I understand that if we harvest more deer than we recruit,the future harvests will decrease.All I'm saying is,it's not as bad as many claim.Hunting should take some effort.If someone expects a reasonable amount of success,scouting should be a priorityand so should a basic understanding of deer habitat.Understanding why deer are using different areas during different periods of the year are important to success.It shouldn't be brain surgery but it shouldn't equate to shooting fish in a barrel either.

I hunt and scout year round because I like being in the woods.My seven year old daughter has been going with me quite a bit for the past two years.I don't know if she's going to hunt or not but she'll understand what it takes to be successful if she decides to.She knows what a browsline looks like and can identify certain preferred browse species.even at her age,she knows a spot probably won't be productive if you can see 300+ yards through the trees and ferns.She also knows hunting is never a guarantee.She sees me coming home empty handed enough to know it isn't easy but she also sees enough dead deer hanging in the garage to know it can be done with a little work.It's cool being able to tell I killed a deer from the stand she helped me hang.

I'll be the first one to stand up and say it stinks hunting deer at 10 dpsm.You can hunt for days and never see a deer regardless of how good of a hunter you think you area.I know there are areas like that but around here,that only applies to areas where the habitat is terrible.In these cases,there's alot more to it that just an over harvest.