Am I doing something wrong?

[Roger Norris]

Don't let all of our stories mess with your mind. I hunt 2,3,4 times per week, and there are times I see no deer, and times I see 15. Frankly, in the last few years, I am setting up more for one good buck than for lots of does. The days I see 15 deer...all does...are way more frustrating to me than the days I just see 1 buck.

Not that setting up for and shooting does is bad...I shot 2 last year before I killed a buck.

[Marvin M.]

Jamie, the stand route could be a problem.  I've thought about that, and have what I think is the best way in, but I do have to cross some of the areas that I expect deer to come from.

Vermonster, there aren't any real defined areas for food.  Oaks are scattered and spotty this year.  I've been told that there is an old apple tree on the other side of the farm -- I'm going to try to find that this weekend.  The ridge I'm hunting is the only place on the farm that I (or any of the gun huters) found a scrape on last year.  I've read that this means that there isn't a lot of competition for the does, and that is consistent with what I see on the farm.  Lots of does and few bucks.  Most of the bedding is on the adjoining, grown over, farm.  There is a cedar thicket on the back of the farm that "should be" a bedding area, but I haven't been able to confirm it.  It's thick and on an east facing slope with (prevailing) winds from the south-west most of the time, even in winter.

Marty,

I'd love to do that.  Just not sure it is in the budget.  I'll go back and check on the schedule and cost on it.  I might could sneak it into a family vacation or something.

[Marvin M.]

Roger,

I think my biggest handicap is the limited amount of time I can be out there.  I think I used to think I did OK for the amount of time I have, but when people talk about seeing twenty-plus deer a day when they are on stand, it's starting to shake my confidence.

I don't have to make a kill, but it would be nice every once in a while.  Seeing deer lets me know that I am at least doing something right, but I'm frustrated that I'm not seeing the same numbers as other people report, especially when it seems so routine for them.

[Coop]

Not counting my mule deer hunt in SD last season I saw 6 deer total while bowhunting on PA state game land. I tried many locations, hunting early, hunting late, walking just trying to kick something up so I could at least see a dang deer, LOL. I hope this season is better as far as sightings go. I hunted very Saturday. I get home from work too late for weekday hunts and didn't have any vacation last year since it was a new job.

[John Scifres]

Heavy pressure makes deer nocturnal.  Gun season often flushes them out so it isn't always a good indicator.  There are some public grounds around here that you will not see a deer on unless you are spotlighting or you bump it.  But there are lots of them there.  It sounds like you have a good healthy deer herd that is used to being hunted.  Consider it a challenge.

[Larry247]

Marvin, it depends alot on the amount of cover where your hunting. I've put stands up in stuff so thick i had to crawl in to it. Lots of does and even some better bucks than out in the open places where i can see a ways off.
I see alot of deer on my farm, but only a few shooter bucks, and some times i don't wait on one of them. I'm an opertunist, untill i've got one buck tag left.

One of the counties i hunt in you may only see 2 or three deer a day, maybe none. The bucks are usualy a little bigger there than on my place and to me that seems worth the wait. Get out and move around and don't be affraid you'll spook'em. They'll come back another time. Deer are creatures of habit. Hunt the food sources, if there are does there you can bet the bucks won't be far behind...  

[Jeff Strubberg]

Eleven deer in a day?  I've gone a month of Sundays and not seen eleven deer.

You are seeing deer.  You even have shot opportunities.  So someone else saw twenty!  You can't shoot more than one at a time anyway....

[Marvin M.]

Jeff,  I wish it was that way all the time.  So far this year I've been out twice.  Sept. 1 (opener) I saw three.  Sept. 15, I saw no deer.  As far as I know, no-one else has been out after deer on this farm.  My friend (son-in-law of the owner) has been squirrel hunting.  I can't talk him into bringing his bow.

Yes, I'm seeing deer on a regular basis, just wondering if I can do better.

[Big Dave]

Sounds like your seeing plenty of deer, maybe not what you want to see but seeing plenty none the less

[SC Bowhunter]

I haven't seen deer in the double digits since I was a kid in the 70's and early 80's in PA. Also, there are way more gun hunters in the woods which tends to move the deer around alot more. If I see 1 deer in a days hunt, it was a good one.

Rob

[draco]

Try something different than what everybody has told you. Set up where you might get a shot but where you can see the most country,whether open fields or open woodlands. Even old bucks get in open ground from time to time,especialy during the rut. Watch where they come out and go in the thick cover. You will see more deer,learn more about the deer and be able to take advantage of what you`ve learned. It can take years to develope your own techniques and strategies for taking more deer but hunting the open ground and observing more deer will better serve you to developing  them. I must admit I do feel sorry for you and some of the other guys that posted about seeing so few deer. Sometimes I go a week seeing more than 20 an evening and have seen over 50 in an evening. I did`nt have them all in bow range but I did get to see them. If you ever get to central Texas give me a call,I`d be more than happy to take you hunting with me.  Bob

[Bonebuster]

First off, I would like to say that passing a shot you don`t feel good about is good advice to us all.

If you are not seeing as many deer as you think you should, the first thing I would ask you is
are you getting into position as quietly as you can. Hunting your way to where you will sit?
The next thing I would ask, is are you getting into, or too close to bedding areas when you get set up.  These two things can stop the fun before it starts. Repeated disturbance in the bedding areas is a bad thing.

Good luck.

[James Wrenn]

Where you hunt makes a huge differance.If you hunt open county in a place with a high deer population you can see a lot deer.Most are out of range. :)In a place with less deer you are just going to always see less.Hunting thick stuff you might see less deer that any where else but odds are many will be in shot distance of a bow.I hunt places such as that and am happy if I can see one or two deer each hunt because it usually means I can kill one if I decide to. :)If I just want to go watching deer I will take a pair of binoculars and sit on a powerline where I can see a mile or two.  

[Marvin M.]

Thanks guys.  Good comments.  I'll be reviewing what I am doing this year and see if I can improve.  Maybe I'm just reading too many stories from experts where they talk about seeing huge numbers of deer.  I am seeing deer, and as I said, had one close enough to shoot at but didn't like the shot.

I guess it's a continual learning experience.  I hope I never get content with my methods/knowledge.

[Orion]

If you're doing things right, and you seem to be, the number of deer you see is determined in large part by how many are around, and some areas hold more than others.  Here in Wisconsin, in the southern part of the state deer numbers are as high as 40 per square mile.  In the far north, where I do most of my hunting, it's more like 5-10 deer per square mile.  In the south, it's not unusual to go out and see 10-20 deer in a day.  In the north, I've often sat for 3-4 days, from dark to dark, without seeing a deer.  Depends on deer density, cover, habits, etc.  Keep working at it.  That's why it's called hunting.  Good luck.

[no]

If I`m not seeing many I go looking for them. I usually am in a climber during bow season & on the ground during gun. Many times they are not very far away, usually next ridge or close by. Most seasons the food source will change a little & as little as 50 to 100 yard change will make a big difference. Same w/ fields, sometimes one or another is working for that season. Be flexible & change it up.  Mike