To be totally fair, Greg....I;d say (based on the size of your IL property) that this attitude is bred out of necessity. It's been pretty well documented (and I know we weren't talking about mature bucks....but I will) that it takes more than we think to make them abandon their home range/core area.
I have 3 Ill properties and 3 Wis properties and I hunt them all.
You are right, with mild intrusion, deer will not abandon the property.
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I hunt some of the same stand locations a lot. If one of my stands has been comprimised I'll know it. Deer skirting around the stand or no sightings at all. Then, obviously, I won't hunt it. But, if the deer are still using the trails I'm hunting and acting like they don't know I'm there, I'll keep hunting it when the wind is right.
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How would you know? Interesting. If we're talking about your IL property....again...with no disrespect.....if you're not seeing them from your stand.....they're probably not on your property (at least this time of year....after leaf drop). How would your feelings change if you were hunting larger tracts? Do you really think it's better to hunt 4 spots on 200 acres.....25X each.....or to mix it up and hunt a different spot, every time? Why do so many people say that your best chance at a deer comes in yur first sit at a new location?
You may sway me to your side.....and I'm ONLY giving a dissenting view. I'd love to further discuss this with you.
Thanks.
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The deer are still on my property, they're just skirting my stand. When they skirt my stand, sometimes I see them, but I know they are still there.
I have almost always hunted my properties with this approach. However, the size and terrain features dictate where and how many stand sites I will have. No matter what, I like to have at least 1 stand site for every wind direction, as long as I think they'll be productive. Normally I think that less intrusion (bare minimum of stands) is better.