Absolutely shut out this weekend, supposedly the secondary peak of the rut too, and I'm thinking I have exhausted the tripod stand at my favorite feeder. Too much human activity period, as I saw LITERALLY zero deer for two solid days, which is unlikely where I hunt. After reading quite a few of Dr. Kroll's articles both in the stand on my iPhone and back at the ranch house, I believe I have pressured my favorite spot too much. I have jumped deer leaving the spot and have moved the tripod twice. All in I have hunted the tripod spot 3 weeks in a row, 3 days each, twice daily. I drive a big 'ol ATV within 500 yds of it and silently walk in. For whatever reason, this week was devoid of whitetail activity.

I may need to switch spots. I'm very frustrated. I think I should NOT have hunted here pre-rut.  What should I do?

I would switch spots.  

My opinion is you have spent way to much time there.  It could also have something to do with the full moon...if your looking for an easy excuse.

The only difference this week was wind out of the South and warmer temps. I'm not worried about the temps, but the wind has not been out of the South all season. I also was lazy and didn't wash my Forest pattern NEW Sitka Gear I wore. I probably smelled horrible and brand new clothes-y. Most important, I have hunted that spot waaay too much I now realize.

I think I'm going to invest in a very high quality climbing rig, safety harness, etc. and hunt some terrain features rather than feeders. I also have a ghillie setup to try. This tripod ain't workin for deer.

I always had about 3 spots that I would rotate on the same plot of land. I had one stand that was enveloped by the trees growth. Had to hunt that one. We can't hunt a spot with feeders or a decoy except for turkey or ducks. I always tried to intercept the deer to and from bedding or feeding plot's and water supplies.

I'm on 7000 acres with one other guy......archery shots aren't the norm here, and the archery setups that exist are longer ranges than I am comfortable with. Hence spending time in that one spot.....

Weather and changes in the rut can just cause things to stop, but I would move for sure.  I have never hunted a stand that much.  I would also get off the feeder.  From your previous posts it sounds like you have had action back in the cover.  Do some scouting and make some changes.  Finds some funnels.  Find some spots down wind of beading areas or travel cover between beading areas to catch the buck cruising for does.  7000 acres with one other guy is like an unimaginable dream to me.  There just has to be at least one other good spot.  

I agree with the others, you likely have forcast your presence to most of the deer and they are avoiding you.

Find natural FOOD SOURCES and fresh trails and other signs and see what happens. There could be more reasons that just your scent that are causing the deer to not visit your feeders.  

I usually don't sit a stand more than twice without any sightings. Enjoy and have fun and good luck for the rest of the season.

I set stands to bowhunt prior to gun season and hunt them to that point.  Afterward, I'll move one or two to new areas that I know deer frequent or move through, but, which I haven't been near during the season....not even a walk through to look and see what's going on.

I'll hang a stand or two and then leave it alone for a week, and then hunt it on a favorable wind.    My reasoning is to hunt undisturbed areas for deer that have been disturbed.

Once every 6-7 days is about what I try for

doug77

I hunt in 2 different counties,I always have a stand that is deep and a ground blind that is closer to my entrance area.So I can rotate between the two if I want to stay in that area.I have at least 6 stand set ups between the 2 counties and 4 ground blinds.Sometimes 100yrds from a over hunted stand is all you would need to be able to intercept the deer that are going around the burn out stand.

We have zillions of acorns and I just know they like them better than corn......the hogs, however love the corn.

I just did the same thing myself to my favorite spot.

I harvested 2 does early and kept hunting hard for 3 weeks chasing this buck i saw.  Now i see nothing. Fortunately we are on a 1000 acres so i set up 2 ground brush blinds on the other side of the property. I saw a nice buck, but did not come in bow range. I left the tripod at the honey hole to rebuild the mojo for a month or so.

Probably best to lay off the spot and hunt another area.

It is hard to leave a spot alone if you are seeing deer, but when things dry up it is time to move off of it for a while.

In 25 years of deer huntin I have only had one stand that I felt like I could NOT overhunt.  It was perfect.  It had it ALL!  Man I miss that place.  I could have hunted there every day of the season and I dang near did one year!

Well I have some funnel ideas and mast crop spots that I'm gonna hit with either my ghillie setup or a climbing stand perhaps this weekend or next week Wed-Sat and I know NOBODY has touched these areas, no stands, super thick spots.

I have 9 stands in 27 acres and still switch off in my ground blind just to mix things up.

I agree with doug77- 1 x every week.  With that said- I rarely hunt a stand more than once a month; that usually means once a season.

My 2 C
Dan

I don't have experience with hunting feeders.  But I would bet a pile of cash that the deer in your area know very well that humans often sit near your feeder.  It doesn't take much pressure to make the deer wise, and they likely have switched to only using the feeder at night, and/or circling downwind to check it out before coming in.  Pretty hard to fool a whitetail when he knows where to find you.

Again, I have no experience with hunting feeders.  But if deer are actually using one, wouldn't it make more sense to set up on some of the approach trails where you might have a chance of catching them unaware and can play the wind to your advantage?

I am making it my mission to learn how to hunt the approaches (trails, funnels, cover routes, etc.) and the mast crop spots in the coming weeks and following seasons. This huge piece of property is family owned and only two of us hunt with a bow, and there are only a handful (4-5) deerstands. Let's just say if it's out of the way, the guys won't hunt there, and they don't hunt hard to start with. If I started taking a climbing stand with me I'd be able to hunt spots NOBODY touches or wants to slog to. All to my advantage.....