I hear ya there Tim. Even though we do our best to manage things; the neighboring properties will shoot ANYTHING. The hard thing about here in WI is that it's been known for quite some time to be a powerhouse of deer kill numbers. If you were to really look even on here at the number of people from OTHER states that come here to hunt it's astounding.
SO.....do our deer know pressure?? That would be an understatement! When the total kill number for one year is over a half million, you can just imagine the numbers of hunters in the woods. A lot of what keeps me going is the challenge involved with the total process. I like to look at it like can I put in food plots, place stands, and make the right call when it's needed to pull a 150+ out of an area that is heavily pressured? I'm sure at some point it's going to happen, but it's a learning experience every time out. In the photo I posted of the property; the buildings are the highest point, so whenever we're going in, it's all down hill. The tough part involved is that there are NO regular bedding areas. The deer will bed anywhere in the hillsides going down in, and you never know where they're going to be. The next tough part is that with the hills and valleys, it's basically impossible to hunt the wind as all it does is swirl. More times than not it always seems that deer are one step ahead simply because the second you step into the woods, they KNOW you're there!