i know it is still early in the season but after getting only one shot last year that was a miss, i'm getting worried that i'm not seeing hardly any deer on stand. trails and sign galore, tried different areas but still not nuch. doing the same as i have every year. am i worried about nothing? any advice?

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thanks bigbuck, i guess last year might still be haunting me. every other year i had deer walk within 10 feet of my stand almost every day. maybe i was just lucky before. seems to be sign and trails everywhere, really hard to tell when they are at any given spot at any time.

1. You say you are doing the same as every year. Are you having the same results as every year?? If so, try something different. The deer are not very active here yet, almost exclusively moving at night.

2. I had the same problem last year. But it was my own fault, as I paid little to no attention to the wind. Well, I paid attention to it, but thought I could thread the needle enough to make it work. Every time I went to my stand, I saw less and less deer sign. Pay close attention to wind direction. In the same spot this year, I told myself good wind or don't hunt. As luck would have it, opening day offered a great wind, and I shot a doe.

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just keep doing what your doing it will come i went the first two years without even a shot and i have taken two since this season started on oct 1st

S.Il!

Just be patient ,the weather's been a little inconsistant [wind, rain and sleet ]and the deer haven't been doing a whole lot of moving around ,you should start seeing a little more activity a we start getting closer to the rut .There's lot's of time for hunting as long as your patient thing's will turn around .I've been getting the same result's as you are ,the last 3 times out I've not seen a deer either ,but I know all to well once the weather stabilizes, you'll start seeing deer . Good thing's happen to those who wait.

nubo

I'm going to tell you to look residential. I use to travel your state all the time and I saw nothing that excited me to spend time in the woods (TITW). Granted it was via drive by at 90K feet (really at 55mph), but when your scouting it works. I then entered a golf tournament and liked what I saw. The golf course was in town and I knew if I was going to hunt there, that's where I would hunt.

Find your spot and target the houses which are in that zone. I can assure you that one neighbor, if not all, are sick and tired of the deer.

Good luck.

I hunt the same areas each year, yet I've found that no two years are the same, in regard to how many deer I see. I've had years where I've had 25-30 bucks within shooting range, and others where I struggled to get 2 or 3 within range.

Each year is different. Weather, temperature, the moon, the wind, food availability, other hunters, etc., affect deer movement. Sometimes they seem to be active only at night and other times, they're everywhere in the middle of the day. I hear people all the time, getting discouraged by "the lack of deer". I just chuckle that they think because they aren't seeing deer, there must not be any.

Keep in mind that things can change overnight, especially as the rut approaches. I've had years where I didn't see a single buck the first two weeks of the season and then had 15 in range the following week. Hunt as smart as you can, change stands frequently, and spend lots of time in the woods during the pre-rut and rut.

All of you guys are making very valid points and only patience will prevail. I too am having a VERY frustrating year. The deer are there. I'm seeing fresh/new tracks everytime I go out, but haven't been seeing jack for deer while I'm on stand. These are stands that I've hunted for years and really never have seen the lack of animals while on stand as I am this year. Afternoons or mornings that I think are money for seeing deer because of weather, wind and other factors only to sit there for 4-5 hours and see only squirrels and racoons. Oh well. I've got a new attitude now and a new outlook. LOL That's why it's hunting and not getting I suppose.