Hey all,

I did my first deer/first bow hunt yesterday. After much reading and practice I decided to hunt from the ground in 3D camo sitting against a tree. Doe comes out gets within about 7 yards making her way to the shooting lane I had cleared. I slowly begin to draw my bow when she looks directly at me. I freeze not wanting to scare her off. She then spends the next 5 minutes playing 'red light, green light' looking down then snapping her head in my direction. Eventually she walked out of sight.

In the moment I didn't think I could draw because she kept looking at me, but now I'm thinking I should've just drawn and taken the shot. I kept waiting for her to look away long enough to draw but she didn't. It seems like she knew something was there and was alert but not frightened off.

So, those who are more experienced then this first time hunter what should I have done? Risked her bolting by moving and drawing or stay still till I could draw without her looking? Obviously I chose the latter and didnt get the prize because of it.

Assuming there is a next time what should I do?

If I'm bowhunting from the ground I'll make a natural blind ahead of time, (and make sure you have some cover behind you as well). I also like being on a hillside so I can get above them. If neither is an option a climber would be a good investment if you are going to get into this game. Ground hunting is tougher with a bow but it certainly can be done - the teen I hunt with just took one from the ground yesterday; he was sitting back in a big blow down with a ghillie suit. Gun is not so bad as you can back off from where you expect them.

If you'd have continued to draw once she noticed you and had eyes on you, she would have bolted immediately and you wouldn't have had a shot anyway.  

Once they bust you, it's hard/impossible to recover.  Even if you stay completely motionless and quiet afterwards being spotted, they'll keep paying attention to you and be on high alert as they begin leaving the area, making it almost impossible to draw from that point on.

Drawing and taking the shot before they have any suspicions that something is out of place is what you have to do.  If they are still completely unaware of your presence, wait until their head is behind a tree, or down to the ground facing away from you before drawing.  Then be very quiet on the draw.

Thanks gents! Heading out this Saturday to try again.

If you hunt out of a blind, wear black.  The inside of most blinds are black for a reason - to cut out all light.  You don't want to be a light blob in the blind.

Make sure the back of the blind is COMPLETELY closed.  This is more important than you could imagine.  Deer have an extremely sharp sense for movement, and will pick your moving silhouette out EVERY time.  

As stated above, you have to make sure the deer is looking away, or has it's head down or behind a tree or bush.  If they catch movement, they will do exactly as you have described and try to pinpoint you.  She may not have known you were a threat, but she definitely caught movement, and had all the time in the world to try and confirm what it was she saw.

At this point, you're very lucky if they calm down and go about their routine again.  If you continued your draw, you would've confirmed what she saw and she'd have bolted.  As you can imagine, this isn't good for future prospective shots from that same blind location.

Before dropping a lot of money on equipment like blinds and especially treestands borrow one and try it out. I can't hunt in a treestand, I just can't stand to sit for that long, but I didn't figure that out until after I dropped the dough on it. blinds are much easier to sit in and a lot lighter weight to pack in. I mostly ground hunt and stalk.

If you draw when they're looking,  they'll bust you .every time. You can't draw slow enough.