No Entry -No Exception After Labor Day
Whitetail Deer
Looking for feedback on a new hunting strategy that I am undertaking. I am enforcing a new rule at my hunting camp this year…”no entry-no exception” after Labor Day.
This is a hard rule. No food plot work, no tree stand maintenance, no checking cameras, no ATV riding…NO NOTHING!!!
My reasoning is that I don’t want to disturb or of give my deer any reason to leave or go nocturnal. I’m thinking that by giving them almost a full month before opening day ( Oct. 1st) of not being bothered very well could lead to better hunting. Any feedback will be welcomed.
Depending where you are located and how many acres and members. For me my food plots won’t be planted until the last week of September. I’m not in a club though so if those are your rules so be it. Always enjoy this time , it’s just a deer. Good luck !
Depends on how large a property you are talking about, and if you can trust your neighbors to stay clear.
I used to hunt on a buddy's 40 acres. He had some mobility issues and used his ATV quite a bit, right up to and during hunting season. We got some great bucks on camera, but never killed one. IMO we created too much disturbance, and with a relatively small piece of property, the deer didn't have to go far to avoid the place to get to the surrounding ag fields.
I think your strategy is worth a shot. You'll never know whether it makes a difference if you don't give it a try. Good Hunting!
Ive seen great hunting farms ruined by atv traffic. Old boy dies. Youngsters take over. Next thing you know, 4 wheeler trails everywhere and heavy traffic. Great quickly became shitty. It can only help. Too much human activity on a farm hurts hunting. Guaranteed.
It can only HELP your hunting efforts.
As long as the guys don’t raise too much of a ruckus trying to beat your deadline….
It can’t hurt to leave a sanctuary, but I’m always surprised at how much human activity they will tolerate so long as the activity stays where it’s supposed to.
On the other hand, if the deer see you every day when it's not hunting season, they will get used to you. With that said, they won't spook at your scent. They'll put up with your presence like neighborhood deer do. But don't misunderstand though, deer know when they are being hunted, even neighborhood deer.
I think it would be a good thing, I'd even push it back 2 weeks into the season but if guys are paying that won't fly.
Might work ,. Might not , just depends good strategy I’ve attempted similar Goodluck
Are you THE owner of the property, AN owner of the property or an officer in the club? Regardless, paying member should probably be consulted before changing rules.
I try to get all my land improvement work done by April 1st so the deer are undisturbed during fawning season. After that time, I check the property only after bad storms to see if there has been any windfall that I have to address. My philosophy is to stay out until its time to hunt, but hunters who use food plots would obviously have a different perspective. Good luck with your plan.
We hunt suburbs so actively doesn’t seem to matter. I move stands or set new ones during the season and we still kill deer.
Camp David, to me that is just common sense. Might help, cannot hurt the populations. From there, hunting skills can come into play.
Those of you saying that the deer will get used to you, I say, maybe, maybe not. I have permission to hunt a 40 acre parcel adjacent to a refuge with large bucks. The landowners regularly walk the property on trails. In nearly 20 years of hunting this property, I rarely get pictures of big bucks and I've never shot one despite hunting it often. I get plenty of pictures of does, fawns and small bucks, but rarely a big buck. So I think some deer will tolerate and become accustomed to regular human presence, but possibly not others, especially big bucks. Just my thoughts, carry on!
I'd first consider what I see on my cellular cameras to begin with. I hunt a pretty good sized tract of land in farm country, that has a bit of built in disturbance to begin with. My cameras don't show a good buck every evening, and as a matter of fact, not even weekly, so I relate that to the encounters I'll likely have while hunting. Most mature deer do their traveling at low light and darkness to begin with, so this "disturbance" you speak of, shouldn't truly bother the deer, as long as you are not bumping them from where they sleep. Don't give them too much credit. I mow my approach trails throughout the summer. I do it mid day, and I don't think it would ever blow a deer out of there. We move stands as well, and I'm in fact done, but again, even if I bumped a deer, I'm not worried about him leaving, because he will likely (in the cover of darkness) sniff around and realize a human was there, and is now gone, and resume his normal activities. For me, staying out of there during the open season is the biggest factor lol. If you are truly pursuing a deer that is nocturnal like they are early season, and hunting them where they live, does the greatest harm. No doubt you have to give it some hunts to see if you can get him early, but if you really wanted the best opportunity, it would be to not hunt until pre rut. We all know when the cruising deer are most active and not on lockdown, and that is why I say the best time to stay out of the woods is early season. Letting them feel comfortable, and when they are most vulnerable, pick your wind, and pick your stands, tread lightly, and don't overhunt a single stand. That is the hardest thing for most hunters, is literally to avoid hunting when they have the least opportunity to be successful. Good luck!
Camp David, I think your reasoning is solid. One of the biggest challenges I face is getting the other people that hunt where I do to "be smart" whether they are hunting, scouting, or other activities. As bowhunters, we all realize the importance of scent control, hunting the wind, good entry/exit pathways, etc, but not everyone pays attention to these extremely important aspects of hunting deer from a low impact standpoint. A couple of the others who hunt where I do, do not pay attention to these things and they rarely kill deer except for gun season when they can shoot out to 250-300 yards during the rut. I have tried to get them to understand low impact techniques, but they just don't get it. They have just as much right to hunt as I do, so I do the best I can. Good luck!!!!!!!!
