A recent thread got me to thinking......am I alone in this thinking?

I'm one who is hoping (becasue of my herd dynamics) to see LESS deer each year. I'm also changing up my approach on most of my hunts....to the point to which I don't WANT to see "deer". I'm hoping for a buck or nothing. If I see too many does.....I'll know I picked the wrong place (for THIS time of year).

So does not seeing deer bother you? Or....do you just say it goes with the territory you're hunting (if you're buck hunting)?

I saw WAY less deer in '07, compared to '06. I hope that trend continues.

I hate not seeing deer. BUT I am in an area where there is enough that I feel I should at least see deer 2/3 of my sits.
WHen I hunted less populations just seeing one was bonus, as it took MANY more sits before doing so. Having plenty of deer around spoiled me, cause when I go a few without seeing any I get rather cranky.

I somewhat agree, but I don't have a lot of land to hunt and I see a lot of does almost every sit. So basically I'm hoping it will be a good spot during the rut.

Nothing wrong with that philosophy, Bowman, when it's the only thing you have. I did that for almost 3 seasons....and it works, just fine.

I'm just having fun hunting the new land a new way. Your way WILL/does work.

I see where you're coming from, Jeff. This time of year, if you're after the mature bucks, your best bet isn't probably hunting the heavily doe saturated areas. In my case, I'm after a doe or a buck, and which ever presents itself first, so I continue to hunt the locations where I'm seeing a lot of doe. I really don't feel that I have access to any solid mature buck territory on the property I hunt. My pre-rut observations and early season scouting confirm this. I don't really see much other than 1.5 yr old bucks ANYWHERE until the rut begins. I've hunted this piece of ground for all of my life so, unless I'm missing on key piece of info, that's my take on my situation.

Not seeing deer bothers me.....I like watching them

Sep. through midOct., I avoid the does. Then mid Dec. through Jan. I do the same thing, if I'm still buck hunting.

Seening a lot of does bothers me for this time of year. That means I'm notin theright spot for a mature buck. My buck to doe ratio is about 1 to 7, if I can cut that down to 1 to 1 sightings, I'm happy.

I hate it when I don't see any deer. It really makes me start second-guessing myself. Should I be in a different stand, mornings compared to evenings and so on. But thats all part of it.

The more i see them the more confidence it builds in me.

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