Do they go deeper now, when pressured?

[Northcountryman]

Each and every year, after opening weekend, same thing, right guys?  Deer seem to disappear- but do they go deeper and further in,  necessarily? Im not convinced that they do; rather, , I think alot of times they hunker down in those nasty areas of their core area  where we dont go due to difficult access, hunker doen throughout most of the day, and chill-for the most part, till nightfall.  So , how do you get 'em ?

[Kmartinson]

36 minutes ago, Northcountryman said:

Each and every year, after opening weekend, same thing, right guys?  Deer seem to disappear- but do they go deeper and further in,  necessarily? Im not convinced that they do; rather, , I think alot of times they hunker down in those nasty areas of their core area  where we dont go due to difficult access, hunker doen throughout most of the day, and chill-for the most part, till nightfall.  So , how do you get 'em ?

I think smart deer are always in thick stuff. I hunt where I can only shoot through holes, no open spots.  They also absolutely become more nocturnal, smart old deer think with their stomachs now. Big storms and cold fronts get them up, and when the ground is quiet you can still hunt them, but seeing them cruise in the open is not as likely. In late season you may see some secondary rut cues around first/second week in december.

[Gobbler Chaser]

Bigger bucks here in Ulster are now completely nocturnal. Still seeing plenty of does during daylight. The rut has settled so seeing a daytime slammer now becomes tougher. For me it's always been that last 15 mins before total dark where you might see one at this point of the season 

[Shoots100]

Big bucks go nocturnal, but have to be somewhere during the daylight hours.

That's why we stand hunt in the Am, do deer drives in the midday and stand hunt in the PM.

After opening weekend when the hunting pressure dies down 95% of the bucks we shoot are during deer drives or when solo still hunting in areas we don't get to do drives.

With the crunchy snow on the ground least week in Delaware county I couldn't still hunt without getting busted by deer a mile away, but the snow was great for the sitters on the drive for spotting deer.

The warmer rainy weather has taken that all snow away now and I'll be still hunting this weekend, once I get done with some business and head upstate.  

Edited November 25, 2022 by Shoots100

[jperch]

I believe bucks are quick to react to hunting pressure and human presence in the woods.  Does also, but maybe to a lesser extent.  Yesterday evening as I was preparing Thanksgiving dinner for my GF who just came out of the hospital I counted over 20 deer in the cut bean field.  Not a single buck amongst them.  I'm pretty sure they were joined by some bucks within an hour after darkness.  There is plenty of swampy, nasty rosebush covered area around here where deer can hide out around us.  That stuff is almost inpenetrable and certainly no sneaking up on a buck in there!

[airedale]

Once they realize they are being hunted they will revert to nighttime activities and hole up during the daylight hours where they feel they have the best cover. I hunted on a big farm outside of Norwich years ago, on a side hill there was an old over grown apple orchard, an almost impenetrable entanglement of high brush, briars, brambles along with scrub apple trees. After the opening week bombardment I think almost every deer in that area would take up refuge in that mess. We would surround it and try to drive it but had very limited success. We would save our doe permits for the last day of season and one of those years I was a driver trying to flush something out to the watchers. I literally had to crawl at times to get through in pouring rain. I got to a bit of an opening and was looking ahead with my binoculars and caught just a wee bit of movement, a good look showed three does lying flat on their stomachs not 20 yards away. I was up above them a bit and drew down on the biggest one and aimed right for the middle of her back and killed her right where she laid. The other two took off like a bat out of hell but they never emerged where the watchers were stationed. They just circled and hid in that hellhole. 

I had one heck of a time getting that doe out of there and I will tell you what. I never went in there again.

Al

[skully]

Big bucks never go nocturnal...  There in a spot where they feel safe close to food where they sleep for a few minutes at a time.  They get up and stretch there legs periodically feed and still sniff does. Then when it is dark they will expand there range... You could still kill these deer if you know where there bedding area is......

[GreeneHunter]

After the first week of Gun season I do believe the become somewhat smarter and restrict their activities , more active at night possibly . I do not believe they go anywhere but do need to be kicked to get them moving .

[First-light]

I'm back on the Island now but head back home tomorrow. It will be real interesting to see how many deer, bucks that cross my path. This my first year full time I'll see what happens. Pressure is off on both sides of my property. My neighbor 90% of the time shoots a nice buck at end of season. 

[wolc123]

I think, much more than going deeper or nocturnal, most of them are already killed.

 

 

My buck tag usually gets punched by Thanksgiving weekend.  Just (3) more of those hunts left for me, so this could get interesting.  I’ll still be looking for a half-way decent sized buck, thru Sunday afternoon.  After that, I’ll settle for one with a single 3” spike.  
 

In 40 years of deer hunting, I can’t recall ever killing an antlered buck after Thanksgiving weekend.  I did pass on one (a basket racked 6 pointer) about 5 years ago, but only because he was very close to the property line.  Thankfully, I was blessed with a fat doe the very next day, so we didn’t starve.  
 

