Absolutely Stumped

[AlexDad]

I have access to private land and the owner is out of state all year but Thanksgiving week.

So I have free reign all season but that one week. I back off to let him and his kids hunt that week. I don't overhunt it and have ventured out to public land to let it breathe every so often. Have 6 cameras out there on 51 acres and 4 of them send pics directly to my phone. Been hunting out there since 2012. Fall of 2015 is the first year I saw a live deer out there. With all of the cameras out there, I've gotten 434 pics from all cameras combined since July. 418 of those pics are either the woods only from a twig or leaf setting off the camera or a skunk, squirrel or raccoon late at night/early morning. I did have one armadillo in October. The balance of pics are a few doe between 1-4AM and a couple pics of one 4pt I've got on camera that looks EXACTLY the same as back in 2012.

We have 3 food plots and 4 feeders and I disable and empty the feeders before season.

I've always shot deer throughout the years and got land poor and the last few years just this piece of land and public. Haven't been able to take a shot on a live deer since. They come in and hunt every day for 5 days and this year they took two 6pt, that 4pt and a nice 8pt and two doe.

What are they doing different? I've tried going in at different times in the morning and evening, no more atv this year I walk, started using scent control, etc. I've never had a problem at least seeing deer in 30 years. They bombard the piece of property with 5-6 people at a time and I would think they make noise and have scent.

Not jealous or upset, actually happy for them - just don't understand where these deer come from that one week. It's like this every year.

 

[cbhunter]

lol that's a tough one but they obviously do something different.


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[AlexDad]

They all rifle hunt and I bow only. I would think the gun shots and dragging the deer out in that short time span would be detrimental. I know they have a greater range than I do with a bow, but I don't even see deer.

It's a hunt club and I happen to be the only TN resident. Unfortunately I have a suspicion but can't see how any one can get that many deer on THAT property in a 5 day span. They're no where to be found before and disappear afterwards. My best friend, who is a very good hunter, was on there up until this year. He quit it this year because we paid money, worked hard off season and there was just nothing there, except that one little span of time.

 

[cecil30-30]

Maybe don't worry about over huting it as much. Maybe you need to hunt it more.

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[JRA]

I'm curious about your "suspicion" and what that may be???
I have a similar scenario on one of the properties I hunt. Ninety-seven acres and I rarely see deer. A group of guys (7-10) hunt it every year during muzzleloader and always kill several deer.

My best guess is they cover so much territory someone is bound to be where the deer are plus they disturb the property so much it puts the deer out of pattern and into chaos/fear...haha

 

[AlexDad]

Maybe don't worry about over huting it as much. Maybe you need to hunt it more.

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I've thought about that and maybe did overhunt a bit last year since I didn't hunt any public at all. My only thing is I have so many cams out there you can't hardly step on it without getting your pic taken and nothing shows up. It's hard for me to get up that early and drive that far knowing there's nothing there. Not being argumentative and you may be right - in my head though something's just not right.

 

[cecil30-30]

Maybe don't worry about over huting it as much. Maybe you need to hunt it more.

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I've thought about that and maybe did overhunt a bit last year since I didn't hunt any public at all. My only thing is I have so many cams out there you can't hardly step on it without getting your pic taken and nothing shows up. It's hard for me to get up that early and drive that far knowing there's nothing there. Not being argumentative and you may be right - in my head though something's just not right.

Are your cams baited or do yo just have them on trails? Reason I ask, is I can find deer trails and hunt them but hardly ever catch a deer actually on the trail.

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[AlexDad]

I'm curious about your "suspicion" and what that may be???
I have a similar scenario on one of the properties I hunt. Ninety-seven acres and I rarely see deer. A group of guys (7-10) hunt it every year during muzzleloader and always kill several deer.

My best guess is they cover so much territory someone is bound to be where the deer are plus they disturb the property so much it puts the deer out of pattern and into chaos/fear...haha

I hate to cast suspicion out there without proof and sully someone's name, but no one here knows their name I guess.

