THATS IT!!!!!!!!!! I give up!!!!!!! WHY ME?
10-21-2003, 09:28 AM
#31
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: SW Michigan
Posts: 1,906
RE: THATS IT!!!!!!!!!! I give up!!!!!!! WHY ME?
Perhaps you need to better understand this from the deer' s point of view.
The Spring was invariably wet in the Northeast this year, as was most of the summer. We didn' t dry out until mid-August.
Because of the wet weather, the crops are a little late this year. Corn was planted late, and grew slow due to the wet weather. Alfalfa grew a little slower and is still being cut. Corn is just being cut here in New England and in NY. Acorns are overabundant, with the white oaks and this a red oak year. Apples and fleshy fruits are on time, but with the wet spring/summer they are overabundant and big. This fall has some of the best wildlife forage in the NE and New England I' ve personally seen in 10 years. The turkey poults are almost the size of adults, especially with the late arrival of the hoppers this year (didn' t peak in New England until the last week Sept/first week Oct). I haven' t been to PA this year, but I' m sure you' re also a little behind in the forage department. Just look at how vibrant the grasses still are---usually after 3/4 frosts they' re cooked, but not this year...
In general though it is mast, fruit, and crop season to the deer. October is typically slow because now is when deer really cram their bellies full for the rut and coming winter. It' s also when everyone flocks to the woods, not just us deer hunters but small gamers and wing-shooters alike.
It sounds to me as if you' re not sure how to hunt deer as they alter their travel routes from Summer/Fall/Winter. I' m not saying you can' t hunt BM, it just sounds like instead of analyzing your problem, you' re just blindly poking around the hillside looking for game (as indicated by your multiple and various stand sites). The deer are fattening up right now, so that' s where you have to be...
Find the beds and find the freshest food source---you can' t possibly have that many bedding sites on that much acreage. Go back to square one and look at the topos and aerials. Determine what the deer are eating, where they are bedding and get into a funnel or travel corridor between the two. If you can' t find the deer where you are, start from scratch like you' ve never hunted the place. You' ll be surprised, but you can probably find a new funnel or corridor to explore.
I know on my hunting properties, the deer have moved a major trail a mere 50 yards due to all of the ground water---they just found a more convenient crossing spot. AND, we have had some torrential water the past few weeks, so the water table is very high.
AND if I were you, I' d be saving that oak spot until the chasing phase kicks in heavy. Sounds like you found a territorial corner, with more than one big-boy roaming the area. Save it until the bucks are a little less wary and more intent on " taking care of business" ...
And remember, have fun. Bring some blunts and start picking off squirrels if nothin' else
...
S&R
The Spring was invariably wet in the Northeast this year, as was most of the summer. We didn' t dry out until mid-August.
Because of the wet weather, the crops are a little late this year. Corn was planted late, and grew slow due to the wet weather. Alfalfa grew a little slower and is still being cut. Corn is just being cut here in New England and in NY. Acorns are overabundant, with the white oaks and this a red oak year. Apples and fleshy fruits are on time, but with the wet spring/summer they are overabundant and big. This fall has some of the best wildlife forage in the NE and New England I' ve personally seen in 10 years. The turkey poults are almost the size of adults, especially with the late arrival of the hoppers this year (didn' t peak in New England until the last week Sept/first week Oct). I haven' t been to PA this year, but I' m sure you' re also a little behind in the forage department. Just look at how vibrant the grasses still are---usually after 3/4 frosts they' re cooked, but not this year...
In general though it is mast, fruit, and crop season to the deer. October is typically slow because now is when deer really cram their bellies full for the rut and coming winter. It' s also when everyone flocks to the woods, not just us deer hunters but small gamers and wing-shooters alike.
It sounds to me as if you' re not sure how to hunt deer as they alter their travel routes from Summer/Fall/Winter. I' m not saying you can' t hunt BM, it just sounds like instead of analyzing your problem, you' re just blindly poking around the hillside looking for game (as indicated by your multiple and various stand sites). The deer are fattening up right now, so that' s where you have to be...
Find the beds and find the freshest food source---you can' t possibly have that many bedding sites on that much acreage. Go back to square one and look at the topos and aerials. Determine what the deer are eating, where they are bedding and get into a funnel or travel corridor between the two. If you can' t find the deer where you are, start from scratch like you' ve never hunted the place. You' ll be surprised, but you can probably find a new funnel or corridor to explore.
I know on my hunting properties, the deer have moved a major trail a mere 50 yards due to all of the ground water---they just found a more convenient crossing spot. AND, we have had some torrential water the past few weeks, so the water table is very high.
