ORIGINAL: Germ
Well hello Atlas, good to here from you[8D]
Maybe you are just hunting in the wrong spots[8D]
There is no right and wrong............I hunt everywhere I can. I hunt private farms and suburbs, I hunt big plots of deep state land and everything in between. Hell, I have even hunted a few times on land that is QDM'd by the state..........I have hunted state parks, archery only islands and permit only private/state combos.
I know the deer in my area. Are big deer extinct around here??........of course not. They usually come off a local farm that has more posted signs then trees and is just not available to hunt to anyone but gramps and his boy..........you can relate
If I could hunt there I would........so would everyone else. I picked up 2 more farms this year and was fortunate enough to get my 6pt off one of them. I also got kicked off a farm because the guy who is related by marriage and hunts there "heard" someone saw a big buck there and decided he wanted it all to himself.
Any areas you pick up to hunt around me already have guys hunting them............there is minimal land available to large numbers of guys..........then there are huge plots posted to high heaven that maybe one guy hunts each year.........and yes I try to get on the properties that join those low pressure spots.
The whole point is it's OK with me...........I know what I have to work with and I don't delude myself into thinking I am on an episode of Realtree Roadtrips. I do the best I can with the hand I am dealt and quite frankly I think I do pretty good. I am proud of the success I have been able to achieve in the time and places I have been able to achieve it.
Do I sit in my stand daydreaming about spike bucks??.........of course not. I like big bucks as much as anyone and wouldn't be mad at all if one strolled in front of my stand some day...........but that is the reality of where I have options to hunt. I might see one someday...........I might not. Judging by the data I have to go on hunting my local woods for 19 years I have to say that waiting for Mr big is not a wise or viable option. That's OK with me. I like "my" deer and I like hunting them.