Heading back
 

Can't find a single deer her around the house so the truck is back and I'm headed back up to North Central PA to the cabin and see if I can bust a buck tomorrow or Saturday. Anterless comes in on Saturday too so pretty much any deer is fair game except a buck need at least 3 pt on one side to be legal (spikes and "Y" bucks are illegal for adult hunters).
I'm hoping the .58 Renegade will be able to eat.

Good luck on your hunt. I hope you see a monster buck.

Good luck bronco!

Best of luck to you!

Best of luck Bronko

Good luck. I have hunted every weekend since October first in western Virginia. I saw only 3 does all season. Ten years ago I would of seen 10 a day. I hope you get a good one.

I hunted centerfire rifle for 5-1/2 days and the past two days of muzzleloader season. Only time I aimed my rifle to shoot, was when I saw the assend of four does on November 19th. I refuse to shoot at their rear-ends, even with my semi-auto .300WSM.

Let us know how you make out Bud...

I hunted Saturday with my Mrs. and saw nothing in the am. Went back out in the afternoon and she saw five deer and I saw three, one of which is now hanging in my garage with the hide off. :biggrin: When we got together after hunting, she told me that shortly after 3:00 she saw two does come uphill and cross the logging road on her left then continue on. Suddenly, a big deer trotted across and headed straight for the does like it was on a mission. She said it rushed the does so they scooted away nervously then it began to chase them around. She told me got a good look at it's head and it had no antlers. I told her that maybe it was a yearling buck that was feeling frisky but had no visible antlers yet. She told me she doubted that it was a yearling as it was bigger than both of the does it was after. I also said that he could have broken his antlers off fighting or maybe he was a spike and she didn't see his spikes between his ears. Again she said no... she had checked his head with the scope and it had no antlers period. It's still a mystery to both of us.

That said, I took a nice young doe around 100 lbs. at about 4:40 pm with a Winchester Model 94AE XTR chambered for 7-30 Waters. It's actually one of her rifles but I had never hunted with it so I with her blessing I took it out and made meat!!

BPS

Friday afternoon and Saturday were a bust. I guess the hunting pressure put them back deep into the laurel. I really put some miles on still hunting though and went to some places I haven't been to since I was in my 30's. (the trees are a lot bigger there now!)
I think I know what may be causing the decline in the deer population though. In all my 51 years of hunting I have never, ever seen so much bear feces. I saw more of that than I did deer droppings! And it is a known fact that bear take a toll on newborn fawns.
Went to a restaurant Saturday evening up in North Bend and the waiter told me his friend's group shot 24 bear and could have shot over 40 if they had the tags.
I do believe though that I also saw some elk droppings which is quite possible as they have been spotted only a couple mountains over.

Bronko...

I can remember not so long ago that it was normal to sit in my own woods on opening day of season and see 25-40 deer. Now on a good opening day, I'll see 6-10, maybe a dozen. Here's what I think has taken it's toll on the deer population...

First, I'm not gonna argue that we definitely have more bears ... but I wouldn't be so quick to blame them. We also have a LOT more other predators that guys like you and I NEVER had to compete with as young guys starting out hunting. Coyotes, Bobcats, Fishers, (yes, fishers will prey on fawn deer) plus a lot more opportunities to kill does than we EVER had. I'm sure you remember when we only got ONE deer tag a year!! Now, multiple doe tags are available combined with a six week either sex bow season, which also carries a week of doe only ML season (peeps, scopes, percussion, flint, handgun, sidelock or in-line, whatever... anything goes, just go kill a doe) of which that same week also carries the youth/senior 3 day DOE ONLY firearm season. Crossbows are also allowed statewide now by anyone for ANY season when they used to be allowed for use by the handicapped or physically impaired only. We also have the youth mentor hunting program so there are young people (children) that would NEVER be allowed to hunt prior to that because of their age. Plug in two weeks of an either sex (basically a shoot it if it's brown) regular firearms season for the past ten years or so in most management units followed by a 2-1/2 week either sex flintlock and late archery season after Christmas and it's a GD NO BRAINER why we don't have sheeut for deer anymore!!!!

Sorry for the rant fellas... :rant:

BPS