Things are feeling mighty lonesome out there

[Doc]

I wonder if the deer even know there's a deer season going on. Things are really quiet out there. Where are all the hunters pushing deer around? It seems that if there are actually any hunters out there they are all sitting (or sleeping) out there sitting at the base of a tree. I suppose the deer are all doing the same thing......lol. Nothing moving.

What's it like where you're hunting? Are you seeing or hearing a lot of hunters this year? I've heard more shooting when only small game season was open.

[GreeneHunter]

Opening day I only heard 3 shots in the distance , pretty quite if you ask me !

[airedale]

The shots fired in my neck of the woods have been few and far between in recent years, years ago there were shots to be heard somewhere off in the distance on a regular basis.

No hunters ? No deer? Dont't know for sure but I would bet there are a lot fewer hunters.

Al

[luberhill]

Yea seems like the cars parked at the normal places are few and far between,

 There’s a farm next to my property that a group of 5 guys hunt , I saw one truck there this year and only a few days.

  I hunt alone 5 different properties and I have those to myself , but I didn’t hear many shots

 I’m pretty much done , two nice does in the freezer , the buck I shot and didn’t find till early the next morning was torn up by coyotes , made me sick …

 Wife pickled two hearts , I cut up two livers for dog treats ,,, 

I may still go out for fun , there’s one nice buck I was trying to target and he’s still alive so …,

[landtracdeerhunter]

If the hunters, that are out there are not seeing deer, won't hear the shots. I know for a fact here, deer went more into cover, the last few days of crossbow.

Another fact is more hunter oriented people are purchasing properties, land to hunt on, thus reducing the amount of vehicles on and along the roadways.

Not as many hunters, maybe,; but the style of hunting has changed for sure.

[Doc]

I have noticed big changes in hunter participation. It seems that opening day is the whole season for many hunters. Even opening day seems to be a 1/2 day event. If this trend continues, we may see gun season resembling bow season conditions as far as un-spooked deer. Right now we have enough people to send the deer into a survival mode, but not enough people to keep them on their feet.

The other change in hunter activity is the popularity of tree stands and the high-tech winter clothing. Guys hunker down in their stands and never move. Meanwhile the deer hunker down in their safe spots and they don't move either. Nobody is walking and forcing deer to move. That will make good hunting days sound real quiet too.