Nice Red Deer Spot on Val-des-Bois

Enjoy the fan made guides and experience of fellow players or write your own!
User avatar
TheSheWolf
Hunter
Posts: 935
Joined: April 28th, 2010, 9:48 am
Contact:

Nice Red Deer Spot on Val-des-Bois

Post by TheSheWolf »

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.

Image

Screenshots of the fun, and the land surrounding the blind:

Image
Image
Image
Image
Image

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:

Image

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 :)
User avatar
Hawkeye
Outfitter
Posts: 3849
Joined: July 15th, 2009, 12:49 pm
Location: Fayetteville, AR
Contact:

Re: Nice Red Deer Spot on Val-des-Bois

Post by Hawkeye »

Moved to Fan Guides
User avatar
Scrapes
Spotter
Posts: 76
Joined: July 14th, 2009, 11:07 pm
Location: Michigan, USA
Contact:

Re: Nice Red Deer Spot on Val-des-Bois

Post by Scrapes »

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.
User avatar
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

Post by stancomputerhunter »

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.


Image Rares: 86 NTs: 29
User avatar
kahuamp
Scout
Posts: 298
Joined: December 12th, 2016, 2:30 pm
Contact:

Re: Nice Red Deer Spot on Val-des-Bois

Post by kahuamp »

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
User avatar
TheSheWolf
Hunter
Posts: 935
Joined: April 28th, 2010, 9:48 am
Contact:

Re: Nice Red Deer Spot on Val-des-Bois

Post by TheSheWolf »

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 :lol:

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 :)
User avatar
kahuamp
Scout
Posts: 298
Joined: December 12th, 2016, 2:30 pm
Contact:

Re: Nice Red Deer Spot on Val-des-Bois

Post by kahuamp »

TheSheWolf 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 :)
Thanks :) It was something about the 2nd deer looking bloated, but I won't say more :D
User avatar
TheSheWolf
Hunter
Posts: 935
Joined: April 28th, 2010, 9:48 am
Contact:

Re: Nice Red Deer Spot on Val-des-Bois

Post by TheSheWolf »

Oof, he kinda does, too, doesn't he :D I could make a lot of dark jokes myself but I'll refrain...

Image

They want to know what's inside ;) (There are even more offscreen, a total of 10 or so at the time... two dead!)
User avatar
jim1975
Scout
Posts: 386
Joined: November 1st, 2015, 7:28 pm
Contact:

Re: Nice Red Deer Spot on Val-des-Bois

Post by jim1975 »

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.
Image
User avatar
Scrapes
Spotter
Posts: 76
Joined: July 14th, 2009, 11:07 pm
Location: Michigan, USA
Contact:

Re: Nice Red Deer Spot on Val-des-Bois

Post by Scrapes »

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.
Post Reply

Return to “Fan Guides”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest