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Hunting Pressured Deer.

I seen a great buck crossing the road before daybreak one morning on our club leased property. Great! I thought, now I have a buck to zero in on. Big one's don't come easy here. I study the topographic and club map and determine which would be the most likely area the Buck would be hanging out in and I decided to put up a trail camera on a small greenfield tucked away in the woods near the location. I get there to do a little scouting and I find tree stands and pop up blinds and three trail camera's on the field of interest. I thought great, I may not be the only one of 40+ people hunting this lease property that knows about this buck. (Yes, I put up a fourth camera) Just for fun. I will instantly be thinking outside the box on this buck. I killed the biggest buck on the property last year by hunting in between all of the other hunters and figuring out how the buck avoided them and I'm hopeful that I will do it again this year. Hunting pressured deer in this club is on the boarder of insanity. (Wish Me Luck)

GL!

If you can hunt midweek assuming that much of your pressure is weekends several study show that in pressured area deer movement is highest midweek.

The rules I have to hunt p[ressured deer are : 1. Pattern the hunters. If there is a place where you and other hunters avoid hunt there. 2. Act like you have forgotten how to hunt. Have you ever noticed the big bucks that are taken each year by beginners hunting in sight of their cars in all the wrong places? 3. Be persistent. Each hour spent in deer country can be productive. 4. Work with other hunters. I often let others know where I will be and I know where they are. I put a buck on to a fellow hunter as I exited the area in a way that would push bedded deer to move. He did not get the buck but by the time the deer got to him it acted like there was not a care in his little world.

(1)- You saw the bucks cross the road. he did not get there by helicopter. (2) How many hunters hunt close to the road? (3) How many hunters are in the woods between 11 and two?

40 hunters!? I hope the club is thousands of acres! Here in Kansas, every 40 acres has a couple deer stands on it.

Everything mentioned are things I also look at. 1. I will take the time to scout and hopefully let the deer tell me where to hunt. I have learned to read the sign and try and disregard my thoughts on what the deer should be doing. 2. I will not hunt a spot with a wrong wind. This is hard sometimes because of wind shifting and thermals, but I put forth the effort. 3. I will enter and exit the woods in a manner that has as low an impact on the buck as possible. If it means taking a long time to get to the spot then so be it. I had rather have 15 minutes of good hunting time than to bust a deer out and have no chance. 4. I will push my luck when the time is right and get in real close to his bed. Sometimes , even within view of it. 5. I won't overlook the crazy spots. The biggest buck I have killed with my bow to date was in an area where all the drunks and loud music was beating the woods near a swimming hole. Other examples: (A buck that bedded within 20 feet of a railroad track and would lay motionless as a train went by). (A buck that bedded next to a trailer park where kids played basketball). Of course I also hunt them as far away from humans as possible, but in every case I let the sign tell me where to hunt. Some deer have nerves of steel and others are very timid. 6. I do pattern the other hunters to the point that I take notes and build up a data base on them. I take pictures of the sign in log and put it in a file on the computer to research from. 7. I will stay mobile all the time and never set up permanent stands. It's a lot of extra work but it works for me. I will also not eliminate hunting from the roadside even if I have to sit on the ground. (I once used a log road to sneak up on a buck that bedded in such a way that he could see the hunters walk by. I went by him as all the other hunters have done for many hunts and then sneaked around to flank or back stand him to get the shot. He would get up and go to the road to sniff the ground and walk to another spot to bed after someone would pass by and I used that to kill him in the log road). 8. Never say Never, Keep an open mind. Go the extra mile and hope for the best. And listen and read what other's have to say and keep learning. At 56 I'm still learning. 9. I either get into the woods long before daylight, or wait until daybreak to enter for the hunt or hunt mid-day. Afternoons are good too but not every stand site is good for all sit's. I may move multiple times each day to get the best stand location possible. 10. Even though all these things sound good and will work, nothing ever goes as planned, and expecting the unexpected has become a norm. Hunting pressured mature bucks you had better get ready to see a whole lot of nothing when you go. Most times when I feel I'm in the right spot I don't expect to see any other deer except the one I'm after. (Your Thought's) Of course the "Rut Rules" don't apply!

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