What is "Seeing a lot of deer?"

[DoubleRidge]

This was our best year ever for 3 1/2+ year-old buck sightings. Average time between 3 1/2+ year-old buck sightings was 23.8 hours.

I wish we kept good records over the years but unfortunately we hadn't....however this year I did keep notes and the results were a little lower than what I previous posted or estimated....so for 2021 on the primary farm I hunt:

Average 11.6 deer sightings per day with 27 hours between mature buck sightings.

Side note: between primary and secondary farm I documented 24 antlered buck sightings and 66 antlerless deer sightings...looking closer at notes 6 of the 66 antlerless were button buck....so 30 male vs. 60 female.

Of the 90 deer sightings. Let 89 walk.

While the average sightings per day may be down slightly....with having an opportunity at a mature buck I consider it a successful season.

 

[Mescalero]

I saw 27 turkeys this morning. All one rafter. No deer. Public.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

I have absolutely no doubt our exclusive use of ladder stands hurts our success. But considering at 59, I'm the youngest of the hard-core hunters, and even I won't use a climber, it's more about ease of access than anything else, knowing full well "community ladders" probably hurt our chances. But we try to overcome that disadvantage by putting up so many ladders that they get hunted infrequently. Here at the end of the season, we still have a couple of ladders that no one has hunted this year. In addition, we try to move as many of the ladders as possible to new locations each year.

Absolutely agree! I wouldn't do anything different than what you're doing if I was at your stage in your hunting career. Lord willing, I'll be there one day.

 

[woodsman04]

I feel like if I see six or seven in one sit is good. I get disappointed when I hunt in good spots with good weather and don't see a thing, although I completely understand that it just happens sometimes.

I say on a good, cold, sunny high pressure morning I typically see a group of 3 or 4 does and a yearling spike.

I also think I see more yearling bucks than I do anything, although I don't document that.

 

[BSK]

I get disappointed when I hunt in good spots with good weather and don't see a thing...

I know exactly how you feel. I often plan my hunting trips around the best weather, and then I'll pick what I think is the perfect stand due to sign and wind direction, and if it's a dud of a hunt I'm very disappointed. I start questioning my process.

 

[dr]

I have a book by the Drury brothers who manage their property extensively for big bucks. They say Cover is King. One of their friends started seeing fewer deer on his property. They took chainsaws, and dropped a lot of trees in a 5 acre area, and sightings started to go up in a couple years. I cleared several acres 8 years ago, and did see more deer for 3 or 4 years. The Drurys' say the chainsaws get put to use every so often when sightings start to drop.

 

[DoubleRidge]

I have a book by the Drury brothers who manage their property extensively for big bucks. They say Cover is King. One of their friends started seeing fewer deer on his property. They took chainsaws, and dropped a lot of trees in a 5 acre area, and sightings started to go up in a couple years. I cleared several acres 8 years ago, and did see more deer for 3 or 4 years. The Drurys' say the chainsaws get put to use every so often when sightings start to drop.

Zero doubt... sunlight on the ground is a valuable tool for the land manager.... many benefits of food, cover, etc....chainsaw....hack-n-squirt....timber harvest... All give great return on investment....agree....cover is a powerful thing.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

I have a book by the Drury brothers who manage their property extensively for big bucks. They say Cover is King. One of their friends started seeing fewer deer on his property. They took chainsaws, and dropped a lot of trees in a 5 acre area, and sightings started to go up in a couple years. I cleared several acres 8 years ago, and did see more deer for 3 or 4 years. The Drurys' say the chainsaws get put to use every so often when sightings start to drop.

Absolutely. But back when I used to watch those shows, they never mentioned ANY of that. Why? Because they couldn't market that. They needed to endorse the food plot companies and all the other things that don't matter nearly as much as cover.

 

[WTNBowHunter]

Absolutely. But back when I used to watch those shows, they never mentioned ANY of that. Why? Because they couldn't market that. They needed to endorse the food plot companies and all the other things that don't matter nearly as much as cover.

Good time to come in with the "Drury Brothers Deer Chainsaw", in several camo patterns, and see how many they can sell

 

[BSK]

For smaller property management, Cover is King.