I was recently reading an article in my Quality Whitetails magazine about the newest rage for hunting mature whitetails….suburbia. The author talked about making sure you don’t overlook well populated areas near you that could be holding big bucks. He talks about how he loves to hunt whitetails in the suburbs, and well populated areas, that most hunters would not think to hunt.

I have seen this particular topic brought up in a few magazines in the last couple of months, and quite honestly it was a shock to me. I’m not trying to toot my own horn here, but Jeff and I have been doing this since we started hunting. Sure, we hunt out of the way places as well, but one of our best spots, when we were just starting out hunting, (and still hunt to this day) is a small tract of land that to look at you wouldn’t think held deer at all. When Jeff first set me up in it about 10 years ago I thought he was crazy-right up until the point where I shot an 8 point out of it. That is exactly why these areas are great places to hunt. There is no pressure in these particular locations, and that is exactly why the deer flock to them.

Another place we used to hunt was a piece of property that ran along a major highway, and also had a multi-million dollar corporation located right across the street. I could not believe the number of people who were so shocked that deer were in the area. We shot many a buck off this property, and people were always surprised that it held deer. We sure weren’t. We knew it held some nice deer and proved that every year.

I guess my main point is that, for us hunters, it is easy to overlook certain areas because of the location. The fact is, in today’s world, deer adapt so well to humans, that you can’t overlook these areas. There are plenty of places that hold great deer numbers, despite the close proximity to housing developments and such. A lot of these places are great opportunities for bow hunting especially, and are well worth the effort, even if the property owner takes her morning walk under your treestand every morning (I had that happen on one property quite often, and a few minutes after she would pass, the deer would appear).

While I do hunt a more secluded place at this point in time, I still recommend not overlooking those “suburbia” type locations. They can make for a great time, and even though you might encounter some lulls in the action, when the action finally does happen, it can create memories that will last a lifetime.

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