Deer Highway In My Backyard

[BullGear]

Seems like the deer in the area are using my backyard as a major travel path. In the last 3 night's (and up to about 6:30am) there have been 27 deer on my trail camera. The Fox are also more prevalent too. Had pictures of 2 Coyotes in the middle of the night as well.

I have 400 acres of never hunted property behind my house, but they're traveling right through my little green acre.

It's fun to look at the pictures, but I wish they'd stay around until the week after Thanksgiving. But they never do.

 

[GordonFreeman]

Their summer and winter patterns are very different.

However, with that many deer around you should see plenty during the fall.

 

[Mater2009]

Maybe now would be a good time to start feeding.

 

[Davo308]

I'm against a nature preserve. No deer have been seen in a decade but there are lots of animals coming around. Saw a coyote with her new litter, and a covey of California quail last week.

Also a pair of roadrunner, they usually make their rounds solo.

I identified some California gnat catchers as well and they are rare. Basically they invert and twist to catch bugs in flight. Like a tiny fighter jet.

 

[BullGear]

Been here going on 9 years and have never seen this many deer at this time of year. The only other time it was close was a few years ago and it wasn't this many deer EVERY night.

However, EVERY STINKING YEAR, these deer vaporize the first of September. Gone, never to be seen until the first of the year. It seems like they subscribe to the DNR's schedule of hunting seasons. Those 400 acres behind my house is a curse and a blessing.

 

[NoDopes]

Plant a few corn.. when they eat it, you can shot them legally as pests. That's my theory, and I'm not a lawyer.

 

[BullGear]

Plant a few corn.. when they eat it, you can shot them legally as pests. That's my theory, and I'm not a lawyer.

Gotta get a permit and I really doubt I'd get one. After all, this is Maryland.

 

[diggler1833]

Been here going on 9 years and have never seen this many deer at this time of year. The only other time it was close was a few years ago and it wasn't this many deer EVERY night.

However, EVERY STINKING YEAR, these deer vaporize the first of September. Gone, never to be seen until the first of the year. It seems like they subscribe to the DNR's schedule of hunting seasons. Those 400 acres behind my house is a curse and a blessing.

This would be because someone near you offers a much better food source in the fall and winter. Does aren't going to move far, but big bucks can travel 1-3 miles.

Your traffic increase right now could be due to many reasons. Perhaps even that someone is working the food plots that causes these deer to vanish from you...and that their work right now is bumping the deer off.

 

[diggler1833]

Or that someone has started food plots nearby and that the deer are moving off of them and to a bedding area...and are cutting through your property as it is in the travel corridor.

Would have to see recent aerial photos to get a better idea as I'm just spit balling right now. However, if your place is attracting deer at night, it isn't a good sign. They'll just continue to use your land at night. You'd need a food source to get them to stop by during shooting light. Winter rye looks a lot like grass if you (or the deer) keep it short. You could just seed your little spot every couple of weeks starting in mid August all the way through about 1 October. I doubt anyone would suspect anything as it is a throw and go, and you won't have to get a stupid permit.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

The area around Schloss Nitrocellulose is getting more built-up every year and the property is a deer yard now... Which is good in a way, but I don't hunt it. Too easy.

And now I have a big upswing in ticks. Bad here. And we are a major Lyme state.

But overall, at least there's still some wildlife. The douches moving in are all building 25K square foot 5th homes. They are wrecking every habitat in the place as they consume the mountainsides. Then blaming 'hunting' for the wildlife issues they face. Bears in their trash, lyme disease and raccoons eating their Audi's.

They should stay in their urban hovels... instead of ruining rural America.

Sirhr

 

[Pbgt]

Just put a "deer crossing" sign up, down the road....then they will go thru there.....(modern problems=modern solutions)

 

[MtnCreek]

A guy bought the farm beside me and started feeding the deer and turkeys. The deer are still here (food, water, cover), but the turkeys are over there. If it's like that next yr I'll probably talk to him about letting my kids hunt on him.

 

[diggler1833]

A guy bought the farm beside me and started feeding the deer and turkeys. The deer are still here (food, water, cover), but the turkeys are over there. If it's like that next yr I'll probably talk to him about letting my kids hunt on him.

Competition man...have to outdo him.

A Texas dentist (and anal pilot if you ask me) has turned the property next to my hunting location on my ranch into a $$$$ food plot complete with Redneck blind and multiple feeders for his ~7 acres that he cleared. His investment, and I'm glad for him that he stimulates our economy. Sucks for my deer movement though...at least at this point this year because he's poured big money into a hellacious clover plot right now. I've got good cover in a couple small spots though, so I expect to retain a few deer.

My response is to try to create better buck bedding on my little timber spot (my land is mostly ag as I run cattle), and I'll be hunting in it which is just 100 yards on my side of the creek, and 150 yards from his plot. I also created a 1.25 acre food plot 500 yards away that's going to hopefully mature later as I'll have almost all of Dec and half of January for archery. As soon as rifle season is over the great Texan migration that occurs annually goes away.

I hope you can get a good result out of your situation, especially for the turkeys. For me here, it's game on...I'm going to do everything I can to turn my place into the late fall - winter hangout, and let him hold the deer the rest of the year.

I'm also hoping he holds all of the hogs too. He put the plot in a traditionally hard hit area.

Best of luck to you.

 

[davsco]

deer attack our bird feeder every morning after the wife fills it. there is literally a small path worn in from where they come out of the woods to the birdfeeder.

 

[myronman3]

The area around Schloss Nitrocellulose is getting more built-up every year and the property is a deer yard now... Which is good in a way, but I don't hunt it. Too easy.

And now I have a big upswing in ticks. Bad here. And we are a major Lyme state.

But overall, at least there's still some wildlife. The douches moving in are all building 25K square foot 5th homes. They are wrecking every habitat in the place as they consume the mountainsides. Then blaming 'hunting' for the wildlife issues they face. Bears in their trash, lyme disease and raccoons eating their Audi's.

They should stay in their urban hovels... instead of ruining rural America.

Sirhr

guineafowl. they’ll clean those ticks right out.