What is Going On?????

[shooter]

Hello fellow hunters and forum friends I will try not to drag this out but may be difficult. 1st off hope everyone had a good and safe thanksgiving. Ok here we go, I am very curious what everyones imput was or is to this past season/seasons and with our deer hunting in general. I am not a greenhorn at this sport. I am an advid hunter its my passion its one of the things I live for. I hunt all kinds of game deer,turkey,duck,geese,pheasants. I have been doing so for 20 years. Certainly when it comes to prime time for deer during archery and into gun that is where I spend most of my time. This season for me is by far the worse deer season I have had in my hunting career with last year a close 2nd. Now I do not rank this with the lack of harvest, for this season I shot a 7pt. on opening morning of bow and last season I took a doe during archery and a 8pt during gun. But with the lack of seeing deer in general, encounters, oppurtunities, rubs, scrapes, etc. Other then the deer I shot on opening day of archery I never saw a single deer!!!!! I hunt 2 units 8F where I live and 9T where my camp is. And so far this Gun season I am at 000000!!!! 2 years in a row down at my camp we are at ZERO for opening weekend with 7 guys out of my camp. Gunshots were almost none!!!! And only 3 deer were spotted that were out of range. SO WHAT IS THE DEAL????? And we were not the only ones as with talking to others who hunt camps same thing was and still is going on. Are there just not as many deer as we like to think anymore?? Is the DEC giving out to many tags?? Is it coyotes?? Am I the only one?? I know many others say the same. Like I said this is my passion and I do spend alot of time hunting but the lack of seeing deer is really starting to where on me:( I just had to get it off my chest sorry for long drag out story. Your Feed back would be much appreciated. Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!

[nyslowhand]

Myself and other hunters in 8F have noticed the same as you.

All my buck sightings were from Oct 15 thru ~Nov 6.

Almost exclusively during early AM or late PM hunts.

Never saw a single buck cruzin' mid-day like I had in the past.

Since Nov 6th have only seen one other buck that I had booted from his bedding site.

Last year was a "trickle" rut, not a lot of feverish activity within any specific timeframe.

This year's rut was earlier than usual & from what the experts (?) had predicted.

Of course it didn't help with the S/SW winds and accompanying warmer temps.

Whitetaills are wild animinals and they'll bred when they are ready, regardless of the date, time of day or weather conditions.

Edited November 28, 2011 by nyslowhand

[RifleSharpShot]

I think it's the warm temps and a weird/late rut,,It's been real slow up here in 6k area a freind of mine just took a small buck the other day becasue he hasn't seen anything all year so he took what he could!!idk Good luck on the rest of the season!

[SteveNY]

3A here, saw a doe on opening day of rifle. Spent near 60 hours in the woods last week, never saw another deer during daylight. 8-9 guys in camp, no deer.

Camp down the block, 3 guys, no deer.

Camp around the corner, 8 guys, a small 5 pointer.

I blame warm weather. I saw plenty of deer sign every where I hunt, more than usual even. I saw deer all over the place after dark too.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Its the warm weather. The group I hunt with were doing some drives this weekend, and the deer do not move unless you literally kick them out of their beds. They cannot sweat like us, and its hard for them to cool down with their thick, winter coats, so they just dont move. The only time they are moving is after dark, when the sun isnt beating on them. On opening day of gun, it was cold, normal temps out and I had 3 different bucks go by my stand before 11am. They are there, just wait till the weather cools down and they will be on the move again.

[the blur]

yep, I decided to take a week off and wait until the weather cools off. 60 degrees is crazy for thanksgiving weekend !!

[Cabin Fever]

It's not just you, trust me! Everyone that I've talked to hunting in 8F is experencing the same thing!

I hunt in 8F exclusively. I keep a hunting journal of every hunt. The first 2 weeks of bow season was better than average for sightings. I saw deer just about everytime out! I had trailcams over scrapes at this time also and they were on FIRE! I've never seen so much scrape activity, so early in the season. Not just the amount of bucks, but the number of big mature bucks hitting the scrapes at that time. I ONLY see the big boys come out to play during the rut. I've been doing this for several years and I know the pattern. The young bucks start hitting scrapes for ~10 days before the big boys. When the big boys know the does are about ripe, then they start hitting them, which normally happens in the first week of November. This year, I put my cams on mock scrapes on 10/14 and had big mature bucks on them immediately until the end of October. Crazy activity, ~2 weeks earlier than I've ever seen. I had videos of bucks chasing does in the middle of the night and a lot of daytime scrape action. From 10/15-10/31, I hunted 18x and saw 23 deer.

