Overhunting stands

[BSK]

I've talked about this data before, but just wanted to show the data graphed out for anyone that is interested. As I've stated before, the more a stand is hunted, the lower the odds of seeing an older buck. Bucks, especially older more hunter-wary bucks, are very sensitive to hunting pressure. They don't have to see you in a stand to know the area has been hunted. We shed human scent constantly, and that scent pours down onto the ground around the stand. Deer coming through days later can pick up on that accumulating human scent. Deer also have excellent memories. They remember where they encountered danger, and either avoid the area all-together, or move through only after dark.

Below is a graph from approximately 6,000 hours of hunting time, collected over 30+ year period, displaying the average sighting rate of older bucks (2 1/2+) from stands for each successive hunt from that stand for that year (older bucks seen per hunt). Notice what a drastic reduction there is between the first time a stand is hunted and the second. In addition, the sighting rate continues to decline with each successive hunt. Now that sighting rate never falls to zero. There's always a chance of seeing an older buck from a stand, even on the 10th time it's hunted. But statistically, the chance of seeing an older buck is much higher the 1st time the stand is hunted is compared to the 4th or 5th. In fact, on average, the sighting rate declines 69% from the 1st hunt to the 5th hunt. Recalculating the data for only bucks 3 1/2+ years old finds the same decline, about 64%.

Now that doesn't mean there aren't those very unique stands - usually involving an escape route pinch point, or a stand with a couple hundred yard view across agricultural fields - where it can be as good the 5th time it's hunted as the 1st time, but those type of stand set-ups are the exception rather than the rule.

 

[mossyoakmantn]

Great info thanks BSK

 

[mossyoakmantn]

What about other stand proximity? Would there be a minimum distance that would affect this? I have several stands that are approx 100 yrds apart.

 

[BSK]

What about other stand proximity? Would there be a minimum distance that would affect this? I have several stands that are approx 100 yrds apart.

Good question. Never tried to tease out that data.

 

[THE DUKE]

What about stand locations where you know the deer never come close to your stand, activity is 100yds minimum away.

 

[Bushape]

What about other stand proximity? Would there be a minimum distance that would affect this? I have several stands that are approx 100 yrds apart.

I'd speculate laying down scent in two areas that close to each other would not only decrease the deers proximity to you but run them out of the area all together. I think of all of the times deer deer have been coming to me on a string only to change their course as they near and move just out of range. They don't seem to be anxious or scared they just know something isn't right. Now if there are multiple stands deer, especially mature deer, are going to know you were there even after you've left and use that knowledge.

 

[Sasquatch Boogie Outdoors]

I'm a firm believer that deer will pattern hunters. It happened to me last year twice in different places. I watched doe herd from a distant stand stand for 15 min. Staring toward my primary set up to see if I was there. They stood dead still and just gazed hoping to catch moving unaware of their presence. Sneaky little critters.

 

[Ski]

Interesting chart and information. Thank you for posting.

 

[megalomaniac]

This fact is the most important thing I learned from you years ago to make me a better hunter.

But I expanded/ added to it on my own...

It takes about 3 weeks for a stand you have burned from hunting pressure to go back to similar rates of older buck sightings as never hunted from that stand.

AND the type of stand makes a difference. Deer will accept about TWICE as much hunting pressure from an airtight shooting house compared to an open air stand before sightings decline. And hunting long range (400y plus) from where you expect deer to present a shot puts almost no pressure on the mature bucks.

 

[tn24]

Were these stands hunted everyday in a row, every two or three days or maybe once a week? Also do you think the frequency a stand is hunted makes a lot of difference?

 

[Mescalero]

As others asked, distance between stands would interesting to see. It's easy to get very granular, but I wonder if a stand is hunted once, then a good rain that evening, could that stand be "refreshed"? What about hunt a stand once and not again until, say two weeks later?

Great information, BSK.

 

[recurve60#]

Bucks dont leave the area from what i have seen. Just shift over a tad. Wish there was years of info based on knee high rubber booted hunters vs normal boots.

 

[Shooter77]

Great info! I've seen this on a lease I had. We had 2 stands that were easy to get too. first year, it was nothing to see 10 deer on a hunt. After 3 seasons, we would hardly see a deer during daylight during the next 4 season.

 

[beefydeer]

They remember where they encountered danger, and either avoid the area all-together, or move through only after dark.

How do they associate safety with darkness even with human scent present?

 

[megalomaniac]

How do they associate safety with darkness even with human scent present?

They are THAT smart by the time they hit maturity. They KNOW the difference between human threat in daylight vs safety at night!

 

[catman529]

What about other stand proximity? Would there be a minimum distance that would affect this? I have several stands that are approx 100 yrds apart.

The NDA did a study on one piece of property with set stands, and they found the average increase in distance of travel from the stand sites by adult bucks was 55 yards from the beginning to the end of the season. Meaning they moved on average 55 yards further away from the stand locations after they were hunted throughout the season.

 

[UTGrad]

Love these posts. Thank you BSK and the longer I hunt the more I get wise to staying out of the best spots till conditions are right.

 

[Carlos]

Very interesting.
I can recall many successful hunts that were the result of a first time setup. The element of surprise, simply put I guess.

 

[JN]

You can use this to your advantage if you know where your neighbors hunt or where a lot of people hunt at on public land. I have places I won't go till gun season starts because I know hunting pressure will push them to these spots. In 2019 this tactic worked for me on getting an 8 point that almost scored 140. I had a spot near a bedding area that I held off all of archery hunting and let a week of muzzleloader go then hit the spot. I think everyone hunting the lower areas and not wanting to walk up high pushed him up into this bedding area.

 

[TheLBLman]

Love these posts. Thank you BSK and the longer I hunt the more I get wise to staying out of the best spots till conditions are right.

x 2

I'm in agreement with what BSK posted,
but do have a bit of some "theory" here regarding . . . . . .

I suspect BSK's particular data set may be biased a bit toward stands that have been placed more for closer range hunting (wooded & heavy cover set-ups). There is also the issue of the dates hunted.

In my experiences, some stands can be hunted daily, ongoing, with essentially no disturbance UNTIL a deer is killed from the stand. Some of these are even close-range archery set-ups where the deer are normally seen under 40 yds --- but these are rare. Most that can be hunted frequently without effecting deer movement are the ones where the deer are regularly over 100 yds distances, and the entry/exit to the stand generally would not cross the deer's entry/exit path to where observed from the stand.

The other issue involves "timing".
Deer seem much more "sensitive" to human intrusion outside the rut, such as early archery and late season. Yes, we can always find site-specific exceptions, no matter the date, but the generalization holds.

Lastly, how much of this particular data set excludes the daily timeframe of 10:30 am to 1:30 pm?

Many older deer which have been "disturbed" by over-hunting a particular stand location do seem to still come around that "spot" under the cover of darkness instead of during daylight. But I've also found many also shift their significant linear movements to mid-day (along with their night-time travels).

Just saying, not only do the deer pattern the hunters, but most hunters are leaving their stands by mid-morning, and many older deer will recognize this "safer" mid-day period to move a few hundred yards from Point A to Point B. This is particularly true of older bucks during the rut.