Hunting pressure vs Regular human activity

Hey quick question yall, I have been hunting the same stand since opening morning on a small piece of land(10 acres). I saw a group of does that morning but nothing else since then. I have hunted nearly every day since. The land owners are building a house relatively close to my stand and say they see deer everyday even while saws and drills are going. these deer also see them and their fine with it. So my question is since these deer are so use to humans do I have a better chance at not pressuring them? Can i keep hunting this stand morning and evening? Or should I just give my stand a break? The deer activity has slowed for sure.

Deer will be tame around the house (where they see people all the time) and skittish in the woods. Even just a little ways away. So, yeah, I think you could be pressuring the deer even when they're used to the home builders nearby.

I would NEVER hunt the same stand that frequently. The deer are patterning you, not the other way around.

Your question points to one of the most debated issues within the deer hunting community.

My own observations agree with those outlined in the study you will find at the link below. Still, there will always be those who scoff at such findings and claim they see deer every time they sit in their stand, even when they park their ATV right next to it. My own observations have ALWAYS shown that deer learn fast once the season starts and quickly change their travel and feeding patterns. However, that can mean just changing your own hunting patterns by hunting later in the morning or earlier in the evening. Hunting in the middle of the week when you can works even better.

Last season I filled my wide-rack tag on a late December weekday on a buck that was slow trailing two doe around 10:30am. I decided to stay late that morning because it was a weekday when there was no work to be done back at our camp. I saw more deer that morning between 10am and 10:30 than I had seen all season.

What the research suggests about hunter pressure on deer

Thanks guys, and awesome article Dan. Im going to leave it all alone for a week or so.

Sounds like you might be getting busted coming in. Maybe hunt the evening and get there a little earlier

have had deer close while on tractor, different story when hunting season starts

I've had deer watch me on tractor for extended periods without a care. But stop the tractor and stand up - gone!

when they notice other deer start disappearing, and they hear shots, along with human scent....those same deer will start to get a little wiser. Early season and late season are a different game on most places.

Agree with Texas Dan, I've experienced sometimes they develop a sixth sense to your presence. The old saying of waiting til the wind is right to hunt a stand and the very FIRST sit in any stand is usually your highest chance of filling a tag has been pretty on point for me.
Now in the real world with busy work, family and just plain ole life many of us such as myself have to hunt when schedule allows us too. Not always coinciding with the weather. The only time I try to hunt the same stand multiple days in a row is the rut when deer are covering more real estate. Try giving it a rest and see how the next sit goes.
This early the deer are still in thier summer patterns, you may not flat be in a target bucks travel range at the moment.
Best of luck

Even if you have a timed feeder set up, I would go in there every day and just throw corn on the ground and then leave, and don't hunt the blind for about a week.
They will get used to the daily handout scattered about, and keep your scent around, maybe hang an old sweaty T shirt at the blind, because deer are creatures of habit as well.

Totally depends on your setup too. If you're rifle hunting a 100 acre clearing and your feeder is 150 yds away, you can get away with more. In your situation, you're doing the right thing by laying off

Really good article Dan, thanks for sharing.

This rough map shows one of my setups. deer and hogs have gotten used to the traffic as long as you are in the camp areas. The red x is the stand and the yellow with black squares is the feeder. green is narrow strips of trees. What I've noticed is that the minute you drive passed the camp site your hunt is over. Does and pigs don't care but the bucks will be no shows. Beyond the feeder are very deep gullies that the deer use to move from one area to another. We go in park and stay within the camp area no problem you can even stay up late around the campfire and hear the hogs at the feeder while music is playing. I have a hog light under the feeder that you can just creep up to the stand and look down to see if its on. We've seen deer and hogs while others are at te camp laughing and talking. Trick is not to educate them to your hunting activity. My son is the only one to shoot a deer at the feeder. I bow hunt them from the area and many times i see them walk by and look through though trees watching the camp
then they trot passed the openings stop and walk again.

IMHO, mature bucks are wise enough to recognize man-made structures and will alter their travel routes just enough to avoid being seen. If you relocate a stand just a 100 yards or so, you might find yourself being run over by a buck that you have never seen before.

It's something I learned many years ago when hunting a small tract in Mississippi with my in-laws. I knew the tract quite well, having hunted it while living in the state. I decided to throw up a three-piece ladder stand in an area that was between two existing box stands and along a route between a food plot and bedding area. I put the stand up that afternoon and about an hour later I heard a twig snap to my right. I turned and saw the biggest buck I had ever seen on the tract standing dead in his tracks with only his neck and head extending beyond a tree. I could tell he suspected something wasn't right. I was able to raise my rifle and take him with a single neck shot at less than 15 yards.

