Seeing some deer behind the house.

[27hand]

I live in a residential area with about 14 acres behind my place that I am not permitted to hunt.
The cop that manages that property and some of his buddies hunt there.
A few years back, he told me there were no deer there.

I agreed.

4 years ago, I got a decent 8 point behind my house on my.property ( not the 14 acres)
3 years and a 9 point ( again on my land).
2 years back, a small but nontypical 14 point and last year a decent 8.

There are no monster buck and even all the deer I shoot are small bodied.

This year, I have these offerings vying for freezer space.


2021-08-05_03-43-57 by poofy27, on Flickr

2021-08-25_04-18-39 by poofy27, on Flickr

2021-08-25_04-18-28 by poofy27, on Flickr

I also have this guy on camera but have only seen him once.

2021-08-25_04-15-54 by poofy27, on Flickr

2021-08-25_04-15-42 by poofy27, on Flickr


I had one picture with 6 buck in the frame.

Hopefully in about a month, they are still around.

I've removed the salt block 30 days before archery as we must do.

Crossbow only. Last 4 buck were 12 to 20 yds. Stand is 20 feet up.
Bow is a 10 point Wicked Ridge Stealth FX4

Heres hoping they continue to visit.

Anyone else getting ready and see anything interesting?

 

[Patocazador]

I live in a residential area with about 14 acres behind my place that I am not permitted to hunt.
The cop that manages the property and some of his buddies hunt there.

I can't believe that even one person can hunt safely on 14 acres unless it's bowhunting. Plus if you don't have permission, you are breaking the law and you are a poacher.
If I am not reading your post correctly, please correct me.

 

[courtgreene]

I think (if I'm reading it correctly), he's on his, which is adjacent theirs. I also think he is keeping it a secret from the other guys. But again, this is all guess work.

 

[27hand]

I contacted the Pa Game Commission regarding this years ago and I can hunt my property ( not the 14 acres). Pa Game laws superceed any local ordinances.
Since it is a residential neighborhood, its crossbow only as I posted in the OP. The cop and his crew can use shotguns as long as he and they abide by the 150 yard safety zone and I've heard a shot back there but couldn't see the hunter.

No one is poaching. No one is hunting illegally.
Game Commission has verified this.

I reread my OP and can't see how it was misinterpreted.

What part was unclear?

I'll correct it if it's misleading.

 

[27hand]

Ok. I see where it's unclear.. Sorry I didn't see it when i posted.

Ok. I believe I cleared that up.

 

[Patocazador]

If it's legal, go to it and I'm sorry I misinterpreted Your OP.

 

[27hand]

No problem.
When I reread it, I saw how it could have been taken that I hunted their land.

 

[buck460XVR]

The cop that manages that property and some of his buddies hunt there.
A few years back, he told me there were no deer there.

His is a standard response to others. I too use it. Learned long ago if you brag up a spot, one way or the other you will destroy it. 14 acres is yard sized where I live. With hunting allowed adjacent to it, it won't take long till there are really, "no deer". Letting folks know there are multiple bucks in such a small area will get around, and soon enough they will be gone, by legal and illegal means. Even if they aren't killed, their "sanctuary" will be invaded and they will move off. The cop and his buddies are probably doing some form of "quality" deer management and you are most likely reaping some of the benefits.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

Bragging about a good spot does have it's downside. Both fishing and hunting.
I know a guy who posted pictures of a big buck that he'd shot and someone stole the head from his barn.

 

[Jim Watson]

A friend normally considers deer on her property as pets and hunts out of the area.
But one day a very fine buck ambled by and broke her resolve. Fortunately for the buck, he had wandered out of sight before she could load her rifle.

 

[Slamfire]

Once a wounded deer ends up dead on a property of a neighbor, you will have some explaining to do.

 

[27hand]

The cop and I spoke about recovery..
I simply asked if I could recover without calling the game commission to assist me..
He said that would be ok.

This started quite a few years ago when I did have permission to hunt the 14 acres ( previous owner).
Shot a few doe and small buck. Not a bad drag of 200 to 300 yards.
New owners property manager ( the local PD cop ) posted the property.
Since then, a few hundred acre farm across the valley sold for upper end homes.
The deer came over to our side during excavation, infrastructure installation and home building.
Since my lot is only a few hundred feet square, I contacted the Pa Game Commission for clarification on legality of hunting which was OK with them given safety zones, firearm / bow limitations.

