Urban deer hunting

[Eric Krewson]

I had my first outing yesterday, the weather was very cloudy and dark, 38 degrees with a very brisk wind, it looked like dusk at 3:00pm. I wasn't up in my ladder stand 10 minutes when I saw movement at the lone whiteoak below me that was dropping acorns. I saw a doe with two fawns feeding on the acorns.

They worked their way toward the plot I planted, passing at about 40 yards. I chose not to shoot the doe because the fawns were small, no spots but 30 pounders.

About the time they got to the plot a huge dry doe I hadn't see came up out of the hollow, they were all down wind of me at this point. The big doe blew and went back down in the hollow. The other three came out on the plot and walked around stiff legged on high alert for a while before easing off.

I put my sights on the mama doe but gave her a pass again. Had the big doe offered me a clear shot I would have taken her.

Earlier that day I built two ground blinds on my neighbors 40 acres to ambush the deer I have been watching for a week or so. When I can't see my sights I get down, as it was still light, I walked to a point I could see my neighbors fields, no deer were out. All my blind building had disturbed their routine.

 

[Patocazador]

Here is my greens patch as of yesterday, the electric fence keeps the deer out.
View attachment 410

Boy, do those greens look good. I just planted mustards and collards 3 weeks ago and they are nowhere near ready to harvest. Besides, it's been too hot here so they would be bitter.

It seems you have an ideal place.

 

[Eric Krewson]

Well, deer sightings on my place have dropped to nothing, I hate to admit it but I wounded and lost a doe about a week ago. I found about a teaspoon of blood in 200 yards, She was on high alert and I suspected she reacted to the flash of my flinter, hopefully she will survive.

I have been hearing a strange whirring noise while sitting on my stand, while trying to find the doe I stumbled up on a corn feeded my bad neighbor put out down in the hollow below my land. You can't hunt over corn feeders in Bama but if you look up redneck slob in the dictionary a picture of my neighbor will probably pop up. I won't turn him in as it would be impossible for the game warden to catch him hunting over the feeder. Feeders are legal if you don't hunt over them, are 100 yards away and out of the line of sight with them.

The good news is my good neighbor to the north bought 9 more acres of hardwoods giving him almost 50 acres that I can hunt. I passed on a wide open 30 yard shot at a doe on his place last week because she was on high alert like the one I winged, I didn't want a repeat.

 

[Brokennock]

A "subdivision" that's 40 acre plots, Ha Ha! I love it. Up here, in a subdivision you'd be lucky to have a quarter acre each. Have fun and good luck.

My heart broke for you last year when you posted that you're private land that you had access to went up for sale.

 

[Eric Krewson]

The subdivision is divided into 4 to 5 acre lots or less, some may be an acre. My friends place is not in the subdivision. If I have the story right the guy who owned it lost everything at the casinos, the house and land were auctioned off. The house is modern but looked like Tara in Gone With the Wind, huge. There is a 5 bay detached garage with a nice apartment on the second floor as well. Apparently few showed up at the auction and my friend got the house and 40 acres of prime land above Wilson lake for $250K.

 

[Eric Krewson]

I bought a shooting rail to put on my homemade ladder stand, it straps to the tree and works really well. I decided to put it up this evening before I went hunting, I should have known better, as I was clanking around metal to metal installing the rail and a deer that was coming to the plot ran off blowing.

Later I heard a deer feeding in the oaks just off the plot and stood up to face the plot, my ladder stand needs to be on the other side of the tree. I saw the deer easing up to the plot, looked like a 2/12 year old 8 point. I couldn't stand up and turn around without raising the rail and my safety harness got caught in it, I shifted the harness tether and the deer saw movement and ran off. At just about dark a buck was chasing a doe across the hollow but It was too dark to tell what it was.

 

[Huntschool]

Hang in there Eric..... Good things will come to pass.....

 

[Eric Krewson]

The season doesn't end until Feb 10th, lots of time left.

 

[Mad Professor]

I didn't get out to hunt today, had to work on the tractor. On of the rear tires had a slow leak. PITA to tear one down in the snow, so put some sealer in and drove it around to spread out the sealant. I drove though one of my woodroads into an area logged over a few years back, blackberrys are up thick now and good browse. Noticed lots of tracks in the fresh snow then bumped a couple does, they did a couple of jumps then just stood and watched me. The road made a circle around them and they just stood watching, as did several more deer in the same thicket. Probably a buck in the mix too as some of the tracks were big.

Anyway the point is urban deer often don't precieve you as a threat if you don't act like a hunter. These same deer see people everyday hiking or skiing. Same as the tractor if you just keep on moving down the trail they don't spook. But if you are hunting, keep moving until an opening, and be ready for a snap shot. That is pretend to be a hiker/skier to fool them.

I'll be checking out the same ticket with the Hawken today.......

 

[smo]

Good Luck to you Eric, I hope your injuries heal quickly.

One of the largest deer that I can remember being harvested in Lauderdale Co. came from just NE of your subdivision!

13 point 250+ pounds , a big ol’ Homegrown Alabama deer.

Stay after em’ & take care.
Smo

 

[BrownBear]

Anyway the point is urban deer often don't precieve you as a threat if you don't act like a hunter.

That's equally true if not moreso out in the hills far from the nearest home. Act like a predator and get treated like one. Act like you don't see the deer and they often stand and watch.

Can't tell you how many times I've spent a day being all sneaky without getting a shot. Then decide it's time to head home and hike out. Walk right up on them, and they're not even a little alarmed.

