Is it deer movement, or hunter movement? Or freak coincidence?

[cas]

I noticed a very odd thing on Thanksgiving day. There was lot's of shooting that day, lots of people off work and in the woods, no doubt. More shots than opening Saturday or Sunday by far.  But the strange thing was the timing. 

Thursday morning I heard one shot right at first legal shooting "light". Then another from another location maybe 5 minutes later. Then it was quiet. No more shooting till 7:30, and then a flurry of gunshots.  I counted 7 shots, all from different locations in about 3 minutes.  (10 shots in all, but 3 of them were clearly second shots) And then it was quiet again.  These were all relatively local shots, not way off off in the distance. I could pretty much guess where most of them came from.

I thought it so strange that 7 different people would all see deer and have a shot at basically the same time. 

And then it was quiet, until 11:30,  at which point, right on the dot, 6 unique locations, 11 shots in total,  again in under 3 minutes.  

Very odd. 

 

[nywaw]

Usually when I hear multiple shots within the same couple minutes it's a gun club pushing deer.

[cas]

There were from all different directions around me, none from the same place. 

[cervidchasers]

Running deer can cross property lines very quickly

[BowmanMike]

6 hours ago, cervidchasers said:

Running deer can cross property lines very quickly

That is so true. I spooked a couple of young ones on opening day and they took off. a minute later I heard a shot from direction they ran off to,and about another 5 minutes later one of the two came back. 

The timing of the shots the op mentioned sound like deer movement being a big part too though. Feeding time!

[phade]

IMO if it is from various locations not from a drive, it’s likely people walking in and out. A lot of people don’t go in pre dark and instead still hunt to their spot or sleep in and then go. Wed night before Thanksgiving is also a popular night out with family coming into town. I’d say it’s people going in and out stirring up the deer.

Edited November 28, 2023 by phade

[Northcountryman]

11 hours ago, cas said:

There were from all different directions around me, none from the same place. 

 

Has to be a coincidence, then.

[Nontypical]

I agree with phade. A lot of late comers doing a slow walk in. 

[Moho81]

Not only late comers but also people that leave the woods earlier than normal as well on thanksgiving to get to whatever family event they need to get to. Thanksgiving can defiantly be a weird day to hunt. I try to get in while it's dark and stay until the late afternoon to take advantage of people moving in and out so much. 

[cas]

17 hours ago, cervidchasers said:

Running deer can cross property lines very quickly

lol they'd have to be running about 350 mph to cover the distance to make that the answer.  

[cervidchasers]

14 minutes ago, cas said:

lol they'd have to be running about 350 mph to cover the distance to make that the answer.  

You must be the lucky ones to have access to 1000 acres