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Urban Hunting Tips

Bigterp said:
Take REALLY close high percentage shots….. I hunt a few small parcels & and deer that are relaxed not near property lines make great candidates.
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this, and try to make as small of a footprint as possible. dont let anyone know what you are up to. the problem with HOA's is that they are community based, so all it takes is 1 karen to put an end to your hunt.
 
Congrats! I’ll echo the mantra of “close, high-percentage shots only.” Also, try your best to keep a low profile. Finally, be sure to post pics and share the story of your first deer or hog on here!
 
I'll add on to the low profile factor. I get dressed in my vehicle and bring my car instead of the truck. People see a car and think you are walking a dog or what have you vs. a truck parked by a wood lot. Car = inconspicuous. Get dressed in the car, wait until no foot or vehicle traffic is around, jump out, lock the doors, and slip in the woods unnoticed. This has been a huge success for me especially since I hunt urban coastal areas where walking along the beach is so common, people see a car and don't ask questions.

To add on that, DON'T PARK BLOCKING ANYTHING IMPORTANT. Some people have dirt turn-arounds or private trails on the edges of their property where people like to stash their vehicles to hunt. Take it from me, when a landowner with a tractor needs his road your vehicle will not stop him from going down it! (It was an overgrown trail with no traffic that he was going in to bush hog.)

Last, dress the animal in a good area that will not blow out the spot or grab attention due to birds, smell and especially people's pets... Last thing someone wants is their dog dragging intestines or ponch in the house.
 
Be discreet and respectful.
Keep copies of your permission in your possession.
It may seem easy to hunt deer in urban areas but from my experience, they know where people are supposed to be. And they're not supposed to be in the woods, 15' up a tree.
Use big mechanical broadheads. You want a big blood trail and maximum damage to put the deer down fast. Give them time to die without pushing them.
 
A lot of good info here. Someone mentioned the aspect of taking care of your kill; I don’t usually field dress and leave anything in the urban area I hunt. I like how hunt urban does it, he just puts the whole deer in a sled and drags the whole sled into his vehicle. This way you don’t leave a blood/drag trail and you don’t get a bunch of blood all over your vehicle. Entering/exiting the woods in the cover of darkness when you can is also good.
 
if you have a vehicle with a bunch of hunting stickers on the back of them remove them. Some random truck on the side of the road is noticeable enough, one with hunting stickers will just draw more attention. A buddy of mine hunts areas like this, has a Honda flex he takes rather than his truck. First time he had his truck there he got a “flat tire” and a note saying hunting wasn’t allowed even though it was a city park and he was one of a few licensed to archery hunt there. Get a mattress bag or big tarp and toss it in the back or get a hitch carrier.
 
Ive hunted urban for years. Its probably the hardest to hunt. Especially when there is like in my area a bait pile out back of ever other house.
i try to hunt way down wind of other hunters present stands especially with bait.
call it what ya want but urban hunting is definitelya completely different monster.
what ive learned in last few years is they love using thier eyes. Wind over back from anywhere, bedding in a bowl orpoint watching open woods.
micro points are real good.
just my two cents. Good luck bro aim small
 
I highly recommend you learn to spine shoot deer and immediately follow up with a killing shot. A bow shot deer can be off 5 acres before you recover from the shot yourself.

If you’re not down with spine shooting on purpose, and I don’t fault you if you’re not, then I suggest you use heavy arrows and scary sharp broadheads.

Both of the above approaches are about getting the deer on the ground and dead as fast as possible.

Do not field dress on site. Take the deer out whole.
 
Like everyone else said. The first rule of fight club is, do not talk about fight club. Keep your mouth shut. If two people know about it it’s not a secret. My hoa used to allow a couple guys hunt down by the field/creek area until they started yapping and drew unwanted attention to themselves and the hoa shut em down.
Keep your head on a swivel and eyes open, kids love to play in the woods especially once the temps cool off.
 
Robert loper said:
Ive hunted urban for years. Its probably the hardest to hunt. Especially when there is like in my area a bait pile out back of ever other house.
i try to hunt way down wind of other hunters present stands especially with bait.
call it what ya want but urban hunting is definitelya completely different monster.
what ive learned in last few years is they love using thier eyes. Wind over back from anywhere, bedding in a bowl orpoint watching open woods.
micro points are real good.
just my two cents. Good luck bro aim small
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They opened up a Cleveland burb in 2016 and I got an awesome permission. The region was packed with monsters and just a lotta deer in general. But yep the big deer in those woods werent dumb, unless you were running a corn feeder, then they were a little dumber. In hindsight I shoulda run corn. They knew the areas they typically hadn’t seen people, would get suspicious, would wind you. By a month into the season a lotta deer were disappearing. But it was a good two year run for me. I shot five deer there and by some good fortune every one of them ran in a circle before expiring and never crossed a property line.
 
Use lighted nocks. The last thing you want to do is hear about someone/something getting hurt/broke due to an arrow that was not retrieved. Second to last is neighbors calling cops on you as you grid search for your arrow with your headlamp.

Take close range 12 ring shots. Shoot for double lungs. In my experience, they go down faster than a heart shot.
 
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