Intrusion during prime time
 

Quick question for the experts here...

One of my areas is on MFL land (public access, privately owned). I was sitting on the stand last night when the owner happened to come through with one of his kids, checking on his gun season stands. They drove through the property, and got out of the truck several times to look things over. At one point, they had walked to within 100 yards of my tree. When they noticed that I was hunting, they quickly acknowledged my presence and quietly backed out of there. Prior to that, however, they were talking loudly and generally thrashing about.

This was less than an hour before dark, the time when the deer really start moving about on this property.

My question is, if you're in this situation, do you consider the hunt 'busted' for the evening, or is it worthwhile to sit it out and see if anything is still moving? I sat until dark anyway, but didn't see anything...I figured that if anything, they might have pushed some deer about towards me if I was lucky. Just wondering what others do if they're in this situation. Since I hunt public access land fairly frequently, I occasionally have people busting through my area, and I never know with certainty if it's worth staying on that spot, or moving somewhere else (if time permits...last night it was too close to dark to move).

As frustrating as it may be, I think I would just sit tight. An hour of remaining light is a long time, especially this time of year when the movement is generally later.

It depends on the land and how often they drive on it. If they are on it often the deer are a bit used to the vehicles being there and will be alert when the truck is there, but once it has gone will go right back to their business.

If the land has very little use they may shut down for the evening.

I think you did the right thing. You never know when/where a deer will come thru and prime time is not the time to move.



Mitch

I had a guy last year coming running through the woods at 430pm after I gave an aggressive rattle. Guess he thought two bucks were sparing at the corner of the field I was sitting. I felt like calling him over, throwing the horns at him and saying, "here put these on and go out 20 or so yards for me."

I remained on stand because in my mind if I got down, I'll most likely spook something in the area. Plus, I don't have enough time to move to a different spot before loosing all shooting light.

I would sit tight. Hunt is probably over, but you never know. Deer are naturally curious animals and I have seen them come into check out stranger things. Bottom line, for me at least, is I am in the woods on a beautiful night. Why leave?

thats hilarious... how do ya call in a redneck....
as fer the thread... it just depends..i have one stand, that when i sit in it, people drive by, it is an access road to the other properties in the area..and when people drive by, the deer will cross the road right behind them....
in another spot, as far as the cam says, the deer wont come back for 3 days after we leave...

Exactly. There was no question last night about staying...no way I was moving that close to dark. I guess my question is would you move if it was earlier in the day (morning or mid-day)?

I had trespassers ride right under me on their 4-wheeler one time. They were all over the place and they had to have seen me as I am on a tree, in the air, wearing blaze orange. I would be too afraid of getting shot to do that to someone even if I didn't have the courtesy to leave after seeing them. They were trying to drive me out of there I guess. I yelled at them good. I am sure it scared the guy on the back of the four wheeler. The driver seemed to stupid to get it. Never saw them again after that. I am guessing the passenger talked some sense into the driver. I sure wouldn't want a guy with an automatic 30-06 yelling at me!

To answer your question, I would have been discouraged but I would stick around. Never know when deer come out after they hear the threat leave the area.

I guess I would hold tight either way. The woods seem to have a lot going on anyways. Deer have become accustomed to cars, people, dogs, 4 wheelers, etc... If I had some time to let everything quiet down I would. You hung the stand in a good area, so I would just wait it out for a while.

Now if they started up a chainsaw and started cutting firewood, that may be a different story.

That a farse! My biggest buck to date I jumped walking through some really thick area. After I watched it run off, I sat down and two hours later it came back and bedded down. Its ok to bump deer out of their beds, they will be back

not a farse, as i said, in one area, the deer will come out after people pass by, and in one area, the cam shows, the deer dont come back in for 3 days after we leave..how would you know if its a farse or not...you have never been here!!!

i have too scared off deer just to have them return within minutes, sometimes an hour.

i have had deer walk within 20 yards of me while i was chain sawing.

I have to agree with most of the posts. In an area where deer are acustomed to having humans around you should be OK. If the deer in the area weren't actually bumped, they probably just stood still, watched and waited until the 'coast was clear' and presumed their normal activity.
Oh - halfbaked - I too do not believe that the deer will not come back for 3 days. I had the same thing happen as what happened to Stabandslab. Bump a deer in the late morning and sit and wait and he came back via a different route. Did it ever occur to you that the deer may have walked BEHIND the cam or out of range of the cam?

I would sit tight. Last Saturday I got to the property I hunt in CT for an afternoon hunt, about 1.5 hour drive. When I got there, the land owner and his wife were working by the pond I usually hunt near. I walked up to them, joked they were working in my shooting lane, then offered them a hand. They wouldn't have it and the land owner told me I could use a stand his brother had set-up for an out of town friend who I believe is done hunting. I took him up on it and did see 7 deer, nothing close enough for a shot. 4 of those 7 I saw about 80 yards away, coming from the area where they were working, backhoe and all. If I would have set up the 30 yards from the pond where I normally do, I probably would have had a shot, even with all of the commotion that was going on just a short time earlier.

Where did you buy the cam that shows 360 degree pictures? Cam's are only as good as the person putting it out IMO. If the deer only walk in front of your camera you should have a successful season. Good luck!!

I can believe the 3 day thing to an extent. I went into the woods awhile back to put my camera out. (No one has even walked on this part of the property in probably 2 years, since the guys at camp are all just drunks and hunt a mile from camp at the furthest haha.) But anyways, I went a ways in, found a lot of good sign, and put my camera up. I put it up on a friday afternoon, did not get any pictures until that sunday night. Of course they could've been taking different routes, avoiding the camera, ya know things like that. But i had pictures every day after that for a week and a half. It made me wonder if the deer really weren't comfortable for a few days? Just my experience.

But by the same token, I put cams up and had pictures of deer, buck included within hours of me putting it up. And I wasn't concerned about scent and put it up after working all day.

well maybe you should come out here and teach me about the land i've been huntin fer 10 years then!! :poke:

Calm down, don't get your feelings involved. Good luck this season.

How do you know it just didn't avoid the camera? I've watched deer walk behind the tree with the camera mounted on it, so if I hadn't been there, I'd have never known the buck was even in the area. Lesson: cameras are good, but never tell the entire story.

edit: Others beat me to the punch (lesson to me...read entire thread before responding! LOL)

Great advice, everyone. Pretty much what I figured (ie. just sit tight) but it's still good getting feedback from other hunters, for reassurance if nothing else.

well, when ya get 20 pics a day of deer comin to the feeder, and then they stop when you reset the cam, and show up 3 days later..to the tune of 600+ pics over a few weeks..its very obvious.

Stay put is exectly right. Its frustrating and you are angry and throw many ideas into your head but the bottom line is that you NEVER know whats going to happen.. whether he altered your hunt or not you may never know.. but its good to just stay put and take what comes. As someone mentioned earlier, just enjoy your night out and keep your head up. "**** happens"