Burned out
 

This has been a horrible year for me. I've been hunting for 51 years now (I'm 62) and this has been the worse one ever. Being retired I've been hunting all but a handful of days since our PA opener of archery on Oct 3. I've been after deer in my usual haunts plus a few new locations. I've hunted close to my vehicle to miles into the woods. During all this time I have only seen 2 yearling doe. Now with less than a week to go I am starting to suffer from hunting burnout. This is the first time I've ever experienced this. The only highlight of this hunting season was the chance to take another black bear but I passed on it because in my opinion it was too small. It went about 125 lbs and having already taken 4 bear here I'm not going to shoot another unless it approaches or goes over the 250 lb mark.
Now don't get me wrong. I still enjoy being out there. But getting up at the crack of dawn every morning is getting old and my desire to shoot a deer just for the sake of shooting one isn't like it used to be. I don't know if its because I'm mellowing out in my old age or is it because I still have a freezer full of moose meat from a hunt last fall!

I haven't gotten up before sunrise for deer hunting in over 10 years. Too many other people around.
I move in when they are moving out and let them drive to me. Then I walk past their spots and wait for them to return and drive to me again.
I see more deer this way and get to know where the other hunters like to sit. So I can avoid them.

Bronko, I realized relatively early in my hunting life that if I wasn't enjoying it then I didn't need to be out there. For a period of time, due to work schedule, that meant I wasn't hunting in the morning. Getting off at 11 pm, sleeping 4 hours, then getting up to hunt just wasn't fun. So I adjusted, hunted my off days, and would hunt days I worked as well but just wouldn't start at daylight. Sometimes when hunting I feel like taking a nap.. so I do. My goal in hunting is to enjoy every minute of it, and if that means an afternoon nap with the warm sun on me, so be it (I'm only 25 but I do enjoy a good nap!)

It's rough when you're not seeing any game, but I can't really say I've ever had a "bad" day in the woods. I'm sure you know what I mean. If you're feeling burnt out then take a break. Take a walk for some squirrel, something different might help.
-Jake

I can relate to the hunting not being as pleasurable as it was 50 years ago. Everything hurts, and walking is a real chore. A nap in the sticks is a great way to relax. I have woke up and had deer 10 feet away from me, and once a trophy antelope was about a foot away from me checking me out. Another nap produced a wild cat in a tree 20 feet away checking me out. Leaning up against a rock face having a nap, waking and looking up seeing a bear looking down is also a great way to get the blood flowing to the extremities of the old bones too. As long as I am still able to move, I will still get out as often as I can, but it is getting to be a torture test some days.

I still enjoy going out at my age. Its not torture as you put it. If it was I'd do something else. I like just sitting or walking in the woods. As for other hunters, I haven't seen one all hunting season other than my hunting buddy! That's likely some of the problem too. No one around to move the game. Also the fact that I am retired and get to go out a lot more has something to do with this burn out. When I worked I would go out 2-3 times a week and not the 5-6 times a week I did this year. That is an awful lot of hunting without seeing anything. And Jake, I do take naps when I feel like it. Especially in the afternoon when the sun is shining on your face and makes you all warm and cozy! I
I've shot so many deer in my life that that aspect doesn't bother me. What bothers me is the fact that I just don't see them to allow me the option to shoot or not.

bronko,
Don't know anything about the area(s) you have available to hunt, but wondering if your additional free time is allowing you to overhunt an area?

I know what you mean about not having the choice to take an animal. It is always a thrill to see game, know you out smarted them and choose to harvest or not. I also agree that a season can drag a bit when your not seeing deer, i have 40+ years of hunting and this has been my worst season since the late seventies. During the seventies in maine we had buck only hunts and you were lucky to see any deer. This past two winters here were hard on the deer, add to that a high coyote population taking their piece of the pie.
I think the key is the season is short regardless of how it feels at the moment and the next trip may be the one!

Change it up, carry a different rifle, bow, crossbow, muzzleloader. The dam should break sooner or later!

No buddy - Here close to home I have 4 stand sets. But I also do a lot of still hunting. Then I also have a cabin in north central PA.
Problem is even the amount of deer I've seen on my trail cams through out the spring and summer.
Then too we have a lot of coyotes in the area and are seeing more bear too. And as far as other hunting pressure - it is non-existent.
I honestly believe that the PGC screwed things up big time when they reduced the deer herd by allocating more anterless licenses. I don't believe they took into account predation on fawns in the spring. They got the deer herd down but now the increase in yotes and bear are taking its toll on the fawns.