does it bother you to NOT see deer?????

[adkmountainken]

ok here is the question. does it bother you if you do NOT see deer? i'm talking 4-10 days at a rip. i can honestly say that it does NOT bother me what so ever when i do not see deer. do i want to see deer, OF COURSE but i simply lOVE to hunt and get back to the grass routes of being a hunter/gather.  i hunt areas with low deer population but i LOVE where i hunt and would not change a thing.

[adkmountainken]

let me follow this up by saying hunting means the world to me and being out there and part off it is precious. i LOVE venison and would LOVE to take a deer with trad bow, that would just be a bonus. hunting and the outdoors is the blood that runs through my veins!

[stevewills]

it doesnt bother me as long as it is not because of people tresspassing

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Ken,

It bothers me. I dont mind not seeing deer for a couple days but after 6 or 8 I start to feel like I am a bad hunter.

I think someone said, "there is a fine line between hunting and sitting there looking stupid".

If I just want peice of mind then it doesnt bother me as much, but then I pick the more scenic places to sit and not necessarily a good deer spot.

[Eugene Slagle]

It bothers me only if it has been numerous times out & nothing which would make me think that I'm doing something wrong.

[adkmountainken]

Charlie,
     it is obvious from watching you and seeing how you scout/move through the woods that you are a VERY good hunter. you should never doubt yourself bro. the places you are hunting with me are HARD HUNTING for sure but i can't get enough of it and you KNOW how happy we are going to be when it all comes together!!!!! remember 2 years agi i SAW  bucks walk underneath one of my treestands there.

[non-typical]

Depends on which book I threw in my pack to read while I'm on the stand. While I expect to see deer each time I venture out it's not a measure of my satisfaction or happiness if I don't.

[lpcjon2]

If it bothered me I wouldn't be hunting this way.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

I know Ken, I just get discouraged. You see, I was certain this was my year. Now I'm not so sure. Dont get me wrong, I'm not guving up, I love to watch the sun rise and set form the woods as much as anyone.

Usually all I do when I get discouraged is hunt somewhere new. It does 2 things:

1. Lowers my expectations
2. gives a new setting and a change in pace.

Its only a matter of time.  Good Luck in the mOrning and i am glad both you and yor mother are doing better.

[DennyK]

I don't get discougaged by not seeing deer. What I do is if I hunt a stand 3 times and not see anything I move it to a more favorable area, like I'm gonna do with one of my stands tomorrow. I also try to figure out why I'm not seeing deer when year after year these are good areas. I do love the time spent hunting, but it is also my goal to spend some time shooting.

[foamkiller]

I love to hunt also but I love to see deer even more. Understand that I rarely take shots, only bucks 8pt or better and out to their ears here no does or buttons allowed. I do 98% of my hunting on my own farm. The populations is not such that I can shoot does(when you only have 4 resident does killing 1 is 25% of the population). Living in Indiana I am allowed one buck per year regardless of method used so I am real selective. I prefer to have tag soup over killing a small young buck.

[jsweka]

It all depends on how many consecutive trips to the woods it has been without seeing deer.  A trip without seeing any is to be expected, but if I go four or more trips in a row without seeing anything, I start getting grumpy.

[Guru]

Heck yeah it bothers me!  It would mean I'm not hunting the right place, or hunting the right place, the wrong way.

Simple as that for me...It's all about effort to be in the right place at the right time.

Sometimes that means hunting your close-to-home spots differently, and sometimes that means more travel time to get to where you have a better chance of success.

With as little hunting time as I seem to get now...that would almost mean a whole season without seeing anything...unexceptable!

[Bowwild]

Yep, bothers me too.  Yesterday was my 25th hunt of the season.  I've seen deer, from my stand, on 19 of those hunts. I don't count deer I seen on the way in or out as "seen".  The biggest streak of no deer seen was hunt 19-23.  

When I run into such streaks I typically think I've been hunting the same stands too much.

Things are picking up a lot the past two days though.  Three deer two hunts ago and two yesterday -- 3 were bucks but small.

[adkmountainken]

Curt,
     there ARE deer in the one area i'm talking about. Ron W saw 6 does in the field and i saw a lone doe in another spot. there is buck sign, not a lot but its there. they WILL mess up this time of year, i take it as a challange and opt not to move to greener pastures. it is obvious that you have a few WELL scouted areas and a GREAT deer populatin am i correct? i agree %100 you have to change things up i.e. move stands which i have done. in the past 3 years i have watched MANY deer in this area, this year just seems a little slow.

[Bonebuster]

Being honest, it does bother me if I am spending time hunting and I`m not seeing deer. Only because there are so many other things that need doing. Hunting time means SOMETHING is not being/getting done.

I do not see deer with every outing, but I do not hunt when conditions are not going to be productive. A swirling/changing wind will find me doing something else. A steady, predictable wind will find me hunting.

[broketooth]

i agree with mr curt. ive put alot into this season. ive made equip. changes to modern trad gear. im now using tree stands. ive learned to be more cautios about noise in setting up said stands. ive just to day have accepted the fact that i need to cover my ugly mug , due to skittish deer. ive had more shot ops in this season than ive had ever had in previous yrs. yes it bothers me not to see deer, im having a ball this season and i know i will kill at least one  i hope. i think im doin something right , good luck to you ken i hope ya get one, ruddy

[Tater John]

I'm in guru's corner on this one.    

Rusty

[YORNOC]

Absolutely bothers me, I can't lie. Love the woods and being there, but when hunting season comes, I'm there to hunt. Don't need to shoot one , but need to see them. My satisfaction comes from the sighting.

[Dave Lay]

i voted yes, but only at alot of sittings in a row with no sightings, i feel i havent done my scouting properly , but of course there has to be deer there to see em.. i love hunting the mtns. in the northern part of our state but deer numbers are pretty low, so i find myself hunting where the numbers are higher