hector,i agree deer are smart! they do know were to bed in safty. if you set up close by bingo!buy the way so are the coyotes. and if your luck is down this season the coyotes have all year to hunt.my opion is deer herd pressure is on they are getting pushed from so many more things than 30 yrs.ago.there has been alot of development but i think the main reasons revolve around the coyotes. i have been hunting same land/area for all these yrs.in albany co.i am still getting quality deer most years. 2003 was hard on them seems there coming back. to bad so many coyotes, they are not far from the deer.i also believe deer funnel more do to coyotes .untill rut

hector i agree with you from my stand i watch deer across the ridge where i dont have permission these guys hunt the same way every time drive up the hedge row to the top of the hill around 7:30 every day while the deer just watch them then they funnel down the hill and lay right behind the house all day they dont play the wind at all the same pattern all the time the deer are patterning half the hunters that i see around and when they do see deer it sound like the fourth of july!!!!opening day 19 shots 1 wounded deer it just happend to be a monster 10 that i had 25 yards faceing me one day during bow that just presented no shot so i didnt shoot

I love my trail cams.I have no problem seeing deer but I have had to change the way I hunt and spots I hunt since I started hunting over 20 years ago.I see more deer from my stands that closer to houses and roads then in the middle of the woods.I killed a 13 pointer this year, in a small patch of woods that the edge of the woods is with in 100 yards of my sisters house.I also watch a very nice 8 point Thanksgiving morning, lay 20 yards off Route 414 (which is a main state highway) and with in 20 yards on my neighbors house.And he stayed there all day.This deer was less then 60 yards from my front door.The deer have changed but alot of the hunters have not adjusted to the deer changing.Also more deer only move at night.I planted a test food plot 5 years ago behind my house (the plot was within 100 yards of the main highway),with a cottage road going down to Seneca Lake. I had deer in that plot at all time of the day.I drove down to the plot one morning before I went to my tree stand and there was 40 plus deer in this little plot 30 yards wide bye 75 yards long.It looked like the field was mowed.Deeer have found safe havens and that is where they spend most of there time.

Thanks for the input, I do not believe it's hunter factor other than the deer being killed. It's a small area (roughly 20 miles) and like most areas, it is posted by many different hunters and landowners and i have to assume they dont all hunt the same way yet still, in all the fields in my area, u never see more than a handfull of deer and when i travel to the areas outside my hunting area, i consistantly see many more deer. I am lucky to hunt many of the properties in this area so i have a firsthand knowledge that the numbers are not there. I am not the greatest hunter in the world but i regularly take mature animals during the season so it's not like i'm oblivios to some obvios reason, I have to assume that the deer take in the area is just higher than the areas around me. Alot of what you said could be a factor in many small ways but the deer just arent there. I have 2 trail cams and dont seem to have alot of success with those either. They are well hidden and in higher travel areas, one is an exspensive camera, the other not so much but i should still be getting some decent pics if the deer wer there?????????

Ken,

It can be many factors, and not enough information to make an accurate assumption. It could include:

1) Hunting pressure has caused the deer in your area to go nocturnal.

2) Hunters in your area are predictable, and the deer have learned their pattern, therefore are avoiding those areas.

3) The deer could be in pockets because they discovered a sanctuary in the area that provides them better hiding opportunities.

4) Timing could be a factor. How many times can you drive by a field and see one deer, yet 20 minutes later you now have 30 in the field.

The deer may still be there, just have become more aware of both hunting and viewing pressure by people. Try trail cameras to get a better scenario.

I had an average year as far as filling tags but in the last few years, i have noticed that when i drive 1/2 hour or more away from my area, i see MANY more deer in the fields and crossing roads. It is all rural, no real differences in the land or food for the deer so could it be that the hunters in my area are taking too many deer? A corn field in my area holds around 3-5 deer when you drive by (on average) Several fields less than an hour from my house were holding 25-40 deer the same day. If somebody reads this and has a possible reason for this please let me know. Ten years ago, these same fields held hundreds of deer and i am NOT stretching the truth so I know what the area is capable of, why are the #s so low in my area?????