alleyyooper

Some of the things said here is really funny. I am and have for 6 years been hunting 20 acres around my home. I am retired so have time to do things like walk my dogs in the woods every morning and every evening. We have our set trails that we go on each day and a couple we do every so often. I also will stop and PEE when the call arrives where ever I am. I have deer that will stand 10 feet off the trail and allow the dogs and I to go by with out running. Have one that started following us last spring.
I am picky so won't shoot just any old deer it has to be an 8 point or better or wounded like a spike I shot a couple years ago.
So being in the woods isn't a big deal with the deer.

Their are Keys. One big one is where they bed, where they feed and the route to the corn field or soy beans they are feeding on and realize many deer will be in the corn and never come out once it is tall enough they can lay down in there and not be seen.
A very important Key during Firearm season IN MICHIGAN is where the deer run to when all the city guys with all the strange smells tramping thru the woods starting at 5:00 AM even though legal hours are not till about 7:00AM spook the deer to. Then they get cold sitting in tree stands in the wind so are down by 8 AM walking around at a good clip to get warm once again spooking deer with their peperoni breath gas fumes on there clothes cause they didn't put fuel in the truck/car before hand.
The deer come and bed down in my woods cause the guy there when he is out with his dogs talks to them and when they lay in the lawn he doesn't run them off.


Yup got to be one huge blind cluts not to see a deer in 5 years of hunting in a woods these days. I can see it now wearing a flashing red lite on the hat and a serien going so no one shoots them walking thru the woods LOL


Al

sachiko

I don't know nearly as much about hunting as these guys do. I just follow my husband. But I think after five years you should have at least seen some deer.

You need to make sure the wind is not blowing your scent to the deer.

And I think you need to get out in the off season and do some scouting. You need to find the trails they use to get from where they eat (and drink) to where they sleep.

Thunderchicken217

I am completely with Sheridan on the smoking part. Ive had to spit so many cigs out because deer were so close I couldnt even move my hands to take it out and spit on it. As far as the guy who isnt seeing deer on his property there is definitely something very wrong.

MZS

Well, that is true in some cases. Deer in park settings can completely lose their fear of humans, particularly if it closed off to hunting. And I have even read where taking casual, loud walks (as opposed to stalking) like you do can condition deer to humans. I was hunting in a fishing area by a river once on public land that also was near where people fed deer. I had a spike buck walk within 8 ft of me, clearly seeing me the whole time. I finally made a move and off it went. An hour later when I was packing up, there it was, looking at me. And other deer in that area were not too spooky either. Of course, those kind of deer don't last long if the woods are public like these were. I go jogging and I have run within 10 ft of a deer standing in a ditch on several occasions. But in the next field a deer will bolt from hundreds of yards or even a near 1/4 mile away at the back of a field as I run by. Deer, like any animal, can unlearn its natural fears. Or it can gain an elevated fear. Like the mature doe that busts you -the next time she comes by your tree stand she will be listening for your heart beat! In my backyard, it is the latter situation where the deer are very spooky. Was not always that way but it is now. And I have a feeling that for the original poster, he too is in that situation where the deer are all spooked up. Perhaps his land lacks great cover, so with some pressure, they are pushed into heavier cover in surrounding land, only to return in the safety of darkness.

Wilcam47

deer anywhere can get accustomed to humans making noise. My property borders two other properties where the neighbors are always making noise I use mine for hunting only, the neighbors live there. I for the longest time thought they would be on alert or not coming in. but after spending some time in the blind they dont even twitch when the neighbors are making noise. Its what they have gotten used to. Now in the blind if I make some noise they white flag me and are gone. Because its not normal.

Buckhunter46755

Glad the deer here in NE Indiana aren't that spooky. They'll pretty much walk right up to you here (as long as you are holding still)....I never really use scent control, though I hunt the wind when possible. Guess they are more used to humans here.

Buckhunter46755

I'm with you guys as well. If there are scrapes or rubs and deer on trail cam, should definitely be seeing deer. Something is not adding up. Maybe someone pulling a fast one...

GTOHunter

Even a Blind Squirrel finds a nut every now and then.....as mentioned I think OP may be alerting the Deer to His presence too much!

alleyyooper

Yup blind squirrels find nuts, they smell them. Last couple of weeks the deer here real stinky also so I smell them before I see them.

Al

Valentine

They don't have trained eyes to see movement; they don't see a partial deer; they don't see movement from a squirrel; they don't see a coyote moving silently through an area; they don't study small areas, really small areas.
Their eyes are trained for urban life; not hunting lands.

And in modern life, some are trained to use an iphone, and not just look for movement. Minutes, hours, just looking for movement.