how often do you not see any deer at all?

[boznarras]

Just went out early this morning on the island that I live on and drove to an old logging road. On the way there, before daylight I saw in the headlights of my truck: one doe, one porcupine, and one owl flying down the road. After I got to the hunting location I walked up this old road with big ditches plowed across it to keep out vehicles. I walked about a mile altogether, stopping at numerous locations that gave some view of the road or a muskeg. Blew a call a few times. Had good wind direction, until it shifted and I gave up. Did not see a deer while there this time, but last year I called a doe right up to me at this spot. (Unfortunately we can't take does here.)
What I did see were multiple piles of wolf poop, full of deer hair and bone bits. Looks like I am working part-time against some full time competition.

[fireball31]

I've gone days without seeing one.  A lot of the time I realize that I'm to set in my ways and I don't pay attention to the wind enough.

[J-dog]

Just got back in from checkin a cam today - set in a hot trail - deer tracks all over - set out for a two weeks straight. Got pics of coon, birds, squirrel, fox, and of course bears. (everywhere I go this year is bears) but not one deer.

Just huntin - will take that set and move it to a new area, try again. Hunt got cut short as work got busy (FD shorthanded with the pig flu)

Keep out there and learn from your mistakes!

J

[Larry247]

Some days it varies on our place, but if I pay attention, i do see more.

They may be anywhere from 10-75-100yds away, but i see'em.

I had deer on me almost everytime i went out before rifle season.

After that? I saw 16 doe's two days after the rifle season and 12 or 13 of them were together walking around the mountain. The others came by later.

For two solid weeks after that i don't remember seeing but a couple of doe's.

[Groundpounder]

The truth is some places are just better than others.I hunt in an area where good buck are taken every year. but i hunt the edge where i hardly ever see one and when i do theyre out of range. I know if i hunted a bout a hundred yards deeper in the woods i would have opportunity galore. but i would be closer to other hunters. And my fav part of hunting is feeling like im out there by myself .so if i go all year with no deer but never run into another hunter....i had a good year

[adkmountainken]

i have allways been really, really lucky seeing deer. i hunt in a few hard places that do not hold a lot of deer and some that hold many. my favorite ridges are hard to hunt yet i still seem to be above %50 seeing deer, just lucky i guess.

[jonsimoneau]

In my area, I see deer on one out of every 4 or 5 hunts.  NOT seeing anything is the routine.  Sometimes I get to hunt other places with more deer, and it spoils me.  The learning curve is much shorter when you routinely see deer.  Still...just keep at it.  I always tell myself...the longer I sit on stand without seeing anything...the greater my chances are that I WILL see something.

[Shleprock]

I'd say 40% of the time. Sometimes it is just by the grace of god and being in the right place at the right time. All the preparation in the world and the biggest deer I have ever taken, with a shotgun about 5 yrs ago, came directly downwind of me and walked by at 15 yards. I still take the time to try to set up to keep the odds in my favor. Just remember the time will come. Keep trying. Find somebody to help. Just asking questions and listening well will help. At work, church, the archery shop, the guy at the gas station that you suspect is a hunter. I don't know of many hunters that don't like talking about it. Il season starts tomorrow. I'll be out friday morning. Hopefully I'm in the right place at the right time. Going for my first trad deer. Stay safe and good luck to everyone this year.

[gregg dudley]

Here is hoping that this cool weather might get them going during daylight!  I haven't seen a deer from a stand in five days of hunting, but I have seen them on the way in before first light and also on the way out after dark.  The trail cam is loaded with pictures-all after dark.

[James Wrenn]

Just depends on the land you are hunting.My buddy has hunted 6 times and not seen a single deer.Yesterday he saw 11.If you have a good food source they are feeding on you can see them.At times other proprty will hold the best food and the deer are concentrated there instead of where I can hunt.I have sit twice this year and seen nothing but groundhogs.I have sit 3 times and saw deer.I have only had one shot so far out of 17 deer that I have seen from a stand.Hunting as much as you can increases the odds a lot but most places you will get skunked a few days no matter what.  :(

[Paul/KS]

I have hunted many times and not seen a thing. The downside of that,for me, is that it tends to lower my expectations and that gets me thinking about stuff I should be doing at home instead of hunting...

[BlacktailBowhunter]

75% of the time I don't see deer, but I live in Oregon, which is a deer depleted State and that I why most of my deer hunting is now in Utah and Ohio.

Between the cougars and (HLS) Hair Loss Syndrome.

Our Blacktail numbers are way down and the cougars have decimated our Eastern Oregon mule deer herds.

