Why Different Archery Openers?

ccm75

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I live very near, like my backyard, to a WMA in Zone 9.
For years I have had cameras out and I know of several really nice bucks, one I've been seeing for 3 years.

The bow opener here is 10/19, two days after the start of pheasant season (stocked WMA) on 10/17....

So this makes it hard to sit out for these nice deer with the orange army roaming the fields and woods with dogs....(And I certainly shoot my share of pheasants in there.)
The deer go nocturnal or move out entirely. I moved a stand deep into the perimeter hoping I can find where they hang when the bird hunters move in.

So why does bow open in Zones 10-14 on 10/5?

Is it based only on population density and desired deer kill numbers......?
 
I live very near, like my backyard, to a WMA in Zone 9.
For years I have had cameras out and I know of several really nice bucks, one I've been seeing for 3 years.

The bow opener here is 10/19, two days after the start of pheasant season (stocked WMA) on 10/17....

So this makes it hard to sit out for these nice deer with the orange army roaming the fields and woods with dogs....(And I certainly shoot my share of pheasants in there.)
The deer go nocturnal or move out entirely. I moved a stand deep into the perimeter hoping I can find where they hang when the bird hunters move in.

So why does bow open in Zones 10-14 on 10/5?

Is it based only on population density and desired deer kill numbers......?
Because the management plan for 10 to 14 calls for reducing the deer population so they let the bow hunters have a little longer in those zones. That's it.

Edit....fyi......the extra days in zones 10 to 14 started recently.....I think last year was the first extended archery season for those zones.
 
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Deer don't go entirely nocturnal. That's a fallacy perpetuated by people who are less than stellar hunters. They move. They might not move far, they might not move often, but they move in daylight or no one would kill anything after opening day.

Pressure might move them to a different location. Pressure might change their movement patterns. Pressure might make them more cautious. Pressure might move them to the other side of the forest. But they still move.
 
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Figured. I'd love to get in there for 10 days before pheasant season........!
Just don't be like the buffoon I read about on the mass hunting FB page a couple of years ago and set up your tree stand in a tree on the edge of a stocked pheasant field and yell at the orange hat army for "ruining your spot" when they show up to shoot stocked birds. 🤣
 
That's awesome... Rule #1. Know your area...
Non only "know your area" but don't sit in a tree in full camo in direct line of fire from shotguns when a bird flushes. The guy was literally 20 feet up a tree right on the edge of the stocked field in full camouflage 🤣 perfect angle to get peppered with bird shot.
 
That's a special kind of stupid.

There's a stocked WMA I frequented where I spotted a bunch of those scent things strung up, and... a treestand setup within a small island of trees right in the middle of the stocked field. It was unoccupied at the time. There is a bunch of deer sign in that area though.

I was walking my dogs out of that same WMA one time and had to cross through a guy's turkey decoy setup, to exit the area - he had a few decoys spread across the entrance to the area, and there was no way to avoid it.
 
There's a stocked WMA I frequented where I spotted a bunch of those scent things strung up, and... a treestand setup within a small island of trees right in the middle of the stocked field. It was unoccupied at the time. There is a bunch of deer sign in that area though.

I was walking my dogs out of that same WMA one time and had to cross through a guy's turkey decoy setup, to exit the area - he had a few decoys spread across the entrance to the area, and there was no way to avoid it.
Was it still pheasant season when you saw the scent items hanging? I've got deer on wma land that are stocked with pheasant but during muzzlenloader season we'll after the orange hats and dogs are gone.
 
Was it still pheasant season when you saw the scent items hanging? I've got deer on wma land that are stocked with pheasant but during muzzlenloader season we'll after the orange hats and dogs are gone.

Yep. There usually is a nice run going through the place, with a few rubs. Of the years I've been going, I've spotted a buck there maybe once. The pups are retired now but no way am I hanging out in a tree there during bird season.
 
Deer don't go entirely nocturnal. That's a fallacy perpetuated by people who are less than stellar hunters. They move. They might not move far, they might not move often, but they move in daylight or no one would kill anything after opening day.

Pressure might move them to a different location. Pressure might change their movement patterns. Pressure might make them more cautious. Pressure might move them to the other side of the forest. But they still move.

They could be really nocturnal and pressure may put them right under your stand in daylight if you picked the right spot. Lot of opening day gun kills happen this way for people that don't even scout. Its called being lucky. Or for people that do scout a lot its called good planning.

While I mostly agree, deer can be entirely nocturnal on YOUR hunting property because they've been pressured or educated, or just plain don't feel safe in daylight there because of the topography, food, cover or whatever. That's why its important to scout and find spots deer are comfortable in daylight. This is probably the hardest and most frustrating part of hunting for people in small woodlots in the northeast. As you can't just go hunt a better property if its posted or you can't get permission, or its too close to houses, etc.

However, during the rut, this all can go very asunder and you may see bucks in midday in places you'd never think of seeing them, because they are just covering ground.
Ive sat knowingly shitty spots during the rut, knowing closer parcels that I didnt have access to held some decent deer, hoping that bucks would be on the move just passing thru. And in small covers, its worked out pretty well over the years, some calling and rattling thrown in.
 
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Non only "know your area" but don't sit in a tree in full camo in direct line of fire from shotguns when a bird flushes. The guy was literally 20 feet up a tree right on the edge of the stocked field in full camouflage 🤣 perfect angle to get peppered with bird shot.

lol he should have been wearing an orange hat!
 
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