Heck I’ve already gone 8 sits this year so far depending on how you want to count it. I had deer in range the one night but it was too dark. Of course I wasn’t hunting any of my primary spots and my range was only 15 yds.

Back when I first started I had gone an entire season without getting a shot….That only happened once though.

Well, I've never kept track, but I'm positive that I've sat in a stand, 20 times in a row, several times, and not even seen deer, much less of them in bow range. I seen 11 deer last year all of last season (with 5 being one morning) and thats from September to January!

So far this season, I have had a doe under my stand opening morning that busted me, so now, so far this season, it has been 5 sits without seeing another deer.

My dream is to have a place to hunt that I can consistently see deer...one day.

Late season can be rough. Either I see a bunch or none. 20+ is my record. I stopped counting b/c it was too discouraging. That has been very rare though.

So far this year I've been out a total of 6 times the first 3 times I didn't see a deer but they were only short sit's the next 2 times out I saw 3 bucks one time (one of which I shot)and 2 bucks the next and the last time out I went to an old spot I used to hunt alot and didn't see one deer while in stand but I did get to listen to a girls high school soccer game and I saw a hiker with her dog and 2 four wheelers.......I'm not going back to that spot until I can hunt it in the morning or there's a bunch or snow on the ground.

I have a new record. Last night.....I bumped a little buck and a doe getting to stand......and then saw nothing. 5 in a row with nothing in bow range.

Where I hunt, I a typical2.5 month season goes like this:

20-25"sits" morning or evening
5-10 deer seen per season
2-4 in bow range per season.

Last year, I saw one buck all season long, and I shot him. It was a 1.5 year old 7 point.

I see a deer every 3 to 4 hunts on average. I'd say every 8 to 10 hunts I get a deer in bow range.

That being said, I've managed to take 5 whitetails in the last three years with my bow under these conditions. You pretty much have to take advantage of every shot opportunity you get, regardless of age or sex of the deer. It's tough hunting, but I get "buck fever" every time I see a deer, even if it's a fawn because it just doesn't happen that much.

The funny thing is when I went to Illinois, and I expected to see lots of deer, I didn't get nearly as excited seeing them because that's what I expected. So there's a good side to not seeing alot of deer. You get more excitement out of the encounters that you do have.

Never mind in range. I have gone 10-12 sits without seeing a deer.

Last year I went 9 sits without one, seeing deer, just out a good ways.

I went 2.5 seasons without seeing a deer when I started hunting. I almost quit. First deer I saw I couldn't shoot because I didn't have a doe tag. But I was hooked.

BTW - I was even hunting in multi-spots in multiple states.

Tom

Going back to 1998 - in 1998 I went 17 sits w/o having a deer in range
2000 I went 15 sits
2005 I went 10 sits

THis is hunting the same county where Matt & Frank just raised the ante!