Post-Thansgiving pressure..

[wooly]

Well, the first week of regular season is in the books and hunting pressure will really drop off now especially on the weekdays.

The deer always seem to realize this and slowly begin to return to somewhat "normal" (yet cautious) deer behaviors and habits.

How long does it usually take now before you notice deer calming down again to the point of some predictableness during daylight in your neck of the woods?

[kpkot]

For our property I would say last couple weeks of season. Muzzleloader week i have had good luck with deer sightings. 

[Core]

Good God I hope so. I absolutely cannot get a deer in view of me and I'm just burning up hours now in the woods. I have no idea where the freaking heck they have gone. I have a couple more vacation days I'll save until MZ. I'd be thrilled to nail a 90 lb doe right now.

[wooly]

35 minutes ago, kpkot said:

For our property I would say last couple weeks of season. Muzzleloader week i have had good luck with deer sightings. 

I'm just trying to stay positive here since this season has been such a BUST so far for decent bucks in the area.

I've talked to some people who've said they GIVE UP already!

Over the years, some of the best bucks I've caught on cam have showed up starting at this point of season in my creekbottom.

I've never killed any of them, but it's nice to know there's still hope some of the better ones make it through the opening week blitz and are still out there sneaking around waiting to make an appearance!

These are old pics, but I still remember the excitement that followed after getting them. Hoping for a repeat..... and oppertunity at something of this caliber yet this year. Hang in there everybody.

[DirtTime]

7 minutes ago, Core said:

Good God I hope so. I absolutely cannot get a deer in view of me and I'm just burning up hours now in the woods. I have no idea where the freaking heck they have gone. I have a couple more vacation days I'll save until MZ. I'd be thrilled to nail a 90 lb doe right now.

Core, you have the wrong attitude about hunting at times. Hunters don't "burn up hours in the woods". We cherish the time we spend in the woods hunting deer ( or anything we hunt ). Watching the woods wake up, getting pi$$ed of at squirrels and chipmunks for causing a ruckus, deer just out of range or not giving a clean shot, is part of hunting. There are no hours spent in the woods a true hunter would call 'burning' hours, or 'wasting' time.

 

[Cabin Fever]

The deer in my area don't get much pressure, but they still seem to limit their travel from point "A" to point "B" (bedding to feeding). Unfortunately, I'm finding beds 20-30 yards from the ag fields, just inside the thickets, so there's no opportunity to catch them traveling in between. They're not moving during daylight hours, as the corn is just as available after dark, as it is during daylight hours.

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[wooly]

10 minutes ago, Cabin Fever said:

The deer in my area don't get much pressure, but they still seem to limit their travel from point "A" to point "B" (bedding to feeding). Unfortunately, I'm finding beds 20-30 yards from the ag fields, just inside the thickets, so there's no opportunity to catch them traveling in between. They're not moving during daylight hours, as the corn is just as available after dark, as it is during daylight hours.

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I hear you on that.

I took a walk through the overgrown orchard the other day and it's the same thing. Still have apples everywhere in there and the goldenrod around the edge is loaded with beds.

I'll have to throw a cam in there to see what I'm NOT seeing.

Hell.... while I'm in there I may just set up and try to pull off a Hail Mary hunt!

[wolc123]

In 35 years of deer hunting, I have only seen one antlered buck after the long Thanksgiving weekend.  That was the final factor in convincing me to "settle" for a 1-1/2 year 6 point on my last hunt this past Saturday afternoon up in the Adirondacks.   That was only my second Adirondack buck in 25 years of trying.  To me, one of those is worth 10 back home.  The scenery, and almost total absence of hunting pressure, makes all the difference.

The area around our home, in the Southern zone, gets pounded very hard on Thanksgiving weekend.  My neighbor killed the last buck I saw around here (a small, 1-1/2 year 3-point) on Thanksgiving morning just before we left for the North country.  That pressure, coupled with the end of the rut, is usually sufficient to force most of the deer around here to full nocturnal until around Christmas.   Drives might still be effective, but I don't like hunting that way anymore.  Having your hair parted by a 12 gauge slug will do that to you. 

