What's Your Take on this Season???

[88GW]

Just what it says. What do you think? More deer, less deer seen? More deer hunting success for you or the group you hunt with?? Not meant to be a debate just an informal survey on the 2012 Deer Hunting Season.

My experience this year has been mixed. I have seen plenty of deer just not while hunting. I even witnessed a large 8 pointer breed a doe in the middle of a field. I struck out during the bow season after several weekends of hunting. I struck out on opening day weekend and the week and weekend after opening day. In years past it is not uncommon for me to see dozens of deer on a daily basis, especially opening day of gun. Didn't see a thing after an all day sit of gun opener. Friends and family that hunt have experienced much of the same. Normally see a lot of deer and for whatever reason they are not seeing them.

I am hoping to get out there and seal the deal. I will be out until late bow/muzzleloader season if need be.

[Robinson446]

I have noticed ALOT of deer have been bedding down this year during the day. Most of them I see I kick up walking in to the stands.

[Paula]

I have seen less and i think its because the property just behind where i hunt brought out a 8x10 shed they use for hunting on friday afternoon, i believe i even have a picture of a doe looking over there wondering what the hell was going on, lol. that shed has been in that field for the last 5 yrs that i have hunted there and for what ever reason was taken out at the beginning of summer, when they brought it back it was placed much closer to me.

[13BVET]

Quite frankly, it sucks. This is, by far, the worst season I've had in the last 15 years. I've seen all of one deer during 6 sits in gun, and I saw all of 2 during bow. It's horrible. Having said that, there are tons of them in peoples yards, naturally!

[joe12]

For me I probably spent less time in the woods than past seasons. Overall I would say that I saw fewer deer total, but more bucks. The weekend of Nov 11-12 was insane by me, seeing 8 different bucks. Also, I had opportunities on a number of bucks during the first two weeks of rifle season. Unfortunately during bow I just had bad luck (no shot, bucks walking in too early or just as legal shooting hours ended, etc). During gun I passed on a small 7 only to have a guy on the property next to me take him, and then saw a really heavy bruiser on thanksgiving, but he only had 1 antler. My brother shot a nice 10 pt the second day of rifle, so not a total disappointment for us this year.

[Deerthug]

I have mixed feelings about this season. Before bow season there were tons of deer moving about, as much as up to 30 in one field in my area. During bow, out of the 5-6 times I went up to hunt, I saw deer moving about but only two came within bow range - a fawn with spots and a small four pointer which busted me on the draw. Also saw a small spike not more than 14 yds from my stand in the woods. As far as firearms, I had the best opening weekend in my life - shot a doe on opening day and a 7 pt (biggest in my life) the next day. I expected to see a lot more deer this firearms season given the fact that the winter was very mild. I saw only a handful roaming about on opening weekend but far off from my set up except for the two I put down. Nevertheless I'm planning to go up for muzzy and hopefully take another doe to make jerky, sausages and ground meat for burgers.

[tughillhunter]

Hit and miss here too. but on days they werre roaming about, i swear i saw more smaller bucks than ive evr seen in my 13 years of hunting that land. if they all make it and dont wander off elsewhere, next year will be the ticket season I hope.

[Five Seasons]

I have noticed about the same activity as last but my group overall had an off year. Plenty of does and small buck opportunities but not many nice shooters. My wife and I just had our first in August so my time and standards were limitied. I hunted a total of 9 times and could have shot at least a doe 7 of those times. I took a 5 early with bow and a 6 early with gun weighing 150 and 130 respectfully so I'm happy enough.

[nybuckboy]

Overall a terrible year both bow and gun for me. That being said their have been some slammers taken in and around my area within 5 miles of me.

[NYBuckHunter27]

Weather has deffinatly been better/colder than last year which is accounted for many big deer being taken, and we also actually had a rut period this year. cant complain to much i managed to take 2 bucks, but i can honestly say im yet to see a real slammer while hunting either bow or gun so far.

[BizCT]

Pretty good for me. Usually Im lucky to see 1-2 bucks the whole gun season. Opening day I saw 3 bucks by 750am and shot a 4pt. Haven't been out since.

[d-bone20917]

It sucks. I need a job where I can work less and hunt more.

[phade]

Gun season has not been good for me this season. Just not seeing much moving during hunting hours. I've switched up quite a bit. I base my success on buck encounters, which have been minimal thus far. Hoping to key in on one I have had in the distance twice since opener.

Bow season was short for me here, and Ohio was decent.

[Jennifer]

The only deer I've seen since the opening of gun here was a white butt rocketing away from me before legal sunrise. When we had snow on last weekend I spent the entirety of both days still hunting to see the story that tracks told, and 90% of the tracks were down low near houses (where we cannot legally shoot), with only two lone sets that passed through the woods at night. I see groups of 10-18 deer in my back yard/woods every night after legal sunset, in the twilight.

It's a little discouraging because they seem to mostly nocturnal right now, but their bedding appears to be around houses, so we can't even gently bump them out of bed if we wanted to to get them moving. I hope things change next week, as I have the whole week off to hunt.

[jjb4900]

4R, saw alot of deer around during archery, with quite a few bucks in the mix.........the new antler restrictions played a part in my not taking a deer during archery...........rifle hunting has been pretty slow, my guess is not due to the lack of deer but to the lack of or timing of their movement.

