RE: urban area hunters
I have a small tract of land that isn't in an urban area, but part of it (the high side) is right across the street from a house.
I think it all depends on the deer. I've seen deer that were less cautious, then I seen deer that alterted upon every wind gust or bird churp.
One thing is certain...when I am in the stand and hear their dog start barking 20 minutes before day light, I know whats going on. I've been hunting this one certain buck for two years now that travels across my land right in the corner of their yard to get to a treeline that spans across an overgrown field and eventually leads to a pond. I about got him a few weeks ago b/c he was running late, but so was I and I bumped him right at day light walking to my stand.
One of the biggest bucks I've ever hunted was behind my ex gf's house. He was a 9pt that was over 22'' wide. He eventually got hit by a car. One thing I learned about these deer is like stated above, the deer patterned the people. I never seen a single deer until AFTER the school buses were out of the neighborhood and never seen a deer after the school buses returned that afternoon. Every deer that I seen would be from about 10:00am to 2:30pm.
I know a guy who hunts near that spot now and says that its better now than it has ever been. Sure wish I could have kept that spot. Oh yeah, did i mention that it was only a few yards outside of the city limits?