NY southern zone

[Izzy]

7 bucks and 6 does.Very unusual for me.The bucks all seemed like it was urgent and they werent having much luck.

[hayslope]

November 6th and 7th were the highlights of my season so far....never got a shot on the 6th but had tons of action all around me.  The 7th, everything came together.  Deer around me all day.  Ended up taking two.

I've seen exactly one deer since...a lone spike that never came into range.  Maybe with the weather cooling down at night more, we'll start seeing more action.

Weird weather for November for sure.

[swampbuck]

I've only seen a handful this yr and only 1 in range ....I really hope tomorrow even though I gotta come in here(Im about to leave work been here since 5:30 am)I was hoping for the whole day but things don't always go as planned,I will be out early for the last waneing hours of the bow season

[sweet old bill]

Well it finally came all together and I let them go, in the morning I had a big doe walk into the ground blind but she was in very heavy grass / brush and when I drew I saw movement on her left and out came her fawn, so I let them walk.

After not seeing much of anything my taking a doe seemed to be not the right thing to do.

I went out in the PM and at 325 pm had a deer walking to me, the deer never turned and came within 10 yards looking me right in the eye he was a spike with 9 inch spikes. He got within 30 ft of the rock wall I was sitting behing,the brush was up to his shoulder so the only thing I could see was his head. He then stopped and turned around and went back the same way. Not a shot could be had.Also he sure did not look like he was in rut, no big neck and was not trailing anything.

So I am up and ready to go again, we have  light to med rain and the wind is from the south with the temp at 55 degrees.

[swampbuck]

Alright I've been here at the shop since 5:30 and now I,m headin out for the end of it before the change of arms starts in the morning

Good luck everybody  

[sweet old bill]

good luck to all with the gun, I will go back to the bow after thangiving rush of hunters is over. I still am not seeing any sign that the rut has come and or gone in the Delware county area and our town of Franklin.

[Stone Knife]

I'm taking my bow today, not only can I shoot another buck but the deer will be moving and it will be my best chance.

[sweet old bill]

was out all day and packed a lunch. a total of 2 shots in the woods today, never saw a sign of a deer. In the area there was maybe a total of 9 hunter, 3 from my place, 4 from up the road from NY city and 2 from the other side of the road.

maybe there was no movement since the weather permit hunters to sit all day in the mid 50's. I moved around from one ground blind to another, most I can sit is about 2 hours and the leg does not want to work, so I move to another blind, they are about 600 yards from one to another...

[Stone Knife]

I sat all day in my ground blind, I had a shot at a doe at 8:00 AM I ended up shooting right under her, I had a ribbon at 20 yards and they looked to be right next to it but things are deceiving when you look through mesh. She was just a tad farther and walking up hill. The only other deer I saw was at 2:00 PM. The sad part was that I heard most of the shooting before legal shooting time   :(

[Izzy]

Back to bowhunting now.I discovered a humongous rub and scrape line yesterday with plenty of trees for a climber.Not many shots where I hunted so maybe hes stillout there.Ironically, the buck I killed yesterday was only about 15 feet away, calm , broadside and looking away from me.All this after seven buck sightings all more than 30 yards out when the bowwas in my hands.I will be trying to fill my doe tags with the Zipper extreme and back to enjoying myself.The rut is still going strong from what I saw yesterday in central NY.  

[ron w]

Not seeing much rutting sign at all, the scrapes seem to be unfreshened, very few rubs, just not much going on!!

[Izzy]

We need some Ohio stories pal.Was crossing my fingers for you all.

[ron w]

The stories from Ohio are the same ones I tell in New York Izzy......I saw nothing just like here. I now have 85 hours in the woods and have seen 1, yes 1 deer!!!!!

[Izzy]

Man Ronnie, your hunting some good areas.I think you just like deer watching.Thats good stuff too though.  

[ron w]

Just like watching??? Do you hear me....I ain't seeing anything. Tough to watch nothing, although I have gotten to know some of the tree rats by their first names.....lol!!!