 

[appalichian hunter]

Dave, I think your ideal is on the edge of regulated weapons, muzzle loader or not I personally would not want to explain the weapon you described to a judge because a overzealous game warden got his or her drawers on to tight. I will push the sites limit on these suggestions, check out the large bore air rifles (remember Lewis and Clark had one) from what I have observed they are pretty powerful. Also there is a rifle type weapon that shoots arrows I believe these are also air powered, And there are cross bows. From my understanding a oil filter is not illegal until attached to a weapon as you mentioned. I SURE WOULD CHECK WITH THE FEDS. on this one. AN APPALICHIAN HUNTER

 

[Mad Professor]

Well I got out this afternoon and hunted the logged over area/blackberry thicket. Saw lots of track but no deer. I worked the woodroad back slowly towards the field by my house as it got dark. ~6" of snow, soft but not so much walking was silent. When I was `50 yds from the field I posted until there was no more shooting light. Then I walked out.......

Dam!!! two fresh sets of tracks that were not there when I walked in, one med/small and one big. I tracked them in the field a bit, You could see where they stopped and turned twice, looking at their backtracks towards where I came out of the woods, then spooked they and into the woods on the far side of the field. Yes , I should have been sitting in the field right near the house instead of the blackberry thicket.......

Have seen these two sets of tracks together for a couple days now, I think it is a buck that has a doe in estrus cut out from the rest of the does. I first saw these two tracks together in the remnants of my vegetable garden right next to the house They came through Wed. night and dined on the kale that remained. Then they crossed the road in front of the house. They might have came back right at dusk? Will see tomorrow when it's tracking light.

 

[Brokennock]

Well I got out this afternoon and hunted the logged over area/blackberry thicket. Saw lots of track but no deer. I worked the woodroad back slowly towards the field by my house as it got dark. ~6" of snow, soft but not so much walking was silent. When I was `50 yds from the field I posted until there was no more shooting light. Then I walked out.......

Dam!!! two fresh sets of tracks that were not there when I walked in, one med/small and one big. I tracked them in the field a bit, You could see where they stopped and turned twice, looking at their backtracks towards where I came out of the woods, then spooked they and into the woods on the far side of the field. Yes , I should have been sitting in the field right near the house instead of the blackberry thicket.......

Have seen these two sets of tracks together for a couple days now, I think it is a buck that has a doe in estrus cut out from the rest of the does. I first saw these two tracks together in the remnants of my vegetable garden right next to the house They came through Wed. night and dined on the kale that remained. Then they crossed the road in front of the house. They might have came back right at dusk? Will see tomorrow when it's tracking light.

Maybe you should drive your portable "blind" out there? Who knows, may have stop and check that tire on the side opposite the deer. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.

Funny, I just the other night read in a back issue of Traditional Bowhunter, and article called, "Body Language," by a hunter who stalked a deer to recurve/longbow range by not "stalking." Just kind of ambled closer at different angles, never looking directly at the deer.

 

[Mad Professor]

Maybe you should drive your portable "blind" out there? Who knows, may have stop and check that tire on the side opposite the deer. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.

Funny, I just the other night read in a back issue of Traditional Bowhunter, and article called, "Body Language," by a hunter who stalked a deer to recurve/longbow range by not "stalking." Just kind of ambled closer at different angles, never looking directly at the deer.

Those two deer came back out of the woods after dark, walked in my tracks, right past the house, across the street, back again , before light.......

 

[Eric Krewson]

An interesting and challenging day;
I bought a super nice ladder stand to put on my land, the instructions said it would take a minimum of three people to put it up, it is a beast. in my urban setting I want to be shooting at the ground, this one it 21ft tall.

I have a 20# weight limit from hernia surgery but consider myself somewhat inventive so I was sure I could pull it off. I have every tool and guy toy known to man, I used a bunch of them today.

I thought I could pull it right up the tree with my deer dragamatic and almost burned the drill motor up trying. It was a no go as the stand slid across the ground instead of lifting.

Plan B; climb the tree with a treestand and put an eye bolt 19 feet up in the tree, put a line through the eye, hook the line to my four wheeler and pull the stand up to the correct position.

Here is the start;

 

[Eric Krewson]

I pulled the stand up with my four wheeler but missed the tree, I had the eye bolt in the center of the tree but should have put it on the uphill side. The slope of the hillside complicated things, the stand wanted to fall downhill for some reason. I struggled with this dilemma for over and hour but finally thought of a solution. I used a log chain and come-a-long tied off to a tree up the hill to pull the stand back to the center of the tree.

 

[Eric Krewson]

I finally got the stand up with a 4 wheeler, come-a-long, log chain and the lift of my bucket on my tractor. I still have to secure it to the tree but I am done for today. I never lifted over 20-25 pounds but I started at 10:30am and finished at 4pm. I assembled the stand on site, piece by piece.

 

[Brokennock]

I greatly admire your determination.

 

[smo]

I finally got the stand up with a 4 wheeler, come-a-long, log chain and the lift of my bucket on my tractor. I still have to secure it to the tree but I am done for today. I never lifted over 20-25 pounds but I started at 10:30am and finished at 4pm. I assembled the stand on site, piece by piece.
View attachment 1468

That’s a cormfortable looking stand.

I feel your pain Eric, I always have too look at every angle to get the mission accomplished .

I tell my Kids & Grandkids all the time,”It’s amazing what you can do when you set your mind to it”.

Be careful , which I’m sure you will straping that one to the tree,we don’t bounce like we once did.

Here’s one my Wife & I put up with a 40’ X 3/4” rope & a Jeep Cherokee .. lol
It was 24’ to the platform , made with 2x4,2x6’s ,Carriage bolts & deck screws.

Assembled in the woods as well.

I was much younger then.

Stay Safe.