DougMD

You guys are welcome to hunt with me and Greg in WV next week. We are going for about two days, the exact days depending on the weather forecast. Let me know...

bob d

maybe your local bigfoot has gotten a taste of venison

davidmil

Sounds fun Doug... but I believe Rick has some things to take care of around here with his wife... MAYBE. Unsettled at this point.

kill_it_n_grill_it

Well, I went back out this afternoon and broke the dry spell of not seing any deer...at about 4:30 PM i saw 3 does at about 70 yards...The biggest of the 3 was walking funny so i grabed the binoculars and saw that it was missing its back right hoof!!! Never offered a shot, but i was glad to see some action again!!! Keep your head up and your arse in the woods and they will come!!!!

PAhunterJEN

I know what you're saying when you say you haven't been seeing does. All spring and summer I was seeing them everywhere and I thought that hunting season would be a blast - full of deer. Well, I have seen deer every day I've gone out but it has almost always been BB's, small bucks and yearling does. Being a ground hunter I believe if I would have stayed in the same place every day I would hardly have seen anything. So, I have changed positions - sometimes twice during the morning or evening hunt. What I've observed is that most of the deer are bedding elsewhere and staying away from the corn. When I see them feeding in the evening it is usually in green grass fields. When I've checked for sign around the corn there really weren't very many tracks. The sign overall in my woods has been very little also.
Now the corn is cut and I believe the deer are moving into the 'old' patterns again. Today I seen at least 12 different deer and at least 4 were adult does. Things are looking up. The mature bucks are now cruising - seen a bruiser last night. Be patient guys, I just think that the deer in your area are in a different pattern than what you're used to. At least I hope so....

ShadowAce

Davidmil--I obviously can't give you an explanation for what's going on with the deer, but I will say that you should think about what has changed in your area. That is the key. What is different in your area this year? How many years have you hunted there and have you ever seen this situation before? Were there any tag changes from last year to make it more liberal? Any different crops on neighboring farms that have drawn them off? Any new disturbances?(dogs, coyotes, hikers etc.) I would think if it were a disease situation, you would see some carcasses around. I think you might need to figure out what, if anything, is going on in the surrounding area that is different than before. Good Luck!

nhhuntr

We have no mast here this year so the deer aren't in their usual spots .
My favorite hardwood ridges are devoid of deer. They are all around the fields and in the slash .

royak

Dave I feel your pain here in Southern WV it has been my worst year in about 10 years. I have been in the woods nearly everyday. I have hunted all my best sites and havent saw hardly anything at all. I have found a couple of scrapes and some horning but that is it. As for does where I usually see 10 to 12 a day I am seeing nothing. I have had a couple of feeders out and yes they are using them after dark and let me tell you one or two deer can make a hugh path and leave a lot of tracks. The farmer where I hunt told me he isnt seeing any does with young ones at all this year that he did see 8 does the other morning leaving for work and there were no young ones with them. He thinks that the Coyotes did a lot of them in this past spring,and with the liberal hunting seasons here I think we are in for some problems. Yes some lucky hunters are seeing deer and some are even taking some but there is for sure something going on.We have a very good mast year plenty of acorns and the deer are scattered a lot but that dosent explain why no fawns.

drstalker

I wonder if there have been many tree blowdowns in your area.One spot I hunt was hit by alot of high winds over the spring,summer and fall and tree's have cluttered of one of the real good funnels of this area.Anyhow I haven't been seeing much sign in this area as I usually do.I'm thinking of moving that stand to another location in the area,but the other location,is getting a little to close to there bedding area and I generally try not to pressure that area until,later on in the season or when I get real despirate

Trushot_archer

Probably killed them all DM.