Are the deer gone?

[Gingerbreadman]

Yesterday I went deer hunting for the first time with two friends of mine from school. While we were out, another hunting party drove the deer through the area. They were loud, abnoxious, and from the sounds of it, had more ammunition than they knew what to do with. One of my friends overheard them count up to ten deer that day. We are hunting on a 1 square mile piece of public land. None of us shot a deer yesterday, so we went out early again today. We saw nothing. We could hear distant gunshots, but never saw a thing in our area.

Is it possible that they drove off/ killed all the deer in that particular area? Also, is an abnoxious deer drive on public land poor etiquette or am I just a grumpy first-timer?

 

[john1911]

Also, is an abnoxious deer drive on public land poor etiquette or am I just a grumpy first-timer?

Very poor etiquette. If you want to do a drive, do it on private land.

There's a pretty good chance they ran everything out of the area. Give it a few days and deer should come back.

 

[buck460XVR]

Is it possible that they drove off/ killed all the deer in that particular area? Also, is an abnoxious deer drive on public land poor etiquette or am I just a grumpy first-timer?

actually a loud and obnoxious drive on public land is generally the least effective as the deer can hear where the hunters are well in advance. They may have driven the deer out of the area temporarily, but if food and cover are available they should return. You and your buddies may have driven the deer away just as much as the noisy hunters.....and just cause you don't see the deer don't mean they aren't still there. Anytime you hunt public land you should have alternative places to go. If you and your buddies were on stand during the drive, you should have at least seen deer......over the years, other hunters such as the ones you mention...... have helped me get my deer more than not.

 

[rcmodel]

Unfortunately, public land / public hunting areas get a tremendous amount of pressure all season long in most places.

They may not come back until all the shooting stops next spring.
They may just be deer, but they sure ain't stupid!


rcmodel

 

[OH25shooter]

We saw nothing.

Maybe the deer are there, and they saw, smelt or heard you. It's not uncommon for seasoned hunters to miss deer, but real common for new hunters. It's there (the deer) home turf/woods. We're just trying to blend into their neighborhood and catch them off guard.

 

[birddog]

In my experience, depending on the cover, the deer don't so much vacate the area as they severely limit daylight movement for a few days after an episode like that. Try hunting near thick / bedding cover for a while and be as stealthy as possible. The deer are probably still there.

 

[308win]

The deer are there; you just aren't seeing them. You need to know the area as well as the deer and you will find them.

 

[CajunBass]

They're still there. We hunt deer with dogs down here. We'll hunt a patch of woods, jump deer, and run them. Then that night they'll come right back into the same piece of woods. We try to have enough places that we don't have to come right back, but the deer don't seem to mind. Even with dogs, we don't jump every deer in the woods. The dogs will hit one or two, go off on the trail, and miss the rest of them.

 

[dogrunner]

Cajun Bass is dead right. I have seen dogs put into the same block of woods three times in a row running out only does and yearlings. The fourth time several very good bucks left post haste!

Deer will modify their feed patterns when pushed hard, they'll start feeding at night and generally (other then when in rut) bucks will hold tight in the thickest brush you can find. I have personally had a buck hold tight until I nearly stepped on him. When dogged, bucks will deliberately find a bunch of does and run into the midst of them and stop. Course the dogs'l go off chasing whatever is running. I have known bucks to suddenly stop dead and allow a pack of good dogs to overrun then and then back track and start running round and round on sandy trails to throw them off. In my experience deer will usually return to their home turf within a day of such activity and I'd bet that they will do the same where you are.

Further, I have seen deer feeding while a hot race was on going less than several hundred feet from where they were. Those deer would raise their heads and follow the dogs passing by in hot pursuit of another deer much like a crowd watching a tennis match.....They know when they are the focus of attention and when they are not.

 

[chemist308]

The deer in my area become nocturnal when the hunting pressure starts up.

 

[Gingerbreadman]

Ok, that is good to know.

The same group from yesterday came backtoday. They got one. In the process they pushed it between them and us. There were some tense moments there, especially after an errant shot struck a tree near a friend of mine.

We're just going to find a different spot to hunt.....

 

[ArcherandShooter]

After opening weekend

deer around here become mostly nocturnal, except for the height of the rut.

One of the rangers at the NF I hunt told me last year that 80 percent of the deer killed in the NF every year are shot on opening weekend. After that, they dive into the cover and hide throughout daylight hours.

They are there, but they've become much more wary, and therefore harder to find.

Keep it up, don't be afraid to hike into the far, deep, dark areas where you are, pay double attention to the wind and any noise and movement you make.

Good luck.

 

[marty1]

I hunt on public land. I hike for about an hour uphill. The hunters down below start shooting like crazy driving the deer uphill. I appreciate these hunters since every year I nail a deer by 10 AM.

 

[tinygnat219]

We hunted public land in VA this weekend and heard all kinds of Kabooms going on yesterday (opening day of Muzzleloader). The wind was strong as well, about 15-20 MPH. One of my buddies was walking through some thick undergrowth and jumped some deer 15 feet from him. They had bedded down in the thick stuff and were basically waiting us out. IMHO, the deer are still there, but they are staying put.

Are they allowed to dog hunt on public land in your area? They are in ours, and if you can get into the area before they do, they will drive the deer straight to you. If you are late setting up though, the deer will be bedded, or gone. :banghead:
If you are smart enough, dog hunters can be your best friends.

 

[dogrunner]

In Florida it depends on the specific management area regulations, some do, some don't.

Very, very common for still hunters to set up on known crossings and kill a deer in front of someone else's dogs. Usually they are local and very good about sharing the meat..........Some can be a pain and I have even known of an instance where a dog hunter had a rifle pointed at his chest when he attempted to claim a share and recover his dogs.....The pointer went to jail and has never returned!

All the use of dogs accomplishes is to move deer. Done right it's not really as productive as still/stand hunting as most of the deer chased aren't legally takeable anyway. Biggest problem with running dogs is the control issue of keeping them off others property.

Called "dog hunting" because mostly what you do for the rest of the day is hunt for your dogs!

 

[springmom]

No dog hunting allowed in Texas, so that's never our problem.

In about a week, as A&S said, we'll see the rut start in earnest down here and then things get frisky, but otherwise, you'd better be on your spot WELL before daylight and sit still as a stone, do what you need to do regarding wind/scent control, sit still as a stone, and did I mention sit still? (Preaching to self here; I never realized what a fidget I am until I started hunting.)

Things change a LOT down here once there's a frost and we (finally) get some die-back in the brush; but it has been such a banner year for growth (deer and vegetation) that they can wander under cover all day long and just never come out to cross a path or eat along an edge until well after shooting light is gone. They don't have to; all they have to do is stay near their bedding and come out for a drink after dark.

Good luck.

Springmom