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Overlapping Seasons Tactics

3K views 36 replies 21 participants last post by  JJ4D 
#1 · (Edited)
Well the muzzleloader deer and bear season is upon us and for those who hunt public land with decent pressure things are about to change. No “honey hole” or “special spot” will be immune. Some areas will be spared and others will get hammered.
Before I go any further this isn’t a thread to bash those who participate in it. Nothing but respect for those who partake and I totally get why some enjoy it. Actually looking forward to see how the bear season plays out myself.
With that being said it is another added challenge to archery hunters who rely on low impact hunting and trying not to educate deer. I am actually pretty concerned what’s going to happen on the mountain I hunt when the dust settles. There is definitely potential to have the deer holed up just like rifle season. Actually thinking about not heading up there until it’s over because if there are a lot of guys I may lose my enthusiasm to hunt it. Kind of a out of site out of mind approach.
Anyhow we discuss all sorts of tactics when it comes to archery hunting but I don’t often see much discussion on how the overlapping seasons alter strategy.
Are you concerned what kind of impact the new bear season will have in your hunting area ?
What happens to your area when the muzzleloader deer season starts ? Do you make any adjustments ?
We talk about different phases of the rut and weather when it comes to deer movement but in my mind there is no greater factor than the overlapping seasons if you hunt moderately pressured public land. That’s when a huge separation between hunting lightly pressured public or private land and more moderately to high pressure public land occurs .
In regards to my tactics I am going to have to take it to another level in regards to scouting. Going to go out Sunday and plan on covering at least 6 miles looking for fresh sign and trying to find areas that I feel won’t be that attractive to bear hunters. I can’t sit back and hope that my “honey holes” will be left alone and not driven out or walked through during that week.
So what are some of your thoughts ? Am I the only one who has to adapt to the overlapping seasons and feel its a major thing to take into consideration ? How do you overcome the added challenge on public land ?
Thanks
 
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#2 ·
Its going to be interesting for sure. The antlerless season was a challenge in itself, but not too many people were poking around every laurel patch lookibg for a doe. I feel like there is going to be a lot of pressure with this bear season, im just hoping that there is enoigh time that things get somewhat back to normal by the time they start cruising.

For tomorrow I have a spot I feel like they use when they get significant pressure, but its also laurel so who knows. I'll try it and see what happens.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the response Buckshot. I would be lying if I didn’t openly admit that I am a little disappointed in the lack of interest in this thread. In my opinion I just think the overlapping seasons are a huge factor when it comes to deer behavior and play a big role in regards to tactics for public land hunters when it comes to archery hunting. Kind of amazed that a thread asking about if you wear gloves or not would receive so much more interest. Not that it isn’t a valid question and I am glad when someone is willing to start their own thread but at the same time it seems so far down the scale when you compare it to hunting pressure.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Wait and see kinda deal for me. Muzzy deer had always been pretty uneventful. If the bear hunters drive, its for sure going to take a week or two for things to get back to normal in the laurel. The guys that swear by that halloween week for rutcation stand to find things pretty screwed up. After that the rut will take over and they'll pretty quickly get back to normal. Even after rifle it only takes a week or two.
 
#7 ·
I’ll be out with my bow in the morning but where I’ll be the new bear season is a non factor. The bear numbers are so low it’d be like finding a needle in a haystack, (one will probably run by now). Hardly anyone uses a inline on the propert I hunt too. Now come Thursday may be a little different but nowhere near like rifle season.

I’m a little skeptical that most guys will treat this early bear season like the later. Not sure the big drives will be put on and such. Regardless there’s going to be a increase in woods disturbance and time will tell how much.

Looks like an east wind too.
 
#9 ·
I am excited and disappointed at the same time. To many seasons coming in all at once and it might screw up archery for a few weeks with the extra foot traffic with bear and doe muzzy and next week for seniors and youth being able to use rifles for both game animals. I love the opportunity of hunting bear early with an inline but i am not a fan that the deer will be disturbed so early in the season. See how it goes. i will be out on some oak flats where i was getting lots of bear pics before archery started. I just hope there are not gangs of guys out putting on drives . Then again it might help me if something gets pushed to me. There was a line of guys at the local sporting goods shop where i live all buying bear tags. The guy at the counter said he has never seen so many people buying bear tags like this year. This is just a little store in the country.
 
