ManofTheFall

early in

I haven't had that problem. I've gotten an 8pt and 2 doe so far, but I still have one antlerless tag left. I'll be out there after work today to try to fill that tag. I am seeing fewer deer as the season draws to a close.

burniegoeasily

Ive had seasons like that. Especially when the moon is bright like it is now. Hunt all day and see nothing, then on the drive home dodge deer. Sucks when they go nocternal. Luckily i have never been skunked. What i hate is, during deer season i run off hogs all season. Once deer season is over, and i go looking for hogs, i see deer.

tight360

They'll be along shortly, I had 13 in my back yard just yesterday between 505p and 6p. First time I've had that type of attendance since early Nov. Thy're just now figuring out that there isn't a hunter around every bend and in every other tree. Besides that, theys huungry now. Gotta a storm approaching, looking for a sold out show tonight. BTW, I'm tagged out and have been since 4 NOV. I would post pics, but the site won't allow it, I've tried several times.

chazspot

Yes, i have been experiencing the same for the last month or so, and it is really frustrating. I saw a bunch of deer on my way to the property early this morning and thought, Ok, enough of the all nighters; these deer are getting back to normal.

Well, no deer again. This had more to do with me going in nice and early and....they were already there by my stand site.

With about one more week left, I think the deer's defenses are dropping again and I hope to bag one more before I have to wrap up the season.

Tundra10

I hunt Traditional late season here in PA.

Every year I've had a chance to harvest before end of rifle but due to self imposed restrictions I go into late season without a harvested deer.(there are many years I do harvest during the Firearms regular season)

If the season ends and I don't have a deer , I just look at it as more deer born this spring.

tight360

Here ya go, maybe this will help with your late season hunts. Look on page "2" of this category "Bow Hunting", third thread from the bottom titled "Janruary Bow hunt". Slide down the thread to my post and read what I do when it comes time to hunt the later months. Consistant successful hunters are not lucky at all. Hope that post helps.

Mojotex

Still have 10 days left here in Alabama. Plan to be in woods Wed. a.m. and hunt through the end of the season.

The area I hunt has two distinct periods of doe estrus .... about Nov. 25 - Dec. 15 and again about Jan. 10 - Jan. 31. The second estrus cycle has fired up. Friend killed a 144 1/4 incher (green score obviously) Friday morning .... chasing does along with another really good buck. Another busdd who is hunting from a stand I set up a few weeks back texted me about a hour ago. Had a good 8 pt. ease though running a couple of does. Not quiet a shooter.

As far as overall this season we as a group are way down. especially on does. Our property (about 3150 acres) is about 2/3 planted pines. The age of the pines now is such that on 1500 +/- acres the under brush is pretty much limited to the edges. This has resulted in numbers of deer using the property for feeding on browse thse pst 2-3 years to be down dramatically. Added to a long stretch of abnormally warm weather up through Christmas and a heck of an acorn crop, the deer have not wanted to nor have had to move much in order to stay fat and happy.

I have 4 does in the freezer and have passed on 6 to 8 pretty good bucks. I have not seen anything in the 125" and up class. Thse are rare on this place anyway simply because most of our folks don't pass any "decent" 7-8-9-10 pointer. And folks hunting adjacent properties don't either.

Cold now and supposed to have another cold snap next week. So maybe I'll get lucky, cause Lord knows I am not good !!!

tight360

The problems we face in the north is early cold temps. Our browse starts dying mid to late OCT. What happens then is the deer quickly adapt and change what was a summer feed pattern to winter in what seems like overnight. The deer will move to privately owned land that has crop fields and QDM properties. Another problem is the deer will now bed in the pines due to temp and wind. If you're sitting on a 20 acre spot with a few stands set for wind working a summer browse pattern, well you're in trouble come DEC and JAN. Its not luck or being "good", but hard work. You have to "scout" those winter months to find out what the deer are doing in winter. Who the heck wants to do that when the temps are hittings highs of 20 - 25 degrees. What happens is a guy will keep pounding that summer browse stand in winter hoping for a lucky doe. They're their but not using the same pattern. Collect 40-50 gallons of acorns, freeze them and break em out late DEC-JAN. You'll will have traffic. Good Luck! If you need some deer population control, gimme a call, I'll hunt with ya.

GRIZZLYMAN

I'm still seeing deer. I was out this weekend in Arkansas on the lease and saw a couple on Saturday and a couple yesterday, including the biggest buck I have seen in many years on this lease. I saw him the first time three weeks ago and couldn't get a shot on him either time. He still has his head gear, but I don't know for how much longer. I'm going back in a couple of weeks and hopefully he will show up again, in bow range.