Here's my suspicion may sound trivial:
1)They're flying in Friday evening 11/18, they ask I go that afternoon and remove all of my cameras. I get there 4:30AM and sit until maybe 3:00PM and see nothing so I get on the ATV and retrieve cams. The two that you have to have a card reader for are locked and there is a key in the clubhouse. The others that go to my phone get sent to them also. So I'm a little perplexed as why I have to take them all down just to put them back up when they leave.

2)Part of my fee is buying the attractants, etc for off season. We have a fridge in the clubhouse and dry inventory. Last year I caught a sale and stocked up for the next off season and after they left it was all bare. This year I took all of the stock home before they got there.

 

[JRA]

Gotcha...
I'm not especially familiar with "attractant". Is their a product out there that can be put out one day and yield those type of results so quickly pulling deer into the area?

 

[AlexDad]

Maybe don't worry about over huting it as much. Maybe you need to hunt it more.

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I've thought about that and maybe did overhunt a bit last year since I didn't hunt any public at all. My only thing is I have so many cams out there you can't hardly step on it without getting your pic taken and nothing shows up. It's hard for me to get up that early and drive that far knowing there's nothing there. Not being argumentative and you may be right - in my head though something's just not right.

Are your cams baited or do yo just have them on trails? Reason I ask, is I can find deer trails and hunt them but hardly ever catch a deer actually on the trail.

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I got one on each food plot and the other three on trails. Off season the feeders are placed where the food plot cams catch activity there too.

Now the owner has 5 cams out as well but they stay locked and I have no key to read the card. Mine catch the same activity as his but I have one additional cam out. He talks about monsters all year but accidentally deletes the pics and never sends them out. I would think one of my cams would catch a monster.

 

[AlexDad]

Gotcha...
I'm not especially familiar with "attractant". Is their a product out there that can be put out one day and yield those type of results so quickly pulling deer into the area?

Not sure about that either. My neighborhood is eat up with doe and they wear my wifes flowers out. I caught DeerCane and Buck Grub on sale last year and bought a bunch for out there and put some in the flower beds at home and put a camera on it. They wore it out!

I caught it on sale last year in October so I never actually put it out on the hunting property since it was still deer season. The plan was to put it out the next summer before season started. But it was gone. Didn't buy any this year.

 

[Rollo]

"They bombard the piece of property with 5-6 people at a time and I would think they make noise and have scent."

That would be my hunch. they get the deer moving so somebody in that 51 acres gets a shot. Is there lots of thick cover? Maybe they drive the thickets?

 

[rem270]

How much are you paying for the lease? Sounds to me like he's just telling you he sees big deer to keep you leasing it out. How many people hunt the place total? The owner seems really fishy. Any way to put a cam right beside his and him not know it? Maybe pull it down before he comes in town. That way if he says he sees a "monster" on a certain cam you'll know if he's lying or not because you have one right beside it or over it.

 

[AlexDad]

"They bombard the piece of property with 5-6 people at a time and I would think they make noise and have scent."

That would be my hunch. they get the deer moving so somebody in that 51 acres gets a shot. Is there lots of thick cover? Maybe they drive the thickets?

Little bit of thicket, not much. Mostly open fields with hardwoods on the property edges.

 

[AlexDad]

How much are you paying for the lease? Sounds to me like he's just telling you he sees big deer to keep you leasing it out. How many people hunt the place total? The owner seems really fishy. Any way to put a cam right beside his and him not know it? Maybe pull it down before he comes in town. That way if he says he sees a "monster" on a certain cam you'll know if he's lying or not because you have one right beside it or over it.

The owner plus four buddies that all live out of state and all come in this one week, plus their kids. 5 of my 6 cams mirror his 5 and I get nothing. He knows I have cams out and is ok with it but I'm required to take them down before they get in. From 2012-2015 my best friend had all of his cams out there too and he got nothing as well. He dropped out this year but could. He lives on land he can hunt.

I have caught him in a lie and suspect more, but it's my only option with public this last few years. Have some things in the works for next season. We all know how hard it is to get land.

The price isn't bad and supplemented by the work I do since I'm the only one that lives here and the stuff I buy. But I do a LOT of work.

