BSK
Well-Known Member
Has anyone noticed deer being considerably less wary of hunters this year than in past years?
I did have a 4 pt walk up on and all around me mz hunting while hunting on the ground. Maybe its long term covid brain fog that has them dumbfounded.....lol. But kinda serious too, they said deer tested positive for covid so who knows on these crazy times we are living in.Has anyone noticed deer being considerably less wary of hunters this year than in past years?
I think you are correct... deer negatively reacting to human pressure is directly related to the amount of human pressure placed on the deer by hunting.Must be the rapidly declining number of deer hunters and deer hunting pressure in my area. All of Muzzleloader, I think we heard four shots that were not ours. Opening weekend of gun, only 3 shots not ours.
I specifically mention deer hunters/pressure because the area is now crawling with duck hunters. But hardly a deer hunter to be found.
Concerning the bucks I think I've seen more 2.5 and older bucks than usual. The pre-rut chasing and seeking behavior seemed to stretch out longer this season as well.
The biggest surprise to me this year was the sheer number of deer we saw.
Heard 20+ shots just the morning of the 2nd Saturday of ML. Didn't hear near that many day of the rifle opener.On opening day of rifle season I was thinking of how quiet it was. Seems to me like 20 years ago opening morning sounded like WW3. This year, counting the 2 weeks of ML and last week, I suspect I didn't hear 20 shots combined, and half of those were a ways off. But this past Saturday.....even though I am not close to any real duck hunting, that was crazy to hear!
Again....LenS observations and ours are very similar....the number of shots I heard the two weeks of muzzleloader plus first week of rifle was absolutely down in our area...in years past we would see how many shots we could count in a day...and it was amazing...this year not near as many....less people hunting? More people being selective in what they kill? Not sure? It wasnt bad weather...been some beautiful days to hunt.On opening day of rifle season I was thinking of how quiet it was. Seems to me like 20 years ago opening morning sounded like WW3. This year, counting the 2 weeks of ML and last week, I suspect I didn't hear 20 shots combined, and half of those were a ways off. But this past Saturday.....even though I am not close to any real duck hunting, that was crazy to hear!
I don't know if you would call it being less weary but there sure seems to be more stories of deer attacking people.Has anyone noticed deer being considerably less wary of hunters this year than in past years?