#12 ·
I went out yesterday morning and got to the place I park (not a parking lot) and there were 5 cars there and all had FO on except one guy ! I decided to just pull my cameras and head home ! I did talk to the other archery hunter and he wasn't happy with all the intrusion in the area ! Said he has been trying to pattern this buck all season and now that's all gone !
I went out last night to where I've been seeing bucks every night and there were 2 guys walking the clearcut but I didn't have enough time to go to another spot so I climbed the tree and waited. I saw a doe and fawn but none of the bucks showed up ! I also had 3 trucks drive out and turn around at the spot. I probably won't hunt until the senior/youth season is over ! I probably won't see any buck movement during daylight until the rut !
I don't know why they can't have the ML deer/bear/ youth/senior season the week between the end of archery and the week of rifle bear season !
Seems like everything comes in the best time of Archery and us dedicated to hunting mature bucks take all the big hits ! I hope people don't take this the wrong way (I know some will) But archery is meant to be a low impact season and year after year it gets something to add more pressure to the game we're chasing !
When using archery for me its about getting close and being picky as to the deer you take ! In the past couple weeks I have seen several different bucks that I could have taken with a crossbow with a scope but with a vertical bow I didn't have enough light for my pins and let them walk or they were out to far for me to take a comfortable shot with my bow but with a crossbow I could have shot any of them ! Don't take that the wrong way as I'm not talking about shooting long distances !

Don't need to hear any bashing just speaking my mind !
 
#28 ·
Seems like everything comes in the best time of Archery and us dedicated to hunting mature bucks take all the big hits ! I hope people don't take this the wrong way (I know some will) But archery is meant to be a low impact season and year after year it gets something to add more pressure to the game we're chasing !
When using archery for me its about getting close and being picky as to the deer you take ! In the past couple weeks I have seen several different bucks that I could have taken with a crossbow with a scope but with a vertical bow I didn't have enough light for my pins and let them walk or they were out to far for me to take a comfortable shot with my bow but with a crossbow I could have shot any of them ! Don't take that the wrong way as I'm not talking about shooting long distances !

Don't need to hear any bashing just speaking my mind !

Not going to bash you just because you feel like archers should have the woods to themselves during the rut.. Not an issue, that's your opinion.

Here's the flip side. I was out there in the ANF this past weekend, saw no hunters, no bow hunters, bear hunters, or squirrel hunters. Heard three distant shots all weekend, Had the area to myself. That's not unusual. I saw deer but only had two in range of my flintlock that I could kill. Both bucks. Legal 2F bucks. So I was unable to shoot. Had I been holding a crossbow instead of a flintlock I would have been able to kill a buck. To some one somewhere this makes sense. And so I must abide with it. Makes no sense to me at all. But, it is the way things are.
 
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#14 ·
One thing I will say is back in the 90’s and very early 2000’s small game was much more popular so I frequently ran into squirrel and rabbit hunters. When the popularity of small game started to decline things were quite calm out there for a while. Then they added the inline doe season and youth and senior rifle season and it started to get a little more crowded again. Crossbow inclusion even more so and now bear. Not sure there is a whole lot left to include unless they start extending seasons. It’s definitely not easy. You just got to keep grinding. Even. With the crowded game lands of the 90’s I still managed to get on deer in spite of some frustrating days here and there.
 
#15 ·
steelhead you forgot to mention all of the mountain runs that they have nowadays to ! In my area they had 2, one was the first weekend of archery and the second was the second weekend ! There would be people practicing for the run all year as long as there wasn't any snow ! I would get people on my cams almost every week ! Now they moved the one to the spring which is awesome but there is one thing I don't understand, The one guy was out cutting the the trail in with a weed eater the day before archery season started ! That kinda urks me as they trim out the trails with chainsaw weed eater and pruners for people to run on but I can't prune a small limb off to hang my bow ! Good luck the rest of the season !
 