Then, Nov. 1st rolls around. Between Nov. 1st-18th, I bow hunted 24x and only saw deer 3x (5 deer)!! Plus, scrape action, trailcam pics, and daytime activity completely shut down. Gun season started on 11/19. I've only gone out 5x but have yet to even see a deer in gun season! I left one trailcam out (pulled the others for fear of tresspassers stealing) in a spot that usually sees the most activity. In the first 5 days of gun season, only one deer (fawn) passed by, and it was moving at 2am!

Yeah, I share your frustration!

[bigpaul]

Same story in 4P. I had 3 small bucks go by, by 7:10 on opening morning. Since then 1 small buck on Thanksgiving. I'm praying for cooler weather. Didn't see much rutting activity either. I left my cameras out and it's 90% night activity. I'm not giving up, things change in a heartbeat!

[ny hunter]

I hunt 3h I have seen more doe this year.The last 2 years I have not seen any deer,so at least I saw them this year.Shot a small 8pt last Monday.But thats it for horns.But so far this is the most deer I have seen.No scrapes yet,and a few rubs.

[bkln]

Same here, I hunt 3F,3G and CT. I saw deer during the first 3 days of archery season, then just two does during gun, that's about it for 22 days of hunting, I know it's getting frustrated but that's part of hunting as well. Like others I blame the weather, try to put your winter jacket on and see how active you going to be with 60 degrees outside. I hope the ML season will get the most of action this year.

[Stretchhunts]

Same in 7F and 7J. Every year gets slower and slower

[DEADDEER1]

well when guys continuosly shoot whatever they can get there hands on were eventually going to run out of deer

SHOOT EM all boys fawns spikes ect cant eat the hornsssssss is what ive read numerous times on this site

Warm weather is a big part but honestly i feel the deer #ers are down as well Hanging my stuff up not even going back out going to visit santa claus for the kids wasted to much already tired of seeing young garbage bucks refuse to shoot just any deer, probally going to take a yr off next yr and work on a lease were I can grow some deer if you have food you should have deer...

[mossy725]

SAME story in 9J and 8M. This weather has sucked!

[Nomad]

Fellow Webster guy here. I hunt 8H north of 5/20 not far from Toomeys Corners. For me bow and gun has been great ! 3 weeks off in bow hunted 25 times or so,killed a doe saw 5 shooters never close though...

Gun for US has been better then most years. Took a buck first light opening day, a fat doe next morning, one of the guys I take with me nailed a nice 8pt. I hunt A LOT every day of gun I've seen deer. Sat. morning i took a neighbor he saw 7 deer ( 2 bucks) by 9:00.

But we have AR'S in place on the land and while the 8 he saw was wide as ears he held off due to short tines.

While I still hunt right now its mostly to keep an eye on the land ,take a guy here and there and see whats walking around. I can't hardly wait for ML !!!

I like the warm weather, can sit for ever in jeans and a sweatshirt !!

Good Luck !

[Megan870]

I've been hunting in 8M and have been having the same lack of luck. I've been going out this year more than any other year and sitting for longer than I ever have, and I haven't seen anything since opening day which was a small spike. I definitely think it has to do with the warm, rainy and windy weather which are all reasons why they wouldn't move. However, it is getting very frustrating as the season gets closer to an end. Hopefully we get some snow around here soon and start getting those deer!

[Nomad]

oh its hard to get the whole picture on way or another by a few dozen guys who may post,but my butcher is ahead of last year numbers wise. Someone's seeing them !

[the blur]

I personally saw 3 guys walk into the woods at 6:30 am, state land, 2 hours later, they dragged out a family of does. little baby, medium size, and mama. What that leaves for the future of this state park?????? I don't know, but I should find another place to hunt.

[crs740]

I hunt 7F and 7H and it has been the same for me. The deer move super late if they move at all during the day. The land I hunt in 7H has a ton of deer, but they guys that hunt it have seen one good buck and it ran over to the neighbors property on the weds before thanksgiving. I hunted Thansgiving morning and heard a shot on the niehgbors land at 6:30 ( talk about too EARLy!) we are pretty certain it was the big boy. The rest of the weekend produced quite a few does sightings, but I only saw 3 bucks over 4 days and they were all dinks. Hopefully the cooler weather gets them moving, it has been pretty damn depressing to say the least.

[HectorBuckBuster]

The deer have not been moving as much as normal. I have a 40 aces corn field right next to my land, and sat for a couple days never seen a deer. So I walked to corn field and everytime I have kicked deer out and shot a doe. Those deer just run a row or to ahead on me till I hit the edge then they, stop about 10 rows from the edge. Missed a nice buck he other day same thing.

[JFB]

The weather is certainly a big factor currently, but in my opinion the DEC is to blame for your problem. They can almost wipe out an entire area just by handing out nuisance permits to a farmer or two. Add to that, WAY too long of a gun season, and DEC handing out permits like candy and what do you get? Certain area's that have extremely low numbers. Shooting every deer you see eventually has it's effects.

