sightings per hour ??

[richmanbarbeque]

Just curious about everyones sightings per hour on stand. I just figured mine out and I am at 1.6 deer per hour. For some reason I thought I was doing really good but when you figure it out it didn't sound that good. :grin:

 

[JCDEERMAN]

For some reason I thought I was doing really good but when you figure it out it didn't sound that good. :grin:

Wow...same here rich. Mine is 1.4 thus far for this year. That seems extremely low, but it seems that I see alot of deer everytime I go out! I have seen more than normal (at least thats what it seems). I thought that my math had to be wrong, but I did it again and again, and it was the same number. I couldnt believe it. I really have seen alot of interesting deer behavior and ALOT of it.

I think that alot of it has to do with all the rain we have had. There is so much of it. Seems that EVERY time I go out to hunt, I have to worry about the weather and it raining on me. Cant remember that being an issue during bow season, but its like this EVERY time thus far this year. Some of the math, I figured in was me sitting in the puring down rain for 2 hours, then heading back to the cabin, so some of those (counted as a "hunt"), I normally would be hunting anyways. Thats my .02

 

[BSK]

Deer sightings per hour are going to be strongly influenced by the terrain and habitat (visual distances). If you hunt in hilly terrain and/or thick habitat, deer sightings per hour should be fairly low. Hunting in open, flat, agricultural areas can produce very high deer sightings per hour rates.

1.6 and 1.4 deer per hunting hour rates would be astronomically high for my place. 0.6 deer per hunting hour would be high for my place. We usually average between 0.4 and 0.5 deer per hour.

 

[shanel]

So far this year...... .06 thats pretty bad hopefully that will improve.

 

[richmanbarbeque]

Bsk, you've seen my place and know the terrain features. I have seen a lot of deer but plan on those numbers to plummet as the year progresses. I have done a lot of work to hopefully keep them around better than last year but fully expect to see a drastic drop. I have a feeling with only bow hunting it and the cooler weather it is playing in my favor. This is a trend I don't expect to last.

 

[BSK]

I have a feeling with only bow hunting it and the cooler weather it is playing in my favor. This is a trend I don't expect to last.

We too used to have very high deer sighting rates in early bow season (back when we bow-hunted) and then those rates would fall as the season progressed and the deer caught on to the fact they were being hunted.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

I have a feeling with only bow hunting it and the cooler weather it is playing in my favor. This is a trend I don't expect to last.

We too used to have very high deer sighting rates in early bow season (back when we bow-hunted) and then those rates would fall as the season progressed and the deer caught on to the fact they were being hunted.

That is interesting....Seems the years that we see alot of deer during bow season, the deer are very numerous for the rest of the season. But when we dont see that many during bow season, we dont see that many during the rest of the season.

 

[BSK]

Too often hunters think that all of the properties that have a history of producing some nice bucks must have a deer behind every tree. But that often isn't the case at all. We work HARD for our deer sightings.

Over the last six years (since our habitat plan reached maturity), our sighting rates have averaged:

Any deer per hunting hour: 0.450
...or 1 deer seen for every 2.2 hours of hunting time.

Antlered bucks (any age) per hunting hour: 0.128
...or 1 antler buck seen for every 7.8 hours of hunting time.

2 1/2+ year-old buck per hunting hour: 0.049
...or one 2 1/2+ year-old buck for every 20.4 hours of hunting time.

3 1/2+ year-old buck per hunting hour: 0.017
...or one 3 1/2+ year-old buck for every 58.8 hours of hunting time.

 

[BSK]

I have a feeling with only bow hunting it and the cooler weather it is playing in my favor. This is a trend I don't expect to last.

We too used to have very high deer sighting rates in early bow season (back when we bow-hunted) and then those rates would fall as the season progressed and the deer caught on to the fact they were being hunted.

That is interesting....Seems the years that we see alot of deer during bow season, the deer are very numerous for the rest of the season. But when we dont see that many during bow season, we dont see that many during the rest of the season.

We show the same pattern, but the highest rates for each individual year were usually the first week or two of bow season.

 

[richmanbarbeque]

It would be interesting to compare properties that are only bow hunted along with properties that utilize all weapons in a season.