I have a couple DMP's left for around home and will get out a few more and try and fill them but I don't expect much.  I have had another handful of other "four-deer" years, so I may as well go for my first "5" or "6".  There are still too many deer around here according to the DEC, and lots of hungry mouths to feed.    

[phade]

MZ is by far the best weekend remaining.


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[Nomad]

Ditto , Cabin Fever. Tons of beds and tracks in my thicket just inside from crop fields . I have a couple stands just inside as well... can catch a buck moving in there  early or late in the day .

Saw 4 doe just walking around today from 3:00 - 4:00  at my friends land .

Our freezer is overflowing , I'll,be out for big bucks only ,here and there , I like the late season , pressure drops way off , which is light on my land to begin with.

[Core]

1 hour ago, ....rob said:

Core, you have the wrong attitude about hunting at times. Hunters don't "burn up hours in the woods". We cherish the time we spend in the woods hunting deer ( or anything we hunt ). Watching the woods wake up, getting pi$$ed of at squirrels and chipmunks for causing a ruckus, deer just out of range or not giving a clean shot, is part of hunting. There are no hours spent in the woods a true hunter would call 'burning' hours, or 'wasting' time.

 

I'm positive I'm not the first hunter to get tired of putting time into it and seeing nothing (in fact I've seen lots of posts relaying the same). Not sure what your particulars are, but I drive 40 min plus another 10+ min walk each way + 10 min to setup climber on public land, and after doing that for almost two months and not having a single shot opportunity since the first hour of the first day it gets pretty old. At some point it turns from putting in time to burning hours, though that would be different for everyone. Going to find some land to rent for next year for sure.

[mmiles]

I'm positive I'm not the first hunter to get tired of putting time into it and seeing nothing (in fact I've seen lots of posts relaying the same). Not sure what your particulars are, but I drive 40 min plus another 10+ min walk each way + 10 min to setup climber on public land, and after doing that for almost two months and not having a single shot opportunity since the first hour of the first day it gets pretty old. At some point it turns from putting in time to burning hours, though that would be different for everyone. Going to find some land to rent for next year for sure.

I hear ya!


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[chas0218]

12 hours ago, Cabin Fever said:

The deer in my area don't get much pressure, but they still seem to limit their travel from point "A" to point "B" (bedding to feeding). Unfortunately, I'm finding beds 20-30 yards from the ag fields, just inside the thickets, so there's no opportunity to catch them traveling in between. They're not moving during daylight hours, as the corn is just as available after dark, as it is during daylight hours.

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Yup, I haven't saw many deer during daylight hours. This last week has them held up tight, I hunted hard the Thanksgiving, Friday and Saturday with nothing to show for it. I saw 1 deer and had a guy tresspass onto the neighbors property and sit 40 yards from me on my property. I think he finally saw my orange and left. Blew my spot with his wind blowing right to where the deer come from. I am hoping to get 1 more weekend up to my parents property hopefully next weekend to bag a doe. I saw a huge donkey doe opening weekend but passed on her because there were so many bucks chasing her. She had to be 170 on the hoof just a giant, she trumped the 2 1/2 year old bucks by a lot.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

4 hours ago, chas0218 said:

Yup, I haven't saw many deer during daylight hours. This last week has them held up tight, I hunted hard the Thanksgiving, Friday and Saturday with nothing to show for it. I saw 1 deer and had a guy tresspass onto the neighbors property and sit 40 yards from me on my property. I think he finally saw my orange and left. Blew my spot with his wind blowing right to where the deer come from. I am hoping to get 1 more weekend up to my parents property hopefully next weekend to bag a doe. I saw a huge donkey doe opening weekend but passed on her because there were so many bucks chasing her. She had to be 170 on the hoof just a giant, she trumped the 2 1/2 year old bucks by a lot.

over 2,000 acres of state land just off our boarder. I haven't heard 12 shots on there since opening day  and I hunted all day every day from 19th to the 26th. Half day Thanksgiving and Yesterday.  Just based on the shooting that I heard it seems like there wan't much pressure at all. We started to get snow after noon on the 20th with high winds It didn't let up until Tuesday afternoon. Didn't hear on shot from Sunday at noon until Tuesday evening. 

