Hunting Pressure advice

[Bigeclipse]

Hey Guys. I hunt on my father-in-laws 150 acre property. There is 5 of us who hunt the land. We are all relatively new to hunting and this is in New York. We actually wanted to pose this question to you. We hunted this past weekend hard. Spent every hour in the woods. We use quads as transport.
The neighboring properties are also woods which including ours totals about 500-600 acres which are hunted by other hunters. All is private property but we are unsure the total number of hunters. We saw some smaller bucks but nothing worthy of shooting. Now considering all the hunting we did this past opening weekend, we assume the deer are probably starting to feel pressure...if not a lot. What are your thoughts? If they are feeling lots of pressure now that opening weekend is over, what tips do you recommend proceding forward to try and locate those hard to find older bucks under pressure. Again this is in New York where we do no not have a great buck to doe ratio. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[justgoto]

I wouldn't be riding quads around. I walk quietly to my tree stand, taking a route of as much concealment as possible.

 

[gillettehunter]

In my mind 150 acres is not a lot of ground for 5 hunters in my area. Yours may differ. The rut should be going on, so the bucks are going to be chasing the does. Do you have a food plot on the 150 acres? Anywhere you see does the bucks will follow. Find a place where deer are traveling. Get seated in a tree stand or a blind and stay all day long. Walk to and from your blind. Save the quads for bringing the deer out of the woods. Every property has a "best " spot where your chances are the best. Find that on this property and then spend as much time as possible there.
If baiting is allowed then you may want to try that. In some areas that produces well. Look for well used trails to set up on. Best of luck. Bruce

 

[Dskiper]

hello, having spent my life(65yrs.) deer huntin N.j,N.Y,P.A`&Maine I've found that deer after opening day now become more nocturnal then ever.Maybe if by the end of the 2nd week with no pressure you may have activity since bucks still search for does.Inmy experience you should seek the heaviest cover and sit there of course watching wind direction. On that small piece of land you will need luck since deer could be on a piece of land not hunted and not move except after dark. Deer sense that human activity and can shut down completely day time. Also holding out for a trophy can mean no venison for some time. So sit tight and dress warm so you can out sit others and maybe they will bounce a buck by you!good luck!

 

[HARPERC]

I love my ATV, but on 150 acres I can't see it being your friend. Hopefully, more eastern folks will chime in as most western hunts individuals cover much more ground than the 5 of you are.

We hunted elk on 90 acres as part of a family deal. Realistically the elk were going to end up there once in the season. It was thick swamp, and where they would go when pressured. Once they were busted out they wouldn't be back for the season. A couple of guys on the escape routes the rest push the cover.

Locally some of the guys are having luck with feeders on small properties. Like has been said if you have some rut, if your property has the does the bucks won't be far.

Whatever combination, of feed, cover, and sex your place offers above the neighbors property is where they'll be. Not to start a family feud, but the area has too many hunters. Some sort of coop with the neighbors should seriously considered. Somebody gets left out though.

 

[Greyfox]

I've hunted the Northeast for 45 years, including New York State. A couple of thoughts; most hunters are opening day hunters and feel if they don't get their buck on opening day, their chance of getting one is just about impossible, and bail out. They may go out on Saturday. The deer traveling through your area, particularly during hunting season will be traveling in an area of a mile or more. It is highly likely there are older bucks in the area and they rarely follow the patterns of the younger bucks that account for 90% of the deer taken. They will move during the day, generally 10-2, mid day, when most hunters are at the diner or gone home. The colder, or worse the weather, the better. Pick a stand on a well used trail with sign, and located at a sweezepoint with adequate cover, wind to your advantage. Our best bucks have been shot after the opener, including the last day, but the opportunity for the shot is is measured in seconds, and the time has to be invested.IMO.