 

[rem270]

How much are you paying for the lease? Sounds to me like he's just telling you he sees big deer to keep you leasing it out. How many people hunt the place total? The owner seems really fishy. Any way to put a cam right beside his and him not know it? Maybe pull it down before he comes in town. That way if he says he sees a "monster" on a certain cam you'll know if he's lying or not because you have one right beside it or over it.

The owner plus four buddies that all live out of state and all come in this one week, plus their kids. 5 of my 6 cams mirror his 5 and I get nothing. He knows I have cams out and is ok with it but I'm required to take them down before they get in. From 2012-2015 my best friend had all of his cams out there too and he got nothing as well. He dropped out this year but could. He lives on land he can hunt.

I have caught him in a lie and suspect more, but it's my only option with public this last few years. Have some things in the works for next season. We all know how hard it is to get land.

The price isn't bad and supplemented by the work I do since I'm the only one that lives here and the stuff I buy. But I do a LOT of work.

Best of luck with finding some new areas to hunt. I know how hard it is to get land. Heck i don't even have anywhere to go in Tn. I tried 2 different places this year and got turned down on both. Luckily i live 1 mile from Ky and own land there along with permission to hunt an additional 200 acres.

I know it's off subject but it's just weird he makes you take your cameras down before he and his buddies get there. Almost like he tries to make it out to his buddies like he does all the work, running cams, etc when in reality you are the one doing it.

 

[AlexDad]

How much are you paying for the lease? Sounds to me like he's just telling you he sees big deer to keep you leasing it out. How many people hunt the place total? The owner seems really fishy. Any way to put a cam right beside his and him not know it? Maybe pull it down before he comes in town. That way if he says he sees a "monster" on a certain cam you'll know if he's lying or not because you have one right beside it or over it.

The owner plus four buddies that all live out of state and all come in this one week, plus their kids. 5 of my 6 cams mirror his 5 and I get nothing. He knows I have cams out and is ok with it but I'm required to take them down before they get in. From 2012-2015 my best friend had all of his cams out there too and he got nothing as well. He dropped out this year but could. He lives on land he can hunt.

I have caught him in a lie and suspect more, but it's my only option with public this last few years. Have some things in the works for next season. We all know how hard it is to get land.

The price isn't bad and supplemented by the work I do since I'm the only one that lives here and the stuff I buy. But I do a LOT of work.

Best of luck with finding some new areas to hunt. I know how hard it is to get land. Heck i don't even have anywhere to go in Tn. I tried 2 different places this year and got turned down on both. Luckily i live 1 mile from Ky and own land there along with permission to hunt an additional 200 acres.

I know it's off subject but it's just weird he makes you take your cameras down before he and his buddies get there. Almost like he tries to make it out to his buddies like he does all the work, running cams, etc when in reality you are the one doing it.

They know I do all of the work cause I'm the only TN resident. My thought was something going on he doesn't want me to see. On one hand it's basically my property all season except one week and worth all of the work to bow hunt all year without worrying about guns all around. I'm also very happy those guys get deer the only week they get to hunt all year.

My buddy and I have just been super confused on why there's deer only one week of the year and why only his cameras get pics year 'round and ours don't.

I don't shoot bucks, never shot one in my life. One or two doe and we're set until the next season, just want one little ole doe. LOL! Haven't shot one since 2011.

Used to be on a lease in Hartsville with Brent (member here). Let all bucks walk and would take three doe a season and I was done. Was on a lease with Gravey here prior to that and the one I'm on now is less than a mile from it. He and I both know deer are scarce there.

 

[catman529]

Sounds like you're on a sketchy place, I wouldn't pay money to hunt 51 acres if I never saw a deer


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[mike243]

If they were baiting i would bet that short of a time frame no way could they pull deer into that small of an area unless they were already there

 

[cbhunter]

Try putting a couple of your cams over active scrapes. Or make your own mock scrape and pee in it. You WILL get pics.


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[tree_ghost]

If you have 6 functioning cameras on a 51 acre parcel of land and you aren't getting pictures of deer then that's because they ain't there....you could maybe, maybe talk me into believing that in all that time a seasoned hunter could just be on a bad streak but those cameras don't make mistakes. Sounds like the guy might be utilizing more than just 51 acres with at least 5 rifles on a property for a week straight...

