Will the world change the way you hunt this season?

[Robhuntandfish]

With the world being the mess it is with a pandemic, rioting and strong swings in the economy, will this change the way you deer hunt?  Do you normally only shoot one and now might shoot two or three to stock the freezer?  Will you not pass on smaller bucks early?  Will you be filling family freezers as well?

For the first time in over 10+ years I didn't tag a deer last season. I had opportunities it just didn't pan out.  Passed some small bucks and had a couple of misses and a miss fire on a bad round. The year before I had my best year ever in 2018.  This last year just wasn't in the cards for some reason. 

But this year it may be in the back of my mind to not pass on smaller bucks, unless I have filled freezer with a couple of early does.  

I usually take anything 5 points or above and usually feel I can get a doe or two along the way.  But not having a full freezer this last season and all the chaos and who knows when that ends.  Meat is always the first priority but this year I feel it is a little more of a priority. 

And I am banking walleye right now like cordwood . Lol.  But deer season is starting to loom in my head and prep to begin soon. 

How bout you?...

[Jeremy K]

I guess I'll have to wear a mask to take my deer in to the processor but that's about it.

[BowmanMike]

Not much for changes for me. I usually pass 1.5 year olds with both bow and gun and I may not even take the gun out much this year. Probably just if I do drives with friends. Other than that I will try my bow even in gun season. I usually am bummed out when gun season starts and bow ends,but maybe it will be different this year.

I got two does last year and might try to get four in the freezer if I get the chance and my doe tag. Does are usually available here in 4F,so I can pass on little bucks. I think I would shoot a 2.5 year old with the bow since I only have a forkie so far on my kill list with the bow.

The biggest change for me is my mobile setup this year and hunting public land for the first time. I am excited about that and may save my buddies 300 acres for gun season bow hunting.

[hueyjazz]

Well

With the price of meat I expect way more hunters.  I own my own 30 acres attached to my buddies 25 acres and we have mutual understanding and know who, what and where everyone that on the property is.   We keep in contact with radios.   Problem is our acreage is next to 1300 acres of public land.  Our land is very well posted but every year we get a few that wander over that "Know the owner very well" 

Well, I don't think you do and it's always a polite discussion when everyone is holding a gun.  I too do a standard of what I will and won't take.  I doubt I will alter that much.  Deer will still gotta grow and know nothing of COVID.

[BizCT]

Only change for me so far is that i did not apply for any Wyoming Supertags this year. Would suck to actually win a tag and then find out work isn't letting me travel or something in the fall. So i skipped this year's lottery. As for hunting in NY, i don't expect any changes. Any 2.5 or better buck will get killed if he's got 6+pts or something freaky. Doe tags will be sent to WNY

Edited June 30, 2020 by Biz-R-OWorld

[Swamp_bucks]

Nope all the stateland I hunt is within 20mins of me.  Just going to be more aggressive.  If i see an uptick in pressure  because more people are out i will just need to adjust and find that out of the way spot.  My opening day of gun spot is off the beaten trail and 1.5miles in. It will keep people away and push the deer to me. Hope for early does 6pt or better for gun or bow which is usually a 2yr old or better in my area.  However if its a small 6 it may get a pass because i have 50hrs of vacation planned from Halloween to thanksgiving.  If it comes down to the last day and i have tags anything legal will get it.

[squirrelwhisperer]

No change for me. I will only take a buck if he is bigger than what is already on the wall or freaky for some reason. I always let smaller bucks walk. I wish more people in my area did the same. I prefer does for the freezer. 

[crappyice]

I hope to duplicate last season and stack up to venison of every variety (a good doe, a nice buck, a few 1.5 year old to round things out). I just hope to still be distance-teaching so I can multi-task—-E-teaching from a climber would be pretty sweet.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Nomad]

Usually I don’t take a doe in bow , this year first one gets it. We’ve always maintained a bit of a food pantry, now I’ve started canning meats as well  , and I, plan to add a doe to the 50 pounds of chicken we’ve  cannned . Then I’ll add a buck to the freezer , to go with the frozen chicken, hotdogs ,sausage and such in there .

supply chain disruptions, food processing plants closing due  to pandemics, run on stores, We chose  not to participate, no ammo shortage here either ..... 

Edited June 30, 2020 by Nomad

[Daveboone]

Honestly, the world hasn't affected us dramatically anyway. We aren't eating out as much which is good, we don't wander too far from home. Family is well. I am very happy that I am starting to see friends socially again, even if it is just for a beer or two after work. That said, I don't think any of this will affect hunting much. People who don't hunt and are worried about meat, would need to get a hunter safety class, figure out a place to hunt and learn how to. And then get it processed, which is the bottleneck for meat supply anyway. I have been taking two deer a year the past few years. We eat venison a couple times a week, enjoy it, but really don't want to eat it more . I will if opportunity present shoot two more again this year, like the past few I will make more sausage and prepared meats to change things up.

[The_Real_TCIII]

It’s interesting because without all my kids activities I’ve been able to have several “workdays” with@sodfather and @jeremyk to create plots, move stands, scout and cut trails more so than any year I can remember. I’m looking forward to the season!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[The_Real_TCIII]

Also I let waaaaaay too many deer walk last year, not happening this year. I’m down to a couple packages of cube steaks


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Eric J]

Nah... no change.... Just makes me look forward to Deer season THAT much more!!!!

[Fletch]

No change for me.  In fact with the rate the people in this world are proving themselves to be complete frigging idiots I am looking for a lot of woods time!! 

