This probably isn't what you expected.......yesterday was the last day of our season, and what a season it was....It began on Sept 15th finding me in a stand before daylight, and ended last night with me in a stand as the last rays of the sun disappeared to the west. In between, I would guess that I hunted at least 50 days of our 90 day season, some times both evening and morning. I don't have an answer as to why, but in that time I saw a total of two, as in 2, deer, and they were together. I saw those deer on November 15th, and yet continued to get up at 3:30 in the morning to be on stand on time in the morning, or would stay until the last light knowing that deer were going to show in the fading light. Never happened.....I thought it was me, but friends that I hunt with, (good hunters), were going through the same thing. The weird thing is that I felt that I had to be in the woods whenever I could, and I knew that the next hunt would be the one. Even today, as I sit here typing this, I am reflecting on the season trying to figure out what happened,and planning on being in the woods this weekend to scout more, and yes, wishing it was September 15th, 2010.
I guess the gist of this is, no matter how much I hunt, no matter how hard it is,even after a year like this one, I can't wait to do it again.........
David
I have had a season just like that. But yet just like you I continued to get up and do it again.
It's the love of the game... :campfire:
Well said :thumbsup:
Its all good. :thumbsup:
Yes My Friend, I know EXACTLY how you feel!!!!!
Opening Day at 7:30 in the morning I had a little "nubbin buck" with barely legal spikes come in and hang around under 10 yards away for about 20 minutes while he dug through the leaves eating acorns. He presented me with at least 4 differant "dead nuts" shots within that 20 minute time period.
Alas though, It was mine and Lisa's 22nd anniversary,and I had promised her I would be home by noon. I knew if I shot that little buck I would be busy all day taking care of it,so I let him walk..... The rest of the morning I was treated to a small parade of does and fawns,9 in all!!!!!
The rest of the season, I have not seen a single deer!!!!! Now David, I haven't hunted as much as you have,(and I'm not done yet lol)but it boggles my mind how I can hunt for an entire season and only see deer on one day!!!!! :banghead:
When it's finaly over and done for me, maybe we could exchange recipies..... ;)
Christmas Wishes to you and the family from us!!!!! Take Care My Friend!!!!!
(See ya at the Bunny Hunt!!!!!)
I figured you must be up north, before I even finished reading your post. Our season here in VT is slight shorter than your, I saw exactly two deer this year, and they were together.
Glad you had a great season!
You only saw 2 deer total for the whole 50 days you hunted. Man what happened to your deer herd, was there something that killed a bunch of them.
I was just wondering but i know how you feel. One year on a Canada hunt it was warm and we hunted 10 hrs a day and we werent seeing any decent bucks at all. But every morning i couldnt wait to get up and drink some coffee and get back out there.
Guys its just in our blood and our soul, the need to be in the outdoors is a very powerful force and i hope i never lose that fire. :thumbsup:
Joevan125 hit the nail on the head- "the need to be in the outdoors" is what all this is about, NOT the desire to kill something. I always tell non-hunters who show some interest in "shooting a deer" that if that were my only desire I would have quit long ago, because I make a kill on such a low percentage of my hunts. I forget where I heard this just the other day, but someone is quoted as having said, "I don't hunt to kill; I kill to have hunted." Amen!
Hi David,
My name is Mudd(Roy) and I too am addict. It is in the blood and to be quite honest I don't plan on looking for a cure.
God bless,Mudd
PS Next year is right around the corner and there's always shed hunting, scouting stump shooting with family/friends or alone. Reading on here, drooling over pictures you're next bow.
Hey Chuck, same to you and yours, see you in February my friend.
Eli, sometimes I think only people from the extreme northeast truly understand how hard it is to hunt deer here......
Joe, while our herd has declined in the last couple years due to severe winters, we don't have a lot of deer here anyways. It is not uncommon at all for people to go weeks without seeing deer, sometimes the whole season. Normally I average between 20-75 deer sightings from my stands a year, with about 2-5 shot opportunities. This year was an aberration.....
I see you are from Alabama......a few weeks ago there was a guy in my office that just got transferred here from Alabama, which is where he grew up. He saw pictures on my wall of deer and mentioned that he was leaving on a trip for a couple days to hunt deer in the Allagash region of Maine. He told of stories of his successes in Alabama with it's generous bag limts, I cautioned him that he would have difficulties in seeing a deer on his trip. He laughed.......he was in my office two weeks later saying he didn't see how anyone could hunt deer here, there was no sign anywhere, he and his buddy quit early and came home.....
