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EXTREMELY Frustrated

AlexDad

AlexDad

Well-Known Member
TNDeer Supporter
Joined
Mar 26, 2007
Messages
950
Location
Lebanon, TN
I was averaging 200 pics/day of deer before hurricane Helene, since I average 7-10 pics/week. Typically the vast majority of my deer come before time change and maybe a straggler here or there before Thanksgiving. I only bowhunt and if I've ever shot a deer after Thanksgiving, I don't remember it. This year ZERO deer so far and I try to get about 10 doe/year.

This year I can't even enter my property without spooking every doe around. Also, I think they know me or something. I've got 14 cell cams on 101 acres and I've studied the pics at the time I enter or leave the property and it is very evident they move when I pull in, pretty deep into the property. When I leave, I can see them moving back in.

I gave my property a 3 week break and went in yesterday at 1:00PM to set up where I'd seen they are congregating around 4PM. Obviously it gets dark 4:30ish so it leaves very little window to shoot. I sit there 3-4 hrs only 4' from the cam all those pics were on. That cam catches me leaving at 4:51PM and at 5:14PM nine doe come in and start eating acorns.

I am so frustrated I'm about ready to ditch traditional hunting and running thru the woods with a knife and judy chopping one with my bare hands.

I have no option to enter the property any other way. I own about a truck width swath for about 100 yds to get onto the property. That's all the road frontage I have and entering thru a neighbor's property is a no go.
 
Thats tough. Strange how it changed so much after that storm! Assuming you are driving in down that narrow swath, could you park at the road and walk in quieter? May already be doing that... once rutting gets heavy, maybe they will move better and more carelessly for you.
 
AlexDad said:
I was averaging 200 pics/day of deer before hurricane Helene, since I average 7-10 pics/week. Typically the vast majority of my deer come before time change and maybe a straggler here or there before Thanksgiving. I only bowhunt and if I've ever shot a deer after Thanksgiving, I don't remember it. This year ZERO deer so far and I try to get about 10 doe/year.

This year I can't even enter my property without spooking every doe around. Also, I think they know me or something. I've got 14 cell cams on 101 acres and I've studied the pics at the time I enter or leave the property and it is very evident they move when I pull in, pretty deep into the property. When I leave, I can see them moving back in.

I gave my property a 3 week break and went in yesterday at 1:00PM to set up where I'd seen they are congregating around 4PM. Obviously it gets dark 4:30ish so it leaves very little window to shoot. I sit there 3-4 hrs only 4' from the cam all those pics were on. That cam catches me leaving at 4:51PM and at 5:14PM nine doe come in and start eating acorns.

I am so frustrated I'm about ready to ditch traditional hunting and running thru the woods with a knife and judy chopping one with my bare hands.

I have no option to enter the property any other way. I own about a truck width swath for about 100 yds to get onto the property. That's all the road frontage I have and entering thru a neighbor's property is a no go.
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Not sure of your layout but I have one of the most difficult entry situations I have ever dealt with. I am bordered on all sides by private prop I cannot use to access my lease. At the entry is one of the bedding areas for does depending on the wind. I have one main logging road that I can take but when it's quiet, sounds like I'm walking on bubble wrap..lol... After last year I decided that depending on the wind (which stand I will hunt) I was not going to try to be silent for 500 yds. I walk as quietly as I can through the front to get to the back of the property. If I am hunting the back part of the property, I will get quiet when I get into the woods to the stands. Otherwise I walk on the logging road as quietly as I can. I have a plan for 3 creek/ditch access paths after this season. Once that is done, I can reasonably avoid everywhere they should be when I walk in. As for cams, move them often. I set up cams for inventory and not hunting so YMMV. I set mine up in Jan on the worn trails from the fall to see as much as I can. Turkey season I move them to the areas I think might be holding deer when the green up happens and my mineral sites. July I set up on the "fall" spots, ignoring the summer pattern areas. I plow and plant after the velvet season and move the cams again to rut areas. I don't enter the property from Aug1 till after velvet. Then after plow and plant, no more entry except to hunt. I only change cam locations or check cards/batteries when I am hunting near the cams. I still have 6 non cell I have to change often. Don't change the way you hunt this season. Just plan with the wind. This winter after season, chainsaw and weedeater to cut paths and utilize creeks and ditches if available. Good luck!
 