[wdswtr]

Sure been a tough one for me. I have seen so few bucks this year its pathetic. Had one good encounter with a great buck during bow but Im not unethical shots so he had to walk. Rest were little spikes. I also got permission to hunt an area that has not been hunted in 10 years. Sign in there is unreal. I encountered 1 deer in 6 bow hunts there. All my trail cameras, yep everyone of them photos are all night pictures taken except those little guys. I dont overpressure an area either an switch up places I hunt regularly and always had great success doing this. Have some doe in the freezer but it sure hasnt been what I would call a good season here. But thats fine because if they all were good it just wouldnt be as exciting.

[letinmfly]

I've been hunting in Delaware county the last 26 years. The last three years have been the worst that I've experienced. Last year I didn't even see a deer and this year I saw two, a buck and a doe of wihch my nephew shot the buck.

My personal belief is that the lack of hunters in the woods has greatly effected deer movement over the last few years. I don't see anywhere near the number of hunters that I use to. Another reason is that with the deer having been fed over the years thay have been trained to migrate to those areas to look for food and that's why a lot of them are always seen by houses. Thus, the younger deer have not "learned" to survive winters by looking for browse and causing more mortality than usual during the winters. IMO

[Doewhacker]

Slightly above average season thus far for us as far as sightings and average for kills with plenty of time left to go we should finish up above average in the freezer department.

[meatmuzzy]

This year was average for me. On the island it was on the slower side, only seeing a handful of yearling bucks besides the buck I killed. Upstate in 4G the action was a bit better than years past due to a new foodplot I put in. I firmly believe with the lack of mast in the woods that these deer just vacated certain areas and keyed in on others with food. We have a large apple orchard and only 3 trees had apples this year. That area is usually loaded with deer sign, but this year I struggled to find any sign at all. Tons and tons of spikes on the cams upstate and no real good shooters on film. In 2-3 years with this antler restriction should be very good up by me.

[steve863]

I've been hunting in Delaware county the last 26 years. The last three years have been the worst that I've experienced. Last year I didn't even see a deer and this year I saw two, a buck and a doe of wihch my nephew shot the buck.

My personal belief is that the lack of hunters in the woods has greatly effected deer movement over the last few years. I don't see anywhere near the number of hunters that I use to. Another reason is that with the deer having been fed over the years thay have been trained to migrate to those areas to look for food and that's why a lot of them are always seen by houses. Thus, the younger deer have not "learned" to survive winters by looking for browse and causing more mortality than usual during the winters. IMO

Actually a very interesting observation. I hunt Delaware county also. I can't say that I am seeing more deer where I hunt, but can't say I am seeing a lot less either. I never have seen deer everyday out in my area, and usually the ones you see you'd better put down, because they may be the last ones you get to see. I think there most certainly are WAY less hunters out than ever before. That may or may not have a good effect on deer movement. Hunters may move them in directions away from our stands, so sometimes it's better not to harass their normal patterns thru hunting pressure. I do believe that deer have become accustomed to finding food around populated areas, thus you will see most of the deer in such areas. Food plots don't help one bit either, I am sorry to say. Yeah, people use the excuse that they do it to benefit the herd, but that is pretty much BS. They do it to keep the deer on their turf, and that's pretty much the end of the story. Why would a deer trudge thru other wooded areas or over mountains (where we may be waiting for them) when they can find all the food they need from areas with food plots or other food around the populated areas? They'd be stupid to make the trip. Like humans and other critters, deer will do whatever makes it easiest on them. If plenty of food is available, why would they move to other areas where they might have to search hard for it? The answer is that they shouldn't and in most cases DON'T.

[growalot]

It was a great year...not as many big buck as seen last but there were a few and lots of yungins...consistent doe sighting but not as many in large groups as last year I had a great season thus far

The guys at camp saw tons of does and several were taken...and very few buck seen...infact maybe 2...but I have to say... more due to hunters and lack of ANY kind of management there...not even trails made...low visibilities ...ect...

I've learned not to discuss deer hunting while out and about....there are many disappointed hunters out there....

[jjb4900]

not too get off topic, but last year's deer take on Long Island during the shotgun season was down........DEC said it was because the deer are in people's yards, not in the woods.

[WNYBuckHunter]

So far its been a good season for me. Been seeing alot of deer, especially during bow. Had some great encounters in early bow, just had trouble getting many good shot opportunities. Gun season has been great for me, been seeing quite a few deer, granted, not as many as in bow, and have had plenty of shot opportunities, and been able to take advantage of a few.

My favorite part of deer season is fast approaching, when most of the less dedicated guys start staying home. I have the last of my vacation days this year planned for late ML season.

[Elmo]

Went from good to bad. Started out great. Saw more deer the first couple of weeks of bow season than I saw my first 2 years combined (my 1st year, I didn't hunt for deer). Then the hurricane hit, helping out with family who lost power, steam pipe broke in my living room floor, fighting with building management over who is responsible for damages, and crunch time as wedding is less than 2 months away. That means I've been out hunting a total of 3 hours since the hurricane hit. I did see 2 does that day though.

[First-light]

Bow season was great we saw a lot of quality deer (bucks) not many does? We do have them on trail cam but didn't see many in the woods. Gun season so far has been a bust. Only a handful of deer seen.

My neighbor's camp shot two big bucks weighing 215 and 175. The mild winter last year helped the deer. We will do it again this weekend, hope to fill some tags. I'm not going to judge the season on what we harvest but on the amount of deer seen in the woods and sign. Overall I would put it at above average season.