There's no question in my mind the buck had learned to navigate that small tract without being seen by hunters. My wife's uncle was hunting the nearby food plot and said the buck never showed up there. In fact, he claimed to have never seen the deer or knew any family who had seen him.

It has been my experience that hunting in Sam Houston, I've NEVER seen deer in the same place twice. I learned long ago that scouting is a complete waste of time. Once you go in and leave your scent, it's OVER for that area. I have had my very best luck, and seen the most deer, just literally picking a new spot, walking in, getting in my tree climber, and then waiting.. Going back time and again to places I've seen deer in the past has never once allowed me to see a deer in those areas again. I think the deer on public land don't just adjust their travel routes after encountering people, they permanently change their travel routes until something else causes them to adjust those routes again. I've gone in before season and found major game trails that were extremely well worn with tracks that were just a few hours old. I've then gone back a week or so later and that same trail now has ZERO new tracks, and ZERO sign of anything having walked down it since I was last there. Not kidding. What I take from this is that if you leave your scent behind-and there is no way that you cannot leave it behind-you have ruined that area. For how long...? I've gone back YEARS later to places I have notes on and found NO SIGNS of any kind of the deer having been back. Private land with feeders may be different, but public land is a whole different ball game.

Maybe the lesson here for me is that I can intentionally go in and ruin specific areas if I can figure out where the deer will alternate to once I've driven them off their normal travel routes. Once I've destroyed their usual hang outs, I have ONE shot only to get into a new area and intercept them there. I think Sam would be an awesome place to do deer drives in. I know many bedding sites for deer but can never quite put myself in the correct locations to intercept them when they are coming, or going.

In conclusion, when it comes to hunting pressure, I think older bucks are probably the most sensitive to it. They only get old by being smart enough to avoid being killed.

Texas Dan, I have killed quite a few ood bucks hunting between Stand locations in Mississippi and Texas. I agree those big old bucks pattern us way better than we do them and learn to avoid where we normally are.

My experience continues to be just the opposite. Deer have natural travel routes that have been used for generations, so long as terrain features remain basically the same. For example, bucks tend to be lazy and will use saddles when crossing over hills. And it's common to see worn out places in road and creek banks where deer have been crossing them for decades.

But I do agree completely that the best time to hunt a stand is the first time you get into it. You're putting yourself in a spot where deer have never encountered a human before. Combine this with being on the lookout for new stand sites on travel routes and you're truly hunting them the old fashioned way, without the food plots and feeders.

Now that is a fine drawing. Did Frankie MacDonald (the weather guy) help you with this?

I did that because I like to make sure everyone can understand ( note: rough map). There are always those who don't get it and have to poke fun at the Frankies of the world instead of just appreciating what they have to offer. I had to look Frankie up by the way. I wonder if he ever had any negative thoughts about anything. Reminds me of a friends autistic son. He would pull the antenna back on my truck and count how many times it went to and fro then tell you the number when it stopped. Could tell you how many times the fan blade turned or a hummingbird flapped his wings too. Amazing with numbers but wasn't very social with people. He could read them like a book and wouldn't get close to you if he thought you were an Azz.

That's a good idea

I have been hunting for 50 years. I agree this is perfect and what I do. I also feed year around ...with all this you can pick your buck. However...you will notice bucks will leave and quit eating the corn ...then you should start using "Tinks 69"...to apply this ..the way I do it...around your feeder apply a single drop on shrub leaves about head high every 20 feet in a circle 150 feet in diameter...circle around your feeder. Use the scent every time you have a rut action...generally every 30 days.
This I am certain will work with a lot of blind time and patience. You are introducing yourself to the area and all the wildlife. Deer come running when I drive to my blind. Not right away..works best when the deer are hungry ..usually during dry times. With a lot to eat like acorns ..the deer are totally wild but still continue as normal. If this doesn't work...punt.
Actually..I have more tricks in my bag.

It will be hard to hunt in too many different places on 10 acres. Be sure to get in the stand or hunt area before daylight and of course pay attention to the wind. Don't drive a vehicle any closer than necessary.

I think the biggest thing you are up against right now is a full moon that is up all night. You may need to re-adjust your setup for the wind but if the carpenters are seeing the deer every day they have not vacated your 10 acres. Ask them where and when they are seeing the deer and adjust to intercept them. Play the wind...