acwatkins
Active Member
Ive only been hunting about a dozen times but haven't even seen a deer yet to take a shot lol. Just curious to see how long it took for you guys to get your first one.
How Long Did It Take For Your First Deer?
- Thread starter acwatkins
- Start date
The #1 community for Gun Owners of the Northeast
Member Benefits:
No ad networks! Discuss all aspects of firearm ownership Discuss anti-gun legislation Buy, sell, and trade in the classified section Chat with Local gun shops, ranges, trainers & other businesses Discover free outdoor shooting areas View up to date on firearm-related events Share photos & video with other members ...and so much more!
Member Benefits:
kstone803
Official Meat Getter
Shot one my first day out. But some years I shoot 3 in a day and sometimes I go weeks without seeing anything. I would say though that if you've been out 12 times and seen nothing then you need to find a new spot. Hunting deer is all about finding them.
campns
Ultimate Member
On average 1 hour, but it depends on:
1. How much you scout
2. Weather
3. How many other hunters to stir them up
1. How much you scout
2. Weather
3. How many other hunters to stir them up
budman93
Ultimate Member
First day I ever went. I was 12 or 13 and it was youth day. I went with a guy from my church who had some land and a nice ladder stand. about 40 minutes after light two deer came walking in from the left. Looked like a large doe and a smaller doe. He tells me to shoot the larger one. I take the shot, the deer pauses and looks around, then continues walking to the right and behind some brush. He says "looks like you missed, shoot the other one." So I shoot at the other one and the same thing happens. It looked like I missed both. Then after a few minutes both deer went down. Nearly perfect double lung shots on both. They ended up being a large doe and a button buck. I was hunting with a 20ga rem 870 rifled barrel with sabot slugs.
Bertfish
Throw bread on me
Killed one on my first and (so far) only day out last season
iH8DemLibz
When All Else Fails.
- Jul 29, 2014
- 50,029
Took me 3-4 years hunting public land. Back then there weren't very many deer.
Embarrassing amount of years BUT after breaking my cherry it got easier and easier. Sit quiet and not smoking helped a LOT. Buck fever I mssed several easy shots including one 2 feet away! Remove safety! LOLOLOL
dist1646
Ultimate Member
About 30 min after I came out of that forest of orange. It was an 8 point that dressed out at 190lbs. It was pouring down rain that day too! Just after I shot it, a 6 point walked by so close that I could have literally have reached out and touched him. After dragging that big deer out, I took him home and showed my daughter. What happened next was priceless. She ran back into the house bawling that "Daddy shot Rudolph!". Once I brought her back out and showed her that it was not Rudolph because he had no red nose, she was fine with it. There is no way you can get away with shooting the lead reindeer on Santa's sleigh!
davsco
Ultimate Member
as a teenager I went deer hunting a few times in western md (green ridge and savage river/new Germany forests). never saw a thing but also never put any scouting or research time in.
put some time in hitting up farms, orchards and tree farms to see if they'd let you hunt as the deer trash all their crops and trees. that or do your homework and find some public land adjacent to these places.
heck I have recently been hunting a 20 acre parcel where the first half dozen times out I saw nothing then I relocated to the other side and within an hour had a deer in the truck. location, location, location...
put some time in hitting up farms, orchards and tree farms to see if they'd let you hunt as the deer trash all their crops and trees. that or do your homework and find some public land adjacent to these places.
heck I have recently been hunting a 20 acre parcel where the first half dozen times out I saw nothing then I relocated to the other side and within an hour had a deer in the truck. location, location, location...
ma_deuce
Ultimate Member
If I could hunt in the street in front of my house, maybe 15 seconds after I walk out my front door.