AND if I were you, I' d be saving that oak spot until the chasing phase kicks in heavy. Sounds like you found a territorial corner, with more than one big-boy roaming the area. Save it until the bucks are a little less wary and more intent on " taking care of business" ...
And remember, have fun. Bring some blunts and start picking off squirrels if nothin' else
...S&R
10-21-2003, 09:46 AM
#32
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Rainy Day Texas/USA
Posts: 1,145
RE: THATS IT!!!!!!!!!! I give up!!!!!!! WHY ME?
Hey Buck, there is a cold front barreling down on you right now and it will drop the temperatures quite nicely in it' s wake. High temperature will be in the mid-40' s for your area tomorrow and low' s will be in the lower 30' s both Thursday and Friday morning. You will be expecting somewhat of a warm up come this weekend. With this frontal passage today I' d be out in the woods first thing in the morning and also tomorrow evening. The deer will be nice a frisky. It doesn' t look like you have too much of a moon over head at night so you should see some daylight movement. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday look damn good. Go here to read your forecast.........
http://www.weatherunderground.com/cg...a+pennsylvania
http://www.weatherunderground.com/cg...a+pennsylvania
10-21-2003, 09:49 AM
#33
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Sinking Spring PA USA
Posts: 210
RE: THATS IT!!!!!!!!!! I give up!!!!!!! WHY ME?
Wah! Quit your sobbing I have been skunked every trip to my stand so far this year. It happens it is why they call it hunting. You can' t walk into the woods and say oh large bucks right over there in aisle 5. Fair chase is a part of why it is called hunting. Getting out there is the only way to have some success and some years you won' t see as many.
It is also coming time for the rut. Careless bucks making the tragic mistake of following their noses. Get some Tinks #69 stink bomb canisters, then hang it 15 yards in front of your stand. Sit there wait watch listen. Twig snaps, leafs rustle, the adreniline surges. In comes the buck and he is a shooter, thinking a hot doe is waiting for him to have some ooh-lah-lah. And that smell happens to be coming from your canisiter and in comes the buck he sniffs the canister right in frlon of your stand 15 yards broadside. You get buck fever, you freeze, you choke up, he busts you sitting in your stand because you aren' t wearing ASAT camo. Ok you get the picture. Have some heart.
Sure it gets frustrating but you are disheartened at the point where the game really gets going. Breeding instincts will be kicking in over the next few weeks and they get less cautious and that slow start will be just a distant memory if it picks up to a fast finish.
Good luck and get back out there the tide is about to turn into the hunter' s favor.
It is also coming time for the rut. Careless bucks making the tragic mistake of following their noses. Get some Tinks #69 stink bomb canisters, then hang it 15 yards in front of your stand. Sit there wait watch listen. Twig snaps, leafs rustle, the adreniline surges. In comes the buck and he is a shooter, thinking a hot doe is waiting for him to have some ooh-lah-lah. And that smell happens to be coming from your canisiter and in comes the buck he sniffs the canister right in frlon of your stand 15 yards broadside. You get buck fever, you freeze, you choke up, he busts you sitting in your stand because you aren' t wearing ASAT camo. Ok you get the picture. Have some heart.
Sure it gets frustrating but you are disheartened at the point where the game really gets going. Breeding instincts will be kicking in over the next few weeks and they get less cautious and that slow start will be just a distant memory if it picks up to a fast finish.
Good luck and get back out there the tide is about to turn into the hunter' s favor.
10-21-2003, 10:01 AM
#34
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Richardson TX USA
Posts: 738
RE: THATS IT!!!!!!!!!! I give up!!!!!!! WHY ME?
Look at it this way, things can' t get worse!
We' re comming off a full moon phase and the deer might have gone nocturnal for the time being. I' d try scouting some of the trails leading to and from that tree. Look for some bedding sites or new food sources..... also deer in my area seem to change there travel lanes alot.
Keep at it and eventually things will improve.
We' re comming off a full moon phase and the deer might have gone nocturnal for the time being. I' d try scouting some of the trails leading to and from that tree. Look for some bedding sites or new food sources..... also deer in my area seem to change there travel lanes alot.
Keep at it and eventually things will improve.
10-21-2003, 02:35 PM
#36
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location:
Posts: 356
RE: THATS IT!!!!!!!!!! I give up!!!!!!! WHY ME?
Buck Magnet,
I hear ya. I was out Friday afternoon hunting from my friend' s stand (with permission). He was seeing deer for the past 2 weeks. I saw nothing after being on stand for 4 hours. Saturday morning I' m hunting my stand which is about 100 yards away. NOTHING! Monday morning I hunted until 10AM...NOTHING! I' m frustrated too, but I keep dreaming about the upcoming rut and November! Hang in there...that' s all I am saying!
