Bayou

Slow where I’m at, 8A. Congrats!!

Sitting on ground today underneath a blow down in a field facing where I am certain they are bedding down. There’s about 100 yards wide of golden rods with thicket behind it and field behind me. I’m about 30 yards off the edge of the golden rods. Zero movement so far.

In Parma (Monroe county), after I posted a little four point came out about 40 yards crossing a trail. Lucky for him no shot for me because I woulda went against my personal antler rules lol.

This is my 15th year hunting and literally every year I find my sightings going down. I am currently on my 7th sit in this spot (probably around 20 or so this year) and I’ve seen.... two deer total. To make maters worse, I think it was the same doe both times as I kicked her up twice @ night on my way out. Anyone else with similar stories? I’m literally between water and bedding areas with 4 massive scrapes in visual sight with trails running in an out of the area.

Walking in 8A, bit rainy but can't get them from bed. Good luck everyone!

Had a doe scream by me at 4:30, didn't stop at all even tried to quickly mouth whaa her to stop but she wasn't having any of it. Five minutes later I hear shots from her direction. Awesome.

In 8A today, sitting in chair looking at back of property that has two huge runs coming out of thick stuff. Saw white ass in the air on the walk in, looked decent size.

What are you using to take these pictures? Really nice quality.

I hunt 8A in Rochester and deer sightings have been dismal on the property I've been on but counted 13 from a drive to Greece to Hilton after work one day lol figures

Sounds like a stud in the making

I don't think it will mean much. He might be more aggressive than other bucks, but I don't think any of this translates into rack size.

Had 3 more doe come in at 8:00, passed again, they looked small... Haven't seen a big doe this year yet

Spooked two on way in and just passed a doe at 7:05 hoping buck behind her, she was blind to the fact I was there... First time on ground this year!

Agree, but unfortunately the laws are passed with the data they collect so accuracy is irrelevant.

Congrats! Nice deer. This is the exact reason why the tagging was changed from buck tag / doe tag to antlered tag / anterless tag.

Mandatory ARs in the state will do nothing to mature the herd. This has already been confirmed by the DEC. "Second, mandatory ARs are not necessary to maintain a healthy deer herd in New York. Statewide pre-season adult sex ratios average about 1.6 adult doe per adult buck; yearling antler beam diameters indicate deer are in good physical condition; and more than 94% of adult female deer are being bred with more than 86% of conceptions occurring within a 28-day period centered in mid-November. Also, the yearling portion of the statewide buck take has been dropping, without manda­tory ARs, from greater than 70% in the early 1990s to less than 55% in 2011." Still... people want bigger bucks. ""...bucks have all but disappeared in my area”, but data do not support these perceptions. In fact, hunters are taking more older-age bucks in NY now than ever before in our recorded history." There is no winning. Population control is only managed by killing does. If you kill a buck great but that does nothing to the population except -1 deer. All the doe that buck would have bred will just be bred a different buck. "ARs will produce more mature bucks." Sure it will! But guess what? Most mature bucks are nocturnal anyways. So now we just have more nocturnal bucks, more problems with the understory in the woods (the foliage under the canopy), more car accidents at night, higher deer populations, and less hunter choice. We must remember that not everyone hunts for bone, many hunt to put meat on the table. Do you think the DEC really cares if you take a 4 point or a 12 point? I'm willing to bet they would rather manage the population of the deer over the characteristics of the population. The herd is healthy, maybe not as mature as some of us would like, but it is still healthy. On to the one buck a year rule. I think this is very problematic in terms of the actual tagging process. It sounds great on paper, and it might even work, but it comes with some serious problems to work around. The only way this could be implemented would be a grandfather clause exempting lifetime license holders from the one buck a year rule. Lifetime holders paid a substantial amount of money for lifetime tags. They did not pay that money for the privilege to hunt. That's what the required NYS hunter safety courses are for. If you start only giving one buck a year tag out, how does this fit into the sportsman/super-sportsman payment structure? You can't buy a lifetime super-sportsman license. You can only buy a lifetime sportsman, lifetime bow, and lifetime muzzle loader to equal a super-sportsman license. One buck a year just does not add up in these "already paid for tags." If the option was lifetime sportsman or lifetime super-sportsman, sure it would make sense, but that's not how it is/was. To be honest, there is no way to please everybody. It will be interesting to see what the DEC chooses. I'm putting my money on a statewide AR, at least 3 on 1 side. I personally am for a statewide AR, but that's only because I don't have issues getting meat when I want it.

Good job, good read. Props for not giving up and going back out to find him. In my 7th year of hunting and still every time a deer comes out for me I know that exact feeling you have of the heart pounding through your ears. The feeling has slowly decreased in time for me though. First couple years it would stay like that up to 30 seconds, now it's more like a 1-2 second spurt and then I settle in.

Nothing here in 8A, 4 shots 2 diff locations about 230 all quiet since then

I've been bow hunting off gravel road, close to Goose Haven, and there has been endless shots ringing off every time since opening day of goose. Good luck!

Hey everyone, I've been lurking the forums since the beginning of this season and figured it was about time I joined so I can post on the topics of interest. This is my 7th year hunting, 6th year bow. I hunt 8A (Hilton, NY), 8M (Letchworth) and 8J (Seneca Falls). Hope everyone's season is not like mine and are actually seeing quality deer!