Water

[Mattule]

I sat with a friend who had a 4B bull Elk tag over the weekend and was blown away at how close you can get to deer/elk on water. We had 3 mule deer bucks come in and offer easy shots it was neat.

I have the 24A muzzle loader hunt this year and I know where the deer are and I have taken deer in this unit before with the usual hunting tricks IE glassing, or walking until we see one then sneaking in on him but never just sat around. I was curios as to when the white tails come in for their drink? Is it in the morning, mid day, or close to dark like the Elk? I thought I saw a similar post but could not find it today. Any help would be great.

 

BTW my buddy took a 6X6 on the pond at 35 yards with a smoke pole. A small cow/calf came into the water and ran into the pond and was bucking and jumping around when the bull came in and just started screaming his head off at the calf. When he got broad side of my buddy he took his shot and hit him good but the bull started to run when another friend cow called and he stopped long enough for the shooter to load up and hit him again. After the second shot he trotted off but fell about 100 yards away. when we skinned him out we found both 348 grain power belt 50's embedded between the ribs and skin on the exit sides. Both shots were just behind the front quarter so it only trashed a little bit of rib meat. The only scary part was he did not drop any blood out side the wound so if we had to track him it would have been bad. When we got to the lung cavity it was FULL of blood. It was one neat hunt.

[treestandman1]

I have had trail cams on water for months and sat treestands/ground blinds many times. From my experiences and trail camera pictures, coues deer will come in most often from 9 am to 4 pm. I've also had them come in at first light and just before dark but the majority were between 9-4. Basically if you are going to sit water for coues you should plan on being there all day.

[GRANDE BEAR]

SOUNDS LIKE A WAS A REALLY COOL HUNT. GET ANY PICS?

I'VE ALWAYS SEEN THE MAJORITY OF COUES COME IN BETWEEN 9:30-2:30.

THE LAST BUCK I TOOK WITH MY BOW CAME IN AT 2:00. THIS YEAR ON OPENING DAY OF ARCHERY I SAT IN MY STAND FOR 7 1/2 HOURS BEFORE MY FIRST

DEER CAME IN, WHICH WAS AT 1:00 AND I CONTINUED TO HAVE THEM COME IN

UNTIL 4:00. NOTHING BIG BUT IT SURE IS FUN SEEING THEM.

GOOD LUCK ON YOUR SMOKE POLE TAG.

 

ALBERT

[bowsniper]

How much does the type of water hole matter? Would whitetails be less likley to come into a more open cow tank than say a small spring with lots of cover around it?

[mike ornoski]

In my experience, those cool little coues deer like the more dence type of vegitation.my good buddy hunted 7 days dark to dark had over 30+ deer come in 1/3 were bucks.none over 95".We have taken allot bucks up to 85"so he was looking for something nice. All from one tank this year @ it has a lot of cover @ remember It does not matter what kind of tank it is. The trick is to dedicate yourself to it if the deer are hitting it.bowsniper like you did when you took that tom turkey this year. mike

[TAM]

I will pretty much agree with what has already been said. I've had trail cameras out for the past year and a half and I've found that the majority of deer come in mid day. The other thing I've found interesting is that very few deer would come in during total darkness and only a few more actually come in at first and last light. If you want to shoot a coues deer over water you better make it an all day affair.

[kwp]

Most of my experieces have lead me to believe that they water mid day but, in my last set of trail cam photos all the deer (bucks, does, and fawns) came in between 7 and 9:30 am.

[Mattule]

Thanks for the tips But I dont know if I can force myself to sit all day. I will probably stick to my usual spot and stalk in the mornings and evenings then sit during the mid day lull.

[m77]

Took some pictures of a small fork, a doe and an average size 3x3 coming into water at 1230 hours last Sunday. I used a small digital camera and I'll try posting the pictures soon.

[Red Rabbit]

This has been some useful information. I was surprized at the dawn/dusk waterings.

Has anyone noted any seasonal variations? Differences in times and/or frequency between August and January?

 

Doug/RedRabbit

[Mattule]

I am pleasantly surprized my self I used to waste time during the mid day on non essentials like stuffing my face or like in my case MUCH needed beauty sleep.

I have seen a herd in my area during the mid day on the hoof near the water hole but always figured I bumped them from their beds. Thanks again for the tips, October 29 can't come soon enough for me.

Edited January 1, 1970 by Mattule

[Brian Payne]

I seem to have had a little bit different experience with my trail camara and the times that deer were coming to water compared with what has been commented. The fact that very few deer are coming in at night is consistant, but the majority of the whitetail coming in to the water where my camara is set up have been coming between 6:30 am and 11:30 am with the most popular time around 8:00 am.