No deer

[nhbuck1]

theres food all over, acorns, beachnuts, not alot where we are hunting but theres been turkey sign in there and have seen turkeys should be deer no?

[Cory Mattson]

Thick is good - but generally low areas are very difficult to manage wind and thermals - harder than sitting high. If you are seeing turkeys and not deer thats another reason to search elsewhere.
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[Roger Norris]

Without looking at your area I can only say this:

The later in the season you go, the thicker area you need to hunt. For me, on our private 1200 acres, open woods is almost worthless now. State land would be worse. Hunt the thickest stuff you can find.

The warm temps and the 2 full moons in October have made for lots of night time feeding and rutting. Our sightings are best at first light, and again from 1:30 p.m. until 4:00. My son shot a buck Tuesday at 2:00, he was cruising SUPER thick stuff looking for does.

We are having almost zero traditional last light sightings.

Find the does...they will be in thick stuff...bucks are looking for them too...

And when you find them, in the thick stuff...don't barge into the middle of it. I have a spot of insanely thick stuff that is about 100 acres total. I have 8 stands set around the edges. I NEVER go inside this sanctuary. The wind tells me what stand to sit. This thick spot stays productive all year long because I don't do drives, crash around, etc. The only time we go "in" is to recover a deer we have shot.

[yeager]

Last Monday morning, Nov 14,I saw 5 bucks chasing a doe, but the last 2 mornings I've seen nothing.....here in northern Illinois.

[nhbuck1]

went out tonight where i usually always see deer and get deer bow season, saw a buck in there beggining of october havent seen a deer in there since

[Bill Carlsen]

It feels pretty bleak out there. Hasn't been this slow in many years.  Can anyone confirm that the overall deer harvest in NH is 20% lower than last year at this time?

[Shadowhnter]

Nhbuck, have you had the opportunity to shoot yet this season?

[Tajue17]

Chelsea Vermont was the hardest place I ever hunted!

its big woods deer and nothing like urban deer,  sign every where but never could figure them out,, their runs and how they walked never made any sense....

if you want to travel over to Bear Brook State park in Allenstown I don't hunt there anymore but I can meet you and I can show you exactly where to put your stand and you will get shots at deer but you may have to tweak your stand over a bit hear or there.

its archery deer only in there,,  you will see bear, moose lots of beavers and fishers its like being in the big woods there..

this sunday would be perfect because I'm on-call for work and can't go hunting.. PM me

[Huntrdfk]

Bill you are right, according to NHF&G we are  down 19% compared to the same time last year. I was seeing and having shot opportunities often in September and early October. Once the acorns started dropping that all changed as the property I hunt in town has very few oaks.
There is so much food in the woods this year in the form of acorns that deer can bed and feed often in the same locations right now. Not having to travel to feed makes it difficult to pin them down.
I think the place to be right now is the thickest place you can find WITH with acorn bearing oaks. I am going to hit such a spot later this afternoon and tomorrow morning. I'll let you know how it goes.

David

[Bill Carlsen]

Had the same experience, Dave. Early season made me very optimistic then the acorns dropped. Even on my property with cameras going 24/7 getting very few pics compared to years past. Good luck for late season.

[fisherick]

I hear you, on second day of Mass bow season I killed a 5pt. buck. (10/18/16) Then a 8pt I passed on 11/1/16. Then a 7pt. I passed on 11/18/16. I have hunted almost every day of the season. I hunted Vermont gun opening weekend and seen a 6pt (missed) and a spike.  I have not seen a doe this year while hunting, What gives?

[eidsvolling]

DELETED BY THE AUTHOR

[nhbuck1]

Shadow I passed a lot of small does and a few small bucks bow season, I got a huge doe muzzle loading, I found a pinch point with some old logging roads, the pinch point has a small stream going threw it, vwery small, otherwise is a big ridge going to other land and to the right is thick with little pecker poles, I found one rub straight down along stream where I plan on sitting on the the other ridge on our land side and a walked 60 to 70 yards down the stream which connects to a logging rd with 3 more rubs also to the right of where I plan on sitting there's a few rubs, what do u guys think?

[Huntrdfk]

I didn't get out yesterday, but did manage to get out this afternoon. Very thick area with oaks and hemlocks, just after sunset I had a racked buck behind me at 40 yards. Could only see him with binoculars because of the time and how thick it was. That's the first deer I see in awhile, I will be back in there late next week.
As I said, I would find the thickest place I could that has food and concentrate my efforts there.

David

[Nantahala Nut]

I feel your pain. I have been out at least once a week for at least 7 hours each sit since September 10th. I have seen 2 deer on stand this year. I have always hunted big woods but the smokey mountains have humbled me quite a bit. Estimates are 15 deer per square mile here. I have seen lots of sign but very little daytime movement. This year I have been hunting lower in the creek bottom areas. I am gonna try going up higher to hunt the trails that parallel the ridges. I did see a big old black bear but he was about 10 yards out of range for me. I really need to take care of him as I have found fawn kills from last year in the same area and he keeps messing with my trail cams.
Good luck and stick with it. I am trying to learn from every hunt. I sure do miss hunting Pennsylvania though.

[Shadowhnter]

Originally posted by Nantahala Nut:
I feel your pain. I have been out at least once a week for at least 7 hours each sit since September 10th. I have seen 2 deer on stand this year. I have always hunted big woods but the smokey mountains have humbled me quite a bit. Estimates are 15 deer per square mile here. I have seen lots of sign but very little daytime movement. This year I have been hunting lower in the creek bottom areas. I am gonna try going up higher to hunt the trails that parallel the ridges. I did see a big old black bear but he was about 10 yards out of range for me. I really need to take care of him as I have found fawn kills from last year in the same area and he keeps messing with my trail cams.
Good luck and stick with it. I am trying to learn from every hunt. I sure do miss hunting Pennsylvania though.

Have you tried hunting saddles?