Have you ever been driving through a residential neighborhood and seen a nice buck or a group of does and wished to yourself that you could get a chance to hunt around there? How many of you have ever tried this? My guess would be not many. Hunting in a residential area is not often considered and probably has not crossed many Whitetail hunters’ minds, but these areas can be an excellent place to provide you the opportunity to find your next trophy. As suburbia has sprawled further and further from cities over the years, wildlife and especially the Whitetail deer have found ways to adapt to the ever increasing human intrusions. In many parts of the country the deer populations are so high in some of these neighborhoods that it has actually become a problem. This is really evident especially in some major cities in the northeast. In fact, many states such as Maryland, Connecticut, and Virginia have gone to great efforts to encourage hunting in some of the highly populated areas through the use of special permits and special seasons.  

Challenges 

This type of hunting can present a couple of challenges that have to be evaluated before deciding to partake. First and foremost is the issue of safety. Safety should always be considered while hunting but especially when hunting in a highly populated area. You are certainly more likely to encounter someone walking through your hunting set up when hunting in a back yard than you would while hunting your typical hot spot. Statistically, bow hunting is the safest form of hunting when it comes to injuries or deaths to other persons other than the hunter himself. The reason for this is that bow hunting requires that the intended target be a lot closer to the hunter than gun hunting. This reduces the possibility of mistaking your target for something that is not a deer. I know you are thinking how can anyone mistake a human for a deer; I have asked that same question myself several times, but it does happen, and the facts are that it is much less likely to happen while bow hunting.

The second challenge can be visibility, and I am not talking about being able to spot or locate deer. When hunting in neighborhoods or highly populated areas, you can count on being watched very closely by some of its residents. Hunters are under a lot of scrutiny in many circles already, and this can certainly increase while hunting right in some of their backyards. In many cases you will be able to be seen in your deer stand, and some will be watching you very closely. If they don’t like the idea of hunting then they are going to be certain to make sure that you know they don’t like hunting. Some of these people will go out of their way to try and mess up your hunt, and sometimes they are successful, but there are plenty of people that will be happy to have you in the neighborhood trying to control the deer numbers.

Another challenge with suburban hunting is that most of you are not accustomed to this type of hunting, and it definitely takes some getting used to. This hunting style is definitely not for everyone. Many will not like it at all. You will have to get used to some things that you have never encountered while deer hunting. The biggest difference is getting used to the noises. You are probably not used to sitting 25 feet up in a tree listening to the neighbors talking or the sounds of the children playing in their backyard. Road noises, air conditioners kicking on and off, garage doors going up and down, and car doors opening and closing are all noises that you will have to get used to hearing. It is definitely different but you will get used to tuning out these distractions and concentrating on the task at hand. Probably the most significant challenge when hunting in a residential neighborhood is the aspect of recovering wounded game. This can be a problem and one that should be considered in advance of setting up a hunt in one of these locations. When gaining permission to hunt on one of these residential tracts you will also want to talk to neighboring property owners as well, to discuss the possibilities of gaining access to their property to retrieve your game. The last thing you want is to shoot a deer only to have it cross on to another property that you do not have permission to access. This is an almost certain thing to happen especially when bow hunting on small tracts of land. By gaining this permission up front you will eliminate the scenario of having to knock on a door of someone you have never met and encountering an irate anti hunter who refuses to let you access their property. This situation could even lead to losing your hunting rights on the property because of the pressure from the upset neighbor.

Advantages

 Just as there are some challenges in residential deer hunting, there are some advantages as well. The first advantage is in the numbers. In many of these residential neighborhoods the numbers can be staggering. You can drive down the street and count dozens of deer standing on the sides of the roads or eating in the front yards and gardens of these residential homes. This can lead to some great opportunities from some disgruntled homeowners who are not happy with the large numbers of garden feeding co-occupants.

The second advantage this out of the box type of hunting can provide is the opportunity at hunting an older age class of deer. Again, this is not your typical hunting set up and a lot of these neighborhoods do not get a lot of hunting pressure. This can lead to an older, more mature deer herd. Most would think that this type of hunting would lead to a lot of does and yearlings. This is true, but you are also likely to find that mature buck that has never felt the pressures of hunting and is more likely to show himself at times when a heavily pressured buck would not. Proof is in the pudding, and proof of this is showing up more and more on an annual basis as more and more hunters are harvesting record book bucks close to home. You will more than likely be asked to harvest some does along the way as a lot of these residents are hoping that you will control the numbers of deer in the herd. This is very common and will provide you with a great opportunity to keep the freezer full.  

Another great advantage to finding one of these locations close to home is that drive times can be significantly reduced which can lead to more days and time in the stand. With so many hunters having to travel great distances to their favorite hunting locations they are limited to mostly weekends or taking time off of work to fit in a hunt now and then. Hunting closer to home will allow a hunter a chance to sneak off at the end of a work day and get into a stand before that magical last hour of the day arrives.

One of the biggest advantages to neighborhood hunting is the ability you have to pattern deer. This is especially true if you are fortunate enough to live in one of these neighborhoods or have readily available access to spending some time there to do some scouting. You can learn a lot about their patterns by simply driving up and down the street in the early mornings or late afternoons. If you can not get that kind of access this type of information can easily be gathered by simply talking to some of the more friendly residents. Some will be more than happy to tell you all about which deer they are seeing and where they are seeing them cross or feeding and at what times of the day this is happening.

I have been fortunate enough to have lived in such a neighborhood for the past seven hunting seasons. My neighborhood consists of forty two residential lots ranging from seven to ten acres, and I have gained permission to hunt 5 of these lots over the years. I have harvested some of the best bucks I have ever shot and been able to keep my freezer full of venison from hunting right in my own gated residential neighborhood. With the ability to live in close proximity to the deer herd, I have been able to learn the patterns and which deer are doing what at certain times of the hunting season. This was no more evident than this year as I was able to harvest this 8 point in velvet. I had been watching him along with 4 other bucks all spring and summer and knew which properties they were on and at what times of the day. Come opening season, I knew where I wanted to be. This tactic has proven to be a huge advantage for me over the years and if you can locate one of these hidden opportunities, it could be for you as well. Give it a try and you might just discover that you have been driving right past your next wall hanger on your way to hunting camp. Good luck and Happy Hunting!

By Miscellaneous Authors

This section is for articles published by a host of amateur authors. Some of these authors are former staff members but many of them are just regular people that had an article in their heart they wanted published. Here at TalkHunting, we believe everyone has a message and we try to accomodate that when possible.

Comments(1):

1. Awesome Ariticle Tom

   I happen to live in a neighborhood with 400 Homes but I live in the back surrounded by former 4500 Acre Hunting reserve and a State Park. I have 30 to 40 Deer a day in the front Yard of course the wife won't let he hunt them...

   Friday, November 05, 2010 Dennis