Ok I hunt in southwest michigan in kalamazoo county. This past weekend was the opener for gun season and I spent the whole weekend out in the treestand. Saturday morning I see two really small fork horns and about 3 does. Saturday night I saw nothing until I was coming out of my stand after dark and saw about 5 does in the bean field I sit on. Sunday morning I saw nothing and that night I saw 5 does come out right after dark to the field. I am just confused because during bow season I saw way more does and a lot more bucks in the field, and opening weekend for gun I see nothing. So my question is this, is anyone else not seeing any deer at all as well, cause all of my friends in the area are not seeing anything at all. Three of my buddies sat out on Monday all day without leaving their stands and saw one doe combined, I just don't know why where I am at no one is seeing deer. Any thoughts??
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Go afield with a good attitude, with respect for the wildlife you hunt and for the forest and fields in which you walk. Immerse yourself in the outdoor experience. It will cleanse your soul and make you a better person.
-Fred Bear-
It seems your deer sightings fall right in line with others from this area. In the "Midwest" forum there are some good discussions about the same thing...so it's not just you.
Im seeing the hell out of bucks still, and our gun season is also in. Im in southern Indiana. If it was me i would get off the fields. This is what is working for me. Hunt the edges of thickets and open woods possably between two thickets. Hunt between Doe bedding areas if you can. stick with funnels.
Hey MI only sucks this year!!!(what are the chances of a OSU defeat?....slim to none but I'll take it.) And the Lions well.. ya they just suck.
joemr I believe your problem is hunting pressure. What kind of land do you hunt on?
I hunt in Wayland which is about 30 minutes north on US131 from you. During bow season every year I see a ton of deer. I usually see good bucks in the distance traveling through the corn, I passed on a few smaller bucks this year, and also saw a good amount of doe.
When gun season comes I don't see squat!!! and when I define squat, I usually don't see a deer. If I do they are booking!
I hunt private property which is about 117 acres and is only hunted on the weekends by usually 2-4 people. But since gun season opened up not one shot has been fired on our property but everyone elses property around us has had a lot of shots so I figured I would see more deer as a result since there has been no shots on out property. But I have not seen squat either. This sunday I am going out but I am gonna take my bow instead of my gun and hope I get lucky and get a shot at my 6-point i missed 3 weeks ago.
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Go afield with a good attitude, with respect for the wildlife you hunt and for the forest and fields in which you walk. Immerse yourself in the outdoor experience. It will cleanse your soul and make you a better person.
-Fred Bear-
i think they have a time clock in their heads. because i would sit all during bow and see deer and just before gun season i would suddently not see much of anything. very.very.. very high hunting pressure where i hunted in MI.
I've always seen peak about of deer and learn their patternsduring the last week of October thru the first week of November here in northern Indiana. As soon as gun season starts up...with every hilljack and their brother walking around with a 12ga....the patterning is ruined.
Just the other afternoon I was sitting in my stand....when I hear crunching in the corn field boardering our property. Here's the finest hunter in all the land with his shotgun over his shoulder....stalking an empty corn field. As he approaches a thicket in themiddle of the field...he pull Navy Seal moves...crawling...crouching...etc.
After he sat against a tree for an hour, several deer came upwithin 100'behind him...eating corn off the ground for 5 minutes. It wasn't until they ran off towards our property that he realized they were there.....which is when he unloaded all 5 shots at them.
I've always encouraged other people to bowhunt......maybe I should re-think that. I like being in the woods and knowing nobody is within a ½ mile of me except a buddy or two.
Michigan,Ohio,Indiana Hunters please help