[K. Mogensen]

I hunt on public land with a rifle. This is my first year with a 'curve but I'm hunting in the same area. My dad and I usually see 20-30 deer during our trips but the last couple years, there has been a significant drop in sightings. It's extremely depressing to hear about these people that can hold out for bigger bucks. I've heard people talking to me say, "Yeah, we only shoot 3 point or better." (mule deer) For me, that is unheard of. We shoot spikes and two points because that's all that's left. Anything any bigger, is gone by muzzleloader season. I even wrote to our fish and game, got a phonecall that I couldn't take so the left their number. When I called em back, I never got an answer. The population has deminished so much, that I think they should close the area down for a couple years. Never thought I would say that but it's the truth.

[nchunter]

I hunt public land in your neck of the woods, Nate (just blew a ten yard shot on a buck at the Catawba Gamelands yesterday - yeah, I suck, but that's a whole 'nuther issue) and I've been seeing more deer the last few years than I used to.  The secret can be had for 99 cents in the Ethnic Hair Care section of Wally World.  Buy yourself a bag of those disposable hair nets - only they aren't nets, they're plastic bags.

I figured out one day while standing over someone using a computer that the "stinkiest" part of a human being is our head full of hair!  We humans don't consider it smelly, and since heat rises and everyone's head is usually above everyone else's nose, we never really notice the odor anyway.  But deer don't like it - which is why gardeners will sometimes get bags-full of human hair from the barbershop to put around the garden to keep the deer away.

I put one of those hair bags on my head (yeah, it looks stupid until I put my face mask on) before walking to the stand and keep it on the whole hunt.  Rarely do deer spook when they're downwind from me anymore.

[twitchstick]

Boy I wished that I could say I always see game.I live in the "best genral deer unit" in the state of utah and I had days that I did not see a deer.The genral elk unit above my home I have went the whole season and never seen a elk,and I hunted almost everyday.Its a game of learning,making mistakes,and taking chances.Time in the field is always good seeing or not.

[Killdeer]

Too often to write about, fer sure!

I remember a week where I only saw ONE mammal, and it was a shrew. Them's the breaks, and a smarter hunter probably would have headed to other parts. I am not that smart, add to that, I am lazy and on top of all of that, I am reconnecting to the land just as much as I am trying to hunt, so I don't head to a whole 'nother section all that easily.

The thing to break your brain on (I think if you think too hard that you stand a chance of breaking your brain) is WHY you are not seeing anything. If you are me, you figure that you are doing something intrinsically wrong, like maybe moving too much, smelling too much, being stupid or perhaps breathing. Maybe the mast crop is bad, and I don't know where the good stuff is. Maybe there are other things like water or cover that are lacking. Or maybe I should take those clanky carabiners offa my pack.

High winds in the hardwoods, with the tree limbs gnashing and crashing to the ground make me nervous, and so I guess the deer feel that way too... look in the spruces, but they will likely be nervously bedded and all eyes and ears.

I like camping in the place I hunt, as it allows me a closer feel of the rhythms of the weather and the moods of the land. I can pick my time, see what the critters near camp are doing, and act accordingly. Feel the land, and think like a deer. Take your time, and blend in with the slow motions of the lives of the trees and streams, the rocks and the animals. If you don't see game, at least you will encounter something that will give you a smile during the course of your hunt.

Killdeer

[Ybuck]

Im 0 for 4 sits so far this season.

[buckeye_hunter]

It depends on where you hunt. If I hunt locally, I don't see much due to low deer populations. If I head even 45 minutes south/east the number increase drastically.

I can hunt up here and see 1 deer every 3 or 4 hunts without even getting close.  If I go south/east I will see deer NEARLY every time. You are hard pressed to do some scouting and then hunt a state park in Ohio without seeing deer.

That has been my experience.

All that being said...This year has completely stunk because I have mostly hunted locally and haven't seen much. It may sound like a poor attitude, but I really want to be successful in terms of harvesting an animal for my family. With as many deer as I have seen over the years, I still have yet to get one with a bow. Im going to focus on my "lucky" spots because honestly I see deer and get close shot opportunities almost every time I hunt there. Now if I can just draw WITHOUT getting caught!

Like killdeer said, If you aren't seeing them something is wrong. They aren't there in general due to a bad wind giving you away, eating/bedding elsewhere, high pressure or lack of habitat. Something is up, check it out.

-Charlie
***I'm only 1 for 4 so far!

[gobbler10ga]

0 for 6 deer   3 for 2  bear  killed 1