 

[Bigeclipse]

Thank you all. Let me clarify something quick. The reason I mentioned ATV is because I KNOW they are bad and can scare deer but I have no choice in the matter. The hunting land is my father-in-laws and he insists on 2 ATVs for the 5 of us. We use them to get up to the top of the hill/mountain...then...we walk to our stands from there. He is almost 60 and has bad knees so regardless of whether I walk or not, he will be using the ATV for transport so I might as well join on. The good news is, we do go in quite early so there is a solid hour if not a lot more before sun up that we are in our stands and the quads are parked a decent ways away. My father-in-law is very stubborn and you cannot change his ways. It's his way or the highway and hunting land is very hard to come by where we are.

So that being said, that's why i came on here, too see what you all would recommend.

 

[HARPERC]

You're a guest, so maybe instead of changing the hunt, change the goals and expectations. Lots of purely social family hunts out there and that's a good thing. Just expect to hang out with family riding ATV's, and packing rifles instead of watching football. It's also OK to plan something for yourself elsewhere, or make a plan that includes your father in law.

 

[Bigeclipse]

You're a guest, so maybe instead of changing the hunt, change the goals and expectations. Lots of purely social family hunts out there and that's a good thing. Just expect to hang out with family riding ATV's, and packing rifles instead of watching football. It's also OK to plan something for yourself elsewhere, or make a plan that includes your father in law.

I understand, I didnt mean to sound like I was attempting to change how my father-in-law hunts...just seeing what people thought about the situation I am in and how they may proceed for the rest of the hunting season. Dont get me wrong, I feel very blesssed to even have a place to hunt and spend time with my fiance and her family. That being said, we have LOTS of BIG bucks on camera from 2 months ago and LOTS of does so I was hoping some of the big guys would have stayed around during the season but all we have seen was a 5 pointer and two spikers, and some does.

I may take the other person's advice and hang in the stand all day instead of coming out at lunch when everyone else does. We typically get out of the stand around 1030am and get back in at 130pm. Sounds like the big guys will be in the thick stuff hiding so maybe i can convince the old man to put on some drives towards the end of the season but for this coming weekend and next week i believe we are still in the rut...so who knows what will happen.

 

[The Guide]

I think you are on the right track. Pack a lunch and sit in a place where you have the best visibility of the travel corridors. The deer may move when the forest gets quiet after everyone leaves for lunch.

Jay

 

[Bigeclipse]

I will most likely spend all day in the stand. When/if these bigger bucks move around during the day whether with does or alone during the rut, how far will/could they move? Do they stay in the general area or will they roam for hundreds of yards, acres or a mile?

 

[Topgun 30-06]

A good buck is probably not going to be roaming around much, if at all, during the daylight hours unless he's with a hot doe and she gets up to move to another area. Staying out from before daylight until last light every time you hunt is the way to go since deer do funny things and you have to be there when they move on their own or get bumped by someone else.

 

[Brewer]

Things seem to be covered well here. The biggest buck I shot was at about 10AM and he was running towards the woods I was hunting, not walking out if them like most of the deer I shoot. I know there is an instant respect we have for a guy who shoots a buck that scores more than 200 but, he got lucky. There are basically 3 things you can control. 1. can you hit the guy? 2. Are you hunting the 'best' place you can (like is it a high traffic area)? and 3. are you spending as much time there as you can. other than that, God has to bring the buck to you. Good Luck.

 

[Bigeclipse]

Ok one more question for you all. Lets say there is a well traveled path over a few hundred yards. Lets say, someone shot at something there opening day. So of course we went on foot a ways to track and recover. Is that spot now dead or might the deer who werent there that day come? This was this past sunday. No one has been back to the 150 acres since let alone back to that spot so I am trying to decide if it is worth sitting in that spot this weekend. Again, this was the best spot before that person shot the doe there. They didnt see any other deer near by but that doesnt mean they werent there. just wondering if the shooting...plus us walking around to find the dead doe ruined that spot ofr by us not even touching the hunting land since might have allowed it to cool off and bucks/does return?