mountaineer magic

deleted : no longer want to be on the forum

Breechplug

No I Doubt it, we have 200, 300 and 600 Acre Hunting Areas that are Posted up Tighter than My Wifes....well there Posted and Everyone Knows to Not even try and Tresspass, I wont get into that one
For Instance, We did'nt Hunt a 200 Acre Piece for most of the Hunting Season, We Hunted it Opening Day and My Wife took a Nice 9pt, then Hunted elsewhere for the next 20 Days. Then the Last Day of the Hunting Season Me and My Buddy who Owns the Land went there, I saw a Bunch of Deer and so did He, I took a 5pt with a few minutes left in our Regular Rifle Season, we Hunted there the next day and saw just a few Deer. I Hunted there Today, and there was still Snow on the Gorund. I Hunted from Sun Up untill Dark in one of the Best Deer Killing Spots on the Property. A Day befor I Killed My Buck the place was Filled with Deer and Fresh Deer Tracks. Today when I left and walked out (about a Mile) I did'nt cut one Fresh Deer Track in the Snow, the Deer were Gone. Two days befor that the place was Filled with Deer, just Me and My Buddy being there gave the Deer all they needed to know that this place was'nt Safe any longer and were'nt there. they knew....they knew.....
Another Example, Last Night Me and My buddy Spotted One of His Farms, we saw over 30 Does and 7 Different Bucks, and 2 BIG BUCKS. He Hunted there this Morning and NEVER SAW A DEER. We used to see a-lot of Deer there, and could take our Pick...they Know when Not to be there...
(BP)

bronko22000

I agree that hunting pressure changes their movements. And also, unlike 10 years ago, at least here in PA, the numbers are down drastically from the PGC allocating far too many anterless tags with the excuse of 'reducing the herd to habitat capacity'.

Muley Hunter

About time you said something funny.

Breechplug

I do agree with that to a degree, at keast in PA because I used to Hunt there on the First Monday after Thanksgiving, Opening Day. I'd see HERDS of Does go by, with the ocassional Buck mixed in. Then after they started to issue Doe Tags for the Beginning of Opening Day insted of the Last Two Days of Hunting Season, the Deer Herd went Way Down. I Quit Hunting PA, the PA Hunters started to come to NY just to see Deer.
We Spotlighted a Corn Field the other night that is Hunted by ONLY US, we saw 72 Deer in the Field with 13 different Bucks. We Hunted the Woods and Corn Field the next Morning and only saw 3 Fawns feeding in it and in the Woods bordering it. The Deer Wer'nt there, we used to be able to Pass on Many Deer, now were Lucky to see a Fawn.......there Smart and Gone.
(BP)

WV Hunter

If you're seeing that many, they gotta be somewhere breech...the key is figuring out where, and if/how you can put yourself in position to capitalize. Later in the season in most places it seems to get like you are stating.

I agree 100%, they get smarter each year. Heck the deer in my area walk around looking up in the trees. They didn't used to do that, its genetic conditioning I guess. Maybe your deer have been conditioned to the spotlight...they know to stay away from that area tomorrow or it could be trouble. LOL. Good luck, I'm sure you'll find em.

VAhuntr

200, 300, and 600 acre tracts of land are not that big...especially if it butts up against land that other people hunt. You don't know what they might be doing.

Palehorse

I disagree. My hunting area suffers from lack of pressure. When I started hunting, gun season was a war zone. I am within ear shot of Fort Knox, and the deer rifle fire masked the tank and artillery. Deer were running for cover opening weekend.

Over the last 10 years, a couple of mini-farm developments have come in, and those neighborhoods have resorted to strictly bow hunting on those tracts. Come gun season, 10 shots all day is typical. With nobody else hunting, you find deer bedding down in fence rows or woodlots along those minifarm tracts, especially so with the mild weather we have had, 3 of the last four years.

falcon

Deer do wise up as season progresses. One of our properties has about 50 acres of ravines, sumac, wild plum, greenbriars, oak brush and downed trees from a fire that came roaring through the place seven years ago. i never go there because it's impossible to get through the place without a machete.

When the guns start to crack the deer from about 2,000 acres of the neighbors property head into that thicket and come out only at night.

Doug100g

I definitely agree with BreechPlug on the changes. So much so that I am suspending my hunting for next year.

5 years ago I could go to any of my 7 places to hunt and see deer. I would bump them on the way in and out. It was hard to enter the woods because every path had a deer a long the way. It got to the point that I would wait for light, wait for the field to clear (about half hour after sunrise, then sneak to my stands.

On opening gun day, the question was not if you would harvest a deer or not, it was what do you want? Buck, Doe, yearling, old lady? I counted 70 deer that past my stand in 2007.

This year?

I went 35 trips to many different hunting spots and seen nothing. Then I got to see my fist Doe who came within 40 yards of my stand looking up in the trees as she walked.

I got to shoot at one buck with my bow but did not harvest.

That's it. Two deer.

The deer are so pressured here in Northeast Ohio its ridiculous. Because of the economy, everyone is hunting. I never seen other bow hunters before the rut. Now there are trucks everywhere on opening day.

Youth gun season is extremely popular and guns go a blazing early. Its hard to tell the difference between adult and youth gun season anymore.

Then comes regular gun. This year there are tons of Amish putting on massive drives. I seen over 100 in a single field alone. They were slinging lead like it was free shot.

I was waiting on that corner till end of season but the Drivers drove them out.

This Saturday is are extended gun season and I am taking my son who wants to go. Will see if we see something.

Muzzleloader comes in January 7, 2012. I look forward to that because most hunters can't take the cold or the snow. The deer have to feed and I have some prime cut corn fields to hunt the edge of.

But all-in-all, I could have bought a whole grass fed cow for what I invested in hunting this year...lol And even though I want deer hunting to be a challenge for my family and me, seeing no deer week after week in some awesome places gets old.

So, if the season continues as it has been I think I will voluntarily fish more and hunt less over the next few years.


D