Obviously the "success" would be with the all weapons property but it seems that It seems once the guns go off on properties I hunt the deer start moving down the ridges. It would be an interesting study. Did I just hi-jack my own thread? :blush:

 

[BSK]

The "drop in sightings as the season progresses" is one of the primary reasons we stopped bow-hunting our place. We wanted the "first week or two peak of sightings" to be when we were carrying longer-range, higher-odds weapons. So opening day of 1st MZ is the first time anyone climbs into a stand. That has improved our firearms success dramatically.

 

[richmanbarbeque]

I will be curious to compare my notes at the end of the year with them now. I would be encouraged if they fell to "normal" sightings over all. Last year as the season continued the sightings went down, drastically.

 

[megalomaniac]

I'm at 10/ hr

Of course I only hunted once for 30 min and had a group of 5 does/yearlings come by

 

[BSK]

I'm at 10/ hr

Of course I only hunted once for 30 min and had a group of 5 does/yearlings come by

Nice stats!

 

[Bayou Buck]

Rich, I wish I had at the sightings you are having. The last few days I have hunted about 30 hours and only saw 2 deer. It was kind of frustrationg. My land is also real thick because of all the rain we had and lack of tree cover from it being timbered. i also found that the TVA land (about 1000 acres ) that borders my land is covered with acorns everywhere you look. I am thinking that once gun season opens alot of the deer will come to my place for some cover and then I"ll see alot more.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

i also found that the TVA land (about 1000 acres ) that borders my land is covered with acorns everywhere you look. I am thinking that once gun season opens alot of the deer will come to my place for some cover and then I"ll see alot more.

Sounds like the exact opposite of our place. We have the food and some cover, but the REAL cover is the 1000 acres of pine thickets that borders us. All I can say is...Hunt the edges!

 

[Bayou Buck]

i also found that the TVA land (about 1000 acres ) that borders my land is covered with acorns everywhere you look. I am thinking that once gun season opens alot of the deer will come to my place for some cover and then I"ll see alot more.

Sounds like the exact opposite of our place. We have the food and some cover, but the REAL cover is the 1000 acres of pine thickets that borders us. All I can say is...Hunt the edges!

Thats the plan so far. the problem is that I have 1.5 miles of edges and it hard to distinguish which are the spots they crossing the most. Once Gun season opens I will be able to cover a little more distance.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

i also found that the TVA land (about 1000 acres ) that borders my land is covered with acorns everywhere you look. I am thinking that once gun season opens alot of the deer will come to my place for some cover and then I"ll see alot more.

Sounds like the exact opposite of our place. We have the food and some cover, but the REAL cover is the 1000 acres of pine thickets that borders us. All I can say is...Hunt the edges!

Thats the plan so far. the problem is that I have 1.5 miles of edges and it hard to distinguish which are the spots they crossing the most. Once Gun season opens I will be able to cover a little more distance.

The best locations that I have found around these "edges" are on ridge-tops within 50 yards or so from the edge (the closer the better, but in your case, you are in a better position being on the thick side...thats where I see them the most, but cant do nothin cause it aint our land)...Where there are steep cuts that come up on both sides of the ridge almost to the very top. It forces them into a pinch-point. Also, at the lower end of those "steep cuts" down in the bottom of the hollow. Those and a nice bench in the ridge...those 3 are my favorite...and having that edge near definately adds benefits!

Sorry to get a little off topic rich. Our sightings are usually high during the first couple weeks of bowseason, then the rest of October is usually kinda dull hence (October lull), then of course it heats back up in November, then declines in December (as does most everyone), but this year seems to be quite high for us.

Thanks for bringing this up though. I have never calculated this until my earlier post. I am definately going to keep track of this from now on. I already have a chart made, and all I have to do is fill in as the year progresses.

 

[DMD]

about .3 deer per hour so far this year. But all of those have been out of the same stand. I have seen 12 deer out of one ladder stand I have over a little, tiny food plot. If not for that - my average would be 0.00 deer per hour!!!

 

[Football Hunter]

Not sure on my deer per hour,but Im seeing plenty,I would guess about 2 per hour,need to keep better stats I guess.

 

[richmanbarbeque]

I am huntingwith stick-n-string this weekend so there goes my average. Hehe!