I think it all boils down to what human activity the deer are accustomed to. For example, I routinely ride my 4-wheeler to check my fence lines. The deer are used to it, so they will usually just watch me as I drive by. If I stop to look at them, they get nervous and will often spook. Same goes for my frequent trips between my house and barn, or driving in and out on our driveway. On the other hand, if I walk, or ride my ATV, to an area on my property where I usually wouldn't go, the deer take notice and are instantly alerted.
Your policy may actually backfire on you. It may provide a sense of sanctuary for the deer during your off-limits period, but as soon as you start hunting the deer will know somethings different, and will be on high alert.
Matt
They're deer. Everywhere they live, they see, hear, and smell people ALL the time. You give them way too much credit. If you're not actively harassing them, just go about whatever you usually do. They'll get used to it and pretty much ignore you.
When I was on my land this buck vanished. He returned 5 days later after I went home
When I was on my land this buck vanished. He returned 5 days later after I went home
It’s a solid concept in theory, getting others to comply may be challenging.
I completely vacate my Ohio property after my fall plots go in, typically around 8/1. I go back home and don’t show up until hunting season. My cellular trail cams will prove out this theory on mature bucks: captures go way down while I’m running around putting in plots and hanging cams. A week or two after I leave and the mature bucks start trickling back.
Your property, do as you please.
So, the deer have nearby quality habitat that is a completely human free to go to?
On mine, I’ll check the cards one last time at the end of August and finish up any work. I won’t go back in until November. Everyone surrounding me will drive them onto mine by Oct 27th. Gives them a week to sniff around and become comfortable. When I do go, it’s sitting dark to dark. Being able to have the does relaxed brings them back after a night of feeding, which helps when a good one is tending them for 2 days. Having multi-day encounters with the same buck is something special.
We will see how it works this season. The new landowner wants me to have all planting done by September 15th and not set foot on the property till he gets to hunt it the first week of November. Also the group says 5.5 years old or 150". Total property is about 3,000 acres?
Wow! I'd be hard pressed to judge a 5.5 year old deer or 150" rack, but that's me. Sounds like an ok theory, but a 140" buck looks pretty darn good walking through the woods. Now, a deer over 170" gets pretty easy to field judge;)
Well it sounds good but, if you load up the hunters October 1 and hunt hard the same effect will happen. If you control the number of hunters and not hunt daily I would assume you'll have better results, be interesting to see how it works. Good luck .
I can tell you that doing the opposite is a bad idea. Last year the ranch I hunt had a seismograph crew come in as the season started (surface owner doesn't own the minerals) Guys were marching thru the woods all day, riding ATVs but to appease the hunters they quit work on Friday afternoon thru Monday. We still saw deer, all young. No big bucks.
I think your plan is worth a try.
Your land, your rules, but here closer to home we use our land extensively for other activities and still manage to enjoy great hunting action. Life is short, and land is too damn expensive to NOT use it.
Camp David, if it's your ground then do as you please. Not sure if it will help all that much but I don't see it hurting that much. I try to limit activity on my place in the fall, but I still go out now and then to run cameras and bush hog. The deer are pretty used to activity because I'm surrounded by farm ground. They aren't bothered by big equipment.
Some bucks tolerate multiple intrusions, other do not. I have hunted several 5 + year old bucks that simply left the country after seeing me one time. The most recent was a 9 point 5 year old that visited my place occasionally but was on my neighbor's camera at his feeder almost daily. The buck I will be after next month has exhibited this type of behavior and I will take no chances.
"Your land, your rules, but here closer to home we use our land extensively for other activities and still manage to enjoy great hunting action. Life is short, and land is too damn expensive to NOT use it."
South Farm, and y'all still manage to have great hunting? Hmmm
Honestly I don't see what difference that will make.
You're only giving the deer 1 month. And it isn't even a crucial month at that. It's September. The deer will have human presence all summer you are saying and through August. Then in September one month of nothing. What are your expectations? Deer are not going to move in to your property because of that. So that means the only deer you have the potential to impact are the ones already on your property. So these deer have experienced activity all the way until the end of August. Then on Opening Day they get hunted and the cautious ones go underground. I really don't foresee it having any measurable impact AS FAR AS WHAT IT DOES FOR YOU IN HUNTING SEASON. They may change a bit in that month, but these are deer that already know your habits and what you usually do. So once hunting season starts, it's same old same old.
Now if you left it alone into and through the month of October, while surrounding properties get pressured....then maybe a difference might be made. Even with that though - I don't think the impact would be measurable. If you left it alone for an entire hunting season now you'd start to see impact. It's not like deer know what the activity level on the property next door is to where they're living so they'll immediately move over now that you're not on. It could change the activity of the deer living on the property...but only over time. And that time is measured in years IMO not months. Cause the second you start hunting...they know. You leave your scent behind.
APauls, our last 3 seasons prove this theory works. We finish all our work on Labor Day weekend. West Central Illinois (360 acres). The amount of Constant mature buck activity on the farm has completely changed. We don’t step foot back on farm until last week of October to hunt. All our neighbors communicate with each other the bucks we are seeing. We pretty much have a 160” policy between the 4 of us on our farm, some neighbors are more picky and others less.
I tend to agree with GG’s post above. Deer adjust to regular activity.
If you go from Zero activity to a hunting club level activity- Deer will notice. Its still probably a good thing limiting pre season activity and thats what I would do if it were my place.
Might as well expand it to the end of the season. It's a whitetail...lighten up a little. Shooting a big deer isn't going to make you younger, better looking, taller, ect.
thedude,
My guess is he is not worried about looking younger, better looking or taller. He wants to kill deer.
