Bowhunting Suburban Whitetails

Fixxah

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I just got back from one of my Cuddyback cameras and was quite surprised to see the homeowner on his quad in front of lens. I had seen his wife and son on there as well. But what I was psyched about were the deer pics. This customer had given me permission to play on 11 acres in a very high end residential neighborhood where they see deer and turkey on a regular basis. I have deer and racoons at the feed pile as well as coyotes. I had seen lots of sign driving down the road on the way to his house, the trees all along both sides of street were thrashed pretty badly and those homeowners have tried to prevent their landscape from being rubbed to their demise. This past bow season was extremely warm and I would dress at home and drive to my stand with A/C on to keep cool. AS soon as I pareked and grabbed my gear, I almost tripped over three deer that were right next to me. They flagged me goodbye. My cover was blown and I ended the days hunt before it really started. A few days later, I returned and tried to get further downwind, but tyhey were bedded under neighbors swing set. After not getting a shot through heavy cover and watching the deer for what seemed like an eternity, I decided to put a camera in a strategic location for this years scouting. I dumped supplemental foods to get an idea of animals size and group make up. My last trip three months ago, I left more food and minerals and did not return until this morning. The dominant buck's core area is in this small patch of suburbia. What a treat to have beautiful pics and video of this gorgeous buck. His rack has grown at an alarming rate, and he already sports a nice 8 point rack that looks like it will grow at least two more. Spread is well past his ears. If I never get a shot at him I will always have these pics, and hopefully the mineral block that I left today will be visited by him as he sheds in late summer.
 
Its amazing you have huntable area where you are at. I hope you score a nice one. Do they allow you to take more than one per person per season there? I know in Minnesota there are some surburban areas where they allow hunters to take multiple deer.
 
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One other thing, homeowner has a Desert Eagle and as soon as he gets LTC he will be asked to go GREEN.
 
Check out this guy

Here is a pic of one of the bucks I hope to get a shot at this season. He's coming back from "swing set" area. Just thought I'd share. John
 
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John,

Best to you this season, he sure is a beauty.

I noticed last fall when we bought this house that there are a lot of deer that are around my house. The people we bought the house from said because of the apple trees that are in the back yard, "you will see them all the time" Too bad there is roads and houses too close to hunt these. Oh well, they are welcome here anytime, my kids love seeing them so close to the bedroom windows.
 
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The hard thing about bow hunting in suburbia is that you still have to be 500' from an occupied dwelling unless you have the permission of the owner. Even on an 11 acre property, you may find that you are within 500' of several houses.

It would be perfectly safe for me to hunt deer from a treestand in my backyard. But I would need permission from at least 10 households to do so. Not gonna happen.
 
I use rangefinder to figure out which homeowner I need to try for permission from. The property I hunt backs up to a town forest, so I try to stay near the edge as it is where they like to slide along walls etc. This land can only be hunted with winds from NE and that usually means trouble for hunting as they usually stay bedded next to houses. Houses are few and very far between. I hope to share more pics as summer and fall progress. I don't even care if I get a shot at him, pic is all I need when it gets right down to it. John
 
He sure is a beauty, I hope you get a chance at him. I have a few customers in Stow, and deer are all over the place. I have permission , but other houses are just to close.
 
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