[Nomad]

1 hour ago, Daveboone said:

That said, I don't think any of this will affect hunting much. People who don't hunt and are worried about meat, would need to get a hunter safety class, figure out a place to hunt and learn how to. And then get it processed, which is the bottleneck for meat supply anyway.

I agree to a point,  but there’s a ton of guys who’ve stopped hunting over the years they can just go back and  get a license, I know a few others who just took the online course , then there’s a whole host of folks who can just pop one out their window , if you just want to shoot any deer, it’s not that hard . I also know people who started hunting because they had deer out behind the house. 

Edited June 30, 2020 by Nomad

[wolc123]

I am expecting my hunting at home to improve a bit this season, thanks to Covid-19, because fuel and fertilizer prices were both near "inflation-adjusted" all time lows this spring.  That, coupled with near ideal weather conditions, allowed me to bump up the corn acreage a bit.  This is the first year in many that I will have plenty of knee-high corn by the Fourth of July.      

I am also expecting some improvement, up in the northern zone, at my in-laws place.  I should have enough vacation days to spend  the whole early ML season up there, plus a day or two of their early crossbow season.   The last few years I have slacked off a bit up there mostly due to not spending enough time.   

Much of my venison the last three years has come from my folks place, which is on the opposite corner of the same DMU that my place is in.   The hunting imroved big-time there since a new "highly-motivated" nieghbor bought the big overgrown field out back. That field is bordered on two sides by my folk's woods, so he is very nice to us.  He single-handedly eliminated the tresspassing issues that have plagued that property for many years, through massive posting and courtroom prosecution efforts.  I am certain that he will have no problem stepping up his efforts to ward off any attempted increase in tresspassing or poaching.   He actually seems to get off on that. 

Finally, I identified a need to step up my late ML season hunting last year.   I am going to up the powder charge on my T/C Omega from (2) to the max of (3) pellets.  That should help use up my remaining supply of triple 7 and allow a faster changeover to Blackhorn 209.   That and remembering to bring my laser rangefinder, should step up my long-range game a bit.  My shot fell short last season, up at my buddies place in the southern tier.  They have a real hot-spot for that time they are encouraging me to try again this year.   Hopefully, my tags will be punched by then, but if not, I am there.     

When it comes to selection, I am not making any changes.  I will still look for a decent 6-point or better for the first half of the seasons (Archery/ML, and Gun).   Any buck goes after the mid-point.    It has been a few years since I filled both my buck tags and it would be nice if I could do that this season.   The covid-thing has not affected our eating much, since most of our protien has came from wild-game as long as I can remember anyhow.   We are eating out a bit less though, so another deer or two would not hurt.   Our venison supply is holding out ok, but I am struggling a bit with the fish.   I finally managed my first bass limit of the season this morning though, so that might be turning around.   It was good to see that they have finally finished spawning out on Lake Erie (first time cleaning them this season and not finding any eggs).                

Edited June 30, 2020 by wolc123

[squirrelwhisperer]

After reading all this, I may be making one change....I always let bucks of similar or less caliber (compared to what I have already taken) get a pass.

On more than one occasion, I have felt regret at letting them walk. Maybe I will do like @wolc123 and take an any buck goes after the midpoint attitude. 

Every year say, “I am going to be less selective this season.”, only to find myself making the same decisions. I need the help of my forum brothers....I need deer counseling, lol. 

[Merlot]

24 minutes ago, squirrelwhisperer said:

After reading all this, I may be making one change....I always let bucks of similar or less caliber (compared to what I have already taken) get a pass.

On more than one occasion, I have felt regret at letting them walk. Maybe I will do like @wolc123 and take an any buck goes after the midpoint attitude. 

Every year say, “I am going to be less selective this season.”, only to find myself making the same decisions. I need the help of my forum brothers....I need deer counseling, lol. 

Whack 'em 'n stack 'em??? lol

[crappyice]

After reading all this, I may be making one change....I always let bucks of similar or less caliber (compared to what I have already taken) get a pass.
On more than one occasion, I have felt regret at letting them walk. Maybe I will do like [mention=5805]wolc123[/mention] and take an any buck goes after the midpoint attitude. 
Every year say, “I am going to be less selective this season.”, only to find myself making the same decisions. I need the help of my forum brothers....I need deer counseling, lol. 

Shoot what you love...love what you shoot.
I love venison so you know my answer!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mowin]

No change here.  

[GreeneHunter]

Only change this year is I'll be Retired and have all the time in the world !

[Fletch]

8 minutes ago, GreeneHunter said:

Only change this year is I'll be Retired and have all the time in the world !

Those are wonderful words right there....can't wait to say them myself. Enjoy!

[Lomax]

I don’t see the pandemic changing my upcoming hunting season.  Cameras are up and by end of summer pick out a shooter or 2 and harvest one when the opportunity presents.  
My only change may be some doe harvested too 

[loworange88]

I usually try to get 2 in the freezer per season.  I may ask some family/friends if they are interested in some venison, and if so, I will try to get someone else a deer for a full freezer, but aside from that, I don't plan on changing up much.

[Robhuntandfish]

I bought ground beef the other day..... ground beef....i tell ya....Haven't done that in a while. I am hoping to drop three and fill my freezer, give some to family, landowners and friends. 3 good size deer in 2018 was great.  

I've eaten far too much chicken this year. It tastes like sadness and disappointment.  

All does are in trouble. Any buck over 5 points in archery and any buck in gun and muzzle season is on the plate 

Edited June 30, 2020 by Robhuntandfish