The HuntingPA.com Outdoor Community banner

Time to Bail ?

3K views 20 replies 17 participants last post by  35 whelen 
#1 · (Edited)
Just looking for others thoughts on this subject. Say it’s right around the rut and you head out to your stand in the morning with high expectations. You know it’s a good location that you have been waiting all year to hunt and this particular days conditions are perfect. Because of this you plan on doing an all day sit or at least staying in the tree for several hours. What sort of factors could possibly happen that you simply won’t tolerate and cause you to bail. I will give some examples.
1. Wind shifting and blowing the wrong direction.
2. A deer winding you and blowing for an extended period of time.
3. Being there for four or five hours without seeing a thing.
4. Rain or wind gusts upwards of 30 mph
5. Small game hunters shooting close to your location.
6. Having another hunter or hunters walk through your area leaving ground scent on the trails you’re watching.
7. Having a buck you feel is probably one of the bigger ones in the area bust you and spook.

I have experienced all of these things over the years and I am sure many of you have as well. Some of these experiences can be pretty deflating. So what’s your tolerance level ? When do you feel enough is enough and your odds will be better if you get down and move ? Have you ever held tight riding it out and come out of it being successful that day ?

I have had deer blow at me and shot bucks shortly after. Also had bucks spook and shot a different one later on. Sometimes I get down and move on and other times I stay. The one thing that makes me move everytime is when a hunter walks through my area or sets up close to me. I usually wait for about an hour after he is gone and move somewhere else.

Just curious how you guys handle these situations ?
 
See less See more
#3 ·
1. Wind shifting and blowing the wrong direction. - I'm outta there.

2. A deer winding you and blowing for an extended period of time. - Depends, see #1.

3. Being there for four or five hours without seeing a thing. - I'm staying, it only takes a minute to change your day.

4. Rain or wind gusts upwards of 30 mph - I'm outta there.

5. Small game hunters shooting close to your location. - Depends. How close are they, are they moving or sitting? Usually I'm staying, see #6.

6. Having another hunter or hunters walk through your area leaving ground scent on the trails you’re watching. - If they're just passing through, I'm staying.

7. Having a buck you feel is probably one of the bigger ones in the area bust you and spook. - I'm staying, see #3.
 
#6 ·
I agree with Loridr. The only exception is I seldom ever sit in the same stand for the entire day unless I am seeing deer. If it is slow then I am moving to another stand. Many times I don't move far, but I will usually move in the afternoon. Although most of the time #1 on the list is part of the reason. I sit in the morning based upon thermals rising. In the evening they will reverse and sink. Therefore many times my morning stand may not be the best for evening. When I move, I move slowly because with the rut you still have just as good of a chance to see deer. By moving in the midday this breaks up the monotony a little and allows me to stretch my legs.

As far as wind and rain. The rain doesn't bother me. 30mph winds and I will find a place to get out of the wind. Or at least where there is no trees to fall on me. LOL.
 
#9 ·
I can sit all day without seeing deer. By the end of October I am confident enough that I know a buck can come in at any time. With that being said I have done sits where I ended up not seeing a deer all day. There have also been times where I was seeing deer movement but got down and moved anyway. There have also been several occasions where I have shot one after I moved but at the same time I will never know if a move cost me an opportunity either. Guess I just kind of go with my gut. I do a handful of all day sits every year but I always end up shooting them the first few hours in the morning or last couple hours in the evening. I have yet to kill one between the hours of 11:00 am and 3:30 pm. I know a lot of other guys are successful during those hours but I never seem to have any luck in the afternoon. There have been times when I have seen nice ones cruising or chasing but never had one of them in bow range.
 
#10 ·
I have killed early and late, but the 10-2 timeframe has been pretty good during the rut.

I tend to go with my gut as well. One thing I hate about running trail cameras during season is you sometimes see what you missed. :grin2:
 
#11 ·
The rut is the rut. The bucks get crazy and their "fear" shields are way down. I've grunted 'em in, rattled 'em in, and just stayed in the same place for weeks before one or more would show up. The rut is unpredictable. But that's what makes it fun.
 
#15 ·
I killed the biggest buck of my life November 5th this year. Was drizzling. I was cold. Wind was slight but swirling. My cameras were basically all nocturnal activity on my property. We have big bucks but they are smart. I drove four hours in the morning all for that evening hunt which would be my only hunt for the entire year because I’m deployed now. It all came together when I grunted him to me half hour before end of shooting hours.

I’ve killed deer in blizzard conditions. High winds. Torrential rains. Hot weather. Bitter cold. Combinations of it all. Been terribly discouraged and ready to go back to the house. But that’s hunting. Pick the best times and do it. If it comes together that’s great, if not, enjoy it. We get one go around in this existence, take advantage of every second to live.
 
#16 ·
Only the high winds would cause me to think about calling it a day. I don't like windy days. It's noisy, deer can't trust their ears. Everything is moving around (branches, brush) deer can't trust their eyes. With a stiff wind their #1 defense in their nose is not too useful. So I think they just hunker down all skittish until it gets dark.


I won't bow hunt in a lot of rain. While it is great to see them fall after a perfect shot, you might need that blood trail if you make less than a perfect shot. I personally do not want to put myself through that, I will wait it out.
 
#17 ·
I bow hunt in light rain but if it’s a downpour I won’t. One thing I got from another forum is possibly wearing chest waders during heavier rain days. Sounds ridiculous until you give it some serious thought.

As far as the rut goes......this season has me more perplexed than ever. I would do all day sits and see lots of doe but no bucks. I hunted great funnels that I had success in for many years only to get skunked for the day. There were times I would see bucks cruising and chasing but out of range . I would move into that specific area mid afternoon or hunt it the next day and only see doe. I also hunted several locations with the one and done method without much luck. Perhaps I could of done things differently but it just seems so random. Some days they could be locked down with a doe or perhaps a hot doe pulled them away from my location. Lots of different factors. All I know is I wasn’t in the right place at the right time and I have no better understanding of the rut now then I did 20 years ago.
 
#19 ·
I'm anal about the wind but during the rut,they can come from just about anywhere at any time.On the last friday of the season,I had a buck come charging right at last light from completely down wind.I almost touched the release but let him walk.The next day I hunted a different stand and rattled in and killed an even bigger buck that came directly down wind.I'm sure neither deer smelled me but the thermals must have blown my scent right over them.If I feel good about a spot,I've leaned over the years to just go with my gut.Generally a fair amount of thought went into why I went to that spot to begin with.
 
#20 ·
1. Wind shifting and blowing the wrong direction. - Packing up and moving.

2. A deer winding you and blowing for an extended period of time. - All depends & see #1

3. Being there for four or five hours without seeing a thing. - Sat last year on Nov 3rd for four hours. Didn't see a thing. Gave a few grunts, in came a nice 8pt which I promptly shot.

4. Rain or wind gusts upwards of 30 mph. - See #3

5. Small game hunters shooting close to your location. - Passing thru, I'm staying. Posted up close by, I'm moving.

6. Having another hunter or hunters walk through your area leaving ground scent on the trails you’re watching. - Nope

7. Having a buck you feel is probably one of the bigger ones in the area bust you and spook. - Few years back, had a heavy dark rack buck bust me as I was drawing. Twenty minutes later I shot a similar buck. Stayin'
 
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top