Deer Behavior after Rifle Opener??

[88GW]

I was unable to connect on opening weekend not for lack of deer but lack of good shot opportunities etc.

 

What are your opinions on the next few weekends pertaining to deer activity due to the opener, shooting etc.?

 

In your experience do they go back to a normal routine or become less likely to move or go into thicker cover?

 

Have your success rates been high after the gun opener?

[jjb4900]

I was unable to connect on opening weekend not for lack of deer but lack of good shot opportunities etc.

 

What are your opinions on the next few weekends pertaining to deer activity due to the opener, shooting etc.?

 

In your experience do they go back to a normal routine or become less likely to move or go into thicker cover?

 

Have your success rates been high after the gun opener?

the last few years I've had better opportunities after opening weekend...and I find it more enjoyable after the majority of hunters are gone, if I had one week of gun hunting to choose from I'd pick late muzzleloader.

[WingNut]

It depends on the area you hunt.  Areas that see a lot of pressure the deer will lay low during the day, while others that don't the deer will go back to a normal routine is a couple days.

It was a slow weekend in my area, not a lot of shooting at all and nothing remotely close to me.  So that's good, i don't suspect the deer will change anything.  I saw a couple small bucks chasing Saturday, but was it.  Nothing at all Sunday.

So I would think my chances are better than normal as the season goes on.

[Nomad]

I shot my buck last year on the very last day! I ve killed many on OD and frankly on every other day of gun season too,but it can be a grind. The ones I'm trying to kill have been around a few years already anyway what's a few more days.

[MACHINIST]

the last few years I've had better opportunities after opening weekend...and I find it more enjoyable after the majority of hunters are gone, if I had one week of gun hunting to choose from I'd pick late muzzleloader.

 

This!! I don't have a ton of luck but the last few weeks of the year always seem better to me.Maybe because I am shaking it up a bit and trying different things or any other reason you want to pick but I seem to have more deer sightings in general later in the season.

Edited November 18, 2014 by MACHINIST

[Doc]

I'm not sure what modern harvest number say now, but numbers that I used to hear was that something like 3/4 of the deer harvested were taken on opening day. Now that used to be an opener of a single day (Monday) and now we essentially have a 2 day opener. But in my experience, after the initial shock of the opener, the deer go into super-stealth mode and those that don't get wacked at the beginning get a whole lot tougher to find and take. They are on constant high alert, and mostly nocturnal. On the other hand, those who have had enough experience on the same chunks of land can over time figure out where those chosen hidey-holes are, and work out some clever tactics to handle the situation. 

 

But as has already been said, different places with different pressures may have deer that react differently. I am speaking of a relatively heavily hunted chunk of state land.

[nybuckboy]

They will be more tentative for sure but as was stated - it really depends on the pressure in the area. In less pressured areas, they will for the most part go back to normal. If the rut is still on, the bucks will still be dumb but maybe not as dumb. If there is a hot doe not ready to be bred she will lead him all over the place and thus your chance to kill him is good. In my area I noticed on Sunday some scrapes had fresh dirt kicked on the snow so perhaps it really hasn't broke open yet for me and will only get better. I saw lots of doe, some little bucks but no mature bucks. I'm hoping this coming weekend the bigger boys are in the picture. 

[HuntOrBeHunted]

I wont even hunt the weekends. Shot gun slugs flying all over and people walking all threw thew woods trying to kick deer up.

 

My trail camera will see more deer than I will now cause they will move at night a lot more.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Shot gun slugs flying all over and people walking all threw thew woods trying to kick deer up.

 

 

 Where on earth do you guys hunt?  I don't even see this much pressure or hear that much shooting on the state land near me. There is 2500 acres near our camp. I bet I didn't hear 20 shots on the 2500 acres. I took a stroll over onto it on Sunday and walked for 2 hours in fresh snow and never cut a man track.

Edited November 18, 2014 by Culvercreek hunt club

[The_Real_TCIII]

Areas that i hunt see relentless pressure right through late ML. I see as many trucks the last Tuesday as I do opening weekend. It's an event if I see a deer after thanksgiving

[HuntOrBeHunted]

 Where on earth do you guys hunt?  I don't even see this much pressure or hear that much shooting on the state land near me. There is 2500 acres near our camp. I bet I didn't hear 20 shots on the 2500 acres. I took a stroll over onto it on Sunday and walked for 2 hours in fresh snow and never cut a man track.

 

 

I hunt all over. Im mainly speaking of southern tier. Any were in region 6 on opening weekend its a war zone I have hunted it for over 10 years in the same areas and its always the same.

[Doc]

 Where on earth do you guys hunt?  I don't even see this much pressure or hear that much shooting on the state land near me. There is 2500 acres near our camp. I bet I didn't hear 20 shots on the 2500 acres. I took a stroll over onto it on Sunday and walked for 2 hours in fresh snow and never cut a man track.

The state land that I hunt can get heavily hunted to the point where every deer fully understands the human stink and those loud bangs mean there is a deer season on. It doesn't really take all that much to put them on full alert. After the trauma of opening day(s), it only takes the scent or sight of one lone hunter walking through the area to remind them that the season is still on.

 

However, I will say that hunter pressure has dropped significantly in recent years. In the later stages of the season, things do get quieter than it was before deer season opens. The deer do begin to relax to the point where the day after the season closes they are grazing in my front yard ... lol.

 

My guess is that the larger the area of public land, the more quiet it is going to seem. You can scatter a lot of people around 2500 acres and never have them cross paths. That kind of diluted hunter presence can also effect deer movement and make things seem positively deserted.