As tough as it is, I will still be out there whenever I can.........
David
Dave: Laura and I have had the same kind of season. I did get a button buck in week 2 but I only had one other deer under my stand. It was a small doe and although I had my doe permit for firearms I let her walk....too few deer and she was a breeder! On the 14th I had four in range but my doe tag was no longer viable. The highlight of the season was that once the guns went away we started to at least see more deer on our trail cams. The big event was getting my first turkey. But like you, I couldn't keep myself out of the woods. For the amount of deer we were seeing we heard way too many gunshots.
what Joevan125 said :thumbsup:
Man you guys are die hard.. I know we are not comparing apples to apples here, but if I don't see something in 3 sets, I'm doing something different. Becuse sure as heck what ever I am doing isn't working, and I can't change them.
If the deer herd is really that low, I would feel guilty to shoot anything if I did have the chance.
You know what? There are other ways to "Get out doors" than setting in a stand for hours and not seeing anything.
Take a break and go bunny hunting or even stump shooting, but keep an eye out for good deer sign when you do..
Life's too short not to have fun.
David,
You have the hunter's spirit and attitude!
Have you folks experienced a wicked winter kill or something last year?
It's the journey, gotta love it. I did see more deer than the last two years but still no shots that I wanted, was out as much as possible and it was always interesting.
That is some dedication to the hunt!
I do get a bit grumpy when I haven't been seeing deer, but I keep going out. During bow season, if I'm not at work and not out in the woods, I feel kind of guilty - like playing hooky from school as a kid.
I hope the folks posting on the "PA Deer Hunters?????" thread about our current deer population check out this thread (and count their blessings).
Its good to know that I'm not the only one who doesn't see 5 doe and 4 buck that are not shooters each time I go into the woods. Some areas are good sometimes, sometimes not so good! You either want to go hunting and spend time in the outdoors or You "have to get one"...Its up to you!!Our season is winding down,but I find myself thinking about and getting ready for next year......Maybe I have a problem...lol!!!
Amen to that Brother I can never wait to do it again.
What some of you don't understand is that hunting here in NH is BIG WOODS hunting most of the time. Very little agriculture here anymore so you must get in the woods, find the feed, hope no one else knows about your spot. It is very tough bowhunting for almost anything. The one thing that is changing is the growing human population, at least here in the southern part of the state. Deer have become habituated to the suburbs but it is hard to get permission to hunt in those close quarters. You can even get an additional anterless tag for the southern most zone but you will have a hard time finding unposted land. In big woods deer have a lot of places to be and usually don't have to travel far to feed so bedding and feeding areas are often the same place. I am always looking for a far from the road wild apple tree, my favorite place to hunt. But most of those have already been discovered. Dave is right, if you have to kill something other than time NH is not the place to hunt.
Glad you chimed in Bill, I was hoping you would....as far as deer sightings go this was the worst year I have had since I started bowhunting, but as John said, if I'm not in the woods during the season I almost feel guilty.
Ken, I would love to hunt bunnies, but in this part of the state the cottontail is protected and there is no season on them. I do my share of stumpshooting though......
Please understand, this post wasn't started as a complaint, though I do have some issues with Fish and Game. It was meant as a reflection of my year, and the fact that as bad as it seems, I still can't wait to get in the woods. Those of you that live and hunt in states that have good deer herds, be thankful and enjoy what you have. I have hunted in seven states east of the Missippi and can tell you first hand that deer hunting in those states is a completely different animal, and I am envious.......
