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What is "Seeing a lot of deer?"
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<blockquote data-quote="utvolsfan77" data-source="post: 5266028" data-attributes="member: 14847"><p>My personal opinion is, it just depends. There are entirely too many variables that come into play even in one small area, much less from one end of the state to the other.</p><p></p><p>Here's just one example. Age and medical issues incurred since leaving the military prevent me from hunting the big woods and mountains of East Tennessee as I did when younger. Consequently, I began seeking landowner permission to hunt smaller farms in my area, farms that often are only 15 to 30 acres total, and this taught me several things. </p><p></p><p>First, most people will walk right on by these smaller tracts, assuming that they are just too small to hold deer, but I have been fairly successful using this technique over the past 20 years. Several of the small farms I hunt NEVER have any agricultural crops but may have soft and hard mast in wooded areas. Second, frequently deer DO NOT LIVE on these farms but only browse through while travelling between bedding and feeding areas. Third, scent control is a must and I always try to keep my clothing and equipment as scent free as possible. Fourth, critical to being successful in this type of hunting is quickly identifying key terrain features, using them to exploit existing travel corridors, and always being mindful of wind and thermal directions.</p><p></p><p>Does anyone remember how warm it was here in upper east Tennessee during the fall of 2011? It was hot! When archery season opened, I was hunting a small 35-acre farm I had had prior success in previous years. The first 17 days I hunted during the 2011-2012 deer season, I did not see a single deer on this farm. On day 18, I only saw an extremely small spotted fawn that would probably have weighed much less than 10 pounds. That fawn could not have been more than a few weeks old, and it made me wonder where all the deer had gone. On day 19 I saw a single doe and was near the point of quitting hunting altogether, but the next day I saw more than 20 fawns, does, and young bucks during an all-day sit.</p><p></p><p>I hunted that same farm over 10 years until the owner died and I lost access. The biggest single thing I learned from hundreds of hours spent there year-round was that deer DID NOT live on that farm, they only travelled through it. In fact, on average they seemed to pass through about once every three days. That same pattern was noticed on some of the other small farms I hunted as well. An odd observation, I know, but one that repeated itself regularly enough that I noticed.</p><p></p><p>So back to the original question. How many deer do I expect to see during a sit? None. I hope to see deer, but don't expect it and that way I cannot be disappointed. Having said that, here in upper East Tennessee (Greene County), since 2003 I have seen as little as zero deer to as many as 40 deer during a single sit.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="utvolsfan77, post: 5266028, member: 14847"] My personal opinion is, it just depends. There are entirely too many variables that come into play even in one small area, much less from one end of the state to the other. Here's just one example. Age and medical issues incurred since leaving the military prevent me from hunting the big woods and mountains of East Tennessee as I did when younger. Consequently, I began seeking landowner permission to hunt smaller farms in my area, farms that often are only 15 to 30 acres total, and this taught me several things. First, most people will walk right on by these smaller tracts, assuming that they are just too small to hold deer, but I have been fairly successful using this technique over the past 20 years. Several of the small farms I hunt NEVER have any agricultural crops but may have soft and hard mast in wooded areas. Second, frequently deer DO NOT LIVE on these farms but only browse through while travelling between bedding and feeding areas. Third, scent control is a must and I always try to keep my clothing and equipment as scent free as possible. Fourth, critical to being successful in this type of hunting is quickly identifying key terrain features, using them to exploit existing travel corridors, and always being mindful of wind and thermal directions. Does anyone remember how warm it was here in upper east Tennessee during the fall of 2011? It was hot! When archery season opened, I was hunting a small 35-acre farm I had had prior success in previous years. The first 17 days I hunted during the 2011-2012 deer season, I did not see a single deer on this farm. On day 18, I only saw an extremely small spotted fawn that would probably have weighed much less than 10 pounds. That fawn could not have been more than a few weeks old, and it made me wonder where all the deer had gone. On day 19 I saw a single doe and was near the point of quitting hunting altogether, but the next day I saw more than 20 fawns, does, and young bucks during an all-day sit. I hunted that same farm over 10 years until the owner died and I lost access. The biggest single thing I learned from hundreds of hours spent there year-round was that deer DID NOT live on that farm, they only travelled through it. In fact, on average they seemed to pass through about once every three days. That same pattern was noticed on some of the other small farms I hunted as well. An odd observation, I know, but one that repeated itself regularly enough that I noticed. So back to the original question. How many deer do I expect to see during a sit? None. I hope to see deer, but don't expect it and that way I cannot be disappointed. Having said that, here in upper East Tennessee (Greene County), since 2003 I have seen as little as zero deer to as many as 40 deer during a single sit. [/QUOTE]
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What is "Seeing a lot of deer?"
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