[Nomad]

Tip.of the hat to Culvercreek ! One full day of hunting and there's a fair chance I'm sleeping in the next .....

[Fletch]

The deer here start to show once in a great while after spring arrives! Once the first week of gun hits it's lights out for any decent hunitng. I see few deer on stand so it is just sit forever and hope to get lucky. The one exclusion is storms, if you can play a good storm right you can see some daytime action. The majority of deer I see is while I am still hunting this time of year or pushed. Those opportunities result in fewer shots. The properties I hunt are small so still hunting is not a great option. So onto state land which has its' disadvantages already. It gets depressing for sure! I spent two hours this morning online looking at out of state late season muzzleloader hunts to possibly get a chance for the kid to get a shot at a deer this year!! lol

Edited November 28, 2016 by Fletch

[loworange88]

Syracuse area here, and the pressure is up in my neck of the woods for sure.  its hard to gauge here, since I hunt mostly public land, and it seems that the pressure is always up on public land.  Hopefully many hunters have filled their tags already, and there will be less pressure moving forward.

[grampy]

In my area of 4 H, the hunting pressure will continue to drop from here on out. But so will daytime deer sightings. Though the last week of regular and the late ML season have been productive for me over the years. Just go to the nastiest, thickest cover you can find. Then just hang out down wind of it.......and wait. Small, two man pushes have worked for us as well, in late season. There are still plenty of deer out there! So don't throw in the towel until it's over! Also, some of the years biggest bucks are killed in late season! 

[Grizz1219]

Sad thing is... I see very few hunters bow hunting.... we are all sportsmen... Then rifle opens up... Idiots driving around in fields with rifles in the truck sticking out the window, guys using stands/blinds that you set up and scouted, walking around setting up near you... it's like it is the season for the mentally challenged to go hunt... I hunt opening morning then wait a week plus... let the idiots get bored and stay home.. Then I will go back out... but seriously what the hell is wrong with some of these guys...??? 

[DirtTime]

On 11/27/2016 at 8:50 PM, Core said:

I'm positive I'm not the first hunter to get tired of putting time into it and seeing nothing (in fact I've seen lots of posts relaying the same). Not sure what your particulars are, but I drive 40 min plus another 10+ min walk each way + 10 min to setup climber on public land, and after doing that for almost two months and not having a single shot opportunity since the first hour of the first day it gets pretty old. At some point it turns from putting in time to burning hours, though that would be different for everyone. Going to find some land to rent for next year for sure.

I'm not saying hunting can't be frustrating, but to me, hunting isn't always about what I kill . I don't sit all day in the same spot, I get up and move around looking for sign and still hunt when I get bored. If all you want to do is sit in a blind or tree stand all day, yeah, I guess you might feel like you are wasting your time. I don't feel that way. But, to each their own. I guess if you went fishing and didn't catch anything that day it would be a waste of time? Not to me. I still went fishing.

If you think leasing land will magically make you see deer every day, you might be in for a surprise.

 

[vizslas]

the push is over now its time to let the deer relax and wait for the next time you go out . every day i hear less and less shots. Sunday i didn't here a shot until 8 o'clock then a few more around eleven and not again until the evening. i was near Attica.i hunted all day only to see a deer spot me coming up out of the creek... Busted... nothing in the field... but i had fun watching the red squirrel chase the greys and a black squirrel. I have never saw all three colors in one sitting ....... Milestones no matter how small or large they all count. shoot straight and don't snap that twig,

[The_Real_TCIII]

I'm positive I'm not the first hunter to get tired of putting time into it and seeing nothing (in fact I've seen lots of posts relaying the same). Not sure what your particulars are, but I drive 40 min plus another 10+ min walk each way + 10 min to setup climber on public land, and after doing that for almost two months and not having a single shot opportunity since the first hour of the first day it gets pretty old. At some point it turns from putting in time to burning hours, though that would be different for everyone. Going to find some land to rent for next year for sure.

Take up duck hunting, that's what I'm planning for Thursday in the wind and rain. It's a nice break every few days

[LET EM GROW]

My cameras and deer sightings (bucks and doe) were very high all season, esp. the week before gun season, Since gun season started the action on the cams had died down quite a bit and especially the deer sightings, besides some small bucks and buttons. Just trying to fill a doe tag and they are holding tight to the sanctuaries it seems.