themanpcl said:
Not sure of your layout but I have one of the most difficult entry situations I have ever dealt with. I am bordered on all sides by private prop I cannot use to access my lease. At the entry is one of the bedding areas for does depending on the wind. I have one main logging road that I can take but when it's quiet, sounds like I'm walking on bubble wrap..lol... After last year I decided that depending on the wind (which stand I will hunt) I was not going to try to be silent for 500 yds. I walk as quietly as I can through the front to get to the back of the property. If I am hunting the back part of the property, I will get quiet when I get into the woods to the stands. Otherwise I walk on the logging road as quietly as I can. I have a plan for 3 creek/ditch access paths after this season. Once that is done, I can reasonably avoid everywhere they should be when I walk in. As for cams, move them often. I set up cams for inventory and not hunting so YMMV. I set mine up in Jan on the worn trails from the fall to see as much as I can. Turkey season I move them to the areas I think might be holding deer when the green up happens and my mineral sites. July I set up on the "fall" spots, ignoring the summer pattern areas. I plow and plant after the velvet season and move the cams again to rut areas. I don't enter the property from Aug1 till after velvet. Then after plow and plant, no more entry except to hunt. I only change cam locations or check cards/batteries when I am hunting near the cams. I still have 6 non cell I have to change often. Don't change the way you hunt this season. Just plan with the wind. This winter after season, chainsaw and weedeater to cut paths and utilize creeks and ditches if available. Good luck!
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This is pretty much what I'm dealing with. When I pull into my driveway there is a fence on each side of me and a gate I have to open. On the other side of the fence to my left is someone's front lawn and they bed there. Never have in years past and that has made morning hunting useless. I can't leave my vehicle there with the gate closed because I'd be hanging out in the road. I also rent the little house on the property to an older couple and if I leave my Jeep there, they can't get in and out.

I bought 50 acres in the middle of what was about 1000 acres of family property, then bought 51 acres next door. So all around me are family members who used to have free reign of my property and no longer do and working something out with them entering thru their property isn't gonna happen.

That little house on the left where they bed is for sale and would give me more road frontage and about 15 more acres. The older lady that lives there is part of that family and she approached me about a month ago and told me how much she wanted for it. Her house is also much closer to the road than the house on my property and no gate. So I'd have a better place to park. I told her I was good with that price and she could come to my office and we would close, just call me and gave her my number. Less than a week later there was a for sale sign in the lawn and the price went up about $12k.

I called the listing agent and offered what the lady told me she wanted and got turned down. I added $5k and got turned down again. It's not worth another $7k to me.

To put it in perspective I bought the original 50 acres in 2019 and last year was what I would consider a bad year and only took 7 doe.

I've thought about getting dropped off but if I want to hunt all day I will and if I want to leave after 30 minutes I will and I don't want to depend on someone else every time I hunt or be without my ATV if I shoot one. In the offseason I may build a little structure to keep my ATV in so I don't have to haul it back and forth. It was logged in the past and greenbelted so getting electricity back there for a battery tender might be expensive.
 
AlexDad said:
This is pretty much what I'm dealing with. When I pull into my driveway there is a fence on each side of me and a gate I have to open. On the other side of the fence to my left is someone's front lawn and they bed there. Never have in years past and that has made morning hunting useless. I can't leave my vehicle there with the gate closed because I'd be hanging out in the road. I also rent the little house on the property to an older couple and if I leave my Jeep there, they can't get in and out.

I bought 50 acres in the middle of what was about 1000 acres of family property, then bought 51 acres next door. So all around me are family members who used to have free reign of my property and no longer do and working something out with them entering thru their property isn't gonna happen.

That little house on the left where they bed is for sale and would give me more road frontage and about 15 more acres. The older lady that lives there is part of that family and she approached me about a month ago and told me how much she wanted for it. Her house is also much closer to the road than the house on my property and no gate. So I'd have a better place to park. I told her I was good with that price and she could come to my office and we would close, just call me and gave her my number. Less than a week later there was a for sale sign in the lawn and the price went up about $12k.

I called the listing agent and offered what the lady told me she wanted and got turned down. I added $5k and got turned down again. It's not worth another $7k to me.

To put it in perspective I bought the original 50 acres in 2019 and last year was what I would consider a bad year and only took 7 doe.

I've thought about getting dropped off but if I want to hunt all day I will and if I want to leave after 30 minutes I will and I don't want to depend on someone else every time I hunt or be without my ATV if I shoot one. In the offseason I may build a little structure to keep my ATV in so I don't have to haul it back and forth. It was logged in the past and greenbelted so getting electricity back there for a battery tender might be expensive.
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Ahhh, so if it were me, I would make sure that the property you have is where the deer want to be (bedding sanctuary) and I would make the property lines my entry and exit routes as much as possible. Goal would be to have the deer more in the areas of your property away from the property lines. Messing up their hunting (since they have been dicks about things thus far) is just a bonus. 🤣
 
AlexDad said:
This is pretty much what I'm dealing with. When I pull into my driveway there is a fence on each side of me and a gate I have to open. On the other side of the fence to my left is someone's front lawn and they bed there. Never have in years past and that has made morning hunting useless. I can't leave my vehicle there with the gate closed because I'd be hanging out in the road. I also rent the little house on the property to an older couple and if I leave my Jeep there, they can't get in and out.

I bought 50 acres in the middle of what was about 1000 acres of family property, then bought 51 acres next door. So all around me are family members who used to have free reign of my property and no longer do and working something out with them entering thru their property isn't gonna happen.

