So, what do you think so far?

[Meat Manager]

Like everyone else I have low hunting time sightings but tons of nocturnal deer as evident from trail pics and sign. Managed a personal best 6 filled tags despite that fact.

Lowest sightings ever for me but I also blame mast glut and real moderate temps and high winds all fall, mixed with oceans of late standing corn means deer didn't have to move until the snow hit the ground last Saturday.

And the numbers are for deer take I believe, not overall population. Deer take is a factor in that figure.

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[BizCT]

Worst year in my life in 3N. Glad I never bought property in NY just to hunt whitetails.

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[JJBat150]

Lot's of deer in 8J & 8H; like Doc said, cameras and snow don't lie.

 

Talking to other hunters, sounds like opening day wasn't good for a lot of folks (personally saw a total of 6 doe, harvested 1).  One thing I've noticed is daytime sightings  seems to be strictly does, not a single buck in our hunting area.  Cameras & tracks are showing lots of nocturnal activities.  Wind and warm weather I sure are contributing factors.

 

One of the areas I hunt was pushed hard twice opening week; nothing taken, but after hunting it yesterday, not a single fresh track around.  Deer on that property aren't pressured all year, and roam around pretty freely. Me & another guy have had good luck over the years (bow and gun season) sneaking in and out using climbing stands.  However, as soon as pushers show up, the deer all get outta dodge and that spot is no longer productive. Usually this happens Thanksgiving day or the weekend after, but this year it was earlier; not sure if it's a new group of hunters and/or position of Thanksgiving in the season this year.

 

Definitely not the same number of hunters out hunting as in the past... Opening day was quite; some shooting just after sunup (won't count the 6:15 AM shots I heard).  Then pretty quiet most of the day.  First year rifles are legal in Ontario County, but not really so sure about what's more popular to carry afield; most of by buddies are sticking with shotgun or muzzleloader. Listening to the shots in the distance, you could hear the difference in the type of report, but I didn't try to keep track of them.

[JPP]

A lot of deer in 8N, as usual.

Today was the first day I hunted this year and didn't see a deer.

 

 

[bkln]

Slow in 3F, took a doe opening week, besides that haven't seen a buck in weeks... late rut maybe due to weather? I hope MZ season will be better....

[Catskill Hunter]

Very quiet in 4W however I see a lot of sign so not sure what to make of it. Only hunted first 3 days so far so they were probably still nocturnal. hope to get to camp on Friday.

[bubba]

Come to think of it, my job entails traveling all over the county daily.  i am not seeing deer out in fields either.  

[beachpeaz]

I have more bucks (and more shooter bucks) on my trail cameras this year than any year in the past.  Great year for bucks.

 

I have seen less does by FAR than I have in probably my hunting career.  Could be a total coincidence?

[Dave]

Very quiet in 4W however I see a lot of sign so not sure what to make of it. Only hunted first 3 days so far so they were probably still nocturnal. hope to get to camp on Friday.

 

Where are in 4W, I also hunt in 4W. Saw plenty of does and only one 4pt buck. But had a few shooters on the trail cam before gun season.

Good luck this weekend.

 

[TeeBugg]

8f hasnt been too bad. Decent amount of my friends have taken deer since the opener. I had 6 does come in last night...only 5 left. They seem to be right near or in the thick stuff.

[Dave]

8f hasnt been too bad. Decent amount of my friends have taken deer since the opener. I had 6 does come in last night...only 5 left. They seem to be right near or in the thick stuff.

 

Congrats

 

[Catskill Hunter]

Where are in 4W, I also hunt in 4W. Saw plenty of does and only one 4pt buck. But had a few shooters on the trail cam before gun season.

Good luck this weekend.