I also had a misfire on a single horned 4-point, on late ML weekend, about 30 years ago.  That one walked right under my tree stand.  Back then, in-lines and scopes were not legal during ML season.

 

The bottom line is, if you “need” to kill a buck in NY, then you best do it early, while the getting is good.  I’m not complaining, because I could easily be out of buck tags right now, had I been willing to settle for a spike with my rifle and a 4-pointer with my crossbow. 
 

Although the odds are long, thanks to a fat doe and “dmp” buck kill earlier, I’d still prefer buck-tag soup and a chance at a bigger one later, than to have those other two wee-tads in my freezer right now.

[luberhill]

It’s weird other years , last year included, my 6 acre clover field always had deer/does right before dark 

This year none so far

This warm weather I think messed things up

[WWJD_Hunter]

Best chance of killing a buck during gun season is the first two weeks of gun and the week of muzzleloader season. By them they into hiding and are much harder to kill. 

Edited November 26, 2022 by WWJD_Hunter

[suburbanfarmer]

16 minutes ago, WWJD_Hunter said:

Best chance of killing a buck during gun season is the first two weeks of gun and the week of muzzleloader season. By them they into hiding and are much harder to kill. 

Week 2 imho is too late unless you get lucky with a deer drive. Deer are already nocturnal as of today. 

I went to Honeoye creek and saw 5 other trucks, not a single shot till 10am when I called it quits. Got too warm for me.

[genesee_mohican]

The deer seem to bunch up in brush lots after the first few days. I reminded myself again this week that I must place a stand or two just inside of and overlooking the big brush. Deer mill around in them during the day.

[Northcountryman]

29 minutes ago, genesee_mohican said:

The deer seem to bunch up in brush lots after the first few days. I reminded myself again this week that I must place a stand or two just inside of and overlooking the big brush. Deer mill around in them during the day.

Have you seen them do this ?

[airedale]

Back when I did a lot of rabbit hunting some of my favorite habitat was exactly like the overgrown brush filled orchard described above. Turn a couple of Beagles loose in that stuff and you will see Deer come flying out in all directions.

Al

Edited November 26, 2022 by airedale

[genesee_mohican]

11 hours ago, Northcountryman said:

Have you seen them do this ?

Oh yeah, about 10 years ago I was hunting state land that bordered an abandoned farm. There was a 100 acre brush lot with varying degrees of thickness, mixed open goldenrod to very thick stuff and it melted down into the state land with similar habitat before it met more open woods. No one ever hunted it or pushed it. Once gun season got going and I wasn't seeing deer I decided to put a stand in a tall pine overlooking the brush. I saw all kinds of deer and a few pretty nice bucks. I'd see them at all times of day and had a blast glassing the deer. I hunted that spot two seasons and though I could only hunt it with a se or south wind, I couldn't wait to get up in that tree. 

Well, then that land was sold to a guy from out of the area who buys large acres of land and then rents it out to farm. As soon as I heard that my heart sank. This guy is responsible for largest area of wildlife habitat destruction in Livingston county ever. Soon the bulldozers came and leveled the 100 acre brush, all the hedge rows and grass fields surrounding the brush. 

Anyways, I seek that brushy habitat out.

[New York Hillbilly]

14 hours ago, Northcountryman said:

Have you seen them do this ?

Absolutely! This describes my property perfectly. Unfortunately, what I started to protect fawns and turkey nests by allowing my fields to overgrow also made my deer hunting even more challenging. I let the fields overgrow to make it tougher for coyotes to locate young wildlife in the Spring, and to try and improve rabbit cover. I think it worked in that regard, but really changed the face of hunting for me.

 I can sit up on the farm opposite mine and glass my whole property, and have done it for years. When you do that you are looking straight into the brushy fields and can watch the deer walking around and chasing each other all day long.  The tough part is when you are actually on the hill hunting you will not see them and they know it!

Once the deer start seeing, hearing and smelling humans in the woods, they just take up residence in the brush.

[wolc123]

14 minutes ago, New York Hillbilly said:

Absolutely! This describes my property perfectly. Unfortunately, what I started to protect fawns and turkey nests by allowing my fields to overgrow also made my deer hunting even more challenging. I let the fields overgrow to make it tougher for coyotes to locate young wildlife in the Spring, and to try and improve rabbit cover. I think it worked in that regard, but really changed the face of hunting for me.

 I can sit up on the farm opposite mine and glass my whole property, and have done it for years. When you do that you are looking straight into the brushy fields and can watch the deer walking around and chasing each other all day long.  The tough part is when you are actually on the hill hunting you will not see them and they know it!

Once the deer start seeing, hearing and smelling humans in the woods, they just take up residence in the brush.