That little house on the left where they bed is for sale and would give me more road frontage and about 15 more acres. The older lady that lives there is part of that family and she approached me about a month ago and told me how much she wanted for it. Her house is also much closer to the road than the house on my property and no gate. So I'd have a better place to park. I told her I was good with that price and she could come to my office and we would close, just call me and gave her my number. Less than a week later there was a for sale sign in the lawn and the price went up about $12k.

I called the listing agent and offered what the lady told me she wanted and got turned down. I added $5k and got turned down again. It's not worth another $7k to me.

To put it in perspective I bought the original 50 acres in 2019 and last year was what I would consider a bad year and only took 7 doe.

I've thought about getting dropped off but if I want to hunt all day I will and if I want to leave after 30 minutes I will and I don't want to depend on someone else every time I hunt or be without my ATV if I shoot one. In the offseason I may build a little structure to keep my ATV in so I don't have to haul it back and forth. It was logged in the past and greenbelted so getting electricity back there for a battery tender might be expensive.
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Spend the night, that is how I did it for a long time.
 
jc0313 said:
Can you get someone to drop you off?
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Words I learned from an article in a 1990's North American Whitetail magazine (before we had phones in the stands and were forced to thumb through articles and photos to motivate the all day sit). "Deer can't count!" If you are hunting in with a buddy, walk him (or in this case drive him then walk him) to his stand. Many times deer will check out an area minutes after a person leaves, purely out of curiosity. Deer will watch you enter and wait for you to leave then go check it out. Deer can't count, means was that one person or two? I don't know....something came in and something just left.
 
I'm not saying this to an azz but it sounds like you're $7K from having access and more acreage. You spoke of it being expensive to get power back there and that same $7K probably wouldn't accomplish that. I'd buy the old lady's place and never look back. You have to put a price on peace of mind and I believe the figures are in front of you.
 
Wiley said:
I'm not saying this to an azz but it sounds like you're $7K from having access and more acreage. You spoke of it being expensive to get power back there and that same $7K probably wouldn't accomplish that. I'd buy the old lady's place and never look back. You have to put a price on peace of mind and I believe the figures are in front of you.
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I would've probably broke down and paid the extra $7k and still might make the offer.

Obviously I don't know if it's her realtor in her ear turning down what she originally quoted me and the offer with an extra $5k - OR - what I kinda think is the rest of her family got involved and said don't sell to me.

That original family is SCUM and poachers. They had a homemade shoothouse built in the back and shot deer over bait year 'round and bragged about it. I can't tell you how many 5 gal buckets I took down nailed to trees.

When I first bought it they wanted to continue hunting it and I politely said no. Well my cams showed they ignored that. Then they offered to hunt off season so we didn't hunt at the same time. Obviously I said no to that. So off season I got them on cam pouring corn and carrying rifles. I reported them and I no longer get a Christmas card from them.

Thru 9/27/24 according to the pics I got on multiple cams - based off the time stamp and the distance between cams - I estimated anywhere from 60-80 doe on the property and about 10 bucks. Four of the bucks were trophy shooters and one was a monster. I even posted a pic of the monster on this forum and since I don't shoot bucks I offered him to Gravey.

Since the storm I only get a pic of two bucks, one is a 2 pt spike and the other is the same except one spike barely has a split. My 60-80 doe are less than 20 and four of them are fawns dropped this year. So either the hurricane did something or it was a coincidence and they started feeding them luring them off my property.

After deleting all the duplicates, if I run a report off my cams from 8/27/24 to 9/27/24 I have 6424 pics and most are of 6-7 deer at a time. From 9/28/24 to 10/27/24 I only have 354 pics and they're mostly 1-2AM. 9/27/24 was the Friday before season opener and out of 14 cams I didn't get a single pic again until 10/11/24.
 
I had a place like that, 1 way in 1 way out. Youre gonna have to be quiet to silent and only go on the days the wind is right. Maybe have a trail around the very edge all around and sneak in when the wind is in your favor, which ever side that is on the given day?
 
I'm going to take the opposite approach to everyone else...

Drive all over your place all the time... get the deer used to the vehicle intrusion year round, so they don't go on alert during hunting season. My deer show zero fear to the sxs or vehicles. But they are on the property year round farming, checking cows, hunting, running fences, etc.
 
I can't help but believe you could make another entry even if it required alot of tree trimming to kept your entry quite as possible . You may have to make your entry alot earlier so they can calm down after you spook them . Just can't visualize your dilemma in my mind .
 
How long has it been on the market? Call the realtor again and kindly subit the same offer with $5k addred to original agreed amt. If they are serious and the realtor is any good, surely they would counter. Keep it kind. Let the realtor know you thought you had a deal prior, and your just trying to follow through and keep the lady happy. Id keep trying. Sounds like it would fix a few of your issues.
 

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