dittos davidmil,in nearly all the states that I'm aware of bow season is before gun season. You can't blame what goes on after your season is over for your failure. Doesn't make any sense to me.

I am spoiled in that I have sole access to land that can't be hunted with a gun. it's too suburban. I'm the only person hunting these deer in about 300 acres of prime hideout space. When gun season rolls around......nothing changes, for me. i don't see a difference in the deer movement.

Were I in a different location in this area/country.......I might have a different outlook. I'm not. I don't. My views are a product of MY experiences/views. It bothers me not if your view differs. That's what makes this place great.

Jeff

Deer drives suck no problem with gun hunting just that form of gun hunting.90% of the time their running mach 4 not an ethical shot. I've found private property means nothing to most I said most of these guys. Its dangerous the adrenaline takes over and weres joe I don't see him and wack joe is meat for the freezer. It takes alot to get deer to move but gun hunters that do their homework and sit in the thicker cover or what I do is give the orange army the first week they give up and the deer return to their normal patterns. I am not divided if somebody chooses to hunt this way fine I guess it s not my cup of tea. However you hunt be safe have fun and enjoy how blessed we are to have the priveledge to hunt anyway we choose.

If you're a gun hunter.....I'd like to know your views of dog hunting (driving deer with dogs). It's legal in parts of NC, where I live.

Jeff

I totally feel your pain! I bowhunted real hard this year. Have some pictures of 3 nice bucks on one property (280 acres - my wife's grandma). 15, yes I said 15 people drove that land 5 times over the 9 day gun season in minnesota. they got all 3 bucks and 3 other deer. I took two does out of there bow hunting and passed on one small 5 point (shot by a neighbor). That neighbor also shot a spike but didn't find it until a couple days later, after he shot the 5 point. What ticks me off is that there is nothing left for deer there. No wonder I never see anything on that property late season bow hunting.

They are so proud of themselves it makes me sick. beer cans under every permanent stand. hooting and hollering. countless shots get fired every time theykick up a deer. One actually shot the other in the hand while duck hunting years ago.

The one thing I find funny about it is there is 15 guys you'd think they'd want to go somewhere else. there's access to 30000 acres of public land within a mile. I hunted that land and saw 13 deer. I could have shot half a dozen of them. I wish I could convince these goof balls that they would do better driving the public land, but they never step foot on it. This is there best year ever and it's really not that great considering they had so many people.

anyway, i saw the post and thought, i can really relate to that. it's frustrating! ah, just think of how nice it will be when you shoot the big buck off the property the week before the gun season. hehe. one of those guys put his stand within 20 yards of mine. i left a nice gut pile within sight of his stand (nice hole through the heart too!). that guy is the one good guy in their group but it was kind of nice (hate to admit it) leaving that gut pile there.

I hunt with my bow, muzzleloader, and rifle. In the areas I hunt I don't have a shot over 60yds. I enjoy all, but I enjoy bowhunting more than any.
I'm from NC as well and have seen people using dogs to drive deer out.
All I can say is that it's not for me.
In the past few years I bow hunt, then black powder, then during rifle season I usually take my bow out.
I have to change areas sometimes because the concrete hunters will mess up the deer and their patterns.


A good friend of mine used to hunt with dogs years ago. He said back then you had to hunt all day to find a track, then you stayed on those tracks all day and sometimes you could kill 1 deer. But he also said that with the population as high as it is now, dogs are not needed like they were 40 years ago and anyone who would spend a little time scouting would be able to take a deer.

In some parts of NC it is also legal to shoot from the road. As long as you are not inside the vehicle you can shoot. How's that take ya?

Hee hee hee. I love stirring the pot. It brings out so much elegant conversation.

Jeff you know how much you love your dog..multiply that love and care. ive never deer hunted with dogs but have ran coonhounds, begals, and bird dogs. but if i ever get the chance to hunt big game wether its deer, bear, hogs, mt lions etc im game. i used to run coonhounds at a very young age. that was my absolute favorite hunting. words cant explain what it feels like to train and teach a dog to hunt. some people think its cruel or blah blah etc. my dogs WERE NOT happy if they werent runnin. thats what they loved to do. to train them to do what they do and watch and listen to them work is awesome. just a feeling you cant put into words. and you become alot more attached to a hunting dog i feel. you spend the time with him in training and hunting. you just develope a bond and connection. my dog could tell it was time to go hunting just by a certain light flicking on, or dad pulling in at a certain time. dog hunting just does somethin i cant explain.

glad to see that you took consideration for diffrent parts of the counrty being diffrent. it truely is. theres guys that dont know what its like to have the frustrations of other hunters. let alone 1 million on the opener of gun season. oh PA is a decint sized state sure...but a good bit of it is residential or commercial. if its not its probably posted or public and way overhunted. i wish i was hunting the state game lands the first day. id show you guys what ONE little dirt road looks like on the opener. itll be bad at home where ill be too...but the woodlots are smaller and it spreads guys out a little bit and you cant capture 20+ cars in one pic.

and matt. i been driving for 5 years now i think. NONE of my shots have been at mach 4..they may come OUT at mach 4..but when a drive is done right the pushers walk slow and quiet to get deer up and moving but not 100% bolting. once in a while they do..but when they do its usually early on in the drive and the deer slows before it gets to the shooters. i killed atleast 5 deer from drives and seen probably atleast a couple hundred. only ones that run are the stupid ones that run the open fields and the ones that were just kicked up. but all the ones i stopped werent even moving. they stop just like any other deer...now if you have a huge group of guys REALLY driving deer bangin on pots and pans, hollering etc then yes..you will get bolting deer that probably wont stop. my drives arent anything like that. our drives are pretty soft. couple guys standing, couple guys sitting and slow quiet walking. our walkers kill as many deer as the sitters because they are quiet and slow..without driving hunting the smaller woodlots at home is about useless. deer can and will hide in any cover..and cover in the farmland is abundant. brush patches and fencerows everywhere..with all the guys in the woods its the best method of hunting once the orange army is out...

Geez kroj....lighten up man. If you have been around here much, davidmil is usually the first to take a light hearted jab at you. Its all in fun, and he's just jerking your chain.

There is something to be proud of