Will the world change the way you hunt this season?

[Robhuntandfish]

6 hours ago, Biz-R-OWorld said:

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

Those doe tags ought to be worth an extra handful of quality beers this year. 

[fasteddie]

I will be 79 this coming Bow Season so I can't be too choosy . Spikes are out . Would like to shoot a couple of healthy does . Just getting out there is a feat ! 

[GreeneHunter]

1 hour ago, blackbeltbill said:

Is age 62 coming up for you or did you stay Longer?  I am Collecting my Social Security at age 62 in another 15 Months.      Post # 9000 this is-- LOL!

63 this month ...... start collecting November - Hunting Season ! LOL

[Pygmy]

I can't see myself doing too much different, since The Mermaid doesn't eat much red meat anymore and one decent sized deer will do us for the season..Last year I shot two and gave one to a friend...

I am, however hoping my Canadian friends will be able to come down and hunt with me this year....Last year we killed 3 bucks from my tower stand on opening day..

[wolc123]

4 hours 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. 

I don't pass too many bucks, but almost every time that I have, I was rewarded with a significantly larger one.  Several times (including last crossbow season) that happened within a few minutes.   Thus, I can honestly say that I have never regretted a pass.   Even though I am a pure meat hunter, those passes have always netted me significantly more meat.  I don't pass to get bigger antlers, but rather to get more meat.  A large percentage of my meat comes from bucks, because neighboring farmers have usually depleted the local antlerless herd on their nuissance permits, prior to October 1.  That forces me to be selective with my (2) buck tags.  If I blow that tag on the first little spike that wanders into range, I would have to endure a lot more store bought chicken on the dinner table, and I am no fan of that.      

I live in a zone where it is always easy to get up to (4) DMP tags and I seldom fill all of them.   After my buck tag is punched, I always keep hunting hard to fill them DMP tags, until our year's venison supply is secured.   During those "post buck tag punch" hunts, I have never even saw a buck that was larger than the one that I tagged, let alone had a chance to kill one.   So while I have never regretted a "pass", I have also never regretted a kill.  I know at least one member here who has struggled a bit with that issue.   Someday it might happen to me, but I am thankful that it has not yet.  Last year, after killing my big (8) with the crossbow, a spindly little (4)-point offered me a 20 yard broadside shot, and that was the only other chance I had at any deer until gun season opened up.  

Even though I am a "pure" meat hunter, I will admit that I don't hunt quite as hard after my buck tag is punched.  Without a doubt, that is partly responsible for my lack of "big buck" sightings later.  It also has not helped that my last (3) bucks (all 3.5 year olds) were nearly large enough on their own to provide our family's year's worth of venison.   We still have about half of the vacuum sealed grind left in the freezer from my 2018 gun buck.  I always zip-lock the grind from the first deer every fall and use that up first.  There is no point in wasting the time and money on vacuum sealing for something that will be in the freezer for only a few months. 

Edited July 1, 2020 by wolc123

[BizCT]

Many of you brought a great point with working from home. This year I turkey hunted 5 times. All because I was able to do it before working at home. I’m hoping this continues into deer season. It would give me a bunch more weekday sits when that weather is perfect even if it’s just a few hours.


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[dbHunterNY]

Itll definitely change maybe now I'll have more flexibility to hunt more! Setup working remotely I can now I'd imagine.

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[Nomad]

https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/more-americans-are-hunting-their-way-through-the-coronavirus/

[First-light]

If the virus is still around my friends and family better be in good health before they come to the cabin. 

[Steuben Jerry]

Not that we ever had any stores run out of meat, poultry, or fish around here during the lockdown, but the news reports of those days made me feel comfortable having a full freezer of venny on hand so we’ll hope to refill it this year.

Other that that, I’ll be socially distancing at about 600 yards from other people and will mostly be masked. 

[The_Real_TCIII]

Not that we ever had any stores run out of meat, poultry, or fish around here during the lockdown, but the news reports of those days made me feel comfortable having a full freezer of venny on hand so we’ll hope to refill it this year.
Other that that, I’ll be socially distancing at about 600 yards from other people and will mostly be masked. 

We only had shortages because the news said we might.


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[grampy]

Nothing will change for me. I hope to shoot at least one buck, three years old or older. And perhaps one other deer.

[Bolt action]

I've really appreciated having the freezer full back when stores were running out of meat. We eat venison 1-2 times per week and still have half the freezer full. As far as the stores, I think at this point most of the supply issues have figured out. Because of that, I don't really expect too many more hunters in the woods, although I do expect that those who are out may be less selective or may take an extra deer or two if given the chance.

Biggest change for me is that I'm going to be very limited on how many time I get out this year. We're expecting a baby (#2) and they just scheduled the due date for 8/19. Chances are that I'm not going to have many chances to get in the woods this season. I'd be thrilled with a doe and a solid buck, but will likely not be too picky when the time comes. 

[ATbuckhunter]

Only thing this might effect is the deer drives we do during the january shotgun season. It might not since we can stay 6 feet apart from who ever feels they want to do that

[Pygmy]

One thing I plan to do is shoot more squirrels, and it has nothing to do with the pandemic...

I miscalculated and ran out of squirrel about the end of February...The last couple of months I have been hungry for  fricasseed squirrel and I have to wait until September to get any...

[Arcade Hunter]

First deer in range is getting it

[squirrelwhisperer]

3 hours ago, Arcade Hunter said:

First deer in range is getting it

X2!

[cdbing]

With my normal 8-5 schedule, I would have to take hours off work if I wanted to hunt the PM due to the long commute. If I am working from home in October, I should get some weekday PM hunts in without taking much time off. Other than that, I don't see much changing with my hunting.

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[DirtTime]

If the Spring turkey season was a prelude to how many more hunters will be out, then I will have to adjust to the public lands I hunt in a big way for deer season. To be honest, I may not even hunt the local areas for the gun season. With all these now found hunters out there, I'm actually nervous about being shot more then I ever was in the past.

 

[ATbuckhunter]

Only thing itll change for me is the deer drives we do on long island. If its bad by then, it might change it up a little. I dont see it changing it that much though. Only thing is if theres more people unemployed, it might be hard to get everyone out together

[Cory]

The virus will be none existent come November 4th after trump wins then all the dumbacrats will be announcing a new impeachment probe into election fraud and influence from some 3rd world country.