fallow deer

[peter]

hi all
i would really appreciate any info on hunting fallow deer which regularly visit a watering hole in the early in the mornings at a local reservoir.there is a treeline (pine forest) which mostly surrounds this water hole (which is actually a small inlet off a very large body of water).there would be about 80 meters from tree line to water.
should i get there early morning & hide out in the trees until they turn up or what??
i normally hunt goats with my excocet, so have no experience at all with fallow deer.
any tips would be a great help
thanks peter

[TYE]

I'd love to hunt fallow deer, that would be fun, they're crazy lookin' buggers! Umm, I would say set up a tree stand in the tree's near the edge, and go there just before sunrise. You should be able to get one.

[LoneWolf]

hi all
i would really appreciate any info on hunting fallow deer which regularly visit a watering hole in the early in the mornings at a local reservoir.there is a treeline (pine forest) which mostly surrounds this water hole (which is actually a small inlet off a very large body of water).there would be about 80 meters from tree line to water.
should i get there early morning & hide out in the trees until they turn up or what??
i normally hunt goats with my excocet, so have no experience at all with fallow deer.
any tips would be a great help
thanks peter

Hi peter,

I don't have any experience hunting fallow deer but I do have a few good years of experience with whitetail deer... However, all deer species are creatures of habit, therefore there should be regular travel route/routes exiting and entering them pines you say surrounds this watering hole. Find a good/big enough pine if possible (you may have to trim branches) and set up a treestand about 20-25 yards downwing off a trail leading to/from the water source and hunt in the pines, this way you will catch them when they are heading to/from the waterhole. If I was you I'd leave the water source for them as a "safe zone" so to speak. Furthermore, the deer will be more alert in an opened area than they will be in the forested area... Catch them when they're not expecting it... ..

Yep, early mornings and evenings are good times to hunt, especially the evenings if it's been a warm day...

[peter]

thanks guys
it seems that a treestand would be preferred method BUT unfortunately, i'm in south australia and i have never even seen a tree stand (i'd be fairly certain you cant buy them here) as deer are not a very common target over here, due to lack of numbers and areas where they exist are not common.
it would not be possible to build one on site, so any other clues?
would it work if i did what lonewolf suggests, but camoed up 20-25 meters from trail on the ground??
cheers & many thanks
peter

[LoneWolf]

Sorry, I wasn't aware of which area you were from. But yeah, you can build a natural ground blind 20-25 yards downwind off the trail. Even somekind of backdrop to break your outline should work, as long as you stay still.

[peter]

thanks lonewolf
sounds like a good idea, any tips (or links) on building a groundblind?
cheers peter

[LoneWolf]

You should be able to build yourself a decent blind with pine boughs and using long enough sticks and string to prop/hold the boughs up. The idea is to build your blind with the same trees/brush as it's natural surroundings. But try not to cut too many boughs from the area you're gonna be placing your blind in, cut them from another area away from your blind location..

Good Luck!

[peter]

i'm getting excited now lonewolf! would u suggest i build a tee pee type structure with intermittent branches missing (for viewing & bolt passthru's) or does it need anything more elaborate or special?
i also have a couple of photos of goats i have taken with excocet,if i can work out how to do it would it be of any interest to post them?
please let me know
cheers peter

[LoneWolf]

peter,

Sure, you can build something like that, just make real sure you can pan with your crossbow from left to right without your crossbow limbs hitting any of the limbs/boughs...

What I would do is build the blind in a U or a C shape with 4 '- 5 ' walls (depending on how tall you are) and no roof, with the opening to enter facing away from where you're expecting the deer to come in from. This way you don't have to worry about your crossbow limbs being obstructed in any way, and it will also give you more shooting opportunities/angles. You can also trim out 2 or 3 viewing windows so that you can watch the trail without having to pop your head up every minute or so, or at every sound of a twig being cracked.

Hope this helps you out!

P.S. If you want you're goat pics posted on the forum and can't figure out how to post them, you can send them to me and I'll gladly post them for you... Just send me a pm and I'll send you my email addy for you to send the pics at.

take care,