David
I saw deer all season during archery in October, passed on too many does to count and one 6pt because I knew the one I really wanted was in the woods. Saw him a couple of times, the closest was at about 75 yards, wasn't worried because I knew the rut was coming and he was keeping an eye on the does I was watching. Then things went south on me health wise and I got bupkiss. Wouldn't change what I did though. A really large 8pt was taken in the area I was hunting while I was out of action so the strategy was sound. Just makes me hungrier for next year.
sometimes we all have to settle for an "A" for effort...which ain't all that bad when you love what you're doing
:thumbsup: :campfire: :archer:
Well neighbor, I am here in western Vt. All bow season I saw 9 deer, only shot oppurtunity was on one doe which I killed. I hunt my own property and property I grew up on about 10 miles south of here, primarily old apple trees. I normally see a lot more deer but this year we had a tremendous nut crop, makes bowhunting very difficult. Apple years seem to be best for me. Coincidentally i started seeing deer regularly around my apple haunts as soon as the now came and killed one with my muzzloader. A lot of my friends and family here had a hard time because deer seemed to be dispersed because of the nut crop. Maybe the same in NH. I must say, you are a better man than I, I respect your tenacity and dedication, a poor day hunting is better than any day working!
Hey guys,, don't get me wrong, I am not mean mouthing you, I admire your grit.
I understand that I am blessed in having a lot of good area to move around in, seldom with any interruptions from other hunters.
I know too, I have never tried you shoes on, but we all hunt the same deer.
I am dead serious when I say "Do Something different"
If I am hunting an area with good deer population in it, and I hunt three days without seeing anything, the first thing I figure is that they know me better than I know them.
Then it gets to be a game as to figure out what they are doing and when and where.
Pretty sure it was Bob McQuire who said it, or at least I'll give him credit for it.. "Most deer hunters who say they have ten years of experience really have one year of experience repeated ten times"
You got to get out of the box, what do you have to loose,, you're not seeing any deer anyway.
I am also serious in that if the herd is down that bad, (but I will bet it isn't) I'd find something else to throw arrows at.. No bunny hunting,, try stray cats, they kill way to many song birds anyway. I don't know there has to be something to torment.
If you want to chat hunting, drop me a PM.
EarlE...Next year Laura and I are going to try something different. We are going to start a food plot on our 23 acres. And we are going to have two Double Bull blinds set up. The deer on our property seem to be tree stand savy. In the three years we have had the property I can't tell you how many times I have been busted. It doesn't make sense to me because when I hunt the same deer 1/4 mile away I sometimes have trouble getting them to move along at dark when I need to get out of the stand. The past few winters have not helped, either, as Dave alluded to. All in all the last two years, in particular, have really been bad for deer hunting. Dave is right, fish and Game could do a few things to improve the situation.
I would definitely plant some food plots. One of the hardest things about hunting small acreages (I live and hunt on one) is many times you only have half of the puzzle. You either have a feeding or bedding ground. Sometimes only a travel route, but hardly ever do you have all 3. Getting deer to keep hanging around your property is your goal and a food plot is one dang good way to go about it.
Yup Dave, Similar results down here in MA, last deer I saw was November 12 at dark. though I must say that I did have the opportunity to 'pass' on a couple of shot opportunities early in the season because something just didn't feel right...distance just a little too far, deer not stopping, being a doe with a fawn, etc.
so even though I have 7 tags in my pockets from two new england states, I'm still viewing it as a success in that I hunted, quite a bit. at least early on, seemed to reinforce my self confidence - hunting wise - as I saw at least a deer a week from the MA opener on October 12 until the last deer on November 12....meaning I was in the right spots etc.
I still have 13 days left in MA ans am not giving up! though I'll probably only get out one or two more times. but I am already looking forward to new hunting endeavors for 2010, like hunting in Rhode Island for the first time.
good luck to all in 2010! and happy holidays!
Glad to see you were into them for at least awhile Marc, and good luck with the rest of the season.......pretty cold the next few days.
Ken, never took anything you said as ill spirited. What I am saying is that hunting in the northeast is different, and I personally think a lot more difficult.
I've had three different members of this site here with me in NH at different times, one from Ct, one from Ohio, and one that now lives in South Carolina. All were amazed at the lack of deer and deer sign they saw. Heck, two of them saw way more moose than anything else......
I think one of the things to understand here is the dynamics of our seasons and how fish and game manages them. While archery season runs from Sept 15 to Dec 15, muzzleloader runs for ten days at the beginning of November, followed immediately by a rifle season that last through the first week of December. In essence, there is a firearms season that runs for thirty plus days in the middle of the rut. Couple that with doe management that calls for "Anterless Days" dependent upon wildlife managment areas and the southern areas get pounded. (Those areas have the longest Anterless Days). New Hampshire's total deer kill with every weapon in 2008 was 10,900. Compare that to Vermont, our neighbor, which is essetially the same size, which had a kill of 17,000 deer in 2008. That's a 70% difference!!!! Any research will show that New Hampshire, followed by Mass with a 2008 kill of 11,300, lead the northeast with the lowest deer kill numbers. I don't care how you cut it, just by sheer numbers, it is hard to hunt here. I don't know what the bowhunter success rate is now, but a few years ago it was around 6%.
