I mentioned in another thread about having only killed 3 deer, and that I might just be one of those "unlucky hunters". So I wanted to explain a bit more about my "experience".
Practically all my deer hunting has been on private land - ranches in Texas owned by friends of my dad, leases in North Carolina, North Florida and Georgia held by a hunting club my dad formed with friends and clients.
I don't get to hunt very often. Years have gone by (like the last 2) where I don't even get a chance to go. When I do get a chance, it is rarely under optimum conditions. I can't recall EVER being in the woods hunting during the rut. I've been there just prior, when the rubs start getting fresh and the first scrapes are being made. I've also been there a week too late, when the only thing still chasing does are the spikes who didn't get any during the real rut.
Have you ever been out in the woods when the moon is full or close to it, so bright that you can read a license plate from 50 yards, and count the deer out in the peanut field at 11pm without a spotlight? They feed all night, and then head into the swamps well before dawn to spend the day sleeping. Guess what? Those are probably the only 2 or 3 days I'll get to go hunting.
I've seen lots of deer over the years, especially considering the limited time I have been able to be out in the woods. You know how when you sit in a ladder stand, there's that one angle that no matter what you do, if a deer comes in that way you can't get off a shot? I've seen more deer from that angle than I can count.
I won't take a risky shot. If I'm not sure I can make a kill I don't squeeze the trigger. During black powder 2 years ago, I had three bucks stand and feed across a food plot one morning, 30 yards past my 100 yard marker. I wasn't sure if I could make a clean kill at 130 yards with the BP, so I didn't shoot. Thirty minutes later a big doe came out 40 yards away and I took her.
My first deer was interesting. We were in North Carolina. I was on a tripod stand along a trail running between two old sweet potato fields. I'd seen a doe with a yearling a few minutes before, and she kept looking back as she walked along the trail toward my stand from about 200 yards away. I was hoping a nice buck would come out, so I let her go. About 120 yards from my stand she turned and went into the bushes. A minute or two later, another doe came out, alone. She followed the same trail, sometimes sniffing along it like a hound dog. It was about 10 minutes before dark, so I decided to take what I could get and put the scope on her and waited. When she got about 150 yards away she stopped and stared right at me. I put the crosshairs on her chest and squeezed, and she bucked up, turned and ran. We found her 50 yards away under an overhanging limb. "She" had a set of 'nads between her legs! My "doe" turned out to be a buck with both antlers broken off. There was a small sliver left on the right side. That .243 had entered right where I aimed, and his heart was in about 20 pieces.
So being "unlucky" is actually more from lack of time in the woods than lack of ability or know-how. Two years ago was the first time I hunted black powder. I didn't get a chance to go again for general gun season. I've never hunted archery. So getting out on a stand someone else set up and scouted, and only having 2-3 days every other season, usually between Christmas and New Years, I'd say my chances are not at their best. But it won't keep me from trying every chance I get!
