Urban deer hunting

[Eric Krewson]

I lost my hunting land in TN, accumulated some injuries that make normal hunting challenging and am just plain getting older. Not wanting to pay $1000 to join a lease for minimal hunting time I decided to hunt in my subdivision.

M/L season opens Monday, I have 4 acres as do most of the people in the subdivision, give or take a few acres, no anti hunters live around me and most are tired of the landscape damage the deer do.

I planted a food plot in my tiny patch of woods and put an electric fence around it to keep the deer out until it became established. In previous years the deer would pull up the wheat, roots and all as soon at it came up leaving little or nothing to grow through the winter. When I took down the electric fence the deer were in it that day.

The deer have since shifted to acorns and haven't been back on the plot but will come back later in the year. I put the camera up to check the plot but have since taken it down, I don't use trail cameras where I hunt, I like to be surprised at what shows up. A trail camera and flintlock don't seem to go together for me.

Here is the same plot from the deck of my house.

Here are my woods, the acorns are dropping like rain.

I have permission to hunt my neighbors 40 acres that adjoins me to the north, mostly pasture with big timber edges dropping off into the hollows.

The deer here are as wired as deer can be, always on high alert from dealing with people and house dogs, they will nail you at 75 yards if you blink an eye, this is going to be a challenge. I have been watching the deer that come out in my neighbors pasture every evening to see where to set up an ambush.

I put on my ghillie suit yesterday afternoon an hunkered down to watch the action without being caught, I don't hunt in camo either but was just watching. 15 deer came into the field from different points, congregated together and walked by me in single file at 30 yards, all does and fawns. I am not a horn hunter and prefer big does.

When the deer filed past me it would have been too late for an iron sight shot plus there was no clear field of fire with the houses in the background.

It is going to rain all day Monday, I don't flintlock hunt in the rain. 19 degrees on Tuesday morning, to cold for me so Monday afternoon will be my first outing.

To be continued.............

 

[wattlebuster]

Go for it. Enjoy. pretty pics by the way

 

[Sparkitoff]

Best of luck! It can definitely be fun and challenging. My little spot in the City limits is only 1 acre (not in a subdivision) but the deer visit regularly. I only use crossbow because the City cannot decide if a muzzleloader or air rifle would be okay. Their definition of "firearm" would permit those implements, but nobody will give assurance that it is ok. So on the side of caution I stick to arrow flinging. You are fortunate to be able to hunt from your own property in a subdivision!

 

[Eric Krewson]

I have lived here for 16 years and never killed a deer on my property, I have seen hundreds, the rut is around thanksgiving and it gets wild in my patch of woods. I have always left the deer alone because I prefer to be in the wilderness when I hunt and had access to some fantastic hunting land.

The deer here are as thick as fleas. If I didn't put up an electric fence around my garden I wouldn't get the first meal out of it. The deer eat the the monkey grass in my flower beds to the ground every winter as well.

Here is my greens patch as of yesterday, the electric fence keeps the deer out.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Sounds like your rising to the challenge.
I lost some prime hunting ground a couple of times.
I do alright.
All good things come to those who wait, so they tell me!

B.

 

[hanshi]

I lived in a subdivision for 10 years in Virginia. No hunting was allowed so I saw lots of "jaw dropping" things. The confrontation, in broad daylight, between a neighbor's cat and a red fox in my front yard, the two enormous bucks that spent two whole days in my backyard. Huge bucks and albino does walking the daytime streets in our neighborhood and they were oblivious to everything. You have a beautiful place, Eric.

 

[Mad Professor]

I find suburban deer used to people and even dogs. If you walk by on a trail like a hiker they just watch you go by. If you are stalking they freak out if they spot you. I have been walking down a trail to a stand with my bow and spotted deer out of the corner of my eye. If I stopped and took a draw they would flee. What I've done with success is to keep walking to an opening then take a snap shot.

I've even had deer walk into my garden, while I was tending it, and commence to start pilfering vegetables. I pelted one with a rock and it jumped up like a hornet had stung it, then ran a bit, then came back into the garden, and I hit it with another rock.

I've also had deer run me around houses. I was tracking one in a swamp that went into a backyard I had permission to hunt. I was sure I would push it across the street. Instead the deer circled the house just as I was approaching and went back into the swamp.....

I like to stalk and the worst part for me is the deer going up to housing I can't hunt and they know they are safe, 10-20 yds from a house.

 

[Skychief]

Best get the grease hot Eric. I'm subscribed to your thread. Good luck!

Best regards, Skychief.

 

[BrownBear]

Bud of mine does most of his deer shooting in close urban circumstances like yours. I'm taking his word for it cuzz it makes sense to me: He only shoots downhill where misses or pass-throughs go into the ground---- Whether he's on top of a rise shooting down or in a tree shooting down on flat ground. In his reporting, a portable tree stand has opened up lots of acres he doesn't feel would be safe to shoot across at eye level.