Maybe he'll atleast buy dinner one night to make up for it.

 

[fishboy1]

Interesting thread. I have never kept stats like that. Just general info.

This year I am keeping a hunting journal. Might be a good idea to add in and out of stand times.

BSK,
That is some very interesting info on deer sightings/hr. There is definately a misconception that mature bucks are behind every tree on a managed property. That might be the case but SEEING them and KILLING them is another matter entirely.

I wonder what kind of stats you would have with more "average" hunters instead of guys with your skill/experience level.

Heck most hunters I know don't log 50 hours on stand all season.

 

[Anonymous]

Try figuring shot opportunities per hour and see what you come up with.

 

[tikkashooter]

about .3 deer per hour so far this year. But all of those have been out of the same stand. I have seen 12 deer out of one ladder stand I have over a little, tiny food plot. If not for that - my average would be 0.00 deer per hour!!!

When Hunting with PBMP this year, 0.0 per hour. When hunting by myself, avg. 3.0 per hour. Guess you need a little more scent killer soap Pastor!!!! LOL Sorry, I couldn't resist!!!

 

[BSK]

I wonder what kind of stats you would have with more "average" hunters instead of guys with your skill/experience level.

That's a great question fishboy1, and something we've discussed here in the past. There can be a HUGE difference between deer hunting and mature buck hunting. Often, the best places to see/kill a mature buck are terrible places for seeing deer in general.

The best example of this is when a "new" brother-in-law joined our hunting party. He was in his 50s and had hunted and fished all his life. But he was primarily an "opening weekend" type of deer hunter. He had never seen nor killed a buck older than a yearling. Once joining us, it took him YEARS to see and kill his first older buck. The problem was stand choice. He simply chose poor stand locations. He was looking at the woods from the perspective of seeing "deer," not older bucks. He often had very high deer sighting rates, but they were all does, fawns and yearling bucks. However, over time, from watching the hunters successful at killing older bucks, he finally learned. Now he has identical older (and mature) buck sighting rates as the other hunters, but it took him years to learn how to choose the "right" stand locations to see and kill older-age bucks.

 

[Hillbilly Hunter]

my any deer sighting is at 2.15 so far.
My buck sighting is 0.36 so far.

I expect my any deer to go down and my buck to go up. It always does.

 

[Hillbilly Hunter]

late december and January it is tough for me to see many deer at all. The pressure has gotten to them.

 

[shanel]

since my last trip,i went from .06 to .22 for the year.

 

[fishboy1]

I wonder what kind of stats you would have with more "average" hunters instead of guys with your skill/experience level.

That's a great question fishboy1, and something we've discussed here in the past. There can be a HUGE difference between deer hunting and mature buck hunting. Often, the best places to see/kill a mature buck are terrible places for seeing deer in general.

The best example of this is when a "new" brother-in-law joined our hunting party. He was in his 50s and had hunted and fished all his life. But he was primarily an "opening weekend" type of deer hunter. He had never seen nor killed a buck older than a yearling. Once joining us, it took him YEARS to see and kill his first older buck. The problem was stand choice. He simply chose poor stand locations. He was looking at the woods from the perspective of seeing "deer," not older bucks. He often had very high deer sighting rates, but they were all does, fawns and yearling bucks. However, over time, from watching the hunters successful at killing older bucks, he finally learned. Now he has identical older (and mature) buck sighting rates as the other hunters, but it took him years to learn how to choose the "right" stand locations to see and kill older-age bucks.

That is one of the reasons I am not a dedicated mature buck hunter. I simply love to see deer & other critters when hunting. 2 of the properties I hunt have mature bucks on them but I only devote a hand full of hunts to "mature buck" hunting in the kind of spots that up my chances at seeing them. Once the freezer is full, or if I get a wild hair and want to try for some horns, I will devote some effort toward finding a whopper, but that usually is in late season when my chances are even lower.

 

[BSK]

fishboy1,

I absolutely choose my stands by what I'm after. If I'm after a doe for the freezer (and management) I will hunt a "high deer activity" area. But when I'm after Mr. Big, I'm hunting a stand sepcifically placed for mature bucks, and I may see very few--if any--other deer from this stand.