Hunting in a natural gas production area?

[brant]

If you do not live near on hunt near an area that has natural gas wells and pipelines this may seem weird. To those of you that do or work in the field you will appreciate this.

I was hunting a gas pipeline this morning. It was not long after good shooting light when a big doe walked out and started to feed a bit, often looking back the direction she came from. I am an unapologetic doe shooter and would have normally took the shot but I was interested to see what was behind her so I waited.

A couple of hundred yards away the pipe line makes a dog leg around that bend is a compressor station. As the doe and I waited on her companion, I could heard the gravel crunching as the production hand drove around to that station. She never looked up or started from the sound of the truck. She probably knows his name as he stops by every day. I was scanning the timber with my binoculars and found movement but it was thick in there and I had not yet identified what type of deer it was, so I was very focused looking for this deers head. Along about then the hand tried to start the compressor and boy is it loud! I nearly jumped out of my chair! I look back to the doe standing in the center of that right of way and she still had her head down feeding and never looked up. I gather my composure and start searching for the second deer and it walks out where I can see that it too is a doe. They are content so I decide to wait a bit before shooting one, just to see if Mr big shows up. He did not and they ended up spooking from something else that I didn’t see or hear without me shooting. Probably smelled me. Who knows. I had to laugh at myself for being caught off guard by the loud noise. I’ve heard it a 1000 times but this is the 1st time I have seen how deer DID NOT react to it.

[bigbrowndog]

I was having a conversation the other day with a group of guys and the subject of “sign of our times” came up. Meaning that when we were kids most of our parents were indeed hunting wild deer, back in the 50-60’s there was a lot more wilderness. These days most of us hunt Suburban deer, deer accustomed to hearing smelling and seeing humans. Cars, walkers, bikers, kids, ranchers checking livestock all sorts of traffic. The things that would spook a deer back then are now normal everyday occurrences and they have become disinterested in them. The plus is we can now get away with much more movement and scent than hunters used to, the minus is the times are changing.

Trapr

[Fowler]

My brother used to work out on a ranch that had 8 wind turbines on it as a part of a 300 turbine farm. If you drove around in a white truck the seer and antelope wouldn't pay any mind to you. Drive any other type of vehicle or COLOR of truck and they would go running if you so much as slowed down. My brother traded out of his black Powerstroke into a white diesel for just this reason, it was remarkable, slow down, get out of the truck, get out of sight and make your stalk. As long as you were in a white truck they didnt care...

[bigbrowndog]

I recall reading an old John Wootters article where he either rode around d with the ranch hand or hung a bunch of crap on his truck to make noise and closed the distance on a big hunting lease buck

Trapr

[brant]

I read a story one of a man that hunted an older gentleman’s farm. He swore that the deer new that old farmer was of no danger to them. The old man could walk upwind and in sight of them whenever and they hardly took a second glance. One wiff of anyone else and they would run away.

As a boy, we raised Labrador retrievers, and offered a boarding service as well. The deer new when the dogs were in the kennels and would come out and lay just a few yards away. The resident dogs didn’t even bark at them anymore. Our male was a knot head. When he would follow me out near where they would lay, he liked to find their beds and pee in them. As a 10 year old boy I thought that was hilarious.

[brant]

I know another older gent that walked trails that he cut on his property for exercise. Safer and a better view than walking the highway. He said that an old resident doe was often bedded in the same area and he would just walk by and say “Good Morning “ without stopping and she wouldn’t spook. As the season would progress she would have her young and they would be there as well. One day there was a buck bedded with her and he got to thinking. One season rolled around he would carry his rifle on his walks and eventually saw his buck back with her. He walked on past for a bit and after he was about 50 yards away he stepped hehind a big tree, turned around and took arrest on the same tree and shot that buck in his bed. He wished that he hadn’t because his old doe never did bed there again after that and he felt like he had betrayed a friend. I personally would have never seen that buck because I would have shot her long before he showed up!

[bigbore5]

If you want to see every deer on my place, just start the chainsaw

[bula]

Places in the Allegheny Natl. Forest have systems of pumps, wells, holding tanks. Older oil stuff, newer gas stuff. Agree, the deer don't spook from them or their crews. Ive seen guys climb atop the holding tanks sit, hunt. I take notice of pumps and tanks as to avoid hitting them if a shot may be hopeful there. Here, in N.E. Ohio the woodlands, wetlands, between farmed acreage may have oil/gas rigs, gear, too. A pump taking off on a quiet still cold morning, will make ya jump !

[kings6]

Shoot at my age I carry a natural gas pipeline wherever I go! I just try to not open the relief valve around other folks or when I’m close to critters!🤣 Sometimes I kind of remind myself of our little Boston Terrier dog we used to have. She could wake herself up by how bad her “natural gas releases” were some times!🤣🤣

[James]

Once at my outdoor range in north Jersey, while the range was hot with about eight shooters blasting their targets, a doe comes out from the left feeding on the grass... Everyone ceased fire while she ate and after 5 or so minutes she left the way she came.... So interesting.............

[contender]

It's true that deer can become accustomed to the same repeated sounds or sights all the time. I own a gun range,, and we've had to stop shooting a few times to allow the deer to feed. I like hunting near the range,,,!

[cas]

I got sort of an eye opener in that regard years ago. Sitting at the bottom of the power line clear cut near the cabin. A doe stepped out about 35-40 yards away and stopped in the middle looking right at me. That was tin he height of my NOT shooting deer days, so I just sort out counted coup with her. Raised the .357/44 Bain& Davis Contender, put the crosshairs on her shoulder and DIDN'T shoot. She and I had an intense staring contest for a good 20-25 minutes. She never looked anywhere but directly at me. (yet she never spooked or ran away) The clear cut runs parallel to the road, which is maybe 60-70 yards away,. In the middle of this a tractor trailer logging truck comes down the narrow heavily washboarded road, making the most amazing racket you can imagine, punctuated with the occasional roar of the Jake Brake. She never flinched, never looked away, she couldn't care less about this amazingly loud, quite frankly startling, out of place noise off to her right. Didn't care.

(eventually I got tired of the game (I think I had to pee lol) and I stood up and chased her away.)

[brant]

Hey CAS, I like friends who enjoy watching deer. Even more, I like friends that enjoy watching ….me shoot deer !

[ridenshoot]

I work in the oil and gas industry and I can tell you that the animals seem to actually enjoy the accommodations that our facilities provide.  I have had ravens and owls nest and raise their young above 1K horsepower motors that start and stop randomly.  Rabbits and other small critters that sit under valves next to engines and gas turbines that are putting out well above 85 db sound levels.  They will often just shuttle around the station as we do our work, but never actually leave.  I worked in a refined products terminal in Denver and we had a large, healthy looking, bushy tailed fox that lived within the property, he was very nonchalant about our presence.  There was also a pair of big, red racers that lived under one of my mainline pump bases for a couple of years, they didn't care for our company and the feeling was likewise.  I knew they presented no danger but they sure could put a fright into you when you weren't expecting them.
Please be extra careful shooting around these types of facilities, they don't take kindly to stray bullets, the outcome can be quite catastrophic.  We not infrequently find bullets laying on the ground next to tanks and sometimes holes in buildings.  When you let the product out of the pipes it goes looking for an ignition source. (that's my public service message).

[shorty500]

Local does actually come running to the sound of quad because they’ve learned the feeders are getting filled up