And what does the DEC do in places that actually HAS above average hunting? Hand out more and more permits until that area sucks too.

[Dstone001]

I was hunting in 4Z and 3F. I saw a bunch of does in 4Z, but didn't have a permit. Nothing at all in 3F, although my neighbor told me he's had a couple of big bucks in his back yard. I sat there for 4 hours and didn't see them.

My neighbors on the other side told me they didn't see anything either. Very cold; very frustrating.

[Meat Manager]

First off I harvested two doe so far, 1 early in archery, 1 on the gun opener. Both early morning on the setting waning quarter moon.

I will say that my deer sighting average has been going down steadily since the 1st week of Archery (the last time the average temps were remotely seasonal, and the last time I saw more than 5 deer in a day), and it has to be my worst by now as well.

I had a few nice chasing encounters right on the rut full moon (2 breeding pairs in 1 morning), but other than that rut sign was very low, leading me to believe the split rut theory.

As for the reason, I have to go with weather...I do not believe that the DEC's management has much to do with it (other than the potential problems with the "nuisance tags" mentioned by someone above).

I know there are plenty of deer around here, 50-100 at a time were out in the fields midday-dusk all Spring & Summer, and I know many of them are still here, cause the bedding and feeding areas are still loaded with droppings.

So, I think the main reason you, me, and many others are reporting a slow season is because these deer have had every reason just to stay out at night and bedded down close to food and water during the day. The nights have been warm and clear, the days even more so...check your calendar, its December 1st and Philadelphia, PA has had more snow than entire southern zone.

Edited December 1, 2011 by 7J Everyday

[Nomad]

So everyone is on the same page, nuisance tags are tags that can be filled by any means any time ( at night with rifles and lights etc) DMAPS are extra doe tags issued to a landowner, one hunter can use 2 of those.

Both of those combined only add to less then 5% of the whole deer take.Stories of friends,brother -in-law's Mailman heard of a farmer..... aside.

The farm I hunt gets both. Over 2,000 acres and they get a whopping TWO nuisance tags.the farmer who is to busy, well farming during the season gets his meat with them in the slower summer months.

The guys who hunt the farm use the DMAPS( they get 15 or so) instead of our doe tags,we don't even buy them anymore. So for us these are not extra deer taken,just deer not taken with reg, doe tags.

Either way its a small number of deer taken on both state wide.

Back to the topic... This AM was the first day in gun I did not see a deer !

Edited December 1, 2011 by Larry302

[Doc]

Maybe I'm not understanding the original post, but I don't see this as being anything peculiar for the seasons of the last bunch of years. haven't we all seen the season being primarily reduced to an opening day event (or maybe the opening two days)? I thought it was a pretty accepted expectation that every year hunters are becoming pretty much part-timers. Many show up for the first day, never to return again. Or perhaps in days after opening day, a few hunters show up for a few hours in the morning and then disappear at lunch time. Also, most of what few hunters that come out after opening day are strictly sitters with nobody moving deer. Meanwhile, once the trauma of opening day takes place, the deer remain in super survival mode as long as there is even one hunter in their area, and they remain sitting tight in their favorite sanctuaries. It has nothing to do with super heavy harvests, or coyotes, or diseases, or any kinds of deer deaths because when the following year rolls around, there are as many deer as ever (+/-).

Let's face it, hunters are simply getting to be part-time participants with only a very tiny core of die-hard hunters (not enough to move deer). Not only are we losing numbers of hunters, but the dedication is waning as well. At least that is the way I have perceived recent hunter attitudes and participation in recent seasons.

[ncountry]

In the area I live and every other area I hunt in the deer numbers are way down.It has been in a steady decline for at least the last 10 years . In my neighborhood ,for example, 10 years ago I could drive around the "block" ( a 4-5 mile ride) and spot 100 deer in the fields.10 in this field, 3 in this one, 8 in that one,deer spread out all over the place. The same trip now , I may be able to see 0- 10 if I am lucky. I have been the sole bowhunter on this one alfafa field for years . I used to see 10+ deer come into the field on an evening hunt. Now my daughter and I sat there this year 4 different times and saw only 2 deer total.There are some in this state that say there are just as many deer as there ever was but for every 1 of them I bet you can find 10 more that are not seeing as many deer.

I believe the farmer permits ,dmps , and muzzleloader w/scope season all have contributed to this. at least up here in the northern zone.

I believe we as hunters have a responsibility to manage the herd on our own. When we notice the herd is thinning out stop shooting does.Do not wait for the state to limit your doe tags and at the same time complain about the lack of deer.We all should know how well the state manages anything.