Deer under pressure?
 

How many of you here believe that your deer are under pressure from the 1st day of Bow Season? Thru bow season?

The reason I ask is that I feel some may hunt where the deer receive little to no pressure during bow or gun season.

Just curious of your thoughts.

LT

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

The deer I hunt are pressured...by me..

I dont do a very good job of keeping the pressure off of them....but thats something ill be working on next fall;)

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

Mine are under pressure from me and my SOB poaching neighbors.....and no one else. I hunted 48 times in about 45 acres of woods (actual hunting area, hunted the majority of the time).....

Call it what you will;)

OH....and the ones hunting unpressured deer.....GOOD FOR YOU!;)

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

Dang Jeff, I don't see how you ever see a deer with that kind of pressure.[:-]

I am glad I don't have poaching neighbours. (At least I don't think I do)

LT

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

The deer are under pressure year round. They try to avoid anything that makes noises or is not welcome. Except for open hunts in parks,city property an etc. They are some what use to people.

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

It is all about interpretation.... Some people do not know what moderate let alone heavy hunting pressure is.

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

Please explain buckeye.

LT

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

Because I move around all the time... I see many types of pressure.

I hunt some public land where I'll pass 3 hunters on my way in (on a 200 acre piece)... and I have hunted some private where the deer don't yet seem to really know what a human even is.

But for the most part.. I hunt moderate to heavily pressured deer.

From the 1st day though... no I think not... but by day 7 or 8 they know things are up. The trick is not to let them know.;)

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

What diference does it make? Is that a fair question?

What can we learn by knowing how much pressure one hunts under?

Is this a "location" thread in disguise?......lol:D

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

i think it depends on the hunters, more than the season length.

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

Good reply duke. That is what I was looking for.

The question was not "how much pressure"? but, "how many believe their deer are under pressure"?

LT

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

Hunters per acre of huntable habitat is a good indication of hunting pressure. Someonewho is not used to seeing many hunters may feel pressured sharing 300 acres with 2 other guys where as the next guy may be ecstatic to be in that position.

I am just saying without a basis of comparison, it is all up to ones interpretation of what pressure is.
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RE: Deer under pressure?
 

So the smaller the acreage hunted, Scott......potentially the more ""Pressure"?

Interesting.

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

That is kinda what I was saying buckeye. I believe 2 people on 40 acres is not a lot of pressure if hunted right. But, If one or the other is not hunting "right", I believe the deer will do strange and uncooperative things.

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

That isn't what I am saying... Hunter per huntable acre defines pressure

100 guys on 1000 acres or 10 guys on 10 different 100 acre properties equals the same amount of pressure.

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

But for the record.. I don't cry about the pressure I see and hunt with. I never try to compare myself with guys from PA or MI... never hunted there.

But I do hunt some public ground where its not uncommon to have 10-20 other guys on a 300 acre piece. Or 10 guys always (as law provides) on a 200 acre piece.

I call this heavy pressure. But I hunt it just the same. And I don't cry about it.

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

So one hunter to 10 acres and one hunter to 100 acres is the same?

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

So would you say that 40 acres hunted by one man with no "inside" pressure (other than the one man)would be a good scenario?

LT

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

1 hunter to 10 acres = 10% of the land is being hunted, per se

one hunter to 100 acres = 1% of the land being hunted

all about percentages

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

LT....how do you read this.....and come up with what you said??:)

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

That makes no sense and has nothing to do with my post. You are nit picking looking for something that isn't there... Your last response is inaccurate in every way in regard to my previously postedthoughts.

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

Just logical thinking here Jeff, nothing more.

LT

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

Scott:

I didn't say this....you did. I'm asking you what it means?

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

10% hunter pressure is 10%. Whether 100 acres, or 1000 acres. 40 acres + 1 man = a lot less than 10% pressure for said piece of property.

LT

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

Either scenario would equal out to 100 hunters per 1000 acres or one hunter per 10 acres.

It was my way of saying that I did not agree with your previous post "So one hunter to 10 acres and one hunter to 100 acres is the same? "

That was no where in the ballpark of what I was saying.

I only said hunters per huntable acre of habitat would be a good way to define hunting pressure.

