urban area hunters
 

how many of you guys hunt around houses. i mean a couple hundred yards away, that sometimes have to deal with dogs, people and other distractions from the houses, notice any difference in the deer movement or how they react? just curious how many other people are noticably close to houses, and streets when in the stands

RE: urban area hunters
 

Can be some great hunting. Just have to adapt to the human presence as the deer do.

RE: urban area hunters
 

That's my home set-up. Got a really nice buck 2 years ago. I think the deer are less cautious due to the constant interraction with humans dogs etc. Where I hunt in NW suburbs of Chicago there is no gun season and in my immediate area I think I'm the only one who bow-hunts. I have noticed that the deer are more difficult to pattern since they don't seem to bed inthe same spot 2 nights in a row. I'll go days w/o seeing a deer and then I'll see some really nice ones. Good luck.

RE: urban area hunters
 

yea thats how i feel, its almost impossible to tell exactly when one will show up, or what. and i think you can also be less scent conscious as the houses are so class, as well as the human and foreign scents.

RE: urban area hunters
 

i do sometimes yea the dogs drive me crazy but sometimes the other noises they are use to and just ignore . It is sometimes ironic that people will use chain saws , backhoes, and chippers first thing in the morning when i am there and then at 10:00 it goes quiet . iv'e heard people banging on there grills grinding metal all kinds of crazy things at 6:00 in the morning

RE: urban area hunters
 

the deer are used to it i hunt 50 yards from houses ppl in their back yeards waving to me while im in stand it makes me nervous thinking hmm maybe some1 wont like me there and call the cops but i have permission so i should be ok

RE: urban area hunters
 

yea i hunt with 5 ro 6 houses within 200 yards of my hunting spot. have seen numerous dogs and soemtimes even people:). but in the end they dont really seem to mind at all.

the doe that i got this year was at first light. funny thing was, about 250 yards away some idiot was using a bulldozer and a chainsaw. at 6 am. i was pretty pissed off until she walked in front of me :D

RE: urban area hunters
 

I hunt behind my house. The blind is about 80 yards from my back gate. The woods are about 200-300 yards deep and 1/4 mile long. So far my only kill this season was a big doe back there. It's not as quiet as going out to the big woods, but way more convenient and no gasoline is burned getting there. It's in the city limits, so no firearm hunting is allowed. We have less than 2500 people living in town, so there's plenty of woods around the neighborhood.

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RE: urban area hunters
 

I hunted a golf corse b4 and the deer were unbelieveable i used to see 40+ deer in one 2 hour sit with multiple bucks. I would have deer feeding forty yards away as I would climb up to my stand and never care that i was there. It wasn't much like hunting but It was still awesome.

RE: urban area hunters
 

I live about 40 mi. n. of nyc. Its suburban but has its rural spots(lots of big estates and horse farms and undeveloped land still). A couple of my spots are close to houses or in developments. Ive found that in these spiots the deer know where the people are supposed to be and are pretty much unaffected by them and the noise that we make. Step one foot into "their" territory and its a whole different ballgame, all you'll see are the white flags. This kind of hunting sets up some pretty good funnels in certain spots though.

RE: urban area hunters
 

There's a house abut 200 yds from one of the spots I hunt. The deer seem to pattern the people a LOT more than the other way around. If people think a suburban deer is any less a wild deer.....and that he presents his own, uniqueset of challenges......then they don't have any idea of what they're talking about.

Kinda like if I was to say picking them off with a gun was child's play.;)

RE: urban area hunters
 

I did/do a lot of suburban hunting and it is different from being "in the woods". Aside from theoccasional neighbor dog you might have running by your stand.The deer for one thing don't really seem to move around much, they don't have to, and they can bed, eat, drink etc within 50 yards if they want. So you might have some days of not seeing anything at all, which can get into your mind if you let it. Also I have noticed that deer tend togo close to houses when scared badly. And like the other poster said, if you are in an area where people are normally at, the deer will pay you no mind, but take one foot into "their domain", and they will act like a mountain deer that you just jumped. Suburban hunting is usuallyvery convenient, which isabig plus. On the bad side you have to put up with lawn mowers starting up 20 minutes before dark, people yelling for their lost dog, a dog running by your stand and spooking a buck walking up to you just outside of range, the usual sort of nonsense that happens when deer hunting, just a little different :-)

Lastly, you probably have to be very careful about your shot, or you might have a gut shot deer running through people's back yards, which will most likely end any permission you have to hunt.

