Slow season here in PA

[pauljr]

So I havnt had a great deal of time to hunt this year due to work and other family obligations. But I have been out 5 times now for a total of about 10 hrs. I have yet to see a deer. Very strange, now im not just a newbie at this ive been hunting this area my whole life. Ive scouted all year hung my stands in the right places. The only possible explanatipn is the deer are not leaving the corn. We dont have a great number of deer anymore due to the PGC's deer managment program but I can usually find a few. Anybody out there have any other ideas as to whats going on or experiancing the same thing? Im not too worried yet once the bucks start cruising my funnel stands should produce im just a little puzzled.

[BCWV]

Our deer population has been down in my area the last few years and the mast was spotty this year also.

 I've not found deer in the usual places and had to adjust when I found out what they've been feeding on.

 I think you nailed it. They'll be where the food is.

[Groundpounder]

i had the same problem til yesterday. i think because we had so much rain the farmers are later on getting off some of their crops off.yesterday when i went out the farmers had lots of bare fields around the woods i hunt ,i went from seeing few to no deer to seeing em running everywhere last night.

[stick hunter]

Paul Im with you!! I have been out alot and I did get a doe but that was the only deer I have seen so far. Im In a good area and have always had good luck In this spot but this year Is pretty slow. I can tell you that the food source around here Is terrible this year, and It seems my buddies are experiencing the same thing. GOOD LUCK HANG IN THERE!!!!

[gonzoso]

The deer are ample up here in the poconos.  There's a 3-4k acre state game lands up here, and I have access to a 1,000 acre piece of private land and there are tons of deer out there.

I think that the problem is when hunting land is near private developments the deer go there for sanctuary.

[mmisciag]

I have to agree. Deer are moving close to homes and developments. I'm in 5c and we have over 110k in doe tags offered. I still only see them close to developments. I am hunting small wood lots. I have not shot any yet but my turn will come. They are there.

Martin

[cedar]

I agree with you about the corn.  There aren't many acorns in the woods, so they have no reason to leave the corn right now.  I have seen more deer this week than the first three weeks, so I'm thinking things will get better when the sex drive kicks in.

[customcrester]

It's been slow here in the southeast too. Not getting a lot of deer on the trail cams.There is a lot of acorns this year and the deer can feed where they want.The bucks are starting to cruise now so just put the time in your funnel stands and you should see deer.I killed a big 230lbs 7 point with a 21" spread on Thursday nite on my stand that is along a logging road behind the house.Good luck and shoot straight.

[Hoser1268]

I also hunt 5C and I'm not seeing as many deer as I used to. I think the GC is giving out way too many permits in our area.  There are still deer but nothing like it used to be. Very frustrating.

[RedShaft]

i know what you mean about the deer population. i usually hunt almost every day. i seen 4 deer total. there are no acorns at all where im hunting. so they must be eating browse or are near fields. i hunt stat land exclusively. i walked my entire hunting area today and found no scrapes and 5 rubs. so if i find any sign at all, i will be on it. or we are going to head to another area. its always tough on sate land around here lol.

Keep the Faith!!    

[jsweka]

Pretty slow in my neck of the woods too (2E). And no acorns.  I've only seen deer one time so far while on stand.  Last year was pretty slow too until the end of October, so I'm hoping it picks up soon.  I've got vaction time coming up the last week of the season.  If I don't start seeing deer, maybe I'll just spend my vaction watching "Essential Encounters" and shoot my bow in the yard. (It will at least save me some gas money.)

[gonzoso]

There are a lot of deer, there really isn't a shortage of them at all.  I see them all day and at dusk here the field by where I hunt fills up with them, I've counted over 60 at one time this year.

But they're wily and know where things are nice and safe.

Personally I've gone out still hunting with my bow 2 days and saw deer all day both days.  It was pretty much just a matter of not getting busted, I saw flashes of white all day lol.

It's really just a matter of finding the right place without too much pressure.

[deaddoc4444]

JUst hunted our area  again in 3B All day Friday and All day saturday    not much   small bunch of does that my son at least got a shot at one . IN a few hundred acres of St Game land and a few hundred acres of private land in the same area NO RUBS !!!!!! Finally found one small started rub on about a 2 inch tree on Saturday . This in an area usually filled wiht rubs this time of year  Usually find rubs and we know the usual rub lines in the area.Hunted 5 full days of the season so far I have seen one deer ( doe ) my son has sen 8 total    Neither one of us has seena buck of any description .
  We are at a loss. Hunting this area for about 8 years now NEVER seen it devoid of rubs .
  Acorns around  not like thelast few preious years but enough   beech nuts around also .  We will try it again this friday and saturday  but hope is deminishing .   NO TURKEYS either   in an area where we normally see two disticnt flocks of turkeys the past 8 years  NOTHING NOW .

[Randy Koleno]

No rubs or scrapes found in the normal places yet. Very few sightings so far. Hopefully things will pick up in the next couple of weeks. I'll be out looking every chance I get. Good Luck Guys.

[pauljr]

Sounds like everyones is having similar experiances. Has to be the lack of acorns, the large amount of standing corn and typical october lull on steroids. All we can do is keep hunting and wait for november. Hopefully the farmers can sell there high moisture corn and get it off the fields. Good luck all

[RedShaft]

Maybe Gonzo should take us all hunting,  

[Jim Keller]

Been on stand 6 times, no deer. I used to live for bow season, but year after year of seeing less and less deer is causing me to lose interest. I long for the old days. Oh well, I'm glad I like to hunt squirrels and turkeys.