Anyone else discouraged?
 

I'm just wondering if anyone else is discouraged by the quality of their hunts?
I have been hunting for 22 years. The first 10 years or so I shot the first legal buck that walked by....usually small spikes, forks, or 5 point yearlings. Then I started to get selective and wait for a nicer buck, and pass on the small ones. I shot a decent 6 point and then three years ago I shot my best buck, an 8 point with a 14" spread.
I agree that any buck that a person chooses to shoot, they should be proud of. I used to be perfectly happy shooting small bucks. The DMU that I hunt in usually does not allow doe harvest, but when it does, I'm happy to take my doe. But I'd really like to shoot a buck to hang on the wall. But in my 22 years of hunting experience, it just isn't happening.
Brian

RE: Anyone else discouraged?
 

ostdc,
Sounds like you've had a very good hunting
career so far and have probably gained alot of
experience. I'd be willing to bet patience and
your good attitude will pay off for you, maby in
ways you least expect it.
I've let myself get down after certain hunts before.
This is my 4th season, all on public land in N. Texas.
There is a low deer density in my area and it is
buck only. Hunting pressure is high. I have come to
talk about some of my hunts as just my time in the
woods (with my rifle) to some who don't understand
coming home with nothing to show. I was in the deep
woods from 2 hrs before daylight til after sundown the
day before Thanksgiving, did not see one deer. I had
all kinds of other wildlife within a few feet, including a
wild turkey, no deer. I still have the desire, just need
patience and hopefully the experience gained will help
in future hunts. I want to put some meat in the freezer
real bad. Sorry to ramble, it is frustrating sometimes not
being able to reach your goal. Let's stay strong.

God bless & good hunting.
PK

RE: Anyone else discouraged?
 

Keep on keeping on buddy. Persistence DOES pay off. It only takes seconds for a season (career) to change. Do you see or know of bigger bucks in the area that would meet your personal goals?

RE: Anyone else discouraged?
 

Never ; that is one thing I try to instill in my wife.she is a little like you say you are.I try to tell her to just be glad she is in the woods with herself.listen to nature.I would like to take a really big "trophy"buck as much as the next guy.not that you are not right in you thoughts,just that I am never in they mood.

if I see deer then ok, if not thats ok also.there are very feew times I go that I don't see a few deer.there are few years that I don't take a few deer.I guess if I didn't take a deer or two a year , or at least see a few deer when I went,then I may start to get a little down.

I have been to my blind and not seen anything because when it was time to go I woke up and left.(not very often).

I hope I contunue to enjoy the woods and it's wonders for a few more years to come.of course I have been hunting for 52 years now,thats a few years after I was going with my dad, to young to hunt.so I guess it takes that bunch of years to get in with the idea to enjoy it if you never see anything.
don't take this as I am not understanding what you are feeling.just the way I was taught and have followed my dad's teaching.

becareful and keep safe.

RE: Anyone else discouraged?
 

Just to give you a little perspective, I have been bowhunting in South Florida in the Big Cypress Preserve for3 years now (I used to go to North Carolina to hunt with my brother-in-law before that, and I still do). I hunt in a 50 square mile piece of swamp that is walk in only. It is very rare for me to see a buck at all, much less one that I can take a shot at. If I could shoot does, I would have a freezer full, but I can't so I just have to be content to watch them walk by and believe that sooner or later a buck will wander by too. It has happened every year so far.

In the three years, I have seen 6 bucks that were shooters, meaning that they met minimum qualifications. Only two were in bow range. I have killed one of them and had an arrow glance off a branch with another. That's two shots in three years. Every year I get a little better as an archer and as a hunter. Every year I scout more places. Hopefully I will get better at finding them, but so far this year only 10 deer have been checked outthrough the check station that I go through so I'm not alone.

It has been much wetter this year due to hurricanes and whatnot. The deer were disrupted by that and also there has been an increase in the panther population lately which makes them more scarce. Anyway, I guess the point is that if you are going to hunt where you hunt, you have to do the best with what you have. I have gone days in a row (and because it is so difficult to get around in the swamp I hunt all day and I don't tend to move around a lot) without seeing any deer. It gets frustrating, but that's just the way it is.

RE: Anyone else discouraged?
 

I hang my trail cams every year from Easter through Christmas. This year there were 5 different shooter bucks. Last year there were 6.
I don't know how to do anything different. I have good stands in various places where I always see deer....oak flats, swamp funnels, ridge crossings, etc.I have planted over 1,000 red pines to create travel corridors and for thermal cover and wind breaks, planted food plots, apple trees, oak trees(I know, have patience!).
I just get frustrated when I hunt hard for bow season, hunt hard for the 9 days of rifle season, but fail to even see a buck with more than 4 points.
Brian

RE: Anyone else discouraged?
 

Thats why its called hunting. I happy to get any deer, esp with a bow. If everybody got huge deer all the time it wouldnt be as rewarding when u get one. Just keep on going. My grampa hunted 60 years and the best he ever did was15 in 6 point.