Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/769056
their core when the rut ends. Suburban whitetails don't follow that pattern. If a rutting buck crosses a busy roadway or moves into an area between shopping malls or sub-developments, they typically don't return to their core area. The travel route is too dangerous. So late-season hunters looking to capitalize on deer returning to a core area get frustrated when hunting in the suburbs because that patterned deer seldom returns. Success comes to hunters who identify the areas where the bucks moved on to, for that becomes their new core." Rick Laytham is a New Jersey resident who spends his time deer hunting in the suburbs. "Let me say that urban hunting has been the lion's share of my hunting career," he noted. "And I've always enjoyed the 'freedom' that comes with it. By freedom I mean time. I don't need an entire preseason to scout. I scout by paying attention while driving to work. Freedom comes from not having to drive 400 miles to a hunting camp. Instead, I can get in a morning and evening hunt every day. There is less competition, and I'm privileged to be in an area where there are numerous 140-150 class deer." O ver the past few decades suburban deer hunting has become more popular, and will continue to expand. Turkeys are showing up in those same areas, too. Since our national trend is to cut trees and develop fields into malls and housing developments, the suburban deer complex will continue until that construction trend reverses. In an odd way, suburban hunters actually improve safety conditions on our roads. Several years ago a 16-point, 265-pound buck ran from a patch of land in between a Home Depot and a Wal-Mart. It charged across a major highway, where it was hit by a van carrying a family. Had a hunter arrowed that buck, he'd have set a state record. Who would think an archery deer hunter could be more helpful than a traffic police officer? No one, me thinks, not in a million years. Not in a million years . . . n 82 • S P O R T I N G C L A S S I C S