Is this normal? or I just had a bad luck.

[Shawn1878]

Is it normal that you sit on the tree stand in the woods all day long and didn't see any deer at all? I mean, Not even ONE. I have been hunting this place more than 10 times, only saw a Doe and it was like 40 yards away.The reason I hunt this place a lot cuz it's only 10 mins away from my house. I think I picked a "Not bad" spot which next to a lot of old rubs, some fresh rubs and deer droping.  There are also few trails near by. It's kinda weird that you srounded by lots of deer signs but hardly see any deer. Feel kinda disappointed but won't give up.

Do I need to switch to different  spot if I keep hunting  in the same area? Leave the place rest for few days before next hunt?

As always, appreciate the useful tips from you guys.

Stay safe, good luck hunting!

[10point]

8 minutes ago, Shawn1878 said:

Is it normal that you sit on the tree stand in the woods all day long and didn't see any deer at all? I mean, Not even ONE. I have been hunting this place more than 10 times, only saw a Doe and it was like 40 yards away.The reason I hunt this place a lot cuz it's only 10 mins away from my house. I think I picked a "Not bad" spot which next to a lot of old rubs, some fresh rubs and deer droping.  There are also few trails near by. It's kinda weird that you srounded by lots of deer signs but hardly see any deer. Feel kinda disappointed but won't give up.

Do I need to switch to different  spot if I keep hunting  in the same area? Leave the place rest for few days before next hunt?

As always, appreciate the useful tips from you guys.

Stay safe, good luck hunting!

If its public land thats normal at least the places i have been to not all  but a lot of them are like that.

If its private usually it's much better  then that 

Edited November 5, 2016 by 10point

[The_Field_Ager]

It's quite normal, even on private plots made up of timber. If you have field/farm access, I would expect more sightings. I have had just one Buck sighting from stand this year, even though deer are around. I have seen doe just twice. Weird year.

[moog5050]

Do you have knowledge of where deer bed, travel (including direction morning and evening) , and food sources?  Once you put that together, you will know if you are sitting in the right spot for the proper winds and times.  Could just be low deer density but I would confirm the foregoing. You may just be giving the deer a heads up long before you see them.  As phade once told me, if you cant give 4 or 5 good reasons for a stand site and sit, you should probably not sit there. 

[The_Field_Ager]

Just as with property investment, it is all about location location location

[The_Field_Ager]

John Eberhart talks about the fact that some plots of medium size, say 40 acres, may only have 1 corner where regular action occurs, due to food and bedding locations. It can take a while to zero on on such areas. We have had surrounding house construction in recent times. This has also dramatically effected patterns.

[moog5050]

I have 40 acres and the neighbor is doing work on the creek that borders our lands for better drainage.  The heavy equipment/work site is pinching deer down to our benefit.  I had 7 or 8 bucks pass a cam only 100yds from the equipment last night.  Knowing the land is key. Owned it for 4 years and still learning it. But we seem to be putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

[NFA-ADK]

Try another spot.  If you have hunted this place 10 times and only seen one deer then I would  try another spot.  The spot you are in might be a good buck spot early season from the rubs you say are present but the bucks leave that area this time of year in search for doe. 

Find where the doe are and you will have better luck at seeing deer.   Worst case I would at least give that area a rest for a week or so, you do not know how many others are hunting the area, if it has high presser the deer tend to avoid these locations during the day and will go back in the dark. 

If you had more doe I would say stick with it but with only one sighting I would say to try another spot.  Ask around the area if your local!  One of them might let you in and this could be the area the deer are using when the presser is on!

 

Good luck, hope you get some better action, and don't give up this next 2 weeks are prime time!!!

[DanielT]

May just be night movement...do you have cameras

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[Buckmaster7600]

Hunted 10 times saw 1 deer. I would have been moving 8 sits ago.

Sometimes 80 yards can be a game changer.


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[The_Real_TCIII]

Figure out how they get to that area and move in that direction


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[Jmp209]

I've been hunting different areas with a friend all season and even though were only a couple hundred yards apart normally, he sees way more deer than I do and gets way more shots. Haha and these are all spots I invited him to. He must have a pocket full of those fire balls

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[jmp5008]

I've been moving my stand all over the woods trying to find the deer. First you look for sign and well used trails. Set up there for am and pm. Now the weather changes everything. If it's windy or rainy they do things differently than if it's clear and cold out. Also during the rut there is no real pattern just deers trying to bang. Then come gun season the deer are scared shitless they just run around like idiots.

Once you find a spot and you see deer. Move the stand near where you see the deer.

But like I said gun season is a crap shoot. Some deer go nocturnal and some deer just run around like dummies. Still you want to sit near a game trail but you want to go deeper into the woods cause everyone will be pressuring them to go hide

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[Huntscreek]

You need to see why deer would be there. Is it past through cover? is there feed on one or both sides? Deer need a reason to use land Bed, Food are you best places to setup. You don't want to setup in a place where deer have been you want to setup where they want to go. Some places are night time active only, yes you may see one during the day. Set up a cam and scout the area around there.

[Shawn1878]

On November 5, 2016 at 2:42 PM, NFA-ADK said:

Try another spot.  If you have hunted this place 10 times and only seen one deer then I would  try another spot.  The spot you are in might be a good buck spot early season from the rubs you say are present but the bucks leave that area this time of year in search for doe. 

Find where the doe are and you will have better luck at seeing deer.   Worst case I would at least give that area a rest for a week or so, you do not know how many others are hunting the area, if it has high presser the deer tend to avoid these locations during the day and will go back in the dark. 

If you had more doe I would say stick with it but with only one sighting I would say to try another spot.  Ask around the area if your local!  One of them might let you in and this could be the area the deer are using when the presser is on!

 

Good luck, hope you get some better action, and don't give up this next 2 weeks are prime time!!!

 

Thanks for the info. I have seen 2-3 tree stands in that area, it's a really high presser area. I'll figure out another spot.

[Shawn1878]

On November 5, 2016 at 3:53 PM, DanielT said:

May just be night movement...do you have cameras

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you're right, I checked one of my camera which is not far from my stand, I saw more deer during night time than daytime. Hope the when the rut kicks in, they will show up during the day.