[gecko4life]

Well I am in southern IL and this is my first year hunting here. I am from Oregon and have gotten 5-6 bucks with my 30-06 rifle over 10 years ago. I listened to all of my good friends who hunt and 3 of them got 3-4 deer last year but I am getting fustrated some.

I have tried to do everything by the book, washing all clothes in scent free soap and dryer sheets, neutralizer scent on everything that can't be washed. I also bought a Alpine Frontier bow this year and have been shooting it for about 4 months and was doing it 5 days a week for about 1 hour for the last month. I bought a good tree climber and go 20-25 feet up in the air. I am blessed by the fact that I have 3 pieces of private property I can hunt with one being atleast 200 acres and the smallest being 20 acres.

Been hunting 5 times so far this year (got really sick with flu for 1 1/2 weeks) and missed alot of time there. I have only hunted from one tree so far but it is at a intersection of 3 trails that leads from a corn field down into "the bottoms" where the swamp is. I have not even seen one deer even with tracks all over. The closest I got to shooting an animal was a coyote came down the trail and at 20 yards I gave a quiet grunt and he stopped broadside. The owner said to shoot them but I didn't want to ruin my hunt so I let him go by. It would be one thing to see some deer and be out of range or spook them off before I could shoot but so far I just haven't even seen one. Fustrating because my friends have seen deer and the owner even got a shot off at a large buck only about 200 yards from my stand but the buck bolted before the arrow hit. Not sure what I am doing wrong.

 

[Hunting Man]

I don't think your doing anything wrong, in fact it sounds like you are very good at all the small things needed to put the odds in your favor. A few years ago I hunted 5 days in PA before I ever saw a deer, this is in a very high populated area. My buddies were seing deer every day. I stuck it out and shot a small 6 pt. You have a lot of property to hunt so you could try a different area just to break the bordum. The deer are there you just need to find them. Good luck!

 

[gecko4life]

Thank you for the response. I am trying to do everything right to give me the best chance possible. This weekend I am going to hunt 40 acres that is 1/2 surrounded by corn fields and the other 1/2 surrounded by bean fields. Since it has a water hole there and is all timber I have to believe that I will see a deer there.

 

[BruceBruce1959]

Greetings from Vermont & Welcome to the Club.
I don't think you're doing anything wrong, sometimes that's just the way it goes, sounds to me like one problem is the coyote.
Chances of deer coming in while there's a coyote wandering the area are slim.
I'm sure you'll have better luck when you get setup around the corn/Bean fields.
It happens to all of us but man it sure does get frustrating when it happens.

Good Luck!!

 

[mattjt4]

Tough luck

We have the same problem on our farm in Indiana. Overpopulation of coyotes. Typically I've noticed that I can see a coyote and 10 minutes after he's gone deer move through. We've come to the conclusion (right or wrong) that coyotes are a part of nature. Deer are used to their scent being in the woods, don't let one going through discourage you from hunting that stand. I've hunted about 9-10 days this season so far, and I've seen 2 coyotes. I've also seen in the neighborhood of 20 deer in the same area.
I'm much like you, I'm a scent conscious nut. I wash my clothes in scent free, bath in scent free soap, use scent free deodorant, wear rubber boots, and spray down with earth scent before I leave. NONE of this makes you totally scent free. But it does however make you much less of a scent post in the woods. I went nearly 4 days on a stand before I even saw a deer, just put in the time, and it'll happen. I hunt a creek bottom with a swamp to my back so it's a very similar situation it sounds. I'm confident you could set anywhere long enough and see something. Good luck and happy hunting!

 

[gecko4life]

Well this weekend I finally got a chance at a buck. He was a little 4 pointer but this would have been my first chance to shot at anything in 13 years since I just started hunting again and with a bow. He walked to within 20 yards of my stand and was standing broadside for awhile. he was just walking along and putting his head up in the air and licking the tree branches. I let him go by because I thought my buddy had a stand up and the buck would have walked to within 10 yards of it if he kept down the path it was going. I figured to let him shot it since my shot was 20 yards and a few branches in front of the buck. Long story short my buddy did not put his stand up where he said he was and the buck walked right by. Seen a doe that night but she would never get from behind this tree.

 

[BigBuckDown]

If you know who is on the property regularly and feel comfortable maybe you should try a game camera. I know it's a little late and when the rut gets going full bore their patterns will change some, but at least you can get a feel of when they are most active in your area.

I would shoot the coyote too.