I have been trying to get as much info as I can to help me this year. Was wondering if I could please get some tips on calls? brands and when to use them? also rattling to?
My main question is and I have read up on the product and have heard nothing but good things is CONQUEST SCENT STICK?!?!
You said you are new to bow hunting, but I'm not sure if you are new to deer hunting as well.
My suggestions for beginning hunters is to K.I.S.S. "Keep It Simple Stupid"
A new hunter needs to focus on being quiet and observant. He needs to learn how to hunt with minimal movement, while choosing the better sites due to wind and weather.
I would stay away from making noises that might attract deer to you, and you will most likely not see them come in, and they will bust you. I'd wait on the calling and rattling until you have more experience.
I would also stay away from using attractant scents, for the same reasons.
I would focus on good scent control(scent killer) so that you smell invisible, and you learn to be invisible in your stand.
After a couple seasons of that, then you can add calls, rattling, attractant scents, decoys, holograms, etc. to your hunting "bag of tricks".
I would also reccommend watching as many whitetail videos/shows this fall as you can, and pay attention tohow the deer react before and after a shot, and when the hunter takes his shot.... what angle was the deer, how far was the deer away, When did he draw his bow? Doing these things right are Vital to your success. Plus it should help a bit with the buck fever when you are in the stand for real.
PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE! You should have the utmost confidence in your bow and yourself, and the only way to do that is spend a lot of time shooting arrows at the range. If your mechanics/aim is bad, it won't matter how well you did the other things.
Last but not least, prepare to succeed, but be prepared t fail. For many, it takes years to be successful with a bow. Just keep plugging away, reading about it, watching videos, and spending time in the woods. I've been bow hunting for over 30 years, and still learn new stuff every season.
Remember too, that while it can be hard work, it should be fun too! Enjoy the beauty of nature!
Be careful with movement and watch for them sneaking in.
As for products, I have my favorites but never tried CONQUEST SCENT STICK.
At times I also lay a scent trail out using a drag rag. Wear rubber boots and lay it past where you want to have buck walk. It has worked for me plenty of times. Even some close encounters in the dark while laying trail before light and buck comes trotting up to me.
Rattling is best with two people. One to be on the ground with the antlers and making all the noise. Well hidden in brush and grunting, rattling, pounding the ground, shaking brush. But always completely hidden up wind of the person with the bow.
Wisconsin deer are pretty smart. If they hear something and are not convinced, and they will not be, they stand and watch for tens of minutes. Their patience is extremely impressive. I rattled one in for my brother that stood at 50 yards for almost 20 minutes before vaporizing back into the marsh grass he never completely left. Two steps and he was invisible.
I would suggest you start with a grunt tube. And that you grunt every 15 minutes. No more, unless you see a deer. Grunt way way way way less then you think you should. Otherwise the deer will figure you out, or figure out he doesn't see a deer and be gone.
Early season doe calling is often very productive. Sound like a fawn in distress and they can come in running. Getting a shot can be very difficult as they are extremely alert.
Ive recorded a lot a shows and been watching them also went with some guys tracking a deer he shot and learned a lot about tracking the deer and what blood is what. Ive also been shooting a lot during the week.
Bowhunting is a science I have learned!
From buying my first bow and slowly building up the gear I need and putting up cameras and stands and being in the stand im addicted!
There is a lot of great advice there. I personally have had decent luck with The Can doe bleat. It can be another tool in the arsenal.
The most reliable hunting method is ass-time! If you sit more, you'll just simply have more sightings. If you can find the route where deer eat and the deer bed, and stay out of the bedding area, and leave very little human scent near the food source, your chances are heightened.
The only time I would check them more often is during season if you are already near one on the way to a stand. That reminds me, stand entry and exit routes are very important. I'll end this here as it's already long. Any questions ask, or PM me. Good luck, have fun and be safe.
As for my trail cams only time I check them is when I walk into my stand I have them close by. I take out the SD card and put in a new one.
Where I hunt at it about an hour away which sucks but I am about to try some public also this year to get more time in the stand to learn.
Scents are tricky because you have to carry them somewhere and you also have to place them out and remove them at the end of the hunt. Winds are also variable and somewhat unpredictable in how they react in certain terrain. I does not hurt to wear removable scent pads with a raccoon urine or deer trail type scent on your boots, then remove them when you get to your tree.
A grunt tube is good to carry around your neck most of the season and it doesn't hurt to try and pull a buck in that is out of range or walking away because it's your last resort. Blind calling with a grunt tube can be good during pre-rut or the rut, but done sparingly.
Rattling is a bit more complex. It helps to be in an area with a good buck/doe ratio and the caliber of bucks you are targeting. I hunt public land, so 2 1/2 years old or bigger is fine with me. But I have also been successful rattling in 3 1/2 year olds as well. If you are seeing a lot of half rack bucks running around or on camera that is good sign. The very first calling video I saw mentioned if the bucks are scraping it's a good time to start rattling. I have had the best luck rattling during the last two weeks of October, starting around October 19th. Many people wait until November, but by then, some of the better bucks in the area are already on a mature doe. In November I'm looking for the does and not wanting to alert them, even though a doe may come to the horns, but she's typically alone then.
I typically like rattling in the evening on those calm, clear high pressure days. I make the point of doing three rattling sequences, about 30-45 minutes apart and the last sequence ending the last hour before legal shooting. I never start with soft tickling, I make them as loud as I can, but I do not constantly shift and clank the antlers together either. I make a loud crash, then I shift them a bit, and quit moving and listen for 5-10 seconds, then I shift them some more and pause. Then after half a minute to a minute I crash them together again. You want to be loud, but with many pauses, since this lets you listen and makes the sequence more realistic when bucks have their racks locked together and are pushing and shoving.
This type of sequence is intense and mimics two mature bucks fighting and not sparring. By having 30-45 minutes between battles and ending an hour before legal shooting, a buck bedded within hearing distance will be more apt to come in and check out what all the commotion is about. And if you happen to be in his core area he wants to check out the intruders.
But the one mistake people make rattling is they are not in a good location to begin with. Getting deer to investigate is not the difficult part, but getting them within bow range is. I prefer rattling near standing cornfield edges because approaching deer will use the cornfield edge as their approach instead of using the woods. The cornfield also provides the cover that the bucks think the bucks are using.
One of the first times I rattled during a November morning hunt I did bring in a giant 8 pointer, but I made the mistake of not being setup in a rattle friendly location and he came up the opposite side of the ravine from me at 40-50 yards. He stopped directly across from me like he knew exactly where those deer were supposed to be and then just disappeared.
Another great place for rattling is picked fields with a buck decoy, but that brings a whole new challenge with lugging a decoy around and trying to do it quietly.
The key things to remember are location and timing. It's a lot easier to be light weight and learn about deer and their behaviors before you start playing chess with them. Good luck this season and have fun.
ill keep on watching my videos and reading up on this stuff and take in from what I learn in the stand.
Love those conditions.