#16 · (Edited)
Went out scouting today. My phone said I walked close to 9 miles and I am feeling it tonight. Didn’t really see too much to get excited about as far as big buck sign but I found pockets with heavy deer traffic. Figure the bucks will be putting down more sign up there starting this week. Didn’t see much evidence of other hunters at all which surprised me. Didn’t see any boot tracks, tree stands or litter the entire time I was out there. One section I was in had rocks turned over every 30 yards or so along one of the trails so it looks like a bear game through there recently. Found myself in a unique situation when I got back to my truck. Just as I was getting ready to hop over the gate a man and his wife pulled up in a all terrain vehicle. Turned out to be a game warden. I had my shotgun on me today which I am sure sent up red flags for him. Basically I decided to carry it today in case I crossed paths with a coyote and for protection because last year I got bluffed charged by a bear back there. Anyhow he asked me what I was hunting for before he mentioned he was a game warden and that’s exactly what I told him. So anyhow he and his wife proceeded to tell me I have nothing to worry about regarding Pa bears which I agree but if ones going to run up to me and stand there 30 yards away huffing I would prefer to have a gun. Showed him my license after that conversation and then we got into a discussion about rattlesnakes. Told him where all I walked today and asked him about a “restricted area” sign that was just put up recently in one particular location. It just so happens that the areas is a rattlesnake gestation area which makes sense because I ran into one there last year. Guess guys were poaching them a few years ago so they have restricted signs up now. I walked through there dozens of times over the years (before the signs) without a clue it was a rattlesnake hotbed. Anyhow they did catch the poachers. So other than the awkwardness of me walking around with camo and a shotgun on Sunday we had a nice conversation and they were really nice people. Vacation starts tomorrow so I will be hunting all day.
 
#17 ·
Steelhead, did what you said you were going to do. Put the walking shoes on and went looking
for some fresh sign. Made sure I was back in a ways to where most seniors ( I am one ) or young folk
wouldn't venture. Found a spot with fresh buck sign in an oak stand with laurel. Even found a tree in a
nice terrain funnel I'll be in opening day rifle if archery doesn't end the way I plan it to. Good luck.
 
#19 ·
I really wanted to go back to a hot spot where I saw a big one last Monday but due to the start of mzl season was unsure of pressure there so I hunted my more remote stand location all day Saturday with no deer sightings.I had hoped just like last year if there were some mzl hunters around below they might send the big boys my way.Last year was the same results.It was dead as far as mzl shots .Only heard one.
 
#20 ·
On a high pressure day (Saturdays) on public land I look for hard access, thicker cover or bedding areas I have seen deer continue to use when there are more hunters in the woods. In fact, on public land, I do this on a regular Saturday of bow season. Even though its just bow hunters, (10) guys on a Saturday compared to one or two during the week makes a big difference. However, I will say this as well, just (1) other hunter can make a difference. If that hunter is consistently hunting the same buck/deer sign as you then the pressure is pretty high on that particular location.

IMHO, public land deer are pressured ALL the time in my area and I treat it that way. I never know for sure who's poking around the area I'm hunting when I'm not there. If I do know for sure someone else is hunting a particular area (buck) I'm also after, instead of picking up stakes and moving on I try to use different tactics. If they hunt on a Saturday, I try to hunt during the week. If they hunt mornings, I try afternoons, if they hunt until 10am, I stay and hunt through lunch, If they hunt the ridge line, I hunt the side or the thicket down wind of where they hunt. These opposite tactics are the ones hunters refer to when they say "Don't let the buck know he's being hunted." He already knows he's being hunted, unless its his first rodeo, but he may not know you are hunting him at that very moment and that makes a difference.

One thing I don't believe is a buck or deer in general will completely leave the area. If its that good, has what they need, they will continue using that area. The rubs and other deer sign will confirm that for you.

So, to answer the question, yes, overlapping seasons or other highly intrusive hunting pressure will alter deer movement temporarily. Temporarily could be a day, couple days or a week if they are continually harassed. But, with the rut just getting started, one hot doe will trump whatever else is going on and its a matter of right place right time. Ever see a hot doe trailed by bucks on the first day of rifle season? It didn't matter much to the buck that the woods were crawling with hunters. Overall, I think this time of year there is minimal overall effect. I believe once rifle bear season and deer rifle pre-hunt scouting kicks in, it definitely changes where the deer hole up and when they move.
 
