Ground hunting frequency

[tonybow]

I know some of you may have addressed this in the past, but here goes. Say I have a 200 acre park to bowhunt, which does have plenty of non-hunting humans there for hiking, biking, jogging. I am going to hunt in a ghillie suit, mostly on the ground. With the known challenges in a property like that, how often would you hunt it, versus rest it, knowing that the deer are already well aware of daily human presence. Also, I would think it a good strategy to hunt different parts of the park each time, depending, of course , upon the wind. I've done it once(killed a deer there), and would like to have a strategy that may not all be attributed to luck, although good luck is always good to have!!

[kellory]

Life is pretty simple: You do some stuff. Most fails. Some works. You do more of what works. If it works big, others quickly copy it. Then you do something else. The trick is the doing something else.
Leonardo da Vinci

[Woods Walker]

In my experience with this type of situation, I believe that (assuming that you play the wind and try to stay as un-obvious as possible) your comings and goings to and from your stand create more of an impact than the actual time on stand. If you can have deer come by you on stand that DON'T detect you and they just walk on un-alerted, then they don't know. But the same deer will sure as heck pattern you on your way in and out, especially if you do it too frequently.

In your specific case here, you may be able to get away with a bit more because it is a public park and there's a lot of human presence, but don't forget that deer who normally don't get too upset with joggers and bike riders on established trails will DEFINATELY become suspicious if they encounter a human "where he ain't supposed to be".

Like Kell says, trial and error.

[tonybow]

Yep, I think the coming and going is the part that could, would, often will, burn me the most. I guess I have to be so careful, especially as soon as I step off the normal human trail, but also if I'm the first one in the park in the morning. I'll be paying more attention to where I'm parking in the morning too. Along with trying to be as quite as possible, I will likely change my parking spot from time to time.

[tonybow]

Also, WW, from your previous advice, should I assume it is better to leave some of the small branches/brush along my "entry/exit trail"(to the blind area) alone, rather than try to clean it up real good(in an attempt to quiet my future planned movements)? I'm just thinking that I want to cut myself a nice, quiet, trail before the hunt, but if I do that, my pre-hunt days presence may alert the deer to my potential invasion. I guess, in this situation, it's probably better for me to: leave it alone, and when I do hunt the area, move really slowly, knowing that the brush and small branches I hit WILL make a bit of noise, right?

[Woods Walker]

I'd clear it as much as you have to. It's them SEEING you go back and forth that does the damage. If having clear trails makes your travel quieter, then it more than offsets the disadvantages.

The only thing that making obvious trails will do is make other hunters aware of your set up.

[DanburyBowhunter]

What about using the normal human patterns to help cover your move in? Maybe there are 'rush hour' times in the area that you could use to go in just before or after (or even during if it is a spaced out rush hour). Just a thought.

[tonybow]

Yep, that too, Danbury. The one deer I've killed there was arrowed less than 45 minutes after I heard the last person walk by me(toward the parking lot) on the human hiking/jogging trail. I have to keep reminding myself of that whenever I see people enjoying the park as I walk in with my bow!