[sweet old bill]

Ron W you and I must be hunting the same areas. Now over 80 hours in the woods with the bow and or the gun and not seeing much of anything.

I am sure in NY there has to be hot spots with lots of deer. I sure think the current Managment of the DEC,the number of doe permits that are available, seems to be  a deer tag for each type of lic you purchase this seems to have caused the overall decline of our deer herd.

I would like them to go back to one buck per year, use whatever you want to take that game, but also you have to still pay for the ability to use that type of bow, BP, rifle, and or next year the crossbow.

Would like them to open the bow season on Oct 1.

 Want more days for BP or crossbow put them in the special season at the end of the gun season.

Reduce the gun season to just one week or 10 days.

Does anyone else out there think the deer herd is in trouble ??

[bbassi]

Originally posted by sweet old bill:
Does anyone else out there think the deer herd is in trouble ??

Yep. and you can thank Albany and short sighted hunters that think it's a great idea to take 3,4,5 does a year, year after year. Albany only cares about the revenue, and too many of these "hunters" are trying to compensate for something they're lacking in or are short of, if you catch my drift. Anyone who thinks that's a good idea to keep killing every baldy you see just ask someone who's hunted PA for the last 20-30 years how it worked for them. OK - rant off.

[IndianaBowman]

New York is a big state and a carte blanche statement about the deer herd is just not applicable.  There are several on here that are hunting areas with obvious low density. I on the other hand am VERY fortunate and have access to some very nice agricultural private ground that has ample deer.  I need to kill 3,4,5 deer just to help keep the herd in check. The land owner expects me to help him out. I am selective in what I shoot and actually passed on 3 bucks larger than the one I chose to shoot this morning. I could've killed any of the 3 bucks that came in together at 7:03 AM this morning! One was a very nice 9 pt that would probably push 110". He was young and next year will be very good. The other two were basket rack 8 pt and 6 pt. The buck I chose to shoot at 8 steps with my longbow was a spike with a deformed left pedicle. I thought taking him out of the herd was better than shooting one of the bigger breeders.  I know the next question is why didn't I shoot a doe. Well, for some reason this area doesn't seem to have a lot of does. Obviously enough for breeding, but not tons. I see more bucks than does. I still have a antlerless DMP tag and may take one if I choose, but I now have my freezer full enough. Still made it to work by 8:45 AM!

[Abear]

It has been a very slow year so far, late rut,warm,not many deer sightings, as far as DEC managing the deer herd... dont get me started..there MAY be some good places left with plenty of deer but the most part i have seen a steady decline in  deer sightings and reported take.the bad winters we have had a few years ago and increased tags and tag swapping has left a big hole in the herd.I hunt hard and love being in the woods but id like to see deer and sign of deer more fequently.. hey Izzi  , ron , you guys the ones that used to shoot Thursday night Trad league last year??

[No-sage]

I agree with Terry, NY is a big state with vast differences in terrain.  I've seen plenty of deer this year and passed on 3 opportunities.  I shot a decent sized doe on our last day of bow season.  

As I look at my mothers land, I can see that it's overbrowsed. It's all forested land with a few fields nearby, but no agriculture. We've done some timber removal which has helped get some more groundcover for the deer to eat.

I don't like to shoot small bucks, so I passed on 2 of them.  The other deer I passed on was a small doe.  I'll be out this afternoon looking for a good buck (the only legal deer for me right now).  There is at least one using the property pretty regularly from what I see as far as sign.

One of the benefits of my mothers place is that there is a decent sized swampy hemlock area that the deer like to use to get away from the local hunting pressure, and for winter food and cover.  I never go in there so the deer can have it for themelves.  But even here, the hemlocks are bare as far as the deer can reach.  All the new green cover gets browsed before it can get established so I don't know how I can get these cover belts reestablished without removing some of the deer.

DEC can't manage the deer on a per property basis.  As hunters, we have to be the ones to make the right decisions on what we take and what the land can handle.  Where I am, I need to remove does.