Wow, What a Season!

[Whitetail Nut]

Wow that takes drive to keep at it like that.

[Bill Carlsen]

Up until this year this was a  common site in our front yard. Sightings this year = 0!!!!!!!

 

[Spike]

Put 42 hunts in and only saw 1 moose, no deer. But there is nothing like taking the longbow for a walk. It all about the journey good for you!

[highpoint forge]

4 hunts. Lots of deer, but just 1, one, close enough!

[waknstak IL]

When I was a kid I can remember going to Tenn. and being amazed at seeing a deer. We had none around here. I first started deer hunting here in 1988 it was typical to draw an antlered only tag or get rejected completely during gun season and you only got 1 archery tag. The deer herd really took off in the early to mid 90's and then they started issuing tons of bonus doe tags and the numbers kinda leveled off. I can't imagine hunting someplace where the deer numbers are that low. I love to be out there. I'm not a guy who has to kill a deer to have a successful outing, but I really enjoy at least seeing them. My hat is off to you fellas and I hope you have a mild winter and your DNR takes steps and next year is a little better for all of you.

[BOHO]

come hunt down south somewhere if you can. seasons here dont end til jan 31 for the most part and more deer than you can shake a stick at. lots of places have hogs as well.

[twitchstick]

Some days at work I stop for a brief second to smell the air listen to the wind,and look to the mountian side. Most don't understand the calling but some like you do.  

[George D. Stout]

In Pennsylania we have become inclusion-happy. We have exactly eleven days of archery before inlines are allowed, and rifles for juniors and seniors, and then shotguns for squirrel hunters etc.  The deer have adapted to the first volley of shots in mid October and they simply head for the thick stuff before first light, and stay there until dark.  They show up in the fields after dark, but they just remain secluded during the day.  Around here, to find them, you hunt where it is so thick you can barely get through.

That said, to an archer, there is never a shortage of targets, nor is there any day that it is not great to be afield.  If it's all about killing something, then I would suggest it is the wrong sport.  Matter of fact, many times a deer will distract me from my stump shooting, but that's okay too. 8^).

[Huntrdfk@Work]

I agree George, if it was all about killing I would have quit a long time ago.  Something keeps pulling me back.......seeing the sun come up, the tranquility of being in the woods where there are no other manmade sounds except the occasional airplane, and yes, the anticipation of seeing,(and maybe shooting), deer in their natural enviornement.

For those of us that have grown up in the northeast, this is the hand we have been dealt, and we are all aware of it.  I have shot my share of deer in this state, and I know that Bill has shot a fair amount also. (  The deer in his avatar pic was the state archery record for quite awhile, I still remember the day he brought it into the archery shop I was working at).

As hard as it is, I will continue to hunt, in it's own way every hunt is a success to me.

David

[yukon chuck]

That's the spirit of a hunter, especially a hunter with traditional values and mind set. The journey matters as much or more than the destination.

[hickstick]

Amen George!   I've been hunting over 20 years and can count my animal kills on my fingers!   But I've lost count of the stumps/leaves/clumps of grass I've killed over the years.  

Believe me I ain't complaining, in fact one of the states I have unused tags for (CT) has so many deer it's hard not to trip over them in some places.....buts that's just not 'hunting' to me.  Grocery shopping maybe, but nothing like the still woods  at dawn with only the sound on my breath and heart pounding in my chest when I first hear that crunching leaf.

[Bill Carlsen]

Dave: Maybe we should get some Conn. tags and get Hickstick to take us on a hunt. What do you think?  Conn. isn't that far.

[Huntrdfk]

You're right Bill.....be a pretty cheap hunt too........

[Earl E. Nov...mber]

Dave,, You asked about per cent of harvest, and the best I can tell you is it depends a lot on whether they are trying to build the herd, maintain the herd or reduce the herd. Somewhere in the depths of my memory, I believe it is about 25% to maintain. From your figures on road kills, it really looks like they need to be minimizing the harvest and building the herd, possibly even closing the season, or making it buck only for a year or two.
With winter setting in, watching for deer yards and numbers in the yards would give a good feel for numbers as well, and feeding in the yards to help them through, may be a good approach as well.

[Huntrdfk]

Thanks Ken, I had heard to maintian numbers it was around 30%, either way, 25 or 30, the numbers are skewered here.

This is a core group here that is completely against changing the our season structure, whether it be shortening gun seasons or limiting doe harvests. I would love to see a few years of really limiting doe harvests, but I'd be pretty suprised to see it.  Until that happens, I personally don't see our herd makeup changing.

F&G tells us there are about 85,000 deer here, it doesn't take a lot to do the math to figure out that killing 10,300 deer,(this year's kill), isn't 25% of our herd.  

As far as supplemental feeding, while it is not against the law, F&G discourages it.......

Thanks for the input, I could go on about this for hours......

[Bill Carlsen]

.....and hours!!!

[HOWITZER]

I am not much of a "poster" on this site but more of a reader and felt compelled to share my season which only consisted of about four days in the field(stupid work). As a newbie to trad-hunting (this being only my second season with the trad gear)I have never had so much fun with highs and lows...From having eleven deer feeding under my feet at one time to having a decent buck only feet away...seeing what I thought was a trophy eight walking to my stand, only to see he had only one horn...finally getting a shot with the Assenheinmer and having the string get caught on my safety harness buckle, causing my bow to jump from my hand and tumble to the ground and having the arrow stick in a tree at a 90 degree angle from where I was aiming.  Counting my blessings cause neither I nor the bow suffered any harm.  I'm hooked for life!!!  It's not about the end but the journey to the end.  Till' next year practice practice practice!

[Covey]

David, There's somthing in what you said, it's like being gone for a while and going home. There is is just somthing special about being in the woods, being close to nature, you know the deer are there but you don't see them. I don't think it could possibly be put into word's, although some of you do a dang good job! Thank's, Jason

[Shawn Leonard]

David, I know how ya feel. My total of doe sightings was 4 from Nov. 7th. to the 20th. In that time I saw 22 different bucks though! Deer numbers are way down everywhere I hunt. What do you think has caused the lack of sightings?? You know when ya come for your next hunt here there will be plenty of sightings of bunnies that is!!!    Shawn

[Stone Knife]

The mast crop was low in my area, I saw a lot of does early on but after the corn was chopped and manure spread, then all the alfalfa in my area was sprayed with roundup the sightings were slim at best. We had a ton of apples but with all the wind they were off the trees early on. I'm not sure what the deer were eating after all that, was your situation similar to this.