I hear ya. I was out Friday afternoon hunting from my friend' s stand (with permission). He was seeing deer for the past 2 weeks. I saw nothing after being on stand for 4 hours. Saturday morning I' m hunting my stand which is about 100 yards away. NOTHING! Monday morning I hunted until 10AM...NOTHING! I' m frustrated too, but I keep dreaming about the upcoming rut and November! Hang in there...that' s all I am saying!
10-21-2003, 02:49 PM
#37
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Irwin PA USA
Posts: 486
RE: THATS IT!!!!!!!!!! I give up!!!!!!! WHY ME?
With this warm weather we have been having, I' ve been taking it easy, making sure not to burn myself out to early. I will have my best hunting days ready for when the rut hits here in PA.....not too far away boys.
10-21-2003, 03:08 PM
#38
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: SW PA USA
Posts: 7,220
RE: THATS IT!!!!!!!!!! I give up!!!!!!! WHY ME?
Hang in there Buckmagnet. Its been slow everywhere but things are lookin up!. I took the bow out on a doe killin mission yesterday and managed to let the air out of four of em
! (special regs area, all tagged etc before the next was hunted). I was getting frustarted too. Ya just gotta hang in there!
Now its time to blow the dust off my buck stands!!
! (special regs area, all tagged etc before the next was hunted). I was getting frustarted too. Ya just gotta hang in there!Now its time to blow the dust off my buck stands!!
10-21-2003, 03:09 PM
#39
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Warroad MN USA
Posts: 187
RE: THATS IT!!!!!!!!!! I give up!!!!!!! WHY ME?
If I was lucky enough to be able to hunt every day, every other day, or even every weekend, I would be darn happy. It would not matter is I did not see a deer for weeks. I am always looking forward to the next day hunting. Tomorrow could be that day when " it" walks by the stand. I notice there are not a lot of real sympathetic people here. Know why? We would all rather be hunting!
10-21-2003, 03:16 PM
#40
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Indiana PA USA
Posts: 3,656
RE: THATS IT!!!!!!!!!! I give up!!!!!!! WHY ME?
I' M NOT GIVING UP GUYS, I AM JUST FRUSTRATED
The weather has been getting better here this week, but, even with that, and a better moon phase thrown in, the deer still aren' t moving.
This time last year, I was seeing probablly seeing 10 deer per night on an average night. I keep looking back at my log book and it just seems odd that at this time last year, the deer were really moving, and this year they aren' t.
There are a BUNCH of things working against me this year.
1. Part of my " honey hole" was sold off this summer. On a positive note though, my dad told me today that the plans have pretty much fallen through and the bidders are all backing out due to some type of mix up in paper-work. Thursday morning and evening I will be in there for the first time this year and I am REALLY looking forward to hunting " the pond stand"
2. No mast crops. Last year we didn' t have any acorns, and that is the case again this year. Heck, the only tree that I have seen dropping acorns is in my best-friends front yard. The crab apple trees around here have produced a FEW apples and they are all gone now.
3. Weather. I will go out hunting no matter what the weather is, but, that doesn' t mean that the deer will have to be out in it. The temps have been going up and down and up and down so much that it seems to have thrown the deer all out of whack.
4. The farmers crops. The farmers around here left ALOT of fields fallow this year, probablly due to the insane amount of rain that we had this spring. Those farmers who did plant had it grow slowly, but, the kicker is that they have ALL cut down their corn already. Yeah, about 3 weeks all the farmers around my area cut the corn. I am not sure what the reasoning behind this was, but, they did it. With the corn being planted late, I don' t think that many of it matured, and then they cut it so early, so, I don' t think that there is much corn laying in the cut fields for deer. I think that this is probablly the major reason why things are so bleek this year.
5. WIND. It has been incredibly windy around here lately. Swirling 30 mph winds are almost expected now. The deer don' t seem to wanna move since there senses are less effective in the wind, plus, it makes finding a good stand area very hard.
I have been using so many different stand locations because there have been so many different varitions in weather and winds. On the hot days, I will try to hunt water hoping that deer will come in and get a drink. On windy days I try to hunt deep bottoms, and with the wind direction changing, I have tried to get a bunch of stand set-ups in a certain area to allow for me to hunt any wind that mother nature is giving me
The deer have been very un-predictable. Heck, the deer that I did see this season seemed to be just wandering around. There are some MAJOR trails through one of my stand sites. The deer I saw in that area were not moving on the trails and they weren' t entering the funnel or exiting it where they normally are. The funnel in my woods has a " brushy hillside" on the south side of it, to the east is my back field, to the north is the big woods where the " big pines" are, and to the west is a huge field that was corn last year but is fallow this year. Now, when you are in the funnel, on the west side there is a THICK row of brush that divides the funnel from the fallow field. There is one spot where a old trolly line use to exit and there is no brush there. That has ALWAYS been the area where deer would enter or exit the funnel as the brush on that side of the funnel is so thick. The deer never go through my back field and they won' t cross the fallow field as the highway can easily be seen from that field. That is why this funnel is normally a hot-spot, but, the deer that I have seen in it aren' t doing their normal routine.
