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Post by phatadams on Dec 21, 2008 17:42:20 GMT -5
I have never seen anything like it before. I havent seen a deer since the week of thanksgiving to now. I am so stumped I honestly dont know what is going on. The spotts I hunt produce good deer I honestly think that they move on to another woods this year. I know that sounds stupid but they are gone. Has anybody else had a dramatic change in there hunting area? Dought I go for late bow. Know im just ready to start fishing again.
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Post by Hoosier Hunter on Dec 21, 2008 17:52:50 GMT -5
It's a downer year but not the worst. I hunted the first few day of firearms then got burnt out. I went out during ML and things got going again. I probably had less hours in this year than the past few. I ended up seeing 71 deer from my stand.
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Post by phatadams on Dec 21, 2008 17:55:51 GMT -5
hoosier hunter, you hunt barth. county dont you
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Post by varmint101 on Dec 21, 2008 18:14:57 GMT -5
Maybe you have others hunting the property or right on the line that are messing it up for you.
I haven't seen as many deer as the past few years this year, but I have seen enough; most of which have been bucks.
I'm ready for shed hunting then turkey myself. Good luck in late archery.
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Post by Hawkeye on Dec 21, 2008 18:26:20 GMT -5
I had a pretty good early bow season on the small property I hunt,but shortly after the corn and bean harvest the farmer tilled the fields. This turned the fields into a barren mud pit along the creek where I usually have success.
From that time on the hunting was very slow.
Evidently the Deer not finding the usual residuals from the crops moved there feeding and bedding to other areas.
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Post by goodyz71 on Dec 21, 2008 20:08:08 GMT -5
This has been my worst year in a long time. I had a buck and two does on the ground before muzzleloader season endend last year. The farmer, for the first time i can remember tilled the ground the day after cutting the beans back in early bow season and i am pretty sure this hurt me. I am hunting on 80 acres and not much woods. There was a huge cut corn field to my west, on another persons propety, and i think the deer were pretty much off the property I was hunting this year. Even the amount of deer that i saw during legal hours were way down. I guess that is why they call it hunting. Still have late bow to save me having to eat tag soup. Goodyz71
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Post by TagTeamHunter on Dec 21, 2008 20:12:35 GMT -5
Well this year has been a double whammy for me: Final got access to private land (Produced good deer number last year) and this year it been bad, bad, bad. Plenty of theories as to why but it is what it is. Not happy about it but what can you do. Still have hope until Archery is over with...
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Post by troutline on Dec 21, 2008 20:23:52 GMT -5
To many bonus tags. That is what i think.
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Post by 10point on Dec 21, 2008 20:37:03 GMT -5
To many bonus tags. That is what i think. I think you hit the nail on the head here. I have a friend that hunts a woods that I hunted with him a couple of times last year that had a good population. This year my friend did not get a deer and did not see many. A guy hunting the next property over told him he had taken 9 during archery. Supposedly a guy took at least 12 out one of the places I hunt. |
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Post by Hawkeye on Dec 21, 2008 20:45:49 GMT -5
To many bonus tags. That is what i think. Not in my area,first weeks of early archery ,I was seeing 15 to 20 Does and 3 or 4 small bucks every time I hunted. That was in just one small bean field of about 20 acres ,this continued for about 2 or 3 weeks. After harvest, then the tilling of the fields I saw maybe 2 or 3 deer per day total. |
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Post by colts1888 on Dec 21, 2008 21:44:31 GMT -5
It was not my worst year, but it was a very down year for sure. I just did not see the numbers that i normally do. Buck and doe sightings both were way down. Had 3 different bucks i had in mind after passing them up multiple times last season, never did see the first one of the 3. Maybe the neighbors got em, but i doubt it. I think the lack of any corn crop in the area i hunt has hurt me. It was all beans this year. Next year it will be all corn. Driving down the road about a half mile from where i hunt last week, i seen at least 25 deer in the cut corn field. It's the closest one to me this season.
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Post by danf on Dec 21, 2008 22:28:05 GMT -5
The weather has a lot to do with it. I've got a feeling it's going to be a bad winter- and the deer know it and have known it. The weekend following Thanksgiving (still during firearms, mind you) I watched at least a dozen does that were herded up. I don't think I've EVER seen them herded up that early.
At this point, I think they are herded up due to the weather and staying close to food. Find the food, you'll find the deer. They won't have much else on their minds other than eating and staying warm!
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Post by dbd870 on Dec 22, 2008 7:15:44 GMT -5
I'd say it was a different year, not a bad year. Everyone I talked to at the December Morgantown Conservation Club meeting said what several of us have been saying here; doe numbers were down and buck sightings were way up, with many of them being 1.5 year olds.
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Post by DEERTRACKS on Dec 22, 2008 7:40:33 GMT -5
The wind patterns were different this year. I only got to hunt 2 of my best stands a couple of times each this year due to the wind directions.
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Post by tickman1961 on Dec 22, 2008 14:57:35 GMT -5
The wind patterns were different this year. I only got to hunt 2 of my best stands a couple of times each this year due to the wind directions. Amen, hunt the wrong wind at the wrong time and "poof" no deer..... my best hunting this year was early morning with an east wind.... |
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Post by featherduster on Dec 22, 2008 17:39:11 GMT -5
Just because they sell bonus deer tags doesn't mean you need to fill one,and just because food pantries will accept deer doesn't mean you need to kill extra deer.
Take only what you and your family can eat between seasons and let the others hunt their own deer.JUST MY OPINION.
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Post by vortex100 on Dec 22, 2008 20:41:28 GMT -5
I've had a good year, but I've only taken one doe because that is all I need. I saw bucks on both the properties I hunt that would go 130 to 150, but it just didn't work out for me. The only thing that has been an issue with me this year is the weather. It was terrible all year for me. If it wasn't raining it was super windy. I don't think I hunted on a calm day all year.
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Post by songdog on Dec 22, 2008 22:10:42 GMT -5
I agree with the bad weather theory.A doe that I took in early muzzleloader season had a 3/4 inch thick pad of fat around her rib cage. Saw alot more deer on nicer days w/ low winds and on days that preceded a cold front. The deer did indeed yard up very early in the season and many fed under the safety of darkness. Fields that stayed empty all day had 10 to 15 deer in them during the night time.
I have a spot to hunt in Parke County and I think you could have taken 8 antlerless deer this season . I think that is too many . Could be a reason that the deer are scarce.
The does are like any other animal w/ self survival skills , when the hunting pressure is on they become totally nocturnal.
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Post by evolutionsthunder on Dec 23, 2008 17:05:19 GMT -5
sounds like many of you had alot better luck than i did. hunted early bow and gun never seen the first deer . even from areas that often produce. i guess its time to rabbit hunt
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