Worst year That I can remember

[Hunter1]

Worst season ever Have plenty of nice bucks 10 & 12  pts an a few 8's on cam but only seen one spike all bow an gun season.

[Five Seasons]

Tough year for the goals I had. But I passed a bunch of small bucks and could have filled all my tags. Just not the big guys I had hunted... But there's still a season left!

Edited December 9, 2013 by Belo

[Fishon]

The buck kill around my area has been bad. No one has been seeing them in the woods or on cams. I think there getting poached. I heard a lot of gun shots during bow season. See what happens with the muzzleloader.

[Mr.Zach]

Best season ever for me.  I filled 4 of my 5 tags while hunting half as much.  3M was good this year.

[Deerthug]

It was a bad year for seeing deer throughout bow season for me. Did not see anything but squirrels and chipmunks. But the two I did see (a doe and an 8 pt) on opening day for firearm in SZ are both in my freezer.

[IRL]

Good archery season in 7R with the lots of deer activity in the apples and oaks. Once the acorns stopped falling around the Nov full moon the deer activity dropped. Slowest regular season in 24 years of hunting. Some of our hunters did not see a deer. They shifted to nightime feeding in the fields and once an area was pushed the sign disappeared for days. A puzzling season to say the least.

[WNYBuckHunter]

I'd like to through out a few ideas on why guys had such a tough season.  First, the rut.  I went back to Alsheimers rut prediction in the Oct. Deer & Deer Hunting Mag. Now looking back on it is pretty interesting.  He called for a trickle rut, spread out from late Oct through almost all of Nov, and that's what we had.  No real intense periods, which makes for hard hunting.  Now, many big bucks were taken this year. If you have a Facebook Acct. look at the postings on the NYS Big Buck Club page, wow, it will blow you away. But in a trickle rut year you really had to be in the right place, right time, which those guys and gals were.  Another factor, food.  You guys remember how rainy it was this spring, almost into mid summer.  That created very lush, nutritious feed deep in the woods.  Years like this are always tough when deer, particularly bucks don't have roam for food, its everywhere.  They still hit the fields, but mostly at night.  (Sound familiar)   My last factor could be a little controversial, trail-cams.  While I admit, it's the coolest thing to get pictures of those big bucks that live in the areas that we hunt, I wonder how many times these bucks have US patterned, especially if we are not really careful on the frequency that we check our cams, and the scent we leave behind.

On a more optimistic note,a trickle rut doesn't happen two years in a row, so all those bucks that you didn't get this year will be real big next year!!!

 

That trickle rut theory did not even come close in my area. The rut went off at the same basic time as it does every year, based on sightings, sign and camera activity. We have had a banner year for mature buck sightings, trail cam pics, harvests of quality bucks, and lots of full freezers. How did we do it? We didnt do the same darn thing every day. We got aggressive in some cases and made sure to use our knowledge of the property to our advantage, and were just in the right place at the right time in others. We didnt listen to the theories, we acted based on what we were seeing on the cams, and in the field.

[ncountry]

That trickle rut theory did not even come close in my area. The rut went off at the same basic time as it does every year, based on sightings, sign and camera activity. We have had a banner year for mature buck sightings, trail cam pics, harvests of quality bucks, and lots of full freezers. How did we do it? We didnt do the same darn thing every day. We got aggressive in some cases and made sure to use our knowledge of the property to our advantage, and were just in the right place at the right time in others. We didnt listen to the theories, we acted based on what we were seeing on the cams, and in the field.

 

There was a difference this year in the areas that i hunt. How many bachelor groups do you see when the rut is in full swing? Normally not many. More chances than not, I saw groups of bucks in early Nov. not individuals chasing or roaming. There were some bucks seen by our group roaming or chasing doe but those sightings were a lot less than normal. To hint that some peoples season were poorer  due to the fact that they did not get aggressive , change up their hunting, or use the knowledge of their property is like telling me my deer herd pop.. is great up here while you are 200 miles away. and never stepped foot in my woods...(wink, wink)

 

[dbHunterNY]

I've had a normal season.  I'm hearing that it's been bad and numbers are down from a lot of people though.

[Carbonelement]

you cant shoot all the doe and think you are going to see deer...i hunt in westchester and CT where they SAY the deer pops are out of control! i did ok this season shooting 2 mature bucks and a couple doe.  I have a lot of properties to hunt, some as big as 150 acres and some tiny 4-5 acre spots.  I just scout the doe and hunt where I am seeing them, and dont shoot them unless they are all over like squirrels.  People shoot too many deer and wonder why they dont see anything. Think abt it if u only had a couple months a year to breed where would you (not the ladies sry grow and others) hang out...a bar full of young men or where there are lots of fine ladies to chase around.  

Things were very different this year as well.  First year we have had a great acorn crop in a while.  They are completely different than they have been the past 2or 3 years and hunters have to change up.  The best hunters I know spend as much time scouting and moving stands as they do sitting there with their bow or gun. You cant just hang a stand and think its going to be the golden spot for the whole year.  The deer change their patterns as the season progresses and you as a hunter have to change your tactics as well.

