Nice Red Deer Spot on Val-des-Bois
- TheSheWolf
- Hunter
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- Joined: April 28th, 2010, 9:48 am
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Nice Red Deer Spot on Val-des-Bois
I'm sure Red Deer aren't hard for anyone to find, being so easy to call in and so numerous, but I did find a really neat spot purely by accident the other day. My apologies if it's already been found/posted/is common knowledge. I was trying to get a rank in the competition which requires a red deer to be shot from a stand or blind, so I set up my new free stand in the standard spot I usually use down at the river from the southern lodge. I figured I'd range east from there and wander the river while calling, and found to my dismay (I'm a noob and haven't used the ground blind much) that if I tried to set up a ground blind after spotting a nice bull, obviously, he'd spook. So I set it up there more permanently. I've now been doing the following, and each time running into a ton of red deer very fast. You'll need either blinds or luck, and a silent weapon, to make the most of this. So:
- Start Val-des-Bois at 7 am, at Maison du Neant
- RUN 2/3 or so of the way down to the river; feel free to do a red deer call or two along the way, and if there's a response, slow down so as not to spook them
- Head to the river, where the stand is on my map. Call a bit, and watch what comes in; a lot of times I get big bulls come over from north of the river, or south where I came from, or more commonly, from the river to the east along either shore (in tree cover, at first).
- After a few minutes, if nothing turns up, just head east. Go along the water for a bit, but then cut south into the forest and skirt the river, as I've found a lot of red deer tend to be wandering down the river toward your first call.
- Go to the meadow where I've got the ground blind on my map, and call. I almost invariably have red deer herds/bulls come from the mountains south, the mountains north over the river, and a bunch along the eastern river and through the forest east.
- I usually stay an hour or two (game-time) maximum, and in that time run out of ammo.
Screenshots of the fun, and the land surrounding the blind:
Another piece of advice... DO NOT get overeager and leave the blind to take a trophy shot. Wait for a long while until you've made a few kills and are 100% sure nothing else is coming in. Otherwise, this happens, and something gets spooked:
Here's an example hunt, with times and harvests -
https://www.thehunter.com/#profile/thes ... n/71514299
P.S. Loving the InstinctiveArcher Heavy Recurve Bow. Really awesome real life design he made, and wonderful port into the game. I chose it for my first bow, and definitely am not regretting it
- Start Val-des-Bois at 7 am, at Maison du Neant
- RUN 2/3 or so of the way down to the river; feel free to do a red deer call or two along the way, and if there's a response, slow down so as not to spook them
- Head to the river, where the stand is on my map. Call a bit, and watch what comes in; a lot of times I get big bulls come over from north of the river, or south where I came from, or more commonly, from the river to the east along either shore (in tree cover, at first).
- After a few minutes, if nothing turns up, just head east. Go along the water for a bit, but then cut south into the forest and skirt the river, as I've found a lot of red deer tend to be wandering down the river toward your first call.
- Go to the meadow where I've got the ground blind on my map, and call. I almost invariably have red deer herds/bulls come from the mountains south, the mountains north over the river, and a bunch along the eastern river and through the forest east.
- I usually stay an hour or two (game-time) maximum, and in that time run out of ammo.
Screenshots of the fun, and the land surrounding the blind:
Another piece of advice... DO NOT get overeager and leave the blind to take a trophy shot. Wait for a long while until you've made a few kills and are 100% sure nothing else is coming in. Otherwise, this happens, and something gets spooked:
Here's an example hunt, with times and harvests -
https://www.thehunter.com/#profile/thes ... n/71514299
P.S. Loving the InstinctiveArcher Heavy Recurve Bow. Really awesome real life design he made, and wonderful port into the game. I chose it for my first bow, and definitely am not regretting it
- Hawkeye
- Outfitter
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- Joined: July 15th, 2009, 12:49 pm
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Re: Nice Red Deer Spot on Val-des-Bois
Moved to Fan Guides
- Scrapes
- Spotter
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- Joined: July 14th, 2009, 11:07 pm
- Location: Michigan, USA
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Re: Nice Red Deer Spot on Val-des-Bois
I am going to have to give this one a try, TBH I have not set foot on VDB. I spend most of my time on Hirsch when looking for red deer.