Where I hunt, I even bag up the entrails and throw them in my trash, to avoid a neighbor dog bringing back a treat to somebody's house. I try to be a ghost, so nobody knows that I hunt back there. I have permission, but the more people know you hunt an area,
1) other hunters may join in
2) some property owner in the neighborhood who lovesdeer could cause problems.

I think if you find a good spot, that isn't hunted hard, by all means hunt it!
Honey holes are special, and for me anyway do not come along very often. I had hunting one year that was just like you see on those rediculous hunting shows, until the bulldozers came along...

RE: urban area hunters
 

Here in the suburbs of chicago it is hard to find a spot where a house isnt near

RE: urban area hunters
 

I too hunt in a "city"..It is a bow only area around the capital of NY..I can see many homes right out of my stands...I have taken two P&Y bucks from these small patches of woods in the last three years...There are swamps and wetland areas where I concentrate...I am lucky and have about 75 acres of this that my company owns..I hunt every morning for about 1.5 hrs and everynight for the same..then just walk out and I am at work....

These small patches of woods are perfect for nice bucks especially in bow only zones...

Dave

RE: urban area hunters
 

when the dogs start barkin, get ready! here they come!!

atleast thats my expirience so long as nothing else makes the dogs bark...

gets kinda old sitting there listening to cars and people and such...but can be great hunting, and doesnt seem to effect the deer...

RE: urban area hunters
 

I have a couple of real small area's of private land where I can hunt, and am almost guaranteedto kill a deer. Onespot, I can count 7 homes all around me. I get tired of the dogs barking, landscapers leaf blowers, car doors slaming, and human voices.[:@]I prefer to travel to State land 13 miles (still local)away for the "real woods" effect, andpeace of mind. This area is bowhunting only, so very little pressure, and a goodamount of deer.;)

RE: urban area hunters
 

any one else find that you need to pay less attention to your scent control tactics when hunting around people, and foreign objects?

RE: urban area hunters
 

The private property i have permission for is a fairly small wooded lot out behindmy buddieshouse and his property ends at the railway tracks. My stand is about 300 yards from the house and around 100 yards from the tracks. I hear everything and anything while im in my stand and at first it bugged me alot, until i realized that these deer hear these sounds everyday and are completely used to them. However, i feel they are every bit as cautious as any deer you will find. They know what happens everyday and can ignore but they also know when somethings new and are cautious towards it, if anything i think they are constantly on alert because of their daily experiences. I took a big doe there this year so far and hope to capitalize on another. I love it because its quick and easy to slip into and alot of deer travel through this bush.

RE: urban area hunters
 

Lots of urban deer here in northern VA near DC.There were6,627officially harvestedjust inLoudoun County and another 1,300+ in Fairfax County. They're actually considering having a bow hunting season in Washington, DC because of all of the deer in Rock Creek Park. My sister works at the National Zoo, which is right next to RC Park and sees "wild" deer outside her office window almost every day. I see them almost every time I drive through it at night.

The problem I have had getting a suburban hunt going is getting the neighbors to sign on, since I may have to track the deer into their yards, etc. Any advice?

RE: urban area hunters
 

i would try and explain to them that yea they are nice to watch outside there windows during the day, but not so nice when they are seen on the side of the road, and when they hit peoples cars. not only for the deer, but it causes major damages to peoples cars, and are big accident prone too.

RE: urban area hunters
 

I do some urban hunting around where I live and the deer certainly are different. The biggest thing I notice is that their travel range is much smaller and you see many of the same deer. They do get used to their surroundings (people, dogs, etc) but they still act much the same when they detect predators closing in on them. In is not any easier to hunt deer in urban areas, in my opinion, but I have seen some of the biggest deer in areas like this. Hunting urban areas is great deer management! I always recommend shooting as many does as bucks.

RE: urban area hunters
 

They dont react at all when you come upon them.

RE: urban area hunters
 

They sure react here when you come upon them in the woods. If your in your yard & theyre 10 yards into the woods you can walk up on them but like someone said, enter their territory & things change quick. For me its been harder often than bigger chunks of woods.
If everything goes right its like any other hunt, if you spook them or something tho & they change routs a few hundred yards theyre off huntable land often. Bigger pieces you can try different tactics or stand placements. Small parcels often only offer a couple decent setups.

I bowhunt almost exclusively in suburbia. Most of my properties are only a couple acres bordering some kind of protected cover.