One of the land owners, i mainly hunt on, let his friends come in from PA for the opening week through Wednesday. And they basically ruined all the movement. They drove the woods off several times(tracks in the snow) shot a few deer and seemed to have wounded some too, following blood trails into neighboring property and no boot tracks that follow any of the blood. along with marks in the snow that look like broken legs or shoulders dragging... They hunt right next to their quads, and drive them everywhere.  Another neighbor also told me it sounded like a war over there Wednesday night, their last night here. This all really really sucks, especially when trying to manage property. And now he is having his Pines logged off in the next week or two.  Trying to figure out the best way to approach him 

Basically i'm leaving the woods alone until the last weekend of Reg, Season or ML season. I do this nearly every year just to keep the pressure off..  Ive moved cams for focus on Late season and will check them as Gun ends. 

[Core]

9 hours ago, ....rob said:

I'm not saying hunting can't be frustrating, but to me, hunting isn't always about what I kill . I don't sit all day in the same spot, I get up and move around looking for sign and still hunt when I get bored. If all you want to do is sit in a blind or tree stand all day, yeah, I guess you might feel like you are wasting your time. I don't feel that way. But, to each their own. I guess if you went fishing and didn't catch anything that day it would be a waste of time? Not to me. I still went fishing.

If you think leasing land will magically make you see deer every day, you might be in for a surprise.

 

But take that day you didn't catch a fish and repeat it for another ten days straight. I've now gone out 16 consecutive times, with about 26 hours total travel time (driving, walking) and no shot opportunity. I'm wondering at what point I'm allowed to consider it burning hours. 20 consecutive? 100? I have sat at multiple locations on multiple properties, I have tried still hunting, etc. It's weird because much of this is at the same public land that was hopping with deer last year. I've come upon scat so fresh it was almost steaming, gone through an area that the night before was trampled to death with deer including rubs and scrapes. I've only even managed to scare two deer while tramping through bedding areas (with bow, they ran off). It's possible I stink to heavens of wolf pee. It would explain it!

Hunting isn't always about what I kill, but at some point it has to be about that; it is called hunting after all, not hiking. And this year has been a lot of the latter.

I'll keep at it through this season on the public land anyway. Luck can change in an instant and I still look forward to getting out there (I think this is how people feel when they are losing money at a casino but keep thinking their luck will change--same psychology, but this one is arguably far healthier and only costs gas! :D).

[Core]

2 hours ago, LET EM GROW said:

My cameras and deer sightings (bucks and doe) were very high all season, esp. the week before gun season, Since gun season started the action on the cams had died down quite a bit and especially the deer sightings, besides some small bucks and buttons. Just trying to fill a doe tag and they are holding tight to the sanctuaries it seems.

One of the land owners, i mainly hunt on, let his friends come in from PA for the opening week through Wednesday. And they basically ruined all the movement. They drove the woods off several times(tracks in the snow) shot a few deer and seemed to have wounded some too, following blood trails into neighboring property and no boot tracks that follow any of the blood. along with marks in the snow that look like broken legs or shoulders dragging... They hunt right next to their quads, and drive them everywhere.  Another neighbor also told me it sounded like a war over there Wednesday night, their last night here. This all really really sucks, especially when trying to manage property. And now he is having his Pines logged off in the next week or two.  Trying to figure out the best way to approach him 

Basically i'm leaving the woods alone until the last weekend of Reg, Season or ML season. I do this nearly every year just to keep the pressure off..  Ive moved cams for focus on Late season and will check them as Gun ends. 

Yep that sucks. I was out at the public land a few days back and I'm positive I heard 12+ shots in a short period of time, so somebody is "hunting" with an illegal magazine, unless they have a friend at the exact same shot with the exact same load and they were both doing who knows what. I do hear a surprising number of shots that are quickly followed up with another one.

The snow has been extremely interesting to use to see patterns, though. I was able to confirm that one area I thought was light on human activity indeed is--actually in two cases. And the snow also showed me on one property an area I thought was good is in fact bad and one I thought was bad is actually good.