WHAT'S THE VERDICT?

[Doc]

So another opener is history again. What was your impression as to the amount of hunter activity? Same amount of shooting? ....... More shooting? ...... less?

How about hunter participation? ....... Big crowd? .... About the same as usual? ...... much fewer guys out?

Deer? Lots of them?....... same as usual? ....... didn't see what you figured you should?

[sweet old bill]

I heard only 4 shots all day and saw a total of 2 doe. We got 5 inches plus over night and it is 24 degrees and still snowing. With my COPD it means I will sit by the fire and wish all that go out good luck

[growalot]

Well I think finally the Guys up here get it...only two close shots before season opener and they were down hill from us...very unusual and no after hour shots at all..that could have been weather. Very little activity where normal much more than usual behind and next door...more shots towards the lake state lands.

Here on top of the hill participation has gone down for this weekend...or as I predicted the manure trucks moved everything...I have never seen just one doe on opening day before..but someone was seeing them very near our/nieghbors swamp.....

More shots heard this year than last years opener though. 1-3  was a shooting gallery...

[132 eight pointer]

IN 8M I heard an average amount of shooting the first hour or so opening morning some close to where my nephew and I were sitting in Letchworth State Park. The shooting was very little as the morning went on and temperatures rose.I met a friend and sat for a few hours in the afternoon until the rain sent us home. So my experience was very few shots after mid morning and no deer spotted by 3 hunters although we hunted about half the hours we normally would have due mostly to the weather. I also did not see many vehicles in the afternoon for opening day and I saw no deer that other hunters had taken although I know some were.My opinion is that this coming holiday weekend could be better than usual where I will be hunting .We shall see.Stay safe everyone.

[Steve D]

Lots of guys/gal out yesterday. For what it is worth according to the paper a senior biologist says only 11 deer including 7 bucks were checked in at DEC in Avon.

[Doc]

I did notice that my processor was not having any difficulty keeping up with the deer compared to other years. Yes, it was early, but usually they would have the carcasses corded up like firewood by that time. Not sure what happened yesterday. This is WMU 8N, supposedly totally out of control and over-run with deer (Which by the way I have been in agreement with).

[nodeerhere]

I think it was one of the slowest opening days I can remember. Quiet. Didn't hear the shooting I thought I was going to. Maybe less hunters. I'm I'm not really sure about the deer population. Makes me wonder. 

[landtracdeerhunter]

I cannot even take an educated guess. All I know is I counted 60 shots before our 7:18 am. sunrise before losing count. The first series of 5 rounds were at 6:34 am.,way to early to shot a firearm safely.  With no DEC. officer enforcement what so ever in this area, this problem continues to grow.

[E J]

In my area of 8F there were a few deer killed but not a lot. Nothing really close but a few does killed across the road from me. I saw two small bucks and a doe with a fawn, which was better than the no deer I saw last year on opening day.

[travisrage]

3G I heard 60-70 shots in the am
And usually it's close to 100+


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[chrisw]

Average shooting in 7M the first hour of light and it dropped off fast after 8AM. I only heard like 5 shots after noon. 6 of us in the woods, only 2 deer spotted, 1 buck killed. Today none of us went in the 30mph wind and snow. I'm guessing the opening weekend totals will be a lot lower than usual. Then again we aren't seeing near the numbers of deer in 7M we were even just 5 years ago.

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[Jdubs]

Yesterday, I heard double (or more) the shots (~18) from last year's opener and saw nothing.   Today was completely different (probably due to the snow) with only 4 shots heard, but 3 of those came from two hunting partners that dropped 3 deer in the same spot! 

[Four Season Whitetail's]

6 hours ago, 132 eight pointer said:

IN 8M I heard an average amount of shooting the first hour or so opening morning some close to where my nephew and I were sitting in Letchworth State Park. The shooting was very little as the morning went on and temperatures rose.I met a friend and sat for a few hours in the afternoon until the rain sent us home. So my experience was very few shots after mid morning and no deer spotted by 3 hunters although we hunted about half the hours we normally would have due mostly to the weather. I also did not see many vehicles in the afternoon for opening day and I saw no deer that other hunters had taken although I know some were.My opinion is that this coming holiday weekend could be better than usual where I will be hunting .We shall see.Stay safe everyone.