I think he's full of it personally


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[catman529]

If you have 6 functioning cameras on a 51 acre parcel of land and you aren't getting pictures of deer then that's because they ain't there....you could maybe, maybe talk me into believing that in all that time a seasoned hunter could just be on a bad streak but those cameras don't make mistakes. Sounds like the guy might be utilizing more than just 51 acres with at least 5 rifles on a property for a week straight...

I think he's full of it personally


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I was thinking they're probably crossing property lines too. But it also could be 6 trail cameras in bad locations


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[Remington742]

I think he is lieing to you and cheating you out of money. If it were me I would stop leasing after this year especially after not seeing deer for that long of time and getting so few pictures.

 

[diamond hunter]

Its just a money deal.He is lying.

 

[Climber]

If he is that sketchy, he may very well be shooting this deer at night. I would get out, especially if you are not getting pics on the cam. Public land would offer more opportunities, especially since you are willing to put in the work.


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[losthunter]

If he requires you to take the cams down I would think he is doing something illegal. Taking cams down makes no sense.

 

[GRIT]

There is more of them going in at once getting the deer moving.
There pushing them getting them on there feet more than just you going in alone

 

[Cazador]

Are your cameras set up on the feeders and food plots? I would be looking for another place if you only have a couple doe pics. Sounds like you are getting used. You are doing the work. Paying for the deer cain and not seeing anything in person or on camera. Who's stands are they using?

 

[AlexDad]

Didn't want to go too deep into it due to my friends personal business but one of the reasons my best buddy is no longer on the lease is in August he started going thru a divorce. His soon to be ex-wife is the property owner's wife's sister. That and he was tired of no deer. He and I hypothesized this afternoon and I called Gravey. LOL!

When the owner came to town in July, he, myself and my buddy went and talked to a land owner he knew well since childhood and procurred another 120 acres in a good unit a bit closer to home. At this point my buddy wasn't in the middle of a divorce and we had hopes of seeing deer. The premise of this club was to get as much land as possible and with our membership cards hunt these lands.

The guy tells us we can hunt there he's old and doesn't farm anymore. My buddy and I go out there the 2nd week of bow season and the older guy comes out with a gun and tells us to leave he let someone else hunt there and remembers the property owner of our club but not us two. It's a very short drive from the land we hunt but just over the county line in a good area. My buddy says that's it and he's out.

We think our club guy went back and got this land for him and his buddies leaving us out and were shooting most of the deer there and possibly hunting our property in shady light. We had some other properties that fell thru at the last minute after the price was set this year. They might have been shooting deer on these other properties and bringing them back to the clubhouse for pics and processing.

I don't have a problem if they get extra properties I can't hunt, that's life. I do have a problem if my fee is helping pay these other properties and I get stuck on the doo doo property.

Mine and my buddies price is $500 for the 51 acres. We can work off all but $200 of it or if we spend money for the property. It jumped to $800 for the additional properties but we can't hunt them after we paid. It was my buddy and I now just me, but I live 42 miles from there and we were hauling the tractor up there and paying for diesel to bush hog it. Planting the 3 food plots and all the tractor work that goes with. Buying corn for feeders and attractants. Weedeating around stands. Taking feeders down before season. Printing membership cards and having black and orange hats with club emblem embroidered. Maintaining ladder stands with new straps. Having tractor tires delivered to our house and driving up there to remove his old tractor wheels and take them to Co Op to have them mounted and going back to reinstall, yet couldn't use his tractor there.

Yes I'm an idiot for falling for this but was so desperate for hunting land. I got a few pics and had seen the little 4pt once but all pics were either at 1 or 4 in the AM. Those other bucks just weren't on the property. All the doe were nocturnal as well. I swear the pic of the guy with the 8pt looks like a corn field behind him and there's not a corn stalk on our property.

I'm just spitballing and trying to wrap my head around it. Obviously I don't know what's really going on. It just hit me hard today when I saw the pics up on our site and this is the 4th or 5th year in a row. I hunted public land this week for the first time and I have a lot of it within 10 miles of home. I've never scouted it and it's hard to go in cold mid season and I bow hunt only and guns going off everywhere.

 

[MickThompson]

Don't walk, run


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