kinda lengthy, but worth it

i hunted for three years in the mountians of eastern PA. all the other hunting camps had deer, ours had squat! i hunted with the type that only went into the woods the 2 days we were in town to hunt and NEVER did any scouting. actually, one of the members lived up there, but he didnt care about hunting. he stayed at the camp just to get away from the ol' lady and drink. our routine was go out opening day in the morning, hunt till about 10am, come in for lunch, nap and then go back out around 3:30. repeat the same thing the next day and then go back home the day after that. we spent usually a total of say 11 or so hours afield out of two weeks available. i finally said "this is insane, im getting a deer with or without these guys." so i started talkng to real hunters and explored my options. needless to say, i took advantage of the late season that year. opening day we got about 12-14" inches of snow, but i was determined. on the way in i saw a heard of deer and i almost had a heart attack, it was the first time i had ever seen deer in the wild. about an hour later 2 more walked by about 70 yards away. i was shaking so bad i couldnt help but miss. i returned the next day and had my first kill within an hour. i have hunted with the same attitude since and have seen plenty and always filled a tag! to recap, scouting is very important, the more time you spend in the woods the better your chances and talk to other local hunters. they are there, you just have to find them.