HUMAN INTRUSION -- LESSONS LEARNED FROM MY KITCHEN WINDOW
For the past 20 years, I've been fortunate to live in a fairly rural area of the Midwest. We see deer in our backyard food plot year 'round. During the summer months, my sons can play baseball behind the house while does, fawns and young bucks feed undisturbed less than 100 feet away. As winter progresses, we begin a supplemental feeding program that allows us to observe mature bucks routinely during daylight hours.

The slightest bit of "human intrusion" or activity in the woods behind our home during this time will often cause older bucks to disappear for days, even during the high-stress times of late winter, when easily accessible, high-energy food is at a premium. Does and yearlings usually return to feed within a matter of minutes after being disturbed.

Many hunters don't factor in the change that their presence can have on a big buck's pattern or daily routine. On more than one occasion, I've found a buck I wanted to hunt and I set up shop in an area that I believed he would frequent only to have him vanish. I'm convinced these deer didn't necessarily leave the area, but they did change their habits in order to avoid me because they knew I was there.

WARY OLD DOES!
Old momma does are easier to hunt than mature bucks for one reason: there are more of them in the woods! An old doe can be the most cautious creature in the woods. They're jittery and suspicious of everything. An acorn drops and they jump. Many of them seem to spend the entire summer walking on pins and needles while raising their helpless young to adult status.

A trophy is in the eye of the beholder, and any mature white-tailed deer, regardless of sex, didn't just fall off the turnip truck. Setting out with the intent of harvesting a big old doe, especially with a bow, can be a challenging and heart-pounding experience. And although this thrill is often overlooked by many hunters, it's also very beneficial to deer management plans.

SUBURBAN DEER
Deer that live in suburban areas in proximity to humans tend to be less wary than those that reside in more remote areas. This doesn't make them tame by any stretch of the imagination, but they interact with people on a regular basis and it's not uncommon for humans to be part of their home range.

Biologists say there are three factors that determine a buck's trophy potential: age, nutrition and genetics. In a wild herd, you can't do much to influence genetics. However, you can do a lot in the nutrition and age categories. In fact, age is critical in growing trophy bucks, and in some areas attaining older bucks is easier in a suburban environment.

Unfortunately, access to suburban hunting ground is often more difficult and sometimes downright impossible to obtain, hence the older age structure!

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