Lanse couche couche

Yep, "challenge" is a relative term isn't it. I like the thrill of seeing one come into range and then dropping it. If I wanted a real challenge, i would revive my rugby career or hunt wild hogs with a spear.

rybohunter

I hunt really good areas, lots of deer. I still don't see a deer every time out. I never understood those who can, unless you are hunting field edges where you can see REALLY far, or just had deer that are ridiculously easy to pattern. THat just don't happen here. Now I am referencing all bow hunting.

Pygmy

Thank you, Lanse C C...

Why the heck does everything have to be a challenge...

What's wrong with just having fun....??....

Shooting squirrels is FUN, and the little rodents are real good to EAT, too...

Hunting deer is FUN, whether you shoot a buck with a bow at 10 yards, or snipe a nice fat doe at 300 yards with your .280... THEY are real good to eat, too...

I've killed bull moose in the Alaska wilderness, butchered them myself, and hauled them on my back 4 miles back to camp.... Damn hard work, but it was fun, too, or I wouldn't have been doing it... They happen to be real good to eat, too...

If you want a CHALLENGE, try golf....Seems like a pretty challenging game to me... More challenge than I want... I'm busy having too much FUN hunting and fishing...

Phil from Maine

If you folks want a challenge then come up here and hunt.. Now you see one now you don't.. There is not a lot of deer up this way and a lot of thick woods to hide in. You will see them before and after hunting season and during Sundays and Sundays is no hunting days..But, the thrill of shooting onewitha bow or gun is doing something...

StrutNtom

I live in a state with one of the most liberal deer seasons in the United States. We have no yearly limit, no daily limit that is enforced and our season runs from Aug to Jan in some parts of the state. It is not uncommon to see 10,15, even 20 deer a sitting in the lower state.

I on avg. see 2-6 deer a sitting which is probably a little above the avg. for the area that I hunt.

If some of the guys I hunt with don't kill 20+ deer a season then to them its a bad year.

I don't see where seeing deer on a constant basis would make it any less of a challenge and if it does, maybe you are a hobby hunter. Nothing wrong with that. Just means that you like hunting as a hobby. To some of us, including myself, its a pasion, obsession, lust, or whatever you want to call it. So, if we see more deer we just raise the bar. Keep the does in check and hold off on a buck until one comes across that we want to take.

However, even with that said. Just the sight of that first deer popping its head out, rather being a buck or doe gets my heart pupming like it was my first deer. The feeling of my finger on the trigger or drawing my bow string back just makes it better...

wis_bow_huntr

No matter how many deer I see in one setting the hunt is always exciting. If I see 0, I still know im out there because of the challenge, If I see 30 does its real exciting, but if i see one buck, I know ive done everything right and thats where the excitement really comes to play.

Jimmy S

Yea, I'll move from NH to ND, where it seems anyone can shoot a deer.

Just to give you an idea, NHmay bethe hardest state in the country to shoot a deer. We only shot 11,700 during the entire season in 2006, which includes archery, M/L and rifle. That's 14% of the entire deer population.Most states shoot more deer than we have. Our season is 92 days long.

According to the NH F&G stats,only 1.45 deer were shot per square mile in NH. That's the avg of the entire state. Some areas shoot less than .5 deer per square mile. Some area have less than 10 deer per square mile. So yes, you can hunt an entire week and only see deer a few of those days. You better hope they ain't all does when it's "bucks only".

Not to confuse you with all these numbers, but if you can shoot a deer in NH, you can shoot a deer anywhere. The same can't be said for ND.

jf5

I too hunt mostlyMA and NH and it can be hard just to see some deer, let alone harvest a good buck. I enjoy the challenge of hunting New England, and will always hunt here. But I mustadmit that it is nice to go to other states that have more deer/better hunting.

I did some hunting in Montana. Its all really big woods and you still hunt mostly, witha littlesitting. Yes, you saw deer everyday. But they where still warry whitetails. The big bucks are still hard to shoot. I had a blast watching deer and passing bucks I would love to get here in New England. It never seemedwithhout a challenge to me. There was just a higher standard of what was a shooter.Two years I hunted there, never took an animal, never had a shot ona good one. Saw them, but they where hard to get on.

But thats the thing. You can always adjust your challenge. Up the antie of you will. Ifyou feel unchallenged...Pass the little bucks. Bowhunt instead of gun hunt. Still unchallenged??You cantry to stillhunt or track a deerwith a bow. You canstick to shooting monster deer only. There are ways to add to the challenge aspect.

antlerridgehunting

My answer to that is that i believe the more deer there is in an area means there is a greater chance of some of the deer to be big biucks and thats what keeps me going back to the stand....

goos_blues

Yeah, thats noalot of deer. Its only logical that its going to be harder find deer there. I think ND killed over 100,000 deer last year, most of them rifle. I find it funny that you think ND hunters are stupid. Maybe I am the one who should move...yeah, I'll move to NH... become a real hunter, than move back to dumb ol' ND, where I will be known as the states greatest and only good deer hunter. haha...lol. Its ruff that you dont get to see to many deer, I seriously would have hard time hunting if i didnt see much. My dad bow hunted in the early 60's when there wasnt alot of deer and you didnt see much, or maybe not even get a shot. But, did he gain any more knowledge or skill from hunting with low deer numbers,now thatwe have more deer? not really. I see many deer throughout the the season and thats the reason I hunt. If i didnt see anything than it would probably suck alittle bit. I could probably shoot a deer most of timesi go out, but i dont. Im usually waiting for a decent sized buck and those appear to behard finding anywhere. So, Next timeyourthinking about, what you believe is,a typical ND hunters' lack of ability andknowledge, think about why NHdoesnt shoot many deer, maybe its not the lack of deer, maybe its the hunters or the lack of hunters. lol.
I apologize...aparantly, from your comment obove, you thoughtI was trying to degrade you with my original post. That was not my intent.