I aint doing any better..kind of depressing..I[m trying to maintain a positive attitude.{ -;

I want to green swamp this morning and struck out again. But some body checked a deer at the 471 gate, that's a grand total of 27 deer so far this season at that gate.:sad0064:

I went to Croom after lunch to do a short hike/small game and didn't see a squirrel or rabbit in 3 miles of hiking...but I did see 5 does and a buck at Croom. Oh well, at least I know Florida deer do exist, they just disappear while in season.

My best time was during archery...and then Nov. Now the WMA is fully pressurized..I'm afraid to use my calls now..Here's what happened yesterday..

I went to a new spot as my former spot was being over hunted..It's a long hike..a good mile including 500 yds inside a bayhead.. Right before daylight { Still to dark to shoot} I heard a big deer crash down.{ Was bedding} just inside the thick stuff...This has happened many times to me.as these deer have gone nocturnal. At 8:00 AM I pulled out a Primos Can call..That deer stood up and walked away..

Lesson..leave the calls home. I do beleive if one is going to score..you will need to set up in the THICK part of the bayheads ..where the tracks are wet and thick.They aint coming out ..not even on the edge of the thick .They are staying in the thick..I have a spot I plan to try out next Sat. God willing. I wished GS was archery only..but it's not so I have to deal with it. The season for me was my best and worst. I had 2 opportunities to put venison in the freezer and blew both opportunities.

I had a complete pass through during archery on a 100 pound plus doe..could not find her..

In Nov. I used my Primos Can ..I was reading Psalms from the Bible when I noticed brown UNDER my stand.It was a wide racked thick 8 point.looking for the doe.
The buck stopped in back of a bush..and started getting very nervous when no doe was in sight.He stretched his neck up for a smell..I had just sighted in my 270 for long range shooting at 3 lakes..it was shot in at 2 inches high at 100 yds..The only shot I had was a head shot at about 15 yds. I put the crosshairs on the eye ball. BOOM! and the buck bolts to the left unharmed.

DEPRESSED ?? yep..I still feel bad. I went to Tenoroc and shot my 270 that week..and at close range it was 4 inches low..NEVER again..I now take my Marlin 30-30 which has tru glo sites and is perfect at 50 yds..I was seeing pleanty of deer in Oct and Nov but once the general gun got heavy ...it's been very rough..

I went to 3 lakes as well and saw a doe and button buck during BP but that was it.I'll have to make up for the lack of venison by catching a lot of shell crackers and specks.{ -; I fried up some shellcrackers the other day and they were as good as trout from a mountain stream.

God bless everyone and have a wonderful 2012.
Chuck7

Chuck7 what happened to you using your 270 happened to me years ago in Croom. Sighted in my 270 for 100 yds and shot at a deer at 50 yds with a complete miss. A friend recommended a timney trigger and set it for 3 lbs. This made a huge difference. The original trigger was set about 5 lbs. and could not be changed. Secondly, weighed every bullet I was using at the time - Federals. They were not consistent out of the box. So I switched to the 2nd fastest bullet winchester had at 130 grain. Since then I have not had any problems out to 100 yds.

Just think I was ready to sell the gun. Not anymore. A little investment in a new trigger made all the difference.

Good luck.

I agree with chuck that you have to hunt the thick stuff. I don't get the rut here in green swamp. Everyone says it's this time of year but more deer were shot in october and november. I shot my buck in November. He was rubbing trees. He still had bark in his antlers. I had pics of does in the area that were in rut. Their tarsal glands were black and if you ever see a deer that is not in rut their tarsals are white. They also don't have a musk smell to them. What I am getting at is that my buck was in rut in November. I've talked to some oldtimers and they say that there are deer in there that carry genes of Wisconsin deer because they introduced a large amount of them into the area to repopulate. The guys I talked to said that this is why they don't go into rut until it is cold for a long period. Is it possible that some of these deer are "Florida" deer and some carry the genes of "Wisconsin" deer? The buck I shot was a typical florida swamp buck. I'm thinking that the deer that are native go into rut in October and November and the introduced deer are going into rut in December and January. Just my observation.

Look at the tarsal gland in the rear leg in this pic.

One thing for sure..you generally get one opportunity..and that is it.but I learned alot this year..I also found a nice archery spot for next year,..some turkey oaks with acorns everywhere..

I plan to hunt Arbuckle next year as well...much less pressured ..great archery I understand.

My dad killed a button spike sunday and my game camera shows 5-6 hogs coming to my feeder every night between 12 and 2 am

I hope you aint got a feeder in the Green Swamp...totally illegal..even if it's just stated on a forum. There have been folks arrested on Face Book for posting similiar post. Be careful

Even on private property? Our propertys located ~5 miles from the wma

your fine on private property. Chuck thought you were referring to the w.m.a.