monsterbuckland

i hunt in a residential suburb, bow only, and huge big deer,,,, there are so hard to pattern,, you never know when a cross country skier or a dog comes alone not to mention ignorant yuppies on a walk reading your posted signs and trespassing! huh! anyways, ive been hunting for about 5 years now and cant get a wallhanger, shot a 6 and tons of does but these old 12 pters dont give me a chance, i mean is it the old hunt where you would least expect to see the biggin??

3 Step

With that much activity the big uns might be totally nocturnal. I would get where the does are when the rut is on. At least you have one thing going for you. You know where they ain' t.[X(]
good luck

coolbrze0

That' s a very good quesion. I bowhunt residential areas also and have yet to shoot a wallhanger, even though I' ve seen them there before. Patience pays off, and this may be the year!

wimp

I' ve just been getting into this suburb hunting deal myself. Patience is critical. It' s tough to block out the other activities going on around you and especially when those cost you a shot at an animal. I don' t think you can get any of those bigguns until the rut kicks in, without a ton of luck. Stay at it.

Deleted User

[Deleted by Admins]

Martin Cougar

I was doing fairly well in a suburban area. I took a 9 and a great 7 and my dad took a 9. When I started hunting these areas, I was looking for trails, rubs and the typical way that I hunt the bigger woods.

I was doing ok but nothing great. But then I changed my strategy to hunting the thicker areas where these deer will get pushed too, my luck changed. When I scouted, I kept looking for pockets that would hold deer.

Good luck

wolfen68

I' ve been hunting in suburbia for about 12 years now and it' s still as hard now as it was then. One thing is for sure, the rut is the key to success for me. I often never see any mature bucks from my stand until November despite seeing plenty of sign indicating their existence. I will see does and dinks but the hawgs are nocturnal and smart as hell. I' ve shot two nice bucks in suburbia, one of which scored 172 out of a stand I had just moved and it was my first hunt out of it. That is the other thing I' ve learned...move stand locations frequently. It seems like the first few hunts out of a stand yield the most deer sightings. But no matter what you do, you always run the risk of having a hunt ruined by humans and their furry four-legged companions. Good luck.

Tazman

Well this year will be my first suburban hunting, the neat thing with where I will be hunting is there is no human activity in the woods where I will be hunting, it is a strip of woods that runs for miles between the beltway that runs around DC and an industrial park, it has a railroad that runs down through it that is used on a daily basis. There is a ton of oaks and thick stuff on both sides of the track, from what I can tell from scouting the deer tend to " migrate" up and down this corridor so the only real pattern they have is directional up and down the corridor. The portion of the corridor I have permission to hunt is not that large, but I figure with persistance I will be on stand and catch them coming up or going down through it. I know for a fact there is at a minimum one monsterous 8 point (may be 10 this year), a 6 point (may be a decent 8 this year) and a dink 4 point (might be a 6 or small 8 this year). The weird thing is I have yet to see a single doe!

Rickmur

It' s frustrating hunting for sure. I have hunted suburbia for many years now. The first two weeks of Nov you should see bucks you have never seen. Last year on two consectitive days I had bucks chaseing a doe all around and under my stand but was still too dark to shoot. The worst part is having one you shot drop in someones back yard . That happened to me two years ago and it was 3:00 in the afternoon. Don' t think anyone was at home thank goodness. This is my best suburb deer. Inside spread 21" and 190lbs dressed.

Rack-attack

Suburbia bowhunting is the only bowhunting I know[] - I have been hunting out of kids sand boxes for almost 20 yrs. Did you know swing sets make great deer funnels.....JK.

Here are a couple things I have noticed:

1) mature bucks will tolerate most peripheral human activity. They know where and when most human activity occurs and will not be bothered by it. But they will pattern themselves around it. So you need to scout the people as much as you scout the deer. mature bucks in these setting will not normally venture during light into areas they have a high or higher chance of meeting people.

2)These bucks are not as nocturnal as many think. They do move during light, but just not through many " standard" setups. Very, very hard to catch these bucks half way between a field and a bedding area - near impossible if you ask me - except for the rut. But get into their thick core daytime safezones and you will see them move.

3) The more people on the trails the better. Don' t let the dirtbikers, horseback riders, joggers and yuppies intimidate you. They create an almost never-ending and " natural" exposure to human scent - and you can use that to your advantage. Use these trails as much as you can to your stands and you will not tip the deer off to your presence. Also use these trails as boundaries of buck movement. Mature bucks do not like to cross these trails during light. Never set up with a people trail between you and the beds.

4) Many times the " daytime core area" of these deer is shrunk down to a much smaller area than big woods deer. use that to your advantage also - When you learn what type of areas these deer use - their patterns will become much easier.

5) Get tight to the beds - get in the beds - get anywhere that’s not open woods. Put the rubs and the scrapes and the funnels into the background - and focus on habitat and safety. Don' t over look oddball bedding areas, like close to highways or houses.

Good luck Monster

P.S. Md - thats a great backyard buck - Super spread