Some deer hunting help please!

[kyle7630]

Ok, I know I can can count on my BYC pals to lend me a hand here. I want to know how close is too close to ride my four wheeler in to where I'm hunting. From my house, it's just too far to walk to my stand. I'm thinking maybe I could get within about 200 yards or so, and then walk on in. Is this a bad strategy??? Could I get closer? This is my first season so any help would be much appreciated. TIA.

 

[lurky]

We used to park ours right under the tree we had a stand in and we had a deer walk right up and check it out. I think if its where you ride normally, they are used to the sounds and smells. Good Luck Hunting

 

[Birch Run Farm]

I've never used machinery to get to a hunting stand, though I have used my tractor to haul a deer through the pasture to the barn. That's after I dragged it out of the woods and got it under the pasture fence.

How is it your stand can be too far away to walk to it? Describe the terrain you need to traverse to get there.

Keep in mind machinery scares off wildlife and you may be infringing upon another hunter if you are on public land. If you really need to drive to your stand 200 yards is close enough. I would stay further away than that if it were me.

Good luck on your first hunt.

 

[maplesky7]

point and shoot....

oops...that wasn't the question.


me,
g

 

[SterlingAcres]

Quote:

Seriously though, we've rode quads probably about 100 yds to the stands and let them sit.

Good luck

 

[Mahonri]

Guess it depends upon where your stand is.

If it's in an area where there is lots of off road traffic, you could probably drive right to it.

If its an area where there isn't a lot of off road traffic you could mess up another hunters hopes and you could scare the wildlife away.

I watched my dad once get up one morning sit next to the truck we had driven up the mountain in, and with his gun sitting next to him, used his binoculars to scan the hillside to the south of us. He picked up his gun and shot a nice two point buck with one shot. And he didn't have a scope and it was almost 300 yards away. The buck was laying down in the shade and was probably looking at us. Dad was lucky I guess.

 

[kyle7630]

My spot is at the back of about a 100 acre tract of private land behind my tract, which I live in the middle of. It's a good distance from me to the stand as the crow flies. The farm road and trail to it is long, winding, and very hilly. I have walked it before and it wore me slap out. Not sure I want to do it again with all of my gear and a climbing stand to boot...in the dark. I ride the land every day to keep an eye on it for the owner, and just for fun. There will be no other hunters on it, well not with consent anyway, so I'm not worried about them. I was guessing a couple hundred yards would be ok, I just wanted some conformation. Thanks for the responses.

 

[ninjapoodles]

I'm a deer-widow tonight.

I know that Hubs and BIL can drive 4-wheelers all the way up to their stands, but they stash their rides about 1/2-mile away and walk in. Then they walk out to retrieve the 4-wheelers if they have a deer to carry out.

OTOH, here at the house, we have seven dogs, 4 horses, forty-leven chickens and turkeys, and tons of activity happening on our five rocky little acres, yet deer come right into our yard regularly. The morning I took my mom to the hospital last month, I had to stop in my own driveway and let SEVEN deer cross!

 

[ninjapoodles]

Can you set up your stand and gear ahead of time, and just leave it there for a little while so you don't have to carry it every time?

 

[lowcountrypoultry]

If you get there early you can park very close. Give it enough time to settle down again.

You want to be kinda close because you might kill a MONSTER that weighs alot, and you dont want to have to drag to far.

Best of Luck!