#21 ·
I was out with the muzzleloader on Saturday opposed to the bow in hopes
of crossing paths with a bear. I hunted a tract of state gamelands in Huntingdon county and there was very little pressure where I was. I only saw one other hunter and he was archery hunting. There were a few cars parked in various parking areas, but only a few more than what was out for the archery opener. I was very surprised by the lack of pressure given the bear & doe muzzleloader and small game openers. Maybe other local areas received more pressure than where I was, but I think it is just sign of the times with declining interest in hunting.

In areas with pressure I think the best thing to do is use it to your advantage and hunt the escape routes and thick cover. More hunters in the woods moving deer is not a bad thing if you incorporate it into your plan.
 
#22 ·
Well the inline bear and doe week is over and I must say it was a nonevent. The one SGL had a lot of trucks parked there on Saturday but that’s nothing new. Always see a lot of vehicles regardless of what’s in season. The public land on the mountain however was dead and to be honest that’s the area I was most concerned about. It definitely wasn’t like bear rifle season and I am not sure there was anyone hunting bear up there at all. I sure will try to shoot one if I get lucky enough to have on come by me. Anyhow not sure what to make of it. I am sure there were some guys out my way hunting them but I am thinking it may be hard to put a big enough of a gang together this time of year. Plus if you only have three to six guys hunting together I would imagine not many would want to go in too deep because of the drag. When you have 15 to 20 guys that’s a different story. Also think guys are probably wanting to spend their time archery hunting for a buck or are not quite up for driving this time of year. Another thought is I am not sure the week long season is enough motivation for hunters to go out and by a in-line for just one week of hunting. Who knows...... it may pick up momentum with each passing season or perhaps it will remain the same. What did some of you guys experience out there ?
 
#23 ·
Just remember, while I agree that different seasons will be tripping over each other and causing more more disruption for different groups of hunters, this was all brought about by hunters demanding more seasons competing for the same time slot. This is one of those things that should have been be careful what you asked for, you just might get it! You can only put so much fertilizer into a 50 lb sack before you run into problems!
 
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#25 ·
There are only 12 months in a year. We used to have dove season, then small game season, then archery deer season, then bear season, then rifle deer season, and then after many years flintlock season after Christmas along with late archery seasons. How many do we have now, squeezed into 12 months?
 
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#27 ·
I was expecting the same as Steelhead but the woods were dead of hunters. Like I said earlier in another post, there was only 1 truck in the SGL parking lot i was at and i never saw him or them so i dont know if they were archery hunting or muzzy hunting. That was on both Saturdays. I was shocked really. I had 5 different bear on camera at that SGL all Summer until i pulled my cameras a week before archery began. I will be up there a good bit the next 2 weeks hoping one of them and the few bucks i got on camera come walking by. Plenty of acorns and the 2 big fields of corn on the neighboring property that is still standing might hinder that a little. Hoping they start cutting that soon.
 
#29 ·
I agree with the OP, as I find it dangerous to be archery hunting when others are carrying shotguns and rifles. A couple of years ago I took a new hunter archery hunting and this guy shot right in our direction and my friend just talked to him less than 5 minutes before he started blasting in our direction.

Stupid question as I don't hunt birds...but why can't PA have the big season in August? Too many seasons at the same time and that is not a great thing for archery hunters.
 
#32 · (Edited)
aubie I agree ! The ML Bear/Doe, Youth/Senior hunt should be the week after archery season goes out ! That way you only have guns ,ML / Rifles in that season and then the Bear rifle season would come in right after that ! Or they could even have a Spring bear season if they want to lower the numbers !
 
#30 ·
I was one of the ones expecting pressure like bear season and it was no where near that where we were hunting.

Ran into one older gentleman out by himself on the 26th for grouse, followed a kid, dad, and granddad out of the gamelands on friday, and that was basically it. pretty much had the area to ourselves. heard only one (relatively) close shot. There were some guys out and about, but honestly the pressure was about 1/10th of what I was expecting.
 
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