Went out this morning. ( had to come to work today so morning is all I could do)

I' ve spent about 40 hours in the woods this season. Was gonna take a couple days off and drive up to some prime national forest but I just got back from 6 days away due to a death in the family. that takes care of the hunting trip. I still havn' t even seen a deer in the woods this year. seen lots of dead ones on the interstate and side roads. It' s gotta get better than this.

40 hours is alot better than some have had....but not seeing deer one has to be depressing....
i' m sorry you had a death in the family, that is the worst reason for someone to leave the woods....ya' ll will be in my prayers.....
you' ll get your deer, don' t worry........

I' ve spent about the same, time wise that is, and I haven' t seen any deer yet neither. But with the pre-rut just startin, things are starting to look better. Just hang in there.

Sorry about the death in the family. At least if you see something it helps when you spend lots of time. I just got thru with 124 hours this morning. Seeing deer ,but no shots on nothing except yearlings ,button bucks and not many mature deer even seen. Seen three this morning one it was still dark and then 2 midgets went by about 8:30. When I seen there size I never lifted the weapon. They looked like pigmy goats and they were trying to move at a fast walk but it looked like they were tip toeing, there stride was so small

Regroup, reevalute what you' re doing and come up with a plan. Perhaps you should have spent a few of those 40 hours at first and last light scoping out some fields to find some patterns. It' s not how many hours you spend in a tree, it' s how wisely you spend the time you have. If it isn' t working, don' t do it. Not trying to be a smart a--, but Virginia has a good deer herd. You' re in the wrong place or doing it wrong. There, now you can be mad instead of jealous and petty.[:-][&:] In early season I feel it accomplishes little to sit and sit and sit. The deer feed all night and find a hole in the daytime. Do some scouting and find the missing pieces. Of course, now we' re fixing to have a change of the game plan. In another week or so they' ll be roaming all day. Even still, the first and last few hours of daylight will be your best bet. Find some bottlenecks with lots of does and the bucks will be there.