- stancomputerhunter
- Trophy Hunter
- Posts: 5514
- Joined: December 25th, 2013, 11:07 am
- Location: 1 mile South of the Cheddar Curtain
Re: Nice Red Deer Spot on Val-des-Bois
Where you have the tower, I have had a TS for years. And a blind across the river by the little island. If I'm rabbit hunting, I frequently detour to the meadow you show and invariably find a warren in that area or down the hill where that stag is coming from..where he photo bombed your trophy shot. Nice information.
Rares: 86 NTs: 29
- kahuamp
- Scout
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Re: Nice Red Deer Spot on Val-des-Bois
Anyone know why the shots became so big recently? I used to click on one and it would just stretch fullscreen, but now they are much bigger and I need to scroll...
please excuse my not so funny joke earlier, I'm getting close to 101 F fever. Thanks for this useful info, you've put quite some work into it.Didn't mean to be disrespetful
please excuse my not so funny joke earlier, I'm getting close to 101 F fever. Thanks for this useful info, you've put quite some work into it.Didn't mean to be disrespetful
- TheSheWolf
- Hunter
- Posts: 935
- Joined: April 28th, 2010, 9:48 am
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Re: Nice Red Deer Spot on Val-des-Bois
Scrapes - let me know how it works out for you! I'm curious to see how others fare with it. I'm currently still holding #1 in Stag vs Bow but I think that will only hold a couple more hours
Stancomputerhunter - For a bit more info: where the photo bomber stag is coming from is the river, ish--the blind overlooks the meadow as it cuts off down toward the river. You can't see the bank, but you can vaguely see the middle of the river and the far side from there. You can get a clearer look at its position in the next shot, maybe it'll help pinpoint. I've honestly never even hunted rabbits. I wonder if we'll get a rabbit dog some day? :O
Kahuamp - it might be the new (I think it's new?) "bigimage" tag code. I'm not sure, and I didn't see your joke so no worries. I'm not easy to offend, regardless! Feel better, & get well soon
Stancomputerhunter - For a bit more info: where the photo bomber stag is coming from is the river, ish--the blind overlooks the meadow as it cuts off down toward the river. You can't see the bank, but you can vaguely see the middle of the river and the far side from there. You can get a clearer look at its position in the next shot, maybe it'll help pinpoint. I've honestly never even hunted rabbits. I wonder if we'll get a rabbit dog some day? :O
Kahuamp - it might be the new (I think it's new?) "bigimage" tag code. I'm not sure, and I didn't see your joke so no worries. I'm not easy to offend, regardless! Feel better, & get well soon
- kahuamp
- Scout
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Re: Nice Red Deer Spot on Val-des-Bois
Thanks It was something about the 2nd deer looking bloated, but I won't say moreTheSheWolf wrote: Kahuamp - it might be the new (I think it's new?) "bigimage" tag code. I'm not sure, and I didn't see your joke so no worries. I'm not easy to offend, regardless! Feel better, & get well soon
- TheSheWolf
- Hunter
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- Joined: April 28th, 2010, 9:48 am
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- jim1975
- Scout
- Posts: 386
- Joined: November 1st, 2015, 7:28 pm
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Re: Nice Red Deer Spot on Val-des-Bois
I love putting up a TS where your tower is on the map. I go for the second or third tall tree up from the river bank in the last clearing before the river turns right. I face NE so I get a good look right up to where it goes around the corner and also back down the river. I get a lot of RD there and if I am lucky I quite often get a fox or 2 that I can call in. If I stay there awhile I can often get roe deer calling as well.
- Scrapes
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Re: Nice Red Deer Spot on Val-des-Bois
7 am. Every time I load in there is a red deer male calling for me within a minute of the map opening up. I haven't even made it to the blind area cause I am tripping over red deer lol.
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