Who said anything about the herd not being down.It's a fact that on key days when there's alot of hunters in the woods,the deer are up on their feet moving more and people see more deer.The vast majority of the deer I kill with a rifle are shot between noon and 2:00 pm and the reason is simple.That's when the most people are on their feet moving,forcing the deer to move as well.Once the deer sense that pressure,they hunker down and stay put unless forced to move.Once that happens,it makes the hunting very tough after the first day because no one is moving the deer.Bear season is also a big factor around here.

No one is grasping for any straws.I don't complain about not seeing deer.I see them in areas where supposedly the herd is decimated.there's an area not far from my house that's owned by Seneca resource corp.It's open to the public,dmap'd and has very easy access.It get's pounded in bear season and recieves moderate pressure during deer season.Most people complain about the lack of deer.Funny thing is,I've yet to hunt that in rifle season without seeing quite a few deer.We do small slow drives with one or two guys and see deer on almost every drive.Most guys sit on pipelines or in the sections of open woods where they can see the farthest.We push out the thick laurel patches and thick clearcuts and move deer every time.On the last day I hunted this spot by myself.It was cold and too crunchy to walk so the hunting was tough.I set up on a bench that was directly below a thick laurel patch that we always push deer out of.I didn't see a single deer by 10:00am.At that time,4 guys decided to push the laurel out diretly away from where I was sitting.It ticked me off at first but I figured I HAD A GOOD CHANCE OF seeing some skirt out behind these guys.Sure enough,about 5 minutes into the drive,a single deer came right out to me,followed by 3 more.The first one was small so I let it go.I planned on shooting one of the others but they satyed about 15 yards up the hill too far to get a good shot.All 4 of those deer stayed along the edge of that laurel and went right back in behind the drivers.I talked with those guys about two hours later and they never saw a deer.Those guys walked into the laurel with the wind at their faces and winded their standers that were on the opposite side.This past Sept,I got 85 trail cam pictures in one week on that exact same bench yet hunters say there's no deer there.