rh160kid

It seems every year i seem to get more and more disappointed hunting around home in upstate NY. Every year my goal is to take a mature buck (at least 3.5yr old), preferrably with a bow but gun is fine too. The seeming lack of this class of animal seems to increase every year. 5 years ago if i really hunted hard it was almost a sure bet that i would have at least one encounter/oppurtunity with a mature buck. I am now a couple weeks from yet another year without setting my sights on a shooter. I hunt VERY hard. Most days i hunt a.m and p.m. during both bow and gun seasons. I log major sitting time so please dont reply with "you need to hunt harder". I still see and pass up alot of deer-but overall i would say even that has diminished over the past few years as well. Its really starting to get depressing.

DeerandbearhoG

you just need to hunt a little harder thatll do it seriously, i know exactly what you mean. I got a decent buck w/ my bow in oct. but i wasnt seeing anything for the 1st week in gun season, I also sit from sun up to sundown, for days on end w/ out seeing anything, it gets real hard to keep a positive attitude, but I learned the same lesson ive learned sevaeralXs before, last wensday, and thats no matter how little deer movement youre seeing, always be ready for an encounter w/ a big buck. I sat for 3 days in a row in the same small woodlot and didnt see squat, around noon on the 3rd day, while starring off into space, I caught some movement behind me ,I did a double take and saw one of the biggest bucks ive ever been close to in the woods, 30 yds behind me! i should have just grabbed my gun and turned around and shot him, but like an idiot I decided to grunt at him instead BIG MISTAKE! cause i acidentaly grunted into my scope and fogged it up long enough for him to slip behind some brush. I kept grunting and trying to get the X hairs on him but all I could do was watch him walk away the point is if I had been a little more positive about seeing a deer , I would have turned around and seen that deer 3 seconds sooner ,and hed be wearing my tag. STAY POSITVE! and always believe you might see a buck at any time. good luck!

Champlain Islander

Nice northern buck in the avatar RH. Keep at it and you will get your chance.

Steve863

I am once again calling my season a success. One should never set their hopes too high when it comes to hunting. We should be happy with whatever we get a chance to shoot at. If you had opportunities to take a deer but didn't want to shoot at it, then there is NO reason to be disappointed. I basically hunt for meat and I have a buck and a doe in the freezer once again this year and I couldn't be more delighted. The points on the bucks head make mighty little difference. I even had a bear within 60 yards of me which I could have shot at since I hunt in an area where you can hunt them. Had absolutely NO reason to kill it since I wouldn't eat the meat and have NO interest in another bear rug. He lives on.

rh160kid

Why do you say im setting my hopes to high-ive had the same goals for many years and in the past achieved them numerous times. Im just stating there seems to be less and less mature deer every year. I see and pass up LOTS of yearling bucks. 2.5 yr olds i still see a few but nowhere like they used to be. I passed up two 2.5yr old 8pts and a 6pt with no brows the first two days of gun season and have no regrets passing them up either. I have no issue either that someone else would choose not to pass up deeer that i have. my point is that there is NO DOUBT far less mature deer than just 5 yrs ago and would say that overall deer numbers are not even close to what they were 5 yrs ago-that to me is frustrating and depressing. I dont think you have any right to say that my goals are to high. I didnt say i was holding out for a booner or record qualifying buck, i just said I CHOOSE to hold out for a mature animal. Me goin out and whackin two does and a spikehorn to put meat in my freezer can honestly be done any day. That to me doesnt make my season a success as it does for you,and thats fine that you think that way,but it doesnt mean i have to have your goals or your idea of being successfull either.

Steve863

I surely have NO right to tell you anything. You do what you want. I will say however that no one should ever get depressed over anything having to do with hunting, and you have said twice that you are getting depressed over it. No one should need psychological counseling over something as relatively unimportant as deer hunting. In the scheme of things hunting is pastime that should be enjoyed whether we are successful or not. If you say that you can take a deer for the freezer any day, the deer are obviously there. We may not have as many deer in some years compared to others, but if you say you can take a deer any day then the deer ARE there for you. Lots of places where people don't see deer or could kill one any day they go out. I hunt in an area where I might go days without seeing any. No one ever said that hunting was supposed to be easy or that there should be more or bigger deer out there just because we would want them. That's my .02 anyway. If hunting was becoming too much of a frustration in my life I would surely hang it up and find a less upsetting pastime.

rh160kid

Ok im not asking for it to be easy at all!!Let me ask you a question and please answer it honestly.....You say your goal is and always has been to put a few deer in your freezer..correct???? Lets say hypothetically you go out and hunt your ass off the next three years and you dont shoot anything and your freezer stays empty....Are you saying that would not frustrate you??? In the past you usually had success in achieving that goal but now something has happened and you cant figure out what it is...That wouldnt frustrate you??? cmon, and then to have someone say your goals are to high when they have not changed or were not too high a few years ago..im not sure i agree with your ,no wait a minute, I DONT agree with that logic.

NatureBoy09

I have seen fewer deer in the past 2 seasons than previous seasons since moving to western ny 6 yrs ago. Not many Does, but the few bucks sightings i have had during the rut are of 3.5 yr - 4.5 yr. But, without my trail cam i would have not even gave the area i hunted the time of day. They seem to be all nocturnal around me.

bugsNbows

Things are much different now than when I started hunting in Steuben Co. back in the 60's. Now there are fewer hunters, fewer dairy farms, fewer daytime deer sightings, and fewer big boys seen at all. I'm a firm believer that the deer are still there, they have just smartened up. They hide out during the day and scamper about all night. That said, my advice is to just enjoy the hunting experience itself. Maybe you'll pop a big one, maybe not. In the grand scheme of things it doesn't really matter. Count your blessings that you are even ABLE to hunt. Many folks can't. Remember the old story about a guy complaining about not having decent shoes...until he met a man with no feet? That's applicable here...IMO.

Steve863

Agreed 100%!! Way more important things in life than deer hunting.