So True. We took like 9 out so far between the camps which is on the low side. We did a little 3 man walk around and took 2 out of 17 moved. The deer are there for the most part but once the banging starts they sure know how to make themselves disappear.  That keeps them there year after year.  Did see 2 very nice bucks that were taken but that was it for any size.

The game has just started though and now when this weather passes i am sure we will load a few more.

[OldNewbie]

Here in 8W I heard more muzzleloader shots earlier in the week than I did Sat. morning. Plus the processor I use said he was not full as of 2 PM, which was unusual for him.

[robw]

I hunt the SE corner of Allegany State Park (9S) Heard the first shot at 831.  only 6 different shot groups (one was 4 shots) by 230, when the wind and wet snow moved me to lower ground.  Had 5 hunters walking in where I park, usually have 10-15, and only 3 cars parked along the road when I drove out, usually 15+ in the 3 miles along the valley I'm in.  Did see 5 deer opening day, but almost none in 7 days of bow hunting.  So, hunters wayyyy down in the park, deer wayyy down.  Acorns and apples everywhere on the ground, with nothing to eat them. 

I gotta find somewhere in Chautauqua to hunt.....

[ATbuckhunter]

Missed the opener but went out today and only heard about 6 shots from 6:30 to 4. Definitely less than any other year. I can't lie, I kind of miss hearing a shot every 10 min. 

Edited November 21, 2016 by ATbuckhunter

[Deerstalker]

A little less then last year i would say 

[Lawdwaz]

I thought the amount of shooting was about the same as the past couple years.......down.  No close shots at all to excite me all day. 

7 guys/gals hunt the land I'm hunting; 3 buck and one doe were shot.  A bunch of other doe and a couple small bucks were passed.

Two of the bucks were excellent, both were in the 21" wide range.  One went 150lbs and the other a rocking 205lbs.  The other buck MIGHT have gone 100lbs but I wouldn't bet on it.

 

 

 

[Bowshotmuzzleloader]

By far the worst opening day I can ever remember thanks to good ole Mother Nature ,,

But we will prevail and quitting is not an option ...

Great job on those who did harvest ...

[wolc123]

I had not seen a deer on opening day for the last three years.  This year I saw one (a doe), in the afternoon and killed it.  A friend hunting a couple hundred yards away saw two in the morning (a doe and a button buck) and killed the button buck.    For me, it all comes down to how much corn is left on the stalks in the plots.  When it is gone, so are the deer.   It is going real fast now, and probably won't make it past Thanksgiving weekend.  I feel very blessed to have plenty of venison now, and any additional will probably get donated to feed the hungry.         

[genesee_mohican]

Has to be the quietest opener I've ever seen. Very few shots after the first hour, which was very quiet. The weather played a part, but there are fewer hunters every year it seems. I sat all day through the wind, ran and sleet and saw 4 doe the first hour, that was it.

 We have snow on the ground and once the wind dies down, the deer should be looking for food, especially with the colder temps the next few days.

[Doc]

I did a bad job of monitoring things this year. The early parts of the morning (up until about 9:00) things were very very quiet with just one group on the far hill taking about 7 or 8 shots probably all at the same deer. And then there was my lone shot just before 8:00 when I shot a doe. I was going to stay the entire day but then I got to thinking about the doe that I had down and the hot temperatures, so I was out of the woods by 9:00. When I took the deer to the processor, I was quite impressed with the number of cars along the side of the road. I would say there were more hunters than usual. Nothing amazing, but more. Why they weren't doing more shooting, I can't say. The herd numbers seem to be up pretty good according to the DEC and what I saw and what is littering all of the Ontario County roads. Hey, maybe everyone is letting those year-and-a-halfers go by and that's why the shooting is so light.....lol.

[The_Real_TCIII]

I always drive from Ellington to Mayville opening morning, I saw way more hunters than I have in years. At least four places where several trucks were parked together and guys getting ready to go afield. It did my heart good, felt like old times lol

[GreeneHunter]

Less shooting ..... saw no pumpkin suits !

[chas0218]

I saw a ton of deer and a lot of bucks, way more than the past few years. Lots of chasing going on in my area with a number of nice 8 points doing the chasing. I passed 3 different 8 points that were over 100" I am really excited to see so many making it thru the season. Also have a few whacky rack bucks running around. Amount of shots were about the same and from the usual areas. It was nice to see more deer this year after the dismal past few.