Deer sightings from stand so far?

[BillW]

I was just curious and I think others might be too on about how many deer each of us see's or expects to see each day on stand. Personally for my area I realistically expect to see atleast one deer per outing.

Last year I saw more deer than in most years. I passed up 12 different deer (in range) and was seeing at least 1-2 deer (often the same deer) per sitting in my stand. In past years I averaged about the same (tad fewer) but often these were repeat sightings. My worst year was in 2005 when I only saw one deer on stand but that was a nice buck and my first deer with a recurve bow.

This year I have only been out about 8 days due to work etc and I have only seen 2 deer. Neither was in range. The first part of our season was HOT so that probably kept them nocturnal and then one weekend the farmer next door was cutting his beans. This past weekend was a full moon so again I say nocturnal movement. My other neighbor who lives there says he has not seen many deer either. I am not throwing in the towel and deciding the deer numbers are down, I am thinking the conditions thus far have not been good resulting in poor sightings. Yes, I have tracks, scrapes and rubs so they are there. Trail cam pix show no pix of day time movement and no I don't think hunting pressure caused the nocturnal movement. Like I said it has been so far heat and moon related........

So, since things are just SLOW right now in my area, I would like to hear from you guys on what amount you are seeing. Since my hunting land is in SW Wisconsin. I am wondering about you all, especially areas with high deer density.

Thanks,

Bill

[Rich LaBombard]

Bill, I'm pretty much with you..  very little activity.  Maybe it's the heat, etc., but I am quite surprised at the lack of activity.

I was doing errands on Saturday, and drove by  the local deer check station at two seperate times, and the place was empty each time.

Like you, I'm in a good spot with tracks and droppings, etc.  also, the neighborhood sightings of deer have pretty much stopped.  I'm scratching my head, but the weather is cooling off, so let's see what happens.

I'm in MA, by the way.

[jbb]

I am spoiled, lets get that out of the way right off the bat.  My dad has a small farm and there are tons of deer on it.  I have been out 12 times this year.  One of those times I saw no deer at all while in the tree, saw a couple on the way out though.  The other 11 times I passed up shots on at least one deer, sometimes multiple deer.  Make that 10 times, shot a doe on Friday.  
I see an average of 8-10 deer each time I am out and generally have most of them directly below my tree. The tree is a white oak with lots of acorns, this year most trees are short on acorns in the area.  
Passed up a nice 8 point buck on Saturday, I had to get to my kid's soccer game so I just watched him eat acorns that fell out of the tree I was in.  There are at least three bigger ones there though so I guess that factors into it also.

[Glenn Carl]

I average seeing 1-2 per outing. Sometimes I won't see any and the next time I may see 7 or 8. Here where I hunt the sightings go up after the farmers get there crops out. All the crops around my main hunting spot were harvested over the weekend so I will start to see more from here on out.

[BillW]

Yep, As the weather cools I expect the sightings to increase. I think my timing has been bad so far. Thing is I am in a EAB (earn a buck) zone and need to tag a doe first. Time is not on my side with the rut coming. Here is a picture of a doe that was checking out a scrape that I had a cam on.


I had expected to get a pix of a buck but this SLOW trigger on my Moultrie only triggered on the doe. All I got of a buck was his south end as he walked by the scrape.... Kinda cool picture of the doe. Shows or confirms the nocturnal travels.

Bill

[southernarcher]

I have been out 3times here in SC for deer.@ evenings and one morning.The first evening I had a nice 6pt at 10 yards and had the glue fail on my nock.He was the only deer I saw.The next trip was a morning hunt,and I had a doe pass about 5yrds behind me(all my hunts are from the ground)and a small 6pt,that isn't legal on the WMA give me a shot at 12yrds.The next hunt,an evening,I killed a doe,which was the only deer I saw.
I go north to MD for deer,and so far this year I have hunted about 3 days there.Two 1 1/2 day trips.The first trip I saw 49 total,and the second I saw 75.Now all these deer aren't in bow range,I would say about half of them were.Man there is some good hunting up there.I'll be back up there this weekend!

[Rich LaBombard]

Bill, how about you and I tag along behind jbb, see where his stand is located, and just wait for a soccer game to be scheduled??  

[pseman]

Sightings have been few and far between so far for me. I expect to see deer each time out, sometimes I see none others I may see 5-6 or more. The weather has been hot here so far but just this week, the weather has at least become seasonal(lows in upper 40's highs in the 70's). I have not had a lot of time to scout so I have also been scouting after hunting and we have tons of acorns. This is often good for the deer, but makes the hunting a little mor difficult.

Our season gets progressively better the further along it gets. Our rut doesn't usually come until January, so as long as the temps stay cool, the deer sightings should steadily increase.

Mark

[mooseman76]

I've been out 5 times and last Saturday was my first sighting.  I had a deer come down a trail bout 8 yards from my stand.  It was a little spike buck, too bad they are illegal here in PA as I'm getting hungry for some fresh back straps!

Mike

[BillW]

Rich, Sounds good... LOL

One other thing that has my activity reduced is that I normally have about 50 wild apple trees producing apples on my 35 acres. The crop seems hit and miss and I have had my land for 8 years now so I have seen a few cycles. I have seen years like this and assume next year will be better. I do fertilize here and there, but that really does not seem to stop the cyclical nature of these trees. Right now only about 1/3rd of them are producing. I expect next year as typical will be a BUMPER crop. We had a WET spring and summer (flooding) and I suspect that does not help. It would seem that a lot of water would be a good thing but it seems with apple trees you can defiantly have too much of most anything... I am no expert just my observations.

Anyhow I will be in my tree this weekend and hope to get a doe. Anyone but me surprised to see my picture of a doe checking out this scrape and licking branch in October? Could be the rumors of an early rut are true.

Take care and I appreciate everyone's tales. It really is enjoyable to read how you all are doing!

Regards,
Bill

[BillW]

TTT

[Tradesmen4]

10 deer sense sept 8th and hunt every day. I'm getting ready to take up golf. Have fun. Greg

[bearhair]

This year it has been 1 or 2 a night while on stand.  Tonight had a doe 60 yrds out for 2 hours just mulling about.