As far as other animals, we can hunt bear, moose by permit drawing, coyotes and such. I did hunt bear this fall, that was a three week season that was fun and productive. I didn't shoot a bear but did have one regularly hitting our bait site. I hunt turkeys in the spring with my bow and am fairly successful there.
I hunted 17 different stand sites this fall, most from trees, but a couple natural blinds and one from a Double Bull. I hunted mornings, evenings and mid day. I rattled pre rut and during the rut. I called by grunts and doe bleats. I am very careful as to trying to reduce my scent and I hunt the wind religously. I have entry and exit trails cut to stand sites to reduce noise. The only thing I didn't do was to use bait or hunt any field edges, only because there aren't many fields aroung here. That big woods thing again.......
I am all ears as to what to do differently, in fact I appreciate the suggestions........
David
my major problem with food plots (as mentioned above) is especially with the small acreage hunting areas up here, is you are doing a whole lotta work to feed deer others are going to kill anyway.
if its not one scenario, like the 50 acre farm I have exclusive permission to hunt, which is posted, but surrounded by public land....where there just isnt enough area to keep the deer in, they travel to and from the public land.
or another scenario where, building here is outrageous, even with the economy, and its the only public area left in the vicinity and discover 7 new stands within a 1/4 mile. (one with a couple bushels of apples and acorns piled beneath) here in Massachusetts, its not uncommon especially during shotgun season to see woods full of orange pushing drives, etc. it can be mayhem.
I'm not whining. I just know my only salvation in 2010 is to burn a lot more shoe leather, and knock on a lot more doors to get access to 'better' areas.
(PS...I hunted the exclusive 'Posted Land' last saturday after snow last thursday, adn wouldn't you know it there were boot tracks literally underneath my stand. I was quite surprised that my stand was still there).
In following up with what Marc said is having the land to put food plots in. NH is different than a lot of states in that if land is not posted you can hunt it. You don't need verbal or written permission to hunt it, though if the landowner tells you to leave you must. In some of these small parcels that Bill and Marc speak of it is not uncommon to see organized drives take place.
Here is another indicator of the state of our herd. I work in a police department, and until 2008 it was a common occurence to have deer vehicle collisions, normally numbering in the teens. In 2008 we had seven, and in 2009 we have had three!! Now hopefully this winter will not be as severe as the last two and the herd can recover, but even at it's best it has room to improve......
Let me ask this question.......If a state's deer herd is where they want it to be, what percentage of that deer herd should be harvested on a yearly basis to keep it status quo?
David
Why on earth are they making additional antlerless tags available if deer are so scarce? Is your state legislature and DNR ran by insurance companies?
NH is very slow to change anything. It wasn't too long ago we had two zones....Northern and Southern. Then the big paper companies up north clear cut all the deer yards and basically killed deer hunting in the nothern part of the state. Not too long after that they at least realized that different parts of the state needed idiosyncratic regs. and in some southern areas there were too many deer. That was a big step forward in this state just setting up the different zones. Now we need to get the politics out of the picture and really get the state to actually manage the herd. They have done pretty well with bear, turkey and moose but not so well with the deer. Sometimes I wonder if they want to minimize the deer herd just to make it easier to "take care of". They seem to have no problems changing the year to year bear regs. but seem to shy away from anything to do with the deer herd.
I'll just say the hunting in Maine was the same. High mortality over the last two years, then warm weather all fall. The two added up to very little deer movement.
Mortality in the last two years has played a part in this Mike, but as Bill said politics have to be removed in management of the herd and the Fish and Game Department.
Here is a small example.....if I buy my archery tag today, I am given the opportunity to buy a second buck only archery tag. The kicker is, I must buy the second tag when I buy my license.....I can't go hunt, shoot a deer, and then get a second buck tag. It has nothing to do with deer management and everything to do with money. Now, I'll be honest, I buy the second tag because I try to support our Fish and Game Department, but it would be nice if they managed the deer herd strictly on a biological basis.
