I definitely agree with BreechPlug on the changes. So much so that I am suspending my hunting for next year.

5 years ago I could go to any of my 7 places to hunt and see deer. I would bump them on the way in and out. It was hard to enter the woods because every path had a deer a long the way. It got to the point that I would wait for light, wait for the field to clear (about half hour after sunrise, then sneak to my stands.

On opening gun day, the question was not if you would harvest a deer or not, it was what do you want? Buck, Doe, yearling, old lady? I counted 70 deer that past my stand in 2007.

This year?

I went 35 trips to many different hunting spots and seen nothing. Then I got to see my fist Doe who came within 40 yards of my stand looking up in the trees as she walked.

I got to shoot at one buck with my bow but did not harvest.

That's it. Two deer.

The deer are so pressured here in Northeast Ohio its ridiculous. Because of the economy, everyone is hunting. I never seen other bow hunters before the rut. Now there are trucks everywhere on opening day.

Youth gun season is extremely popular and guns go a blazing early. Its hard to tell the difference between adult and youth gun season anymore.

Then comes regular gun. This year there are tons of Amish putting on massive drives. I seen over 100 in a single field alone. They were slinging lead like it was free shot.

I was waiting on that corner till end of season but the Drivers drove them out.

This Saturday is are extended gun season and I am taking my son who wants to go. Will see if we see something.

Muzzleloader comes in January 7, 2012. I look forward to that because most hunters can't take the cold or the snow. The deer have to feed and I have some prime cut corn fields to hunt the edge of.

But all-in-all, I could have bought a whole grass fed cow for what I invested in hunting this year...lol And even though I want deer hunting to be a challenge for my family and me, seeing no deer week after week in some awesome places gets old.

So, if the season continues as it has been I think I will voluntarily fish more and hunt less over the next few years.


D