If have been hunting S. Fulton county right outside of Atlanta on and off for about 15 or so years. It is bow only for the northern part and the deer get a chance to age when they are not poaced. I keep seeing people reference urban deer being less cautious or more tolerable to human presence. I can assure you that is simply not true for the "urban" areas we hunt. We are on 70 acres which runs directly beside the chattahoochie river. The dirt road is several miles long and minus a subdivsion on the end there are only 4 houses. I have often thought the deer are less accepting of human intrusion because they identify the intrusion (smell) immediatly and know what it is and that it should not be there. I also hunt S. Alabama on approx 1000 acres and dogs are allowed in the county, and east Georgia. I have gotten away with alot more there, than here. I have hunted all three spots for about the same time. I have a good friend who heard about a deer in a subdivision which was seen daily behind a ladies house in a typical subdivision. He hunted there 2 times. He grazed the deer once and killed it the next time out. Just this morning I watched a very nice 2.5, 8pt come from a subdivision, directly across the area they have yet to build on. He came 80 yards into the woods and hit my trail. If I wanted him he was dead at 20 yards. As soon as he smelled my trail (rubber boots and scent free spray) he became alert, turned and walked off briskly. Now this deer lives around people all day, but he knew they..(me) should not be "there". What are some of your expierences and why do the deer constantly get referred to as "dumb".
I believe a deer is a deer until it becomes 4.5 yrs old. Then they develop super-powers. I will say this, after reading many accounts here and other forums. People with access to Ag crops are blessed. My woods are many, many, many miles from any type of Ag Crops. I would say, this type hunting is a lot tougher, and the bucks are ultimately a lot smaller.
I will stick by this, regardless of how you hunt Jeff. It's not always the "hunting of the crops", but having them in the vicinity sure as heck helps a lot with patterning and size of antlers/deer.
I've hunted some VERY urban locations....the deer aren't any less skittish here than they are out in the middle of nowhere from my experiences....not to mention like Jeff said, there is a LOT more of a chance of someone else ruining the hunt for you.
I've hunted both urban and rural deer in my day. I'll be quick to say this.. and be blasted by many I am sure. The rural deer is an idiot compared to its urban deer cousin. In rural deer.. a 2.5 yr old buck is completely and ridiculously dumb.. at the same point.. the same age on a urban deer and you think he was a 3.5 yr old. I laugh at rural deer hunters.. cause a 4.5 yr old on urban land is TOUGH hunting. He knows the human.. he knows where its safe.. almost unfair to the hunter. Almost. A 4.5 yr old in the country... as smart as a 3.5 yr old urban deer in my opinion.. and only a 2.5 yr old urban deer when the rut starts in. Given the choice.. I'll hunt the rural buck any day.. a MUCH dumber animal.
I've heard that if you want any chance at all of killing one of those swing set shy urban deer it is best done during that two week window that only comes once, and that is either the week before or the week after they loose their spots.
Not sure who posted this maybe if you have time to look back maybe you could find who said it. "If someone wants to dispute this....we could probably have a good "plus/delta" session on each (type of hunting). Civil....informative...and devoid of heresay. " __________________
As far as fawn slaying goes you are the resident expert and with that, one of the few educated things you've ever said is yes ,what I know about shooting fawns from lawns is "here say" and it will stay that way.
IMO - Urban deer are more plentiful and are more concentrated so you have a bit more chance of being in a spot where you can see and get a shot. In the big woods, then can be anywhere and icing on the cake is that there is not a high concentration. Comparing the ABE / Philly area with the Pocono Mountains. may be much different in other states.
You do realize when some one post comments that I fine nutty, I just join along THe pictures are absurd pictures, because stating one hunting is easier than the other is absurb Thanks for the invite, but I am holding out for a Larkin invite to hunt:p
How long have you bragged about abundant target opportunity as the reason for your early success & number of kills, now they become stealthy and wise, shazzzaaam.
I can only speak my personal experience, and the experience of my friends. Both myself and my friends hunt rural and urban locations in multiple States. Urban deer are tougher to hunt than rural deer. Rural deer don't expect to see people. They have wider ranges and generally move more during day-light hours. They are skitish, but, tend ot have less care, in regards to humans. Urban deer know so much more about people. They detect the slightest human influence, because, they are exposed to them. Urban deer stand a better chance of seeing a hunter come in. They know when and where to expect humans, and how to avoid them. If I had to pick a spot that I felt offered me the best chance to stick a mature buck, I'd pick a rural area, and, not because deer are bigger, there. Heck, urban deer tend to be much bigger and much older, because they escape hunters by living in backyards and parks. They have less stress, especially urban areas that contain crops. A few meet their demise via a front bumper, but, that happens everywhere. I think both areas have their pros and cons. Certain things are tougher here, others tougher there. All in all, you have to know your quarry and how they react in whatever area you're hunting.
In my experiences, just because suburb deer are visible people equate that to easy. But for me they are anything but. They know where a person should & shoulnd't be and are JUST as wary as thier farmland/mountain counterparts.
It's no differnent than deer hunted in the high pressure NLP reacting differently than SLP farm deer or vice versa. Deer are product of their enviroment
I can't stand hunting urban deer. I've been doing it for over a decade and litterally have nothing to show for it other than a few does, and two nice bucks I hit and lost. On the counter side of that, I've spent less time hunting rural deer and have more good bucks to show for it. There are an equal number of deer and bucks in both locations, and in some instances possibly even more and bigger deer in the urban areas. I agree that rural deer, especially those who are unpressured, are much easier to kill. They behave like deer should behave, move when they should move, and generally can be hunted the way deer should be hunted. Urban deer never seem to move on any sort of real pattern, bed in the same place on a consistant basis, or make it in any way easy to kill them. Especially the bucks. IMO hunting urban deer that are used to humans and heavily pressured by hunters is an entirely different type of hunting than being out in the sticks.
