Jeff you have a 1 in over 5000 chance in PA, KS is like 1 in 300.

Just like Texas Hold'em, it's all about odds. The more you spook deer, the more your odds of killing a mature deer or any deer get worst. If you stay invisible the better your odds get.

This is what Huntingson was talking about I think. It's not rocket science

rybo....I agree. I don't wnat ANYONE to think I don't think they're incredibly smart animals. I DO. I have to adjust my thinking every time I think they're not. It's why I'm contemplating staying out of the woods for a while as a SMART strategy.....though that's tough for me to do.

I hope everyone also understands that my situation is unique. I hunt unpressured deer (only pressure they get....REAL pressure....is from ME). I don't have ANY experince with the transverse. I can be and AM my own worst enemy.

Gary let's be real. I admitted I didn't know to what extent the KS population of mature deer was. I still don't.

If I put you in a500 acre woodlot and told you there was one mature deer in there.....and no other hunters........or a 200 acre woodlot and told you there were 6 mature deer in there....but 3 other hunters.....where would YOU go?

No wrong answers....i just don't know the numbers we're talking about.

Yes....it's all about the "odds", I agree.

The above quote is true. It is always better to error on the safe side. Fact is, deer do differentiate between a hiker, farmer and a hunter.

Both have their good points and drawbacks.... My area is pressured fairly heavly. Yours isn't. My doe ratio is in check... Yours isn't.

Cooper...

With out any first hand experience with a situation like yours I can only assume.... To many deer and not enough huners.... Lucky dog

That's EXACTLY my point. Thanks.

I just have a hard time with this, Greg. How can one possibly KNOW this? I'm all ears.

I KNOW the deer I hunt have seen me entering and exiting the woods I hunt. I busted out two does, last night, at a creek, going in. I'm betting I let the area cool down.....and I see them, again. I'm also betting they didn't differentiate between me and the landowner coming to get firewood. How in the world would they know the difference? I'm a man walking through the woods. So is he.

If I vary my routes.....HOW can they distinguish a threat from a common intruder to their house? I disagree with this.

That is it Jeff, not justthe population, it's the pressure on the population.

Take the WMA I just hunted in KY, it is great for two reasons IMO. 1 it has 15'' AR, 2 it is Bowhunting only. While 1 is great, 2 is what makes it IMO.

You will see this in about 3 to 4 years. Right now your deer do not know they are being hunted. In about 3 years of hunting them, they are going to know and you will see a differnce in deer movment. The trick is to learn how to adjust to what is happing in your area.

I noticed something.... Of HNI's most prolific mature buck hunters (whos success are known to all ofus ) that have checked into this discussion have said basically the same thing.... I think that is saying something

GregH
Germ
Rybo
Greg / MO
TJF

If you were to hunt an area like this would the same hold true with your original statement? I am not debating, I am interested in thoughts about this. I have only owned this property for5 years now. While I know it well, I am always looking for ideas on how to hunt it and take a nice mature deer. I know they are around and maybe the fact that I hunt it the way I do, could be the difference in seeing them and killing them.