Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Tree stand in the morning.

I am finding it a challenge to get to my stand without spooking deer 🦌.

Any suggestions........I am hunting archery.

Don't worry about it. There's nothing you can do but keep walking and get in your stand. There's more deer in the woods, at least around here. The fact that your jumping deer when you're walking in is a good sign that they like to hang out there. Be patient and they will come.

^ ^ ^ this

Just settle in, get concealed and still and quiet,
and likely as not the same deer will come right
back by after some time. Most likely if they're
like the ones I've hunted, they just go a short
distance away, just far enough to feel safe.
If you're quiet and still and concealed and not
silhouetted, the curiosity will get the best of
them and likely as not they'll come back to see
what that thing was that was moving around

Good luck

Don’t hunt in the morning in that spot.

If you spook em out more than once you can probably pull that stand down.

Bowhunter I used to know would walk in to his stand in the pre-dawn dark and bring a turkey call with him and do some hen clucking on the way in. He said unless he was real close to the deer they would think nothing of that noise in the woods if they heard turkeys. I asked him if hens cluck in the dark and at that time of day they are all still roosted. He claimed that the deer know that sound and even in the dark it won't spook them. I never tried it but I just might give it a shot this year.

Ask the gun writers

This

If you are blowing them out in the am going in there, it should be a clear indicator that you are in their feeding area. Hunt it in the PM only for now...

Agree with those who say hunt the PM. Or find a different route to the stand. I have a couple spots that my entry and exit routes are different based on what time of day I’m hunting.

If you’re spooking them with sounds of walking in or setting up you may get away with several times but of they’re spooking due to smelling you, you’ll kill that stand pretty quickly.

This is a tough one without knowing specifics. Is this agricultural type land or big timber?
Are you too close to bedding? Do you have alternate access points?

I'm rarely OK with bumping deer en route to stand sites - especially in areas with medium-to-low deer numbers.

But if there's no way around it, I'll do so only if my scent isn't blowing them out. And the cadence of my walking shifts to that of a deer - slow, inconsistent steps - stopping often and varying the stop times.

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Yep .

most of the time you spook a trophy buck once.

I try to walk in as quiet as I can. I hate spooking them. I try to get there way early.

In addition to the heat this time of year (well except this year), I quit bow hunting due to frustration from jumping deer before daylight. Our bow season is Sept 15-30 and it always seems the mature deer are on their feet more than usual right before first light this time of year. Incidentally I pulled camera cards on Saturday and my pictures confirmed as such

I got my eyes on one good buck. Got to 125 yards from him. He was directly under the stand jousting with his buddies, I backed out .I will quit going in there and wait for rifle season.

It's a fence line of cottonwoods and it is just too close to their " comfort" zone IMO.

Hopefully more brush and trees will make it better for archery , but I am 57 so it won't get real good except for the next guy that owns it. Unless I live and hunt into my eighties.

If the neighbor let me hunt, it would be a different deal.....he has a pivot of alfalfa butted up to BLM so they usually pass about 30 yards , but on his side of the fence.

It has cooled off enough to start hunting elk anyways!

Thanks for your advice.

It may sound goofy, but sometimes I trot or run into a stand in such circumstances. Rather than trying to be sneaky (predator) the deer often react differently to something running by, NOT at them. I've even walked right up on elk when just tromping along and not being in stealth mode. Things walk and run through the woods all day long.

I swear, the best way to sneak into the woods in the midwest is to carry and running chainsaw or driving a tractor. Try tiptoeing and everything gets spooky.

DJB that is very good advice!

I agree totally.....the other day I was riding an bicycle. The deer out feeding were amazed and let me pedal right up.

In a tractor......they don't even look up ......just keep munching.

They get real accustomed to tractors. Years ago my old boss was hauling out a load of firewood on a tractor lane in his woods and drove by a nice, bedded buck less than 20 yds. away. He could see the rack through the brush and the deer never moved and he just drove on by. Got home, grabbed his slug gun, and walked around to the back side of the woods to have the breeze in his favor. Stalked in behind the buck and shot him in his bed from about 25 yds.

This.

Also, if I get a doe "blowing" at me in the dark, I blow back and then walk a little bit. If she blows again, I blow again and stop for awhile. It usually works because I think they think you are another deer clearing their nose holes to try and scent the same thing they are hearing.

I have mostly had to do that on the way out of the stand after dark in the evening but it has worked in both AM and PM.