Deer hunting was a flop
 

I been hunting hard this year ,but not seeing very many deer.Just don't know what happen going on with last year hunting and this years hunting .Just don't know if i'm going to finish the rest of bow season .:bash::devil:

You dont see anything if you stay in, it separates the wannabee die hards from the die hards. The best seasons I ever had, I shot my deer just before dark on the last day of the season, letting me get out all season long.

Hang in there bubba, things can change quickly. I shot the biggest buck of my life this year on the last day. 5 1/2 days of solid hunting and saw 4 deer, one being the one I shot.

Changed my little attitude, that's for sure. Just go back to the basics....

How <HARD> have you been scouting? I find success every year, if I'm not trophy hunting, gladly accepting something smaller. Still to this day, much and almost most of my time is scouting. I do a lot of scouting in the spring to see what went on in the previous Fall, then I do a lot of pre-scouting just prior to season, then I do a lot of in-season scouting to see what the deer are doing and where they are.

I don't sit in a treestand to see if I'm going to kill something. I let the scouting tell me where I will get something and that's where I position myself for the hunt.

After a morning's hunt, you may do yourself some good and walk around quietly using the wind to your advantage and see what the sign or lack thereof is telling you. When I'm not seeing deer, I move on to another picked out location or scout around.

Good luck,

iSnipe

While I have tagged out with my biggest buck to date, it was a pretty poor season in general. Almost 100 hours on stand and saw 15 deer all year. Seven of them were seen at one time.

Stories from all my hunting partners and neighbors were the same. Very minimal deer sightings. Seeing no twin fawns at all suggesting high mortality rates at birth. No larrge doe groups 2 to 3 anterless deer (past years 10+ was a norm). See no deer frm the road scouting on nights we get back too late to get in the woods. No shooting within earshot..

This story is all to common where I am at in east central Indiana.

Just don't pressure yourself. Back in the day we hunted to survive now most of us hunt because we love it and we want to provide our families with the purest form of nourishment availible. Just enjoy your time in the woods. Hunt hard and scout harder in the off season and just prior to season. iSnipe gave you some good advice about walking around after a morning hunt, I have found some of my stands were not in the optimal location that way and it's paid off several times. Just remember if it was easy everyone would do it. My friend it's hard for someone to listen to this when you're frustrated but my dad told me once when I was a boy and was frustrated with it " this is why it's called hunting and not killing."

If that's the biggest problem you have then I want your life.

This is why it's called "hunting." I've been skunked for an entire season, it happens. But of all the things that you can do to improve your chances of success, the #1 thing is to just be in the woods! If you're not out there with your weapon, then there is precisely ZERO chance you'll get a deer. This year I shot my deer on the second to last day of the 9 day season after having seen like 5 deer the prior seven days without a shot (well, I did have one, but she was so little I just couldn't pull the trigger!). I was sitting in my spot, had another hunter walk right up to me and then go sit 50 yards behind and to the left of me, and there were a bunch of yahoos shooting shotguns like it was WW3 about 200 yards behind me too. I figured there was no chance I'd see anything and was contemplating packing up and heading home to watch football, when out of nowhere a decent bodied (175ish pound) buck with an uneven 4pt rack steps out not 20 yards away in a perfect little opening. Long story short, the venison landjaegers and summer sausage are delicious. If I had left, I probably would have not filled my tag, but I stuck around and it payed off.

Mike

Well put
 

I don't think there is anything left to say after this statement. Just get out there and enjoy the outdoors, that's what it's all about! Bagging a deer or whatever game you are hunting for is just icing on the cake. Keep your chin up and get out in the woods!

Been a long year for me too, but NEVER quit or give up !!!!!!

I'm in my tree stand 45 min before light stay there till 11'00 then get down sometimes walk slow threw the woods looking for signs.I'VE hunted out of all 4 of my stands but still nothing.I forgot to mention that i hunt morn and evening out of each stand .The woods i hunt in is 25-30 acers .I know every trail in the place .My stands are set up between 2 thickets and they all have a creek running threw it .In the past i had no problem seeing deer ,i've always taken 2 deer out of that woods A doe during bow and a buck during gun .It's these last 2 years thats driving me crazy .Thanks for all your advice maybe i'll keep trying who knows maybe i'll get lucky .Oh and thanks for the comment KEVIN1 is that you answer to everones problem .

actually comforting to know someone else isn't having a banner year either.

I hear your pain and experiencing it too!

Not just this year but I think my last 5 hunts without success? sure I've had some fun, learned a bunch, and got out there to chase some, even passed up some dinks etc...which is at least nice to pass up some smaller animals vs. not seeing any at all.

let me add 'em up...

IL deer, no luck
NM elk, not even a shot opprotunity
MT antelope, no luck, passed some dinks
IL deer, no luck
MT elk, almost had a shot at a decent bull
WY antelope, nothing! passed tons of dinks, and a few ok bucks in a supposed BC hotspot!
IL deer, no luck yet....at least?

I'm kinda tired of "hunting" and not "killing", course I've had chances to just kill whatever...

this stuff is tough I guess, maybe next year I can make up for some dismal past seasons, but who knows, eventually I'll have success

Patience and Luck
 

The 2 biggest things about HUNTING is PATIENCE and LUCK.
Patience is something you can decide, the Luck factor is up to the deer.

Fair chase hunting is never a given. I hunted this area for several years 7 years to be exact. Allways been sightings of good bucks, allways showed up between seasons, but could never connect. When I thought I would never connect, there he is walking by. You just never know, thats why its called hunting.