Pressured Deer Parables

[woodsdog2]

Are you experiencing cams drying up, or just little bucks/deer at night? Are your long sits unfruitful with little to no sightings? What's your go-to tactic(s) for pressured mature bucks still somewhat rutting at this current stage of the season (for most of us)?

 

[DroptineKrazy]

This late in the season I start to look for road kills

 

[NimbleTimbo]

Aside from hunting “back door” areas deer flee to on public during PA gun season I definitely slow my roll in terms of the grind and start planning for late season. Many of my buck tags have gotten filled late season when the main rut is over, the orange army is out of the woods, and the cold, and depleted bucks are driven to feed

 

[woodsdog2]

Aside from hunting “back door” areas deer flee to on public during PA gun season I definitely slow my roll in terms of the grind and start planning for late season. Many of my buck tags get filled late season when the main rut is over, the orange army is out of the woods, and the cold and depleted bucks are driven to feed

So do you find they are hitting the food during legal light after being
Pressured? Our experience has been it takes them awhile to start moving again during daylight.

 

[GeoFish]

A lot of pressure in Nov on the public I was hunting. Also the weather was warm. I plan on going back around Dec 5th for a week. Hunting second rut. Too many acorns around to try and hunt food.
If I scout trying to find a hot tree I will leave too much ground scent and turn off the big bucks.

 

[woodsdog2]

9 of 12 answered to keep scouting for fresh sign, the freshest sign as much as possible and setting up. So can we dig a little deeper on this. I chose this answer myself. So what areas are you looking for this fresh sign given that the firearms season is still going on and pressure is still somewhat high. Fresh sign at food means they’re hitting that good source so how far back are you setting up to get last light big buck movement? Are you setting up downwind of the food overall? Are the bucks hitting the food or heading the same way each night regardless of the wind? What about a sneak close to bedding morning hunt? What fresh sign are you looking for where in relation to food and bedding cover? How does second rut play in your decision making matrix?

 

[NMSbowhunter]

If it's rut I'm not necessarily looking for bucks I'm trying to find does. Find the does and the bucks will find you. I look for food sources at least 500 yards from any road or access and preferably across a water feature like a creek or stream. I look for something that makes the average Orange Joe say "man I ain't goin' back there, how would I get a deer out anyway!". If I'm looking for a food source, I try to find it on the edge of thick cover. I am pretty aggressive in my hunting, meaning I am not afraid to go right into a spot and possibly bump the deer out. I also go to spots that I have identified post season that are primary scrape areas in dense cover. The scrapes have to be active. These spots are all day spots.

 

[NimbleTimbo]

So do you find they are hitting the food during legal light after being
Pressured? Our experience has been it takes them awhile to start moving again during daylight.

After the 2 weeks of rifle, the season is out until after Christmas. By then, they have relaxed a little and the hunter numbers are cut by 75%. I definitely do better in the evening. The bucks definitely seem to still wait until the last few minutes of light to hit a more open food source, so I try to find a travel corridor and set up closer to the bedding