landman":3a63ee5p said:
If you was in KY I would say the neighbors are out feeding pulling the deer off....
I will say that anyway.
Seriously, the corn baiting is rampant, and many of those doing it really don't even seem to realize it's illegal. Certainly all the stores selling deer corn and feeders are doing their part to promote in-season baiting. Just go to Wal-Mart and look how much "deer corn" they're moving weekly during October & November --- but don't even stock it most of the year. Yes, I'm talking in TN.
Some will blame TWRA for allowing it to happen so widespread,
but the blame is more on those doing it (feigning ignorance), and the sellers of feeders & deer corn.
To TWRA's credit, when an outstanding buck pic hits Facebook or draws any public attention,
let's just say the hunter is at high risk of losing his trophy if he was hunting over bait.
Mike Belt":3a63ee5p said:
If you have food and cover then I'm stumped.
And, it's certainly possible no one bordering this property is currently baiting.
There may be a tremendous amount of both food and cover around this property, especially with recently harvested corn & soybean fields, not to mention, just a few scattered oak trees can provide a lot of acorns for a few weeks. While Doc is most aware of what's immediately bordering him, the deer likely are more aware of everything within a mile or two (every direction), simply gravitate to the areas less disturbed, and still having everything they want to eat.
Speaking of this "less disturbed", it is possible that what little hunting you've done has "disturbed" your area more than the surrounding area, and little as it seems to you, it was all it took to make "your" deer move over just a few hundred yards, off your property. Seriously, forty acres is a relatively small portion of even a doe's weekly range. Wouldn't take much activity on it to be more than much of the surrounding hundreds of acres (where the deer would normally already be spending more of their daily time year round).