Minimizing Disturbance
Filed under: Ask Grant, Hunting Tactics
Hello Grant, My name is Boyd and I am hunting in Caton, New York. I hunt on a 16 acre lot that is just loaded with white oaks. I have two treestands located on the property; one at the bottom of the hill in what I think is a funnel to a bedding area and the other at the top of the hill in an open wooded area. Both areas where the stands are located are a mess with rubs and scrapes with 30 of each at both locations. I have got cameras at both locations and they both have great pictures. I have gotten over 4,000 pictures in two months, some really nice bucks but just the little ones are frequent. Opening day I took a mature doe for the freezer because my 6 year old son was with me. Well, at the beginning of the season I was seeing an average of 20 to 30 deer in a day. Now we are into week 3 and I see 1 to 3 at most. I know that we are getting closer to the rut and I was wondering if this would affect what I was seeing. I know the deer are in there. I hunt on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays because I work and am in school full-time. I just don’t understand with the amount of rubs and scrapes why I am not seeing many deer. It also seems like the does have stopped frequenting as much. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Boyd
Boyd,
I’ve worked a lot in upstate New York. I have several friends in the Potsdam area!! Congratulations on harvesting a doe!! It is important to remember that deer are a prey species and they generally consider humans predators. The more a deer herd is alerted to a major predator (like us) in their home range, the less likely they are to continue using that portion of their home range, at least during daylight hours.
I try to limit my disturbance, especially when hunting mature bucks. For this reason I practice intense scent control. For example, I frequently wash my hunting clothes in a washer that has never had normal family laundry detergent used in it. You can also only use scent free soap for a few loads in the family washing machine if that is more convenient. I hang my hunting clothes outside to dry. Sunshine and fresh air are great deodorizers. I keep a pair of rubber boots for hunting and only put them on (and my hunting clothes) once I’m at my hunting site, ready to walk to my stand. Even with these efforts, I try to never hunt a location when the wind is not in my favor for approaching and hunting the stand.
Mature bucks are rarely tolerant of a major predator intruding in their core area. If your intent is to harvest a mature buck, then you can increase the odds substantially by limiting the chances of being detected by their nose.
Growing Deer together,
Grant