RE: urban area hunters
 

I hunt in an "Urban Zone" in Cincinnati Ohio and I have this place that is 2 & 3/4 acre. I can see the back of the house from my stand and over the past 5 years I have killed at least 20 does....Minimum. I have a piebold 8 pointer on here that I have on film but he never comes out during daylight hours or else I would have shot him already to get him out of the heard. But with additional growth of new homes, our land is getting smaller every year to hunt. But the deer are still there, and less wary of your presence due to the interaction on a daily basis with humans and dogs.

RE: urban area hunters
 

Urban bow hunting has been my experience for the longest time. Probably most of my hunting experience can be categorized as urban bow hunting. I gotta tell you, I love it!!

I too try to slip in and slip out of my hunting spots. The way I see it the less people know about it the better. Deer hunting can be a very touchy subject in urban America. At least the part I hunt. I hunt outside of Washington D.C. here in Maryland. Most really appreciate what we do, but all it takes is one person to voice their disapproval and you can forget about that “honey hole.” I hate losing those kinds of spots and I also really don’t want anybody to know what I’m doing. Ignorance is bliss. I just assume keep everything very discreet and all is good for the most part.

You really can’t get away from urban hunting in the central part of the state. You can otherwise, but I love the convenience of hunting in my backyard or somewhere else nearby that has a great number of deer. These spots also hold some huge bucks. Major park areas that get very little hunting pressure if any have monster, wall-hanger bucks lurking in them. They are a site to see.

There are other less urban areas that I hunt, but a lot of the deer that we hunt there come from suburban settings. We have a driver’s motor vehicle facility close to one place my buddies and I hunt, and probably twice a year we will have a couple guys go down there and drive the deer from there to us. It is unreal the deer holed up by this DMV. There are never less than fifty deer jumped up from these drives. We usually bag between five to eight deer on one drive.

RE: urban area hunters
 

yea im in a little suburban deer haven.

RE: urban area hunters
 

how far do these urban does tend to run after a well placed shot? That is the only reason I have not shot one in my backyard yet. Houses are on acre lots with a creek funnel in the backyaard, which is the travel corridor. I just would hate to have to retrieve off of a patio.I assume a shot deer would retreat along the funnel rather than bolt into the manicured backyards.

RE: urban area hunters
 

yea they will stay in the tree line . not likely to end up on apatio

RE: urban area hunters
 

Its usually not the well placed shot that presents the problem. Its the unfortunate and unforseen mis-placed shot that ruffles feathers. All it takes is one deer running thru neighborhood backyards with a arrow sticking out of it to squash a honey-hole of a spot.

RE: urban area hunters
 

I agree, a deer shot in an urban setting is most likely going to head for cover after the shot. Of course if it is a great shot then no worries. It will drop dead anywhere from ten to thirty yards.

RE: urban area hunters
 

I have had certain spots that I only hunted evening hours, then if I shoot one I can track it at night if need be.(as opposed to 11am in full view)
Also I have skipped areas on weekends and hunted weekdays only, if there was too much human traffic/eyes.

It almost sounds like I'm hunting illegally, but I am legal, just trying to avoid drawing attention.

Just do your best, and pass on the "iffy" shots. You'll know what I mean when it happens, the question will be, do you have the self-control to pass? It's easy early in the year, but gets tougher as a lean year runs out... :-)

RE: urban area hunters
 

Haha!! That is funny because I hunted off of a golf course this year for the first time ever and I was very thirsty in stand so I got out went onto the golf course and got a drink from the jug of water stationed on the golf course. I then walked to my buddy and asked if he wanted something to eat from the clubhouse because that is where I was heading myself. I then went back into my stand and grunted in a little fork horn. It felt so weird I do not think I will ever do it again.

RE: urban area hunters
 

RE: urban area hunters
 

Gotta love a challenge!

I guess that's about as weird as having the outfitter drive you to your stand......come get you at lunch......take you back after lunch......and come pick you in the evening. This.....after he tells you which stand to sit in....because deer no. 342 has been coming by this stand every day at the same time for 12 days straight. 'Course....you wouldn't know that......'cause you've been in YOUR state (country?) for those previous 12 days.

Oh yeah.....and the bait pile's behind that tree, there.....in front of your stand. I'll be back at dark.

Great! You got him, Eh!!

:eek:

Careful ye who cast hypocritical stones that they're not shaped like a boomerang.

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?

RE: urban area hunters
 

RE: urban area hunters
 

Nice avatar! I see you got him, EH!?;)

RE: urban area hunters