I placed a couple game cameras and was pleasantly surprised by the number of deer. The hillside behind my house has a 25 yard wide bench and is a natural choke point for deer travelling.

I have an old cherry tree that may not have a lot of life left but seemed adequate for what I wanted.
The first few years, I used a Loggy Bayou as a clamp on with a ladder to access it until I made it a permanent platform 20 feet above the ground.

I love watching the wildlife back there. Deer, turkeys, fox, coyote, groundhogs, squirrel, opossum, rabbits and even had a redtailed hawks nest about 75 yards out.

IMAG3485 by poofy27, on Flickr

2021-06-02_10-57-25 by poofy27, on Flickr

 

[22250Rem]

Anyone else getting ready and see anything interesting?

..........One of the trail cams got this guy walking past a blind back on the morning of Aug. 4th. Despite several trail cams on the property he hasn't been seen since. There's little to no human intrusion there other than me swapping SD cards on the trail cams every 2 weeks or so. There's a couple smaller bucks also and they seem to have vanished, too. But that's not unusual there; sometimes for weeks there's nothing and then for days there will be deer daily. Still getting doe & fawn pix but even those have slowed down. Life is just full of surprises, ain't it?....

 

[22250Rem]

Oops; just noticed the thread title is "seeing some deer behind the house". Deer in my last post is probably at least 300 yards behind my friend's place out in the woods. To get back on topic, last Friday, (Aug. 20th) I was having morning coffee on the deck and two bucks came through the back yard a little after 7 A.M. heading for the wooded state land next to me. Luckily I had the Canon Rebel with the telephoto lens on it right next to me and got a shot of the better of the two when he stopped for a moment. Took the shot just peeking over the deck rail. Didn't want to stand up or get too high and scare him. Can't gun hunt right here but the woods next to me is archery (no crossbow), although the road I live on is the border between two wildlife management areas and across the road I could use a crossbow. Either way; he's in my neighborhood...

 

[TheDr]

Any one of the OP deer in those pics would be welcome to be in my freezer any day.
I'm in se Missouri and seeing a bunch of deer in the fields,and unfortunately,nice buck dead on the highway.
Cape Girardeau is having an archery only hunt this year. First time in the city.
It's a nightly thing to see tons of does and Monster bucks chewing up people's yards and bushes within the city limits and they walk in the casino parking lot almost nightly.
As for the size of OP hunting area....it's plenty.
I've access to some VERY small lots,and I'll be the first to tell you,small areas can mean great success.
Suburban deer hunting is a hoot,and I'd rather hunt them in the suburbs than anywhere.

 

[DukeConnor]

I have seen more large bucks in my neighborhood (suburban) this year than I have ever seen.
I saw 2 big bodied 10 pointers strolling down the middle of the street at noon last week. They don't give a crap about people,cars, dogs etc.....
They just go about their business.

 

[buck460XVR]

Urbanized deer are becoming the norm, where at one time they were a rarity. IMHO, it comes down to at one time deer only associated humans and their scent as danger. Now they associate those with food. Fawns are now taught where the bird feeders and tasty landscape plantings are instead of where the young poplars, acorns and wintergreen is. Here's an interesting link......https://www.realtree.com/deer-hunting/articles/the-truth-about-deer-and-urbanization

 

[marksman13]

I can't believe that even one person can hunt safely on 14 acres unless it's bowhunting. Plus if you don't have permission, you are breaking the law and you are a poacher.
If I am not reading your post correctly, please correct me.

Meh...it depends on the 14 acres. My house is on 14 acres, the majority of which is straight behind the house. Surrounded by pines on three sides. Closest house is several hundred yards away and I’ve got two stands set up from which I can shoot two directions without shooting towards a neighbor’s house. I killed two does last year back there with rifles. 14 acres can make for some very effective hunting if you are willing to limit your hunts to days when the wind is in your favor and other conditions are right. Most of my place is mixed hardwood and pine and I’ve intentionally left it thick back there with just a few rows cut down for shooting lanes. Almost zero pressure most of the year. My neighbors hunt the land around me pretty hard, so my place ends up as a sanctuary.