I'm still looking for an answer to my question.....if a states deer herd is where they want it to be, what percentage of that herd should be harvested on a yearly basis to keep the herd numbers status quo?
David
Enjoying the outdoors is what it's all about!
Man some of you guys have it rough, but I applaud your effort and determination. I only have my own 11 acres to hunt, and while I don't see deer every time out,I do see deer every day around the area. There are 3 in my front yard as I type this. I will have a greater appreciation for what I have now. Thank you fellow tradgangers for helping me to see how fortunate I am. I feel blessed. Tom Bateman
Hey David... Maybe we can make up for our un-eventful deer season with rabbits in February. See Ya Then!
... mike ... :archer: ...
It's been the same kind of season for me, but asmany have said just being able to go and enjoying the woods were plaeasure enough.
David
Wow that takes drive to keep at it like that.
Up until this year this was a common site in our front yard. Sightings this year = 0!!!!!!!
(http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a322/Arrowworks/FawnsNursinglo.jpg)
Put 42 hunts in and only saw 1 moose, no deer. But there is nothing like taking the longbow for a walk. It all about the journey good for you!
4 hunts. Lots of deer, but just 1, one, close enough!
When I was a kid I can remember going to Tenn. and being amazed at seeing a deer. We had none around here. I first started deer hunting here in 1988 it was typical to draw an antlered only tag or get rejected completely during gun season and you only got 1 archery tag. The deer herd really took off in the early to mid 90's and then they started issuing tons of bonus doe tags and the numbers kinda leveled off. I can't imagine hunting someplace where the deer numbers are that low. I love to be out there. I'm not a guy who has to kill a deer to have a successful outing, but I really enjoy at least seeing them. My hat is off to you fellas and I hope you have a mild winter and your DNR takes steps and next year is a little better for all of you.
come hunt down south somewhere if you can. seasons here dont end til jan 31 for the most part and more deer than you can shake a stick at. lots of places have hogs as well.
Some days at work I stop for a brief second to smell the air listen to the wind,and look to the mountian side. Most don't understand the calling but some like you do. :campfire:
In Pennsylania we have become inclusion-happy. We have exactly eleven days of archery before inlines are allowed, and rifles for juniors and seniors, and then shotguns for squirrel hunters etc. The deer have adapted to the first volley of shots in mid October and they simply head for the thick stuff before first light, and stay there until dark. They show up in the fields after dark, but they just remain secluded during the day. Around here, to find them, you hunt where it is so thick you can barely get through.
That said, to an archer, there is never a shortage of targets, nor is there any day that it is not great to be afield. If it's all about killing something, then I would suggest it is the wrong sport. Matter of fact, many times a deer will distract me from my stump shooting, but that's okay too. 8^).
I agree George, if it was all about killing I would have quit a long time ago. Something keeps pulling me back.......seeing the sun come up, the tranquility of being in the woods where there are no other manmade sounds except the occasional airplane, and yes, the anticipation of seeing,(and maybe shooting), deer in their natural enviornement.
For those of us that have grown up in the northeast, this is the hand we have been dealt, and we are all aware of it. I have shot my share of deer in this state, and I know that Bill has shot a fair amount also. ( The deer in his avatar pic was the state archery record for quite awhile, I still remember the day he brought it into the archery shop I was working at).
As hard as it is, I will continue to hunt, in it's own way every hunt is a success to me.
David
That's the spirit of a hunter, especially a hunter with traditional values and mind set. The journey matters as much or more than the destination.
Amen George! I've been hunting over 20 years and can count my animal kills on my fingers! But I've lost count of the stumps/leaves/clumps of grass I've killed over the years.
Believe me I ain't complaining, in fact one of the states I have unused tags for (CT) has so many deer it's hard not to trip over them in some places.....buts that's just not 'hunting' to me. Grocery shopping maybe, but nothing like the still woods at dawn with only the sound on my breath and heart pounding in my chest when I first hear that crunching leaf.
Dave: Maybe we should get some Conn. tags and get Hickstick to take us on a hunt. What do you think? Conn. isn't that far.
You're right Bill.....be a pretty cheap hunt too........
