Getting Down From Your Stand

From Nubs on Deer and Deer Hunting

Here is my question:

The day has come to a close and it is time to get down from your stand but wait, there is just one problem. There are a few deer feeding out in the field that you have been watching all night. You know that if get down you might get busted, tipping off the deer to your presence and blowing your stand location.

What do you do in this situation?

I have tried using my easy weeze to sound like an alarmed deer to clear the field before I get down. (It only really worked once for me.) I have tried barking like a dog and that has never worked. I have waited for the deer to leave but in the process more deer enter to field and some began feeding closer to me then the others were. I have sat for over an hr after dark just waiting for my chance to leave. I guess I have never found a sure-fire answer to combat this issue when is arrives. I have at tines just gotten down and scared the deer out of the field but I hate the sound of deer snorting, I just hate it! That sound to me is the sound of failure.

If anybody had a good way of dealing with this please post here.


I've tried it every which way.

I tried waiting them out. This sometimes works. Sometimes this just encourages them to stick around longer.

I've tried snorting and snort-wheezing. I have gotten in a snortfest-- I-snort-she-snorts -- that lasted well past 15 minutes.

I've tried just getting down and leaving. It's effective. The deer do not usually stick around after the magic bow descends from the tree.

I've also tried talking to them. I don't try to be too deep for them. Deer are simple creatures. They prefer if you keep it light. I ask them how season is going for them, and how is the family. I also offer them the opportunity that, should we meet again, I'll be happy to have them for dinner. After admiring me briefly, they usually pick up and move on.

I have been talking to deer for over 20 years, both in the woods and along the highway. Deer just are not expecting a truck to pull up alongside them, the window to roll down and a friendly neighbor asking about the weather. At first, deer are usually stunned, then curious, then suspicious, and then they leave. They leave slowly. This is why I make the suggestion. Whitetail deer, when faced with a conversing human, usually don't run away scared.

The trick, and this works with just about any animal, is to ask questions. Questions are by their nature, non-threatening. I learned this in sales training, many years ago. For animals, who do not fully grasp the language, a question ends in a rising inflection. Try it on your dog. Ask him a question; the tail wags. Am I right?

Let's say you bump a deer on the way to the stand. Don't stand there and act like part of the scenery. You are fooling no one, especially the deer. Try this:

"Are you having a good morning? It's lovely weather, isn't it?"

You are in your stand. A doe comes up to the base of the tree, looks straight up and starts to stamp:

"So you think this outfit clashes with the tree too? Should I have gone Tre-bark instead?"

Be ready to follow-up. Deer are notorious for being lousy conversationalists. You'll have to keep their end as well, but if you are not smooth with it, they'll think you are up to something:

"Do y'all have a recommendation on a good place to eat? I'm just dying for a good plate of fresh clover while I'm in town."

Or, back to the topic, when it gets too dark to see the deer in your sights anymore:

"Well, I guess you've won this one. Congratulations. I wish you good health enjoying your victory."

Last year, I was in one of my stands, overlooking a small shelf, dominated by a large white oak. The stand is a 15 foot buddy-style ladder. However, the hillside is steep, and if a deer comes around on the uphill side, they are nearly at your eye level only 15 yards out. It was the last weekend of rifle season in KY, and my freezer was full. I still had a doe tag to burn, but I was not seriously thinking of filling it. Along about quitting time, I started noticing something sharp poking me in my right leg. I theorized it was a burr or a small twig that had fallen down inside my bibs as I was putting them on. It really hurt, and something had to be done. I was close to packing up for the morning, so I pulled my coat off, and reached down my right leg. With all the various layers on, I just couldn't get to it directly. The closer I got, the further it fell down my leg. I started pulling on my poly-pro underwear and slowly pulling the fabric closer. I had the burr nearly in my fingers when I pulled a muscle in my neck-- one of those nasty spasms that make you nauseated from the pain. I grunted and groaned, and kept reaching for the burr, so that I would not loose it.

Finally, with a great feeling of relief, I found the burr, got it caught between two fingers and pulled it out. I massaged the back of my neck and settled back on to the seat. Just then, I looked over to my right and on the hillside above my stand was a doe with the most quizzical look. Then the thought shot through my mind what she'd been seeing.

"It was a burr or something! Honest!!!" I said, trying to apologize to her for my rude behavior. It was all I could think of. She stayed for bit longer and then left in disgust.