twildasin

Jeff the area's I hunt there is alot of houses and human odor. During the summer months I can't tell you how many times Ive had deer at my pile of apples they walk away I pull the card and dump fresh apples and when I check my card the next time they are back eating within 5 minutes from the time I left. I could see it bothering them if the woods were secluded away from total human odor but, it does not seem to bother them where im at due to the people all around all the time! The winter months my deer go nuts over shelled corn and in the summer I go to the local orchard and get all the seconds on there apples for like $2 a bushel. In the summer when its real hot they eat those apples like hotcakes I can not keep them there enough,im assuming cause they are juicy and its hot. I do not feed from the end of August to the end of January.

GMMAT

Duke:

I won't sdispute what you're saying....but I'll ask you this....

If I don't have access to the "other" food sources you speak of......what can I glean by knowing they're there? And....how can I even know they're there?

I only have access to what I have. It's taken me three seasons to know where they are on these properties for the deer season.

If I had greater access....I can see the benefit of knowing. As it stands....I don't know what I learn by knowing they're somewhere I can't hunt them.

i have a precious few food sources on the land I have access to. I know the 2 persimmon trees.....the creek crossings.....the fence crossings....and the multiple oak flats. I know the routes they take to travel nearly a mile to get to the ag fields (through the property I hunt)......during the season.

Outside of the season I can hunt them.....I don't pay that much attention to their travels. Just being honest.

dukemichaels

Jeff.. hunting is nothing more than an educated guessing game. But knowing a whitetails travels throughout the year (according to preferred food sources and an educated guess) is what puts us on deer in the first place. So the more education one has.. the better a guess one could make.

If I'm not mistaken.. you hunt in a area thats adjacent to a park or Forest Preserve.. You and I both know you could walk it all late winter if you wanted to and really get to know the lay of that land too. Shed hunting is one way you could even do this.

Driving around.. its easy enough. You drive around a night a week around your "block" and watch the deer from afar.. you'll get a pretty good idea of what they are doing this way too.

Even just getting to know the neighbors and talking deer.. most guys WANT to talk.. they WANT to brag.. LET THEM right into your ear.

The best hunters I know of get out and do these little things.. to better educate themselves on what the deer are doing in their little piece of the world.. that way they can better guess their deer.. and thus get on better deer. Anybody can do them.. don't say you can't.. thats an excuse. There's no room for excuses if you really want to get on top of a good deer.

Justin

dukemichaels

Why must you always try to steal my thunder Justin?

For that you will bat 10th today...[8D]

Justin

twildasin

Well Jeff I posted once but neglected to answer your questions. So here goes.
1. Inventory of the herd, I like to watch them grow there antlers and watch when they fall off. And I like to watch how there movement totally changes(buck) when the velvet is shed!

2. I usually check them about twice a month and I freshen up the apples in the summer and the corn in the winter. If its a drought I will go in more often and dump alot more apples! No I do not think checking my cames affect the deer at all do to the human activity all around them.

3. Absolutely most of the time its mounted less than 5 yards from a stand. Again my stands have Dummies in them for the offseason so the deer are use to seeing something in the tree all the time!

In conclussion I just plain down like seeing pictures of the deer in my woods. I guess inventory is the biggest thing and also travel times how often they are traveling. I also mark on the calender what the weather is like everyday and then when I veiw my pictures I can relate to the weather patterns also! Hope this helps you out a little im by far a pro but this is what I do!

early in

This is not reallytrue Jeff. They do indeed know the difference, at least where I hunt in Alberta. I get dropped off at my stand site viaquad by my guide in the morning darkness, and he leaves. The deer believe the intruder has left as well, not knowing I'm there! Now, you go ahead and try to walk into these spots and you can forget about seeing anything in that area for quite a while, if at all.
These deer are used to seeing/hearing an occasional farmer on a tractorat a long distance, but a close encounter will send them FAR away. Perhaps this will vary from one area to the next, but I believe a deer knows what poses a threat and what doesn't. Some area's may allow a certain amount of intrusion, but once their comfort zone has been violated they will break camp.

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