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

LT.....100 hunters hunting 1,000 acres is 1/10. 10 hunters hunting 100 acres, each.....is 1/100. That's why I asked for a clarification.;)

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

I said 10 guys hunting 10 different 100 acre properties... Meaning 10 guys on EACH 100 acre property. Not the same 10 guys on all of them... Come on you knew that :eek:

This is all a moot point anyhow asthiswas only an example to help explain my thoughts fromLt's and your question.

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

Each hunter gets 10 acres.

Each hunter gets 10 acres.

Same , same.

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

All this being said, how often would you move around on a 40 acre tract if you were the only one hunting it?

LT

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

I was just going by what you said scott. Looked like 1 guy/100 acres, to me.

Carry on;)

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

Please do....That was pretty entertaining series of posts!:D:D:D:D

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

i know how that feels except our neighbor comes onto our land,hangs stands, puts his horses on our land and cuts our brand new fence along every strand between every post!i HATE that guy!

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

Couldn't this be asked of many of your threads? Is this a fair question?;):D:D

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

Pressure is certainly a “relative” term, and I don’t know if it can be completely quantified. I do think some people who consider their hunting lands pressured, really have never seen how bad the hunting pressure can be. While yes it can be measured to an extent by the hunter/huntable acreage, I think there are many other intangible and non-specific pressures that come into play. Quad riders, spotlighting, firewood cutting, people walking dogs(or just letting them roam) etc all have an impact but aren’t hunter specific. Then account other species being hunted as well. I believe TJF gets his spots POUNDED by bird hunters. Say hypothetically he’s the only deer hunter there….you’d think it was heaven with no pressure. But then factor in say 6 bird hunters, 3 dogs covering every sq foot looking for pheasant. The pressure factor skyrockets.

Then factor in individual hunters/styles. A sneaky, route conscious, scent conscious, stand hunter will have less an impact than a bumbling fool strolling thru bedding areas daily.

Despite being in PA, and my hunting areas getting hammered, I do feel I don’t have it THAT bad compared to other people I know in this state/area. It can be hit and miss. I’ve gone out in gun season and had 13 guys on less than 100 acres. And maybe 65 of that wooded. Other times I’ve gone out and seen maybe 4, and 3 of them wouldn’t be more than 50 yds from the road. I was rather surprised at the amount of pressure during our late season. I normally am tagged out by then, but this year I was out a good bit. EVERY day I was out, mobs of guys were driving massive areas. Most of it posted & they would still scoot right thru. I was amazed.

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

Great post Rybo! You summed up a lot of what I was going to say.

The only thing I will add is that to answer the original question I believe that the deer in some of the places I hunt are pressured before the opener. There are a lot of guys that go in and build or hang stands, take shotguns into the woods to blast off some rounds, ride motorcycles and quads, etc. All activities that ramp up as the season gets closer. This absolutely puts pressure on the deer and is why some will be nocturnal by the end of July.

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

My area isn't pressured much at all during the early season being I don't do any hunting at all in the big part of my woods close to the bedding areas. If I have a doe tag available where I hunt I'll do some early hunting on the field edges and hopefully arrow myself a doe there. Other then that I won't be putting hardly any hunting pressure into the main part of the woods until about the 2nd week of October when I go tramping around looking for some rut activity and placing some stands for the upcoming rut. When the rut does heat up I'll only sit in a particular stand maybe 4 sits in a row if i feel real confident otherwise I'll leave the stand alone and head to another spot and let the other cool down some. During the gun season the whole section i hunt in gets pounded very hard by the gun hunters. The pressure around my woods is enormous!!

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

The deer are under constant pressure from October-December in the place I hunt. Bowhunters, crossbow hunters to start the season, then guns come to play in mid November.

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

Use to be no pressure but someone finally bought the neighboring farm just for hunting so now those guys and all there buddies put alot of pressure on them. I seen alot of deer come running threw my woods last year from there way![:@]

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

The deer i hunt are under pressure 24/7 and even 10 times worse once the season opens.

RE: Deer under pressure?
 

I hunt public land and the deer are pressured very hard, especially since every knows there are B&C in those hills and hollows. [X(]I find my self trying to figure out other hunters habits and patterns as much as I do the deer and hunt accordingly. WhenI figurethe hunters out, wear I need to be becomes crystal clear. Conditioningfor a couple months before season helps to:)