Talk abotu discouraging

[BowGuy84]

So when do y'all start to pressure your top spots?

Opening morning of MZ season.

Same as me. I would go in there with a bow, but most of those spots are too thick to shoot a bow, for me. Plus, they arent bow stands, meaning they dont have the branches cleared away with shooting holes, room to pull the string back, etc.... They are specifically designed to sit there with a gun, point, and shoot. I like putting these stands in White Oaks since alot of them hold their leaves after the others fall. Several of my stands, I can do jumping jacks and you wouldnt ever see me. If you weigh going into a spot with the ideal weapon at the right time (rut) vs going in there with a limited weapon (even though they may be on a pattern) and take a chance spooking deer....its a no brainer to me

I agree in TN with y'all season, but in KY, gun opens the 12th of Nov. and runs for 3 weeks. Our MZL is done until mid Dec.

After gun opens pressure is super intense, and thus you gotta get it done before gun or the first week. My land is decent the second weekend, but after that it's basically over.

I've said it before, pressure in KY is very different than pressure in TN. At least the areas I have hunted.

 

[TheLBLman]

So when do y'all start to pressure your top spots?

Never.

At least my intention is for the deer to never realize they're being hunted.

I do bow hunt, and am hunting some of my top spots during the next few days. The conditions are spectacularly good for remainder of this week, the only draw-back is my being limited to a less effective weapon than will be carrying in a couple weeks. The weather, weapon in hand, available food sources, and stage of rut dictate just which spots I'll hunt.

 

[BowGuy84]

So when do y'all start to pressure your top spots?

Never.

At least my intention is for the deer to never realize they're being hunted.

I do bow hunt, and am hunting some of my top spots during the next few days. The conditions are spectacularly good for remainder of this week, the only draw-back is my being limited to a less effective weapon than will be carrying in a couple weeks. The weather, weapon in hand, available food sources, and stage of rut dictate just which spots I'll hunt.

I get it. I do all I can with scent, sound and enter/exit times to not alert deer. Will you hunt all day yet? I'm thinking about it with as nice as the temps will be. If not I'll only come out for an hour or so.

 

[muddyboots]

You may find that by NOT bowhunting an area, you actually increase your opportunity to take an older buck there with a muzzleloader or rifle.

This can be more true than most hunters want to know.

Very true. One of the elder/wiser mature buck hunters in my area that has one of the best walls in town (several 130-175" mature bucks mounted) takes this approach one step further. He does not step foot on his SW TN property until rifle opens. He never hunts his property with bow or MZer, only rifle. The land is in SW TN so this approach falls inline with the pre-rut and rut for this piece of property (late Nov early Dec). Been doing it that way for past twenty years and he and his hunting partners have the results (deer mounts and kill pictures from over the years) to show their results.

I know a couple guys that do this and it pays off for them. I was fortunate enough to get to hunt one of these spots last year and it was unreal.

 

[BigSatt]

You may find that by NOT bowhunting an area, you actually increase your opportunity to take an older buck there with a muzzleloader or rifle.

This can be more true than most hunters want to know.

I am sure you both agree but I say only if you have seen them in mz/gun range during bowseason would this be accurate, if not we are only guessing, IMO.

Richman,

I'm talking about the pressure applied to an area before MZ season kicks in. Pressure is pressure, and it doesn't matter if that pressure is applied with a bow or gun. Every time you hunt an area, you're apply pressure to the area, and your chances of seeing an old buck in that location go down.

I have to agree.

I've seen it happen many times.

Earlier in my hunting career, I was on the receiving end of too much pressure, and nothing to show for my efforts........I was also the culprit.