Another thing that is frustrating is that the buck were really chasing does at the beginning of the season, they were running doe, grunting constantly, and fighting, but, then the full moon came, and even though it is gone, the bucks just aren' t as fired up as they were earlier in the season.
But, like I said, I am not giving up, I was just venting. I will be out there in the woods every chance I can get, but, it kinda gets to me when I am out there in areas that I had scouted extensively, and I don' t see a single deer. I don' t really care that I havn' t shot a buck, and I am not frustrated that I havn' t shot a buck yet, it would be great to stick that big 12 point, but, that isn' t what has me down. I would just like to see some deer walk by me
The weather has been getting better here this week, but, even with that, and a better moon phase thrown in, the deer still aren' t moving.
This time last year, I was seeing probablly seeing 10 deer per night on an average night. I keep looking back at my log book and it just seems odd that at this time last year, the deer were really moving, and this year they aren' t.
There are a BUNCH of things working against me this year.
1. Part of my " honey hole" was sold off this summer. On a positive note though, my dad told me today that the plans have pretty much fallen through and the bidders are all backing out due to some type of mix up in paper-work. Thursday morning and evening I will be in there for the first time this year and I am REALLY looking forward to hunting " the pond stand"
2. No mast crops. Last year we didn' t have any acorns, and that is the case again this year. Heck, the only tree that I have seen dropping acorns is in my best-friends front yard. The crab apple trees around here have produced a FEW apples and they are all gone now.
3. Weather. I will go out hunting no matter what the weather is, but, that doesn' t mean that the deer will have to be out in it. The temps have been going up and down and up and down so much that it seems to have thrown the deer all out of whack.
4. The farmers crops. The farmers around here left ALOT of fields fallow this year, probablly due to the insane amount of rain that we had this spring. Those farmers who did plant had it grow slowly, but, the kicker is that they have ALL cut down their corn already. Yeah, about 3 weeks all the farmers around my area cut the corn. I am not sure what the reasoning behind this was, but, they did it. With the corn being planted late, I don' t think that many of it matured, and then they cut it so early, so, I don' t think that there is much corn laying in the cut fields for deer. I think that this is probablly the major reason why things are so bleek this year.
5. WIND. It has been incredibly windy around here lately. Swirling 30 mph winds are almost expected now. The deer don' t seem to wanna move since there senses are less effective in the wind, plus, it makes finding a good stand area very hard.
I have been using so many different stand locations because there have been so many different varitions in weather and winds. On the hot days, I will try to hunt water hoping that deer will come in and get a drink. On windy days I try to hunt deep bottoms, and with the wind direction changing, I have tried to get a bunch of stand set-ups in a certain area to allow for me to hunt any wind that mother nature is giving me
The deer have been very un-predictable. Heck, the deer that I did see this season seemed to be just wandering around. There are some MAJOR trails through one of my stand sites. The deer I saw in that area were not moving on the trails and they weren' t entering the funnel or exiting it where they normally are. The funnel in my woods has a " brushy hillside" on the south side of it, to the east is my back field, to the north is the big woods where the " big pines" are, and to the west is a huge field that was corn last year but is fallow this year. Now, when you are in the funnel, on the west side there is a THICK row of brush that divides the funnel from the fallow field. There is one spot where a old trolly line use to exit and there is no brush there. That has ALWAYS been the area where deer would enter or exit the funnel as the brush on that side of the funnel is so thick. The deer never go through my back field and they won' t cross the fallow field as the highway can easily be seen from that field. That is why this funnel is normally a hot-spot, but, the deer that I have seen in it aren' t doing their normal routine.
Another thing that is frustrating is that the buck were really chasing does at the beginning of the season, they were running doe, grunting constantly, and fighting, but, then the full moon came, and even though it is gone, the bucks just aren' t as fired up as they were earlier in the season.
But, like I said, I am not giving up, I was just venting. I will be out there in the woods every chance I can get, but, it kinda gets to me when I am out there in areas that I had scouted extensively, and I don' t see a single deer. I don' t really care that I havn' t shot a buck, and I am not frustrated that I havn' t shot a buck yet, it would be great to stick that big 12 point, but, that isn' t what has me down. I would just like to see some deer walk by me