It was still a good year but i think the numbers are WAY down i hope they go to one buck a year no matter what weapon and put an AR in place nothing crazy but just to let 1.5 year olds go another year.   

[skeets716]

6N Northern Zone and 7M Southern were great this year.  Mild winters the past two years contributed to the most deer my hunting buddies and I have seen in years.  Not fun going through a bad season, I've experienced it many times. 

[Doewhacker]

 this season shooting 2 mature bucks .  .

It was still a good year but i think the numbers are WAY down i hope they go to one buck a year no matter what weapon and put an AR in place nothing crazy but just to let 1.5 year olds go another year.   

 

 

Best contridiction ever!

[Arrow Flinger]

I had a great season, one of my best for seeing deer actually. I ended up with one doe but could've and should've had a couple nice bucks. I just messed up. I ended up having 3 shooter bucks (to me) in bow range along with seeing about 10 other different smaller bucks during bow. And this was all on Public Land. Maybe the private land gets hunted too hard in NY?  Gun season was a different story, but it always is!

[phade]

Best contridiction ever!

 

You must have missed the glaring part where he said he hunts Westchester and CT. Two different states.

[blackradio]

I accomplished my season goal of taking my first bow buck. So while I had the best hunt of my life, besides that I only had a shot on one other deer and it was a doe on opening day. I passed on her because I figured I can always fill DMP's later in the season. Really kicking for myself for passing on her but I learned my lesson. 

[dbHunterNY]

rutting activity doesn't change year to year much at all I think.  areas with higher buck to doe ratios will just witness more activity compared to those with fewer bucks and lots of doe.  if many older or younger doe are taken in large numbers in an area you might see an isolated difference too.

[orion]

Different by us.

 

Deer seemed to be in groups this year. Used to have mostly single deer/tracks with a few pair. This year there was a group of 6 and a group or two of 4 together.

 

You either saw them or saw nothing. Very few single tracks and only a two single deer seen a spike which came to visit everyone and one 4 point that should up once in front of my brother.

 

All deer were small.

[Doewhacker]

You must have missed the glaring part where he said he hunts Westchester and CT. Two different states.

 

 

Oh here we go...he didn't say where he got those two mature deer did he?

 

Doesn't matter, its still a funny statement to me and if you don't like it go pound sand.

[WNYBuckHunter]

There was a difference this year in the areas that i hunt. How many bachelor groups do you see when the rut is in full swing? Normally not many. More chances than not, I saw groups of bucks in early Nov. not individuals chasing or roaming. There were some bucks seen by our group roaming or chasing doe but those sightings were a lot less than normal. To hint that some peoples season were poorer  due to the fact that they did not get aggressive , change up their hunting, or use the knowledge of their property is like telling me my deer herd pop.. is great up here while you are 200 miles away. and never stepped foot in my woods...(wink, wink)

 

 

Instead of getting defensive, maybe you should go back and read what I wrote. I never told anyone they were doing things wrong, I explained how we had a good season. I specifically said that what I saw was in my area. I never projected any of it to anyone else's areas. Thanks for putting words in my mouth though....

[orion]

to add  there were more deer then usual by us this year. but at least half of the deer were fawns.

 

No decent bucks seen or on trail cams through out the year.

[orion]

Also to make it interesting  NO coyote sightings and very few tracks, which is unusual for us.

 

Could be the reason for more fawns/deer.

[Grizz1219]

Same here.. worst year to date..... Have not seen a mature deer during legal hunting hours this year... I've normally filled at least 2 tags if not more by now.. I have yet to fill 1... Tons of pics before the season, before the acorns started dropping.. then nothing... all at night...

[ncountry]

Instead of getting defensive, maybe you should go back and read what I wrote. I never told anyone they were doing things wrong, I explained how we had a good season. I specifically said that what I saw was in my area. I never projected any of it to anyone else's areas. Thanks for putting words in my mouth though....

Defensive!, defensive!.lol.. Sorry for putting words in your mouth.Sometimes hard to tell someones intent over the internet...defensive I was... As you say these are just my observations the areas I hunt, they do not hold to be true across the board..hopefully no harm no foul...

[upstate]

I  hunt in Montague NY, Redfield (6N) and saw one little 4 point during bow but did see many more doe than normal. I spent early bow season in those areas and only 5 days gun hunting. I saw deer every day I went out.  I took a mature doe on 9/30 with my bow on last yeas tag in Redfield

 

I also hunt in Cortland County near McGraw, Homer, Groton and saw much activity during bow. I got a mature 8 point on the opener of gun and there were NUMEROUS mature bucks taken on our "Hill" of about 2 square miles. None of these were on my cameras, but were on others. The food sources are scarce but they get pressure and get nocturnal. 

 

We decided to drive yesterday. 3 doe and 1 9 point taken. They're there, have been there. They don't move unless they have to... 

[WNYBuckHunter]

Defensive!, defensive!.lol.. Sorry for putting words in your mouth.Sometimes hard to tell someones intent over the internet...defensive I was... As you say these are just my observations the areas I hunt, they do not hold to be true across the board..hopefully no harm no foul...

Its fine, i just wanted to clear the air.