 

About 4 miles from Downsville off Rt 30

[Dave]

About 4 miles from Downsville off Rt 30

 

Usually bring my deer to be butchered in Corbet cross the bridge on RT 30.Youngs butcher

 

[Catskill Hunter]

Usually bring my deer to be butchered in Corbet cross the bridge on RT 30.Youngs butcher

 

I butcher my own but I know of them

[gjs4]

8g worst year in 21...south winds and standing corn cursed us

[dhuntley2]

The numbers here in 6c were pretty good in the beginning of bow season, higher than last year anyway. And a much higher number of fawns, especially twins. Though because of so much mast, just like everyone else is saying, they do not have that far to go for food.  Deer were still hitting the apples tonight.

Edited November 26, 2013 by dhuntley2

[Dom]

This season has not been to good for me.I have only seen seven deer and nothing withen range.I think the weather is the prob in this area/

[Berniez]

An interesting question that HAS NO REAL answer.  We hunt on  800acres of private land in 4F.  Over 200 acres are in crops/fields.   During the summer we had 18 different bucks on trail cameras.  However the number of fawns were down 60% and we saw many does without fawns (Coyotes? Bobcats? ???)

This year bow season saw little action or deer movement.  There was almost no action in the crop fields and that was attributed to a good mast crop on the hills.

Gun season saw the same results.  No deer movement and action was slow. For the past 10 years we averaged 66% buck kill (8 for 12).  This year the buck take as of 11/27 is the lowest on record (2 out of 12)  The scariest part is the lack of does and fawns seen.  So while there can be anomalies in the deer take and the weather has been too warm, the lack of deer is causing real concern.    BTW in our area we have a genetic mutation where almost 80% of the bucks taken have NO brow tines but we still manage to average 6 pts./buck.

Let’s hope the weather gets whatever deer out there moving.

[Bowhunter4life]

About 4 miles from Downsville off Rt 30

. I'm pretty close myself to use if off 206 colchester. I can't begin to explain how much buck sign I see every day I go back InThe same spots and there is fresh rubs everywhere And big ones small ones all types scrapes all over the place, I can basically go in about 20 different spots and be amazed by what I see. But. It's all at nite 100%. And besides that have not seen any mature does. At least not legal shooting times. Only driving around late nite and on the front lawn about 2 hours after dark. The only thing I see constantly is baby's . Good for at least one a day , I have spent roughly 25 days in the woods from bow season till this week. Gonna give it another shot after thanksgiving for another 4 days. See what happens...

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[doecomander]

Mast crops, warm weather. The deer are there. just have to work for them. Saw them in drones all bow season, they then disappeared when gun started. Big boys have been nocturnal though.

[Larry]

I have 2 deer on the ground. a doe in bow and a 8pt in gun. I'm hunting 8g and 9p seeing deer every time I go out. went out behind my house (8g) on Sat. till 930 seen 3 bucks no does. I can't kill a buck till ml season. going to try hemlock lake this weekend have a 8n dmp just hunting with my 44mag. 

[woodchuck]

Well, by the end of bow I have -0 different bucks on camera and that's not including 3 button bucks. Of course once gun season started bucks being shot plus just avoidance of my property due to the neighbor on one side, zero bucks have been taken on my land. I will say before gun started one night I had 11 doe feeding in my big food plot . By the early numbers I can't complain. It's just when it got close to gun season everything had there head hidden

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[Doc]

This thread certainly points out the variations across the state. Not really a lot of surprises here.

[accman]

In our club in 3M, we only managed 2 bucks, an 8 and a 6 the first week, whereas we normally average about 7 bucks.  The weather, the moon, the warm days, all were factors.  Just not the perfect week or even a good week. We've had more luck in noreast conditions. The second weekend, with the colder temps, we had more sightings, and managed an 8, 7, and a 6.  My son took the six while walking.  Easy walking with the heavy winds, and he walked up on a doe who just walked off, and he glassed around and spotted the 6 laying down.  He moved closer, waited for him to get up, he never stood up, so he aimed for a neck shot, and that was all she wrote.  His first deer shot while walking, brings back great memories when I walked all over, but now it's his turn.  Hope the weekend is productive with more activity, but if not, it'll be time to get out and walk myself.

[phade]

This is what I think. Getting pics like this while at work is fun and sucky at the same time.

 

Pretty much gun season in a nutshell.