 

[Eric Krewson]

I went out to check the herd in the field yesterday evening at about 4:30. There was 100 yards of woods between me and the deer in the field, the deer were another 100 yards out in the field. As soon as I rounded my garden 250 yards from the deer all I saw were white flags leaving, now, those were some alert deer. The wind was in my favor.

 

[Juice Jaws]

I am not sure what you mean about hunting in a urban area, not quite sure what a urban area is, always live out in the boondocks. If you mean hunting and shooting around homes, even if they are a couple of hundreds yards always would make feel uneasy and I would not do it.

 

[Eric Krewson]

One would have to use common sense of course. I have houses to the south and west of me and none to the east or north, just woods and a huge lake. I have been scouting and watching the deer movement. I have eliminated the possibility of hunting several travel paths because of houses in the background, even ones a half a mile away through thick woods.

Because the land is hills and hollows taking shots down into a deep hollow or into a hillside are my best options. Of course if I chose to use a treestand all shots will be downward into the ground. I doubt if I will take a shot over 30 yards.

 

[BrownBear]

Sounds like the perfect setup! Best of luck to you. Your scouting and planning should pay off in spades.

 

[azmntman]

Too many archery killed bucks have expired in folks yards here. NO DEER HUNTING IN TOWN PERIOD!

You have a real nice place Eric

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I was thinking of building a muzzle loading .40 or .45 caliber rifle with a barrel having a 1:48 twist, in caplock, as I've found octagon to round barrels that give a pretty thick wall, and having a local gunsmith shorten the barrel and then square the last 1/2", plus give me an outer threading so the barrel will accept an oil filter to act as a suppressor. Since such are not illegal on a muzzleloader, and were I to use a conical bullet, and keep the MV at 1000 fps, only the cap would make noise and it should be good to about 50 yards. IF I used one of those adaptors, that seals in a modern primer as a cap, then it should be even quieter. I live in a county with land that meets the State criteria of being more than 150 yards from occupied homes, BUT ..., due to the noise, folks who hunt those lands must only do archery from a tree stand, with permission from the Chief of Police. Since I work for him, I figure with a suppressed ML, I could probably meet the noise requirement and get him to "sign off" for my using it in the "no shoot zoned area". Plus it's a really odd project. Might need a modern red-dot sight to get the sight above the diameter of the oil filter. pardon the sacrilege of the modern sight, but I figured with hanging an oil-filter off the muzzle, I'd gone beyond my previous standards anyway.....

LD

 

[DJH]

I guess these days one has to "do what they have to do." I used to live in a subdivision with some 2 to 3 acre lots. There was some woodland area behind my neck of the subdivision. The problem I had was my idiot neighbor was hunting behind his house directly adjacent to my property with his modern high power centerfire rifle. This was in an area that was frequently used by neighborhood kids out building forts in the woods and such. I confronted him about his choice of weapons and if he thought that was a good idea with kids around and he was very rude. Hunting/shooting in the subdivision was also in direct conflict with local city ordinances. Anyway, sounds like you have a different situation. Good luck to you.

Jeff H

 

[DJH]

I guess these days one has to "do what they have to do." I used to live in a subdivision with some 2 to 3 acre lots. There was some woodland area behind my neck of the subdivision. The problem I had was my idiot neighbor was hunting behind his house directly adjacent to my property with his modern high power centerfire rifle. This was in an area that was frequently used by neighborhood kids out building forts in the woods and such. I confronted him about his choice of weapons and if he thought that was a good idea with kids around and he was very rude. Hunting/shooting in the subdivision was also in direct conflict with local city ordinances. Anyway, sounds like you have a different situation. Good luck to you.

Jeff H

This same guy was also later found to be hunting out of a deerstand positioned directly over a corn feeder. Don't be that guy!

 

[Loyalist Dave]

This same guy was also later found to be hunting out of a deerstand positioned directly over a corn feeder. Don't be that guy!

Well if baiting is legal, as it is in some states, then there's no worries.
...as far as the bait and the position of the stand goes. As to local ordinances and zoning, that's different.....
LD

 

[DJH]

Well if baiting is legal, as it is in some states, then there's no worries.

LD

In this case it was not. Sorry, I should have clarified.

Jeff H

 

[Loyalist Dave]

In this case it was not. Sorry, I should have clarified.

Jeff H

No worries. Deer hunting is different all over the country, both in methods and in bag limits. Here one cannot use dogs to hunt deer, but I understand that using dogs is popular in some states. Baiting deer with salt is more than two centuries old where I live, but some places one cannot bait in any manner. Other places one cannot dump shelled corn, nor corn cobs, BUT you can plant corn and "IF" that attracts deer then it isn't "baiting". As a small boy I learned of lots of places where one could not shoot doe, and a lot of support from deer hunters against the practice, but now in my state the limit for most of the state on "antlerless deer" is 10.

LD