Weak_Hand_Only
Active Member
- Mar 17, 2010
- 326
Started archery hunting January of 2014, went out about 5 times and saw NOTHING. Damn near froze to death twice. My first day out this season was on the 5th and after 5 more outings I finally got my first doe. A big one, 127lbs after dress. Since then I've been out no less than 20 times and still haven't shot my 2nd.
acwatkins
Active Member
Yea theres definitely deer lol, my hunts have been between 2 places; private land on the shore hunting a feeder(trailcam shows some nice bucks) and public land out in garret county(tons of tracks and jellybeans in the snow). The only thing I don't like is that both of those spots are areas the guys ive been with have shot deer a while back and they just put me there. Ive never actually went out, scouted for them myself, and hunted.
- Jul 29, 2014
- 50,029
Time to start reading up on it. Tons of good stuff out there on deer hunting. A good mag for newbs is DEER AND DEER HUNTING. There are others too. Stick to mags dedicated to deer hunting and pay more attention to articles pertaining to your general region as in 'Eastern'.
foxtrapper
Ultimate Member
First time, same day. Bunch of stupid deer who used the property as their place to hide from hunters. 2nd deer, same deal, but she was a plain stupid big doe. She hadn't yet learned that hunting was taking place in the protected spot. 3rd time trying I hit 1 but couldn't find it. The reason for the bad hit was the herd was lead by a smart herd doe who winded me and got the rest riled up. The wind kept shifting that day.
Now I am having the same issue as with deer 3, but in a new area. These deer are hunted and wary and one group has a damned smart herd doe who looks up. None of this saunter out at 4pm and act stupid stuff. No they saunter out at 4:30 and 4:45 so far. The 4:30 pair stayed in the shadow and brushy stuff. The 4:45 group has a smarty pants doe. I'd like to try morning hunting, but driving in the dark half asleep is not my thing. I'm thinking about just staying up all night on caffeine then trying it. That still doesn't help with things like shifting wind, deer that no-show, and deer that look up and spot me. I am going to put some milsurp camo stuff around the stand's shooting rail to help blend me in, though it has a weird musty smell I hope doesn't spook the deer. I don't how these guys who shoot deer all the time while smoking and moving around on a stand do it unless they are rifle hunting with a scope and shooting deer in open spaces at 200 yards.
Now I am having the same issue as with deer 3, but in a new area. These deer are hunted and wary and one group has a damned smart herd doe who looks up. None of this saunter out at 4pm and act stupid stuff. No they saunter out at 4:30 and 4:45 so far. The 4:30 pair stayed in the shadow and brushy stuff. The 4:45 group has a smarty pants doe. I'd like to try morning hunting, but driving in the dark half asleep is not my thing. I'm thinking about just staying up all night on caffeine then trying it. That still doesn't help with things like shifting wind, deer that no-show, and deer that look up and spot me. I am going to put some milsurp camo stuff around the stand's shooting rail to help blend me in, though it has a weird musty smell I hope doesn't spook the deer. I don't how these guys who shoot deer all the time while smoking and moving around on a stand do it unless they are rifle hunting with a scope and shooting deer in open spaces at 200 yards.
iH8DemLibz
When All Else Fails.
If there's sign, there's deer.
As others have mentioned, and not knowing your hunting style, remain absolutely quiet and absolutely still.
Doing anything other than breathing and blinking are sure fire ways to walk out of the woods without a deer.
A clear shot can come and go in less than 10 seconds. Also, the bright glow of a smart phone screen will damage your ability to see in low light conditions for a very long time.
Stay with it and good luck.
If you're like me and have a tendency to nod off between chapters in a book..... tie yourself in.
- Jul 29, 2014
- 50,029
Ah, that's better.
engineerbrian
JMB fan club
Years for me!
Now I'm in a target rich environment so its a little easier
Now I'm in a target rich environment so its a little easier
Users who are viewing this thread
Forum statistics
Latest threads
-
Timonium Gun Show April 27-28 (Timonium Fairgrounds Exhibition Hall)
- Started by joro55
- Replies: 0
-
-
-
-
-
Convicted For Building Guns; Judge says, “Do not bring the Second Amendment into this courtroom” (3 Viewers)- Started by Harrys
- Replies: 1
-
