Stand Recover from hunting Pressure
Wisconsin
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10 or better, I'm only singling you out because you had a tough season as far as deer sightings on stand this year. I'm not sure how often you rotated spots but this study could give some credence to the fact that you knew the deer were there but were not seeing them because they knew you were there. Maybe it's time to invest in a few more stands. We have 18 different stands throughout the properties I hunt. Plus three more going up this spring. My brother in law hunts almost exclusively one stand, he had about the same results as 10 this year. Last year he shot his buck opening day of bow but this year he passes on three bucks opening day and never saw another buck all season. I tried a rotation system this year where I never sat the same stand twice in a row and I had deer in range every hunt. No shooter bucks but I saw quite a few deer. This research seems spot on.
Great topic! I was guilty of the same thing crusader. I do have a stand that I love to hunt. No matter how low impact you might feel you are, you stink. I have decided to sacrifice some of my hunts where I feel there is more opportunities of sightings, to not burn up the stand. So next year I am rotating a ten stand system. It wasn't until I moved to two different stands in early November, that I started seeing more sightings. The same mistake will not happen again. I know better!
That is a good article and is so true from my experiences in past hunts. I normally now hunt from a climber and no matter how much I want to sit one spot, I try to move around to different spots. I can't count how many times in the past when my rifle stands have fresh deer sign in the snow coming right up to the stand and snooping around. They know your there right away. They may overlook it if you alter your stands per day, but if you sit there day after day, they avoid it. That's why generally your best opportunity on a stand is the first time you sit it. That's why I opt for a climber. This also proves the point of what baiting heavy in areas does to the deer movement.
Great thread! I read that article before the deer gun season. On Wednesday of gun season, that evening, i noticed an up tick in deer sightings. Maybe it was the weather, whatever, I don't know but Wednesday evening all of us saw deer again moving on their own. Thursday morning when the orange army hit, deer moving on their own slowed up. BC
Crusader, no offense taken. Believe me the thought crossed my mind. I have 8 on my 40 and by rule never sit the same stand twice. The problem I do have, I can only enter the property from one direction and that makes it extra tough. So even with that, I try to mix it up. Believe me i am looking for new ways to change things up all of the time. Actually in a couple of weeks I will be pulling all eight stands, refurbishing them and placing them in different locations for 2015. For me, the arrow points to hunting too early! Next year, I will not hit the property until the last week of October at the earliest. Thanks for the help.
While I agree overhunting a stand can cause avoidance issues, the study IMO is biased for a couple reasons, the most notable being the deer were once trapped and collared by humans, so they're likely to be much more wary of human intrusion. Second, if hunters were transported by four-wheelers and tractors to stands, they're calling that "minimal intrusion"? I'd call that letting the local deer know someone is there, especially if they did that in the dark, or at hours different than their "feeding" schedule. Third, during the rut, all bets are off not only for the local bucks, but others in the area passing through that have never been spooked by your stand/scent before.
Friend Kevin Roesler of Arcadia doesn't switch stands during the season, and you can't argue with the success he's had through the years. In recent years, due to disabling illness (including cancer), he's been using a crossbow. It allowed him to keep hunting, and the deer he's shot since were taken at ranges similar to the average vertical bow shots. Four years ago, he shot a 10-point, 176-inch net typical. Last year, he dropped a 19-point non-typical that grossed 206 7/8 and netted 198 5/8.
Outside of a fleeting glimpse one night on a walk out from the stand when the buck practically ran him over coming out of a corn field, he only saw the deer on trail cam photos until the day he shot it.
Here's more from a story that ran in Nov. '14 WI Sportsman:
“There’s a lot of deer out there, even after this bad winter,” Roesler said. “We found some dead ones, but the doe population is phenomenal. We really need to take a bunch out this year.”
Roesler said he’s in the woods so much, year-round, that the local deer get used to him.
“I don’t switch stands during the season,” Roesler said. “Deer are pretty much homebodies. If you have good habitat and good food, they’ll stick around.”
Roesler rents some land to a farmer, who leaves some standing corn. The hilly country has acorn-dropping oaks, and there’s a small apple orchard, a water hole and some small food plots.
Wed pm I bow hunted a property I hadn't hunted since just before the gun season and it gets lots of pressure during gun season. I started seeing deer at 3:40 and they kept coming out of the woodwork until after shooting hours. I stopped counting after 11. I got busted twice in my stand and once on the way out. Too many eyes and noses. Went back last night and only saw three. It doesn't take much pressure to put deer back on the alert.
10 - I would do the opposite. I would hit it hard right at the beginning of the season and let it sit during October.
Two feathers that is what I did this year and had a bad year. Not saying you are wrong, it just was a bad year. The biggest problem is stand entry. I can only enter from the East, so it is very difficult not to get patterned. I'm going to do an afternoon sit today and we will see what is shaken. It looks pretty good out today.
10 I have a couple places where neighbors won't let me hunt but they will let me walk on their property to enter the property I'm hunting. It doesn't hurt to ask.
I'm also going to sit this afternoon. 200 miles round trip to hunt public land and buck tag is filled. How dumb is that. I feel lucky! Wait, I don't believe in luck.
10 or better ----- Here is some advice from my experience. My dream of being in the cabin, till spring has come to an end. I dragged myself out of the woods, and am now back home. Doctors at Aurora yesterday, say they believe the left femur is only an extreme sprain, so on meds and ice, and have alot of time on this computer now........ If it does not clear in another week it will be an MRI.........
Anyway, I am familiar with Ozaukee and Washington Co and surrounding area. I do not think 40 acres is alot of area, but it can be down there, if you are surrounded by non hunting areas......
In 2010, I got rid of 160 acres in Clark Co. But I only had 9 ladder stands in that whole spot. Only went into hunt, otherwise stayed out, the whole year. Kept most area as a refuge, one small food plot, and had it logged.......