Dave,, You asked about per cent of harvest, and the best I can tell you is it depends a lot on whether they are trying to build the herd, maintain the herd or reduce the herd. Somewhere in the depths of my memory, I believe it is about 25% to maintain. From your figures on road kills, it really looks like they need to be minimizing the harvest and building the herd, possibly even closing the season, or making it buck only for a year or two.
With winter setting in, watching for deer yards and numbers in the yards would give a good feel for numbers as well, and feeding in the yards to help them through, may be a good approach as well.
Thanks Ken, I had heard to maintian numbers it was around 30%, either way, 25 or 30, the numbers are skewered here.
This is a core group here that is completely against changing the our season structure, whether it be shortening gun seasons or limiting doe harvests. I would love to see a few years of really limiting doe harvests, but I'd be pretty suprised to see it. Until that happens, I personally don't see our herd makeup changing.
F&G tells us there are about 85,000 deer here, it doesn't take a lot to do the math to figure out that killing 10,300 deer,(this year's kill), isn't 25% of our herd.
As far as supplemental feeding, while it is not against the law, F&G discourages it.......
Thanks for the input, I could go on about this for hours......
.....and hours!!!
I am not much of a "poster" on this site but more of a reader and felt compelled to share my season which only consisted of about four days in the field(stupid work). As a newbie to trad-hunting (this being only my second season with the trad gear)I have never had so much fun with highs and lows...From having eleven deer feeding under my feet at one time to having a decent buck only feet away...seeing what I thought was a trophy eight walking to my stand, only to see he had only one horn...finally getting a shot with the Assenheinmer and having the string get caught on my safety harness buckle, causing my bow to jump from my hand and tumble to the ground and having the arrow stick in a tree at a 90 degree angle from where I was aiming. Counting my blessings cause neither I nor the bow suffered any harm. I'm hooked for life!!! It's not about the end but the journey to the end. Till' next year practice practice practice!
David, There's somthing in what you said, it's like being gone for a while and going home. There is is just somthing special about being in the woods, being close to nature, you know the deer are there but you don't see them. I don't think it could possibly be put into word's, although some of you do a dang good job! Thank's, Jason
David, I know how ya feel. My total of doe sightings was 4 from Nov. 7th. to the 20th. In that time I saw 22 different bucks though! Deer numbers are way down everywhere I hunt. What do you think has caused the lack of sightings?? You know when ya come for your next hunt here there will be plenty of sightings of bunnies that is!!! :bigsmyl: Shawn
The mast crop was low in my area, I saw a lot of does early on but after the corn was chopped and manure spread, then all the alfalfa in my area was sprayed with roundup the sightings were slim at best. We had a ton of apples but with all the wind they were off the trees early on. I'm not sure what the deer were eating after all that, was your situation similar to this.
James..... TOTALLY different story here this year in MA...Acorns everywhere! at times it was like walking on bubble-wrap to the treestand. And that was also a contributing factor in deer movement and sightings. they could be feeding just about anywhere in these woods.
Bill & Dave...anytime! only problem is CT just DOUBLED the permits from $100 to $200 non-res as of October 1. I may not even buy a 2010. I'm exploring RI right now, cheaper and SUNDAY hunting....woo-hooo!!! I'm tired of these arcane blue laws in MA and CT. how many weekends did we have this year with saturday heavy rain and wind and sunday clear and calm?
Shawn I attribute the low sightings to a couple of things...1-low deer numbers, which in my opinion are a result of a very severe 2007 winter and F&G's management strategies. 2009's kill is 5% below 2008's, which was 20% below 2007's, which means this years kill was 25% below 2007's kill. That is significant. 2-A huge acorn crop, like Marc said it was actually hard to walk in some spots.....deer didn't have to go far to eat, I think Bill said earlier that deer here often bed and eat in the same place, and he's right...
Marc......WOW! The last time I hunted CT in the early 90's it was $44.00 for an archery license that included 4 tags. That is going to cut down on license sales I would think......it's never about the money.......it's about the money.
David
yah, it went from 44 to 100 five, maybe six years ago. they snuck through a budget late night last minute so no one could protest raising ALL license and permit fees 100% across the board...and stated that all of the money will go into the General fund....which as far as I know is against pittman-robertson....and I definitely think it will impact license sales in '10.
our state wont release kill data until some time in January. and I don't recall the exact figures Dave, but kill have been steadily decreasing over the last few years here as well.