than what I experience.

the two MLD properties i hunt sometimes shut down prior to the legal end of their permit due to other commitments on the property that are non-hunting related;

the blinds are set along routes (to drive to) that may seem to lend them to be overused, but the number of hunters is limited for each hunting period.
One property is 8900 acres with about 25-30 ground blinds (open for +10 years); the other is 11,000+ acres but has only been open 2 years or so with less than 10 blinds.

I'm sure hogs have run deer off some feeders as that's the only tracks i see after filling the feeder (at certain stands); a management plan for
these is in the works. the only variable i'm not sure about is if other hunters spook the blinds by not being as careful with noise and all the other things that can spoil a spot.

thanks for all your comments; i'm starting to listen to some of the podcast posted by JKW & they are very helpful in shortening the learning curve.

IMO that's way too many blinds on 8900 acres.

Probably don’t have feeders on them and they road corn

Oh just re-read brown county, damn that’s a lot of feeders to keep up with.

Hunting MLD's Depends on "luck of the draw". You get a blind with heavy deer traffic, your chances for success escalate.
Use TP&W data to find the MLD with the HIGEST overall success rate...Go there.

Huh?

if you are hunting doe in Bastrop county, you better check regs.....

There are MLD properties that get permits for does in Bastrop county. I knew several people that hunted on MLD in Bastrop

What part of hunt the MLD with the highest success rate do you not understand??

Do you know what MLD is? You best not be trespassing on private property. I suspect you mean WMA's?

Deer Hunting is just like the ball sports. There will always be lean years when you have to focus on rebuilding for the future.

MLD was put into place to allow landowners to control numbers. The dumb deer have been killed off at the blinds and the smart ones know to avoid them during the season once the traffic/shooting begins. Throw in the fact that this year had a huge mast crops and then a lot of rain, the deer did not need to come to corn. If a ranch is has 25 blinds on 8900 acres and shooting 200 does, they are killing 8 does per blind. I would do my best to try to hunt any place but a blind at this time of the year. They need more blinds and rest them for longer periods between hunts.

It was the weirdest year in memory at my place in east TX. Movement of mature deer during daylight hours was practically non-existent until late in the season (which is usually a very slow time).

Many in deep east TX had similar reports.

I hunted many, many hours during October/November and saw one good buck - which I killed. He was chasing a doe and they were out and visible for maybe 20 seconds. If I had been on my phone or looking in another direction I never would have seen them.

Wet doesn’t begin to decsribe the water we have had. I’m sure that played a major role in the strange year.

If possible, try to hunt a blind where you can see in other directions, and not just watching over a feeder.
The feeder will keep the deer in the area, but I can't remember shooting a deer over a feeder in the last several years.
I might glance over at the feeder now and then, but I concentrate on the sendero's or lanes where I hand scatter corn, as that is where the deer prefer to be.
It's been a tough year with just too much rain, and too much of everything for the deer to eat.

My toughest/worst year ever just South of Bowie. The deer, for some reason went nocturnal prior to bow season. I've owned the place for about 35 years and never experienced that.