Sorry in advance for the short illustrated  novel, but its very slow out in the open fields during late gun season today, waiting on a deer:
 

Our place is similar, but I only let about 1/3 of the fields (the less fertile ground areas) overgrow, and left the the rest open for foodplots.  I also have a few acres of hardwoods on the back corner.  That was mostly ash, which is all dead or dying now, but there is some red oak, white oak, and maple in there.  
 

There’s also quite a bit of oak in the hedgerows, which are mostly thick brush.  The fields are small, mostly 3-5 acres in  size, and broken up by the hedgerows and brush patches.  
 

After the first few days of gun, the daylight activity always winds down, outside of those brush patches.  I only go in them to recover carcasses.  I’m hoping for a straggler this morning, but not expecting much.  I finally have the right wind (east) for my pop up blind. It should be nice in here during the rain that they are calling for later today.
 

It’s very slow right now though, and I’m already looking forward to “wolcottsburg whitetail surf-and turf” for lunch, in a couple hours.  That will consist of fillet mignon and oysters from Thanksgiving morning’s turnip plot dmp buck harvest, killed just 15 yards from my current location.  
 

My parents place, on the opposite diagonal corner of wmu 9F, is a much different layout.  That’s mostly a big L-shaped chunk of mature hardwoods.  They have about 60 acres total over there, and we have about 40 here.
 

 There is an overgrown brush patch, on the inside of the “L”, that is owned by a friendly neighbor.  He allows no one else to hunt his land, but he has given me carcass recovery rights, and my parents have granted that to him also. 

In front of the long side of the L, is a big open hayfield, that another neighbor rents from my folks.  At the end of the long side, is a long narrow clover plot, that is visible from my parent’s dinner table.  
 

In the middle of the short side of the “L”, is a brushy swamp.  I have this little hang-on stand in the woods, near the inside edge of that swamp.  That’s where I am going this afternoon (with my tree umbrella). 

The swamp is entirely in my parents woods, and they have a narrow strip of mature hardwoods beyond that, along the short side of the “L”.  I have another little uncomfortable ladder stand, on that outside edge of the swamp, but that ones too close to a trailer park to use a gun in.

 

I’ll know I made the wrong move, if my parents call me while I’m up in the inside edge swamp stand this evening, and say that there are deer feeding out on the clover plot.  That has happened during late gun-season on several occasions, but is way more common during archery, and late ML seasons.  
 

Most years, I only hunt that uncomfortable little stand for a couple hours, on opening day of gun season.  I missed that this year, thanks to the Buffalo blizzard of November 22.  I think my odds of getting a shot at something from there this afternoon are greater than 50/50.  I’ll give myself about a 2 percent chance of that happening before 11:00 am quitting time, from this pop-up blind that I’m in right now. 
 

My enclosed cab, 4-door side by side is parked in the barn now, but is ready for action, if a carcass needs to be hauled:

That jobs going to be a lot wetter, if I need to use my dad’s open-cab Ranger, over there this evening:

[heavuser]

My belief is deer do NOT go nocturnal and that is an excuse people use that cannot find where the deer have moved to.

 

I think what happens is the deer change bedding areas then limit the area they move around in during the day to a smaller zone. They still move about and feed during the day, just as many times as they did before. 

[suburbanfarmer]

10 hours ago, heavuser said:

My belief is deer do NOT go nocturnal and that is an excuse people use that cannot find where the deer have moved to.

 

I think what happens is the deer change bedding areas then limit the area they move around in during the day to a smaller zone. They still move about and feed during the day, just as many times as they did before. 

Most of us dont have 100s of acres and the pressure sure moves deer out , as such when we dont see them on our micro parcels in all essence they have gone nocturnal on our back 40.

[heavuser]

13 hours ago, suburbanfarmer said:

Most of us dont have 100s of acres and the pressure sure moves deer out , as such when we dont see them on our micro parcels in all essence they have gone nocturnal on our back 40.

I guess I can understand that rational then.

[Kmartinson]

Time to drive land or hunt ducks.

[LET EM GROW]

If they can go deeper and deeper is much safer and less pressured sure thing!! .. but in many and or most instances that's not the case.. This is why i just let the place calm down for 2 weeks after Thanksgiving then go back in last weekend of rifle.. You either need to make them move from their safe bedding cover or wait them out until they start showing less nocturnal patterns 

[First-light]

4 hours ago, LET EM GROW said:

If they can go deeper and deeper is much safer and less pressured sure thing!! .. but in many and or most instances that's not the case.. This is why i just let the place calm down for 2 weeks after Thanksgiving then go back in last weekend of rifle.. You either need to make them move from their safe bedding cover or wait them out until they start showing less nocturnal patterns 

There is zero pressure right now around my place. 4 owners close to a thousand acres. This will be my first time seeing what happens last week. I tell you being full time you see things in a time frame like no other.