Old age and some mobility issues have made my desire to travel an hour or so to public hunting areas non-existent. I have 4 acres of woods below my house, all the other lots in the subdivision around me are 4 or 5 acres as well with deep hardwood hollows between the branch roads., I have at least 150 acres of big woods that join my place, my land just happens to be on a deer travel path between the large fields outside the subdivision and other blocks of hardwoods. It is legal to shoot where I live but those of us that hunt behind our houses are very conscious of shot safety and the location of any houses on the ridges around us. All of use compare notes and the most common topic is" I had a big buck come down the hollow but there was no way I could safely take a shot".
My neighbor shot this buck traveling down the hollow on his place next to mine a few days ago.
I have lived here for 22 years and just watched the deer for the most part, I killed a doe a couple of years ago off my deck because the season was just about over and a good friend and hunting partner was out of deer burger and needed a deer. As many of you know, running out of deer burger at the end of season is a bit of a crisis situation for those of us that haven't bought ground beef in the last 40 years or so.
For the last couple of years, I realized that hunting my land and my neighbors 50 acres was about my only option, it has actually been fun putting up treestands, clearing brush to open the woods for new growth and planting a small food plot.
I am a meat hunter, I let any of the bigger bucks go in hopes that my younger neighbor might get one of them, we compare notes after a hunt by text. I only hunt with traditional bows and sidelock M/L now, I shoot a percussion gun occasionally but use my flintlocks most of the time.
When I joke about going to the wilderness to hunt it is definitely a tongue in cheek statement. This trail cam picture puts things in perspective, my ground blind is the brush pile in the upper part of the picture, I killed a small 6 point out of it a few days ago with my TC. These deer are not like normal suburban deer, house dogs run them relentlessly so they stay wired, they will pick you out from 200 yards in an open field, turn tail and run.
This buck was right behind her, the rut here is just now ramping up and will peak around Christmas.
My TC buck;
If I don't look back at my house this patch of land feels like any other I have hunted, beautiful and serene except for the occasional squeal of laughter from the neighbors' kids across the hollow or someone blowing leaves with their leaf blower.
Are there any other suburban hunters in this group?
My neighbor shot this buck traveling down the hollow on his place next to mine a few days ago.
I have lived here for 22 years and just watched the deer for the most part, I killed a doe a couple of years ago off my deck because the season was just about over and a good friend and hunting partner was out of deer burger and needed a deer. As many of you know, running out of deer burger at the end of season is a bit of a crisis situation for those of us that haven't bought ground beef in the last 40 years or so.
For the last couple of years, I realized that hunting my land and my neighbors 50 acres was about my only option, it has actually been fun putting up treestands, clearing brush to open the woods for new growth and planting a small food plot.
I am a meat hunter, I let any of the bigger bucks go in hopes that my younger neighbor might get one of them, we compare notes after a hunt by text. I only hunt with traditional bows and sidelock M/L now, I shoot a percussion gun occasionally but use my flintlocks most of the time.
When I joke about going to the wilderness to hunt it is definitely a tongue in cheek statement. This trail cam picture puts things in perspective, my ground blind is the brush pile in the upper part of the picture, I killed a small 6 point out of it a few days ago with my TC. These deer are not like normal suburban deer, house dogs run them relentlessly so they stay wired, they will pick you out from 200 yards in an open field, turn tail and run.
This buck was right behind her, the rut here is just now ramping up and will peak around Christmas.
My TC buck;
If I don't look back at my house this patch of land feels like any other I have hunted, beautiful and serene except for the occasional squeal of laughter from the neighbors' kids across the hollow or someone blowing leaves with their leaf blower.
Are there any other suburban hunters in this group?
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Like you, I need to be very careful with the muzzleloader as several homes, including mine, are well within range.