We shot some nice bucks that way. You might be putting too much pressure on that spot. I know a guy who shot a 160 with shotgun in Ozaukee C0, could not get him with the bow. He has 30 acres. He has only hunted that spot 5 times all year, excecpt for the opening of gun.... Shot the deer on Thanksgiving day.
Here is my up north report.... East Forest Co and west Florence Co. Once the weather broke, by Tuesday of the ML season, the deer were on the move.
The reason I would hate to see a change to our seasons, is that with the ML the pressure is gone, here comes the deer. From Wed to the following Wed at the close of the season I had observed 35 deer.
Thats good numbers for my area, and I only saw two bucks, both a nice 5 pointer and a nice 4 pointer. Hope they make it thru.
Guys I know, shot two big 8's and one really nice 10. They had all passed on spikes and forks, and seen alot of fawns.
Hunting all log jobs, no baiting. All agreed that if bait was eliminated, the hunt would be better....
Loggers are cutting alot, and they all agreee there is the food, predators are the problem and bad winters.
USFS reports they would love to do more aspen work and cuts, but their budget is low. The fire money for out west comes out of their overall budget. They are working on it.
good luck late season, I sure wish I could get out, I have a great spot, on the Ozaukee /Sheboygan line........
stay well
Good luck Two Feathers, it's beautiful up here today; have to coach basketball after school or I'd be on stand south of you. Light westerly winds should be good for your entry, at least.
rasorhead - If you need anybody to keep an eye on your deer, I drive back and forth past Ozaukee/Sheboygan/Washington a lot. Don't mind to help out.
Naz - I wanted to come up yesterday before all the weekend traffic arrives. I expect find a nice big cedar to climb. Plan to make doe sounds with the call. Expect to launch an arrow. Might even use a drag line. There's got to be a reason I carry tampons!
I have a little story to share for those that use ATVs to get to their stands. This fall I was elk hunting in CO, there is a trail that borders a wilderness area. The wilderness area is basically up the mountains from the trail and there is some public land lower, but mainly private land. The 3rd to last day of our ML hunt I finally got on some bugling bulls and bumped into a bowhunter going after the same bull that neither of us saw, I was kind of wondering why he quit responding. The next day me and another guy headed that way right in the morning. There were 2 bulls bugling like crazy on the public land, one was a long ways from private and the other was somewhat close to private. We decided that we would drop down about 80 yards off the trail and wait for it to get light enough that we could hunt as we moved in on them, we sat there and listened to them bugle back and forth for a few minutes. I could hear an ATV driving down the trail, but the bulls kept on bugling, then he shut the ATV off about 60 yards from us and it was like he shut the bulls off too. They didn't bugle for over 30 minutes after he shut the ATV off, but then they were way down on private land. It's not like they were real close to the trail either, that was the surprising part, they were about 200 yards down from the trail. That really sucked, they were going crazy on their own and the wind was about as steady as it can be in the mountains and in our favor, we should have been able to sneak down and get a visual fairly easily.
I think that it is more on how you get to the stand over how much you hunt it.
Razorhead - Just curious. Are the logging jobs on national forest property?
Yes, all logging jobs were in western Florence and eastern Forest Co. These were jobs that were on the list, for the last 8 years, and they were going at it big time. Saw alot of doe and fawns, but not much in bucks........
I am done hunting, at least for two weeks. the doctors told me, the wear and tear on my legs, caused the severe sprain, to the femur area of my left leg. Just wearing out I guess. Not the kind of pain you want, back along the Brule River........
A really good job right now, take 70 west of 139 and make your first turn off of 2448. this area is just on the west side of Duck Creek. the cut is there and then further west, 2448A, towards Chuck Lake. Good late season spot
That is great info not too far from our shack im gonna give it a look if i can get some free time. Hope you heal up razor. Always nice to hear about a little more logging up there.
Another good log job, is east of Long Lake town. KOP is done cutting there. It got pressure during gun season, but too much pressure, left little results.
I know the guy who was running that job. Know one in there now. Look at your map, go east on Halsey lake Rd and you will come to 2158, Grand Ma Lake Rd. you will go south and see the cut on the east side.
Your first road going south, is Tiemill Rd, it will come out on your right. Stop there and look east, that is the area to get into. Alot of tops down and alot of deer in there now.
Hunt the east area. There is a drainage in there its a unnamed creek, that comes out of a spring, and goes into Wood Creek........
Two Feathers, sorry to hear, any fresh sign? If you ever plan to stay up this way and don't have a spot, I take care of a duplex; one side is open all but one night the rest of the bow season.
Naz - fresh sign yes - lots of sign. I was confident something would come to the call but that didn't happen. There was a fresh snow recent and that helped me. Got rushed this morning, left late, arrived late, forgot my compass, map, satellite photos and tampons. If it hadn't been for the fresh snow I'd still be out there walking around in circles.
Thanks for the lodging offer, I'll keep that in mind.
Razor, Naz T L T R
10 , Its very easy to burn out a 40 . An old Buck or Dor that bags you in a stand will lead deer away from that spot until they die. Other Deer will walk right to that tree and stare at it until they think its empty.
I only have 4 stands on the 80 I hunt and I hunt it every other week to avoid burnout.
Ruger, some things take a little more explanation. You can stick to the short ones.
Zero deer seen tonight.
Is that Door county?
Yes, Pasq, even here you can go without seeing a deer. That's hunting! Did say this, though: " fresh sign yes - lots of sign."
Dang... I was gonna buy a thousand acres based on your deer reports Naz :)
If you can afford it, even 100 here would be worth your while! He's hunting public land away from ag, and still seeing a lot of sign, by the way.