Anyone else having a comically bad season?
 

Just wondering. I undershot a doe 3 times during bow season, missed the biggest buck I've ever seen at 10 steps during our muzzleloader season, the door fell off of my truck the second saturday of our regular firearms season, I've fallen out of my canoe into a freezing canal, I've watched as a big 8 pointer streaked by with a yellow lab 40 yards behind, and haven't seen a deer during daylight that I could shoot at in over 3 weeks. It's getting pathetic. I just want to feel a sense of accomplishment this year, the sense of accomplishment I'd get from killing a decent 6 or 8. Instead I am just forced to laugh at the circumstances (I'm really tired of my friends calling me "Fudd"). Please I'd like to hear some similar stuff to know I'm not alone.

You aint the only one thats had a bad season man.The only thing I have seen all year is a fawn and a coyote.

I missed a buck the second day, a doe the third day, and lost a buck the fourth day. Tracked it for 5 miles and it just quit bleeding...I'm 36 years old, and that is the first Deer I have ever lost. Also the Buck was the first deer I've ever missed with a gun too. I thought it was just me having a bad year, but I can't hold a candle to the season your having. I really felt sick after losing that deer though, I almost gave up the season right then...

Yeah, I know this walking circus that's having a ball trying to get his deer this year. His accuracy is so poor, he couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat. He lives just south of Wintergreen, North Carolina. LOL!

I wish him the best too!... and LOTS of luck!

iSnipe

Don't feel to bad, I got busted by deer(at the bottom of my stand) twice going to my stand in the dark!
Funny thing was the second time I even went in 1 hour earlier than the first time ( I think they had the same Idea!)
Then I locked the key's in my truck and didn't realize it till it was dark, I thought I might have lost them on the trail to my stand and after walking all the way back (about 500 yards) then back to the truck I noticed them inside! Good thing for me I found a old piece of barbed wire that helped me get it open.
THEN, the last day I was hunting a different stand and went to push a branch back out of the way and it snapped,a piece flew off and hit me right between the eyes and cut my forehead, good thing i carry a first aid kit in my backpack with butterfly stitches!
I did however get a nice 6 pointer and a doe within 10 minutes apart that day.

I killed a button buck 3 weeks ago all ive seen since bow season is does this is my worst year ever!!!really sucks bad....You are definatly not the only one around here

I knew today was going to be a difficult hunt when at 7:00am a man with headphones on, walked his dog under my tree stand while he played a freaking tambourine!!! No word of a lie

thanks guys. ive been sittin in the woods for countless hours hoping to see something, and all i see is squirrels. i was ready to give up on this deer thing this year and just go shoot birds. though i havent fell in water or locked my keys in my car, this is encouraging because all i hear about is the successes and not any of these real life moments. ive only seen on buck i couldnt get a shot on, and now i know im not the only one getting skunked

Thats just whatcha call''DEER HUNTIN''!LOL!!!

I went from seeing deer to not seeing deer. I let 4 decent bucks walk only to have neighbors shoot them. Climbed my tree the other day and forgot to tie my gun to the string, went back down tied it up, got 3/4 back up and my jacket fell off the rail to the bottom, and guess what it fell on my gun so when I tried to pull my gun up it was hung on my jacket and now some branches! lol.... got busted going my stands more than once, shot a deer in my favorite stand in oct with my x-bow and have not seen a deer out of that stand since that day! I hear what you are saying.. lol

Yup. 3 hunts, 0 animals.

Saw 1 tiny buck this year, that's it for bucks.

Another year of this and I may retire for quite a few years...

Last year was like that for me. I arrowed a buck 3 days into bow season (2 days before the Sept. long weekend. I thought it was going to be a great season. Did not even see a deer during ML and rifle even though I logged even more days that in previous years. On a possitive note for you, this year arrowed a buck early like last year (I was truly praying it would not happen again this year). Did not even see a deer during ML season (started to get worried). Nothing first week of rifle (didn't even see a deer). Then out of the same stand shot a big doe then 5 days later called in and shot a nice little buck out of the same tree. As some one posted earlier, "I guess that's hunting". The biggest question that was running through my mind inbetween seasons was, What was I doing wrong for I've been deer hunting now 35 years?" Even through ML season the same questions kept racing through my mind. Even though I had scouted the area and was sure that my stand placements were right I wasn't seeing anything. Then bang bang .....3 in the freezer. I've shot a number of quality bucks over the years but have always been a meat in the freezer first kind of hunter for venison is my families first choice of red meat. I suppose that is where some of your frustration lies. I know I felt it last year. There has also been a couple of years where I let some real quality racks walk (that I'm sure that some would have mounted) just because I had harvested one both in archery and ML and decided to wait for that deer of a lifetime during rifle and ended up shooting a much smaller buck on the last day. Hopefully you will be rewarded with a very successful season next year. I'll pass a good word for you to the big guy upstaris, hey it worked for me. For all those non hunters that think this activity is so easy. Try staying in a stand from before daybreak till after sunset and not seeing a deer. I'm sure you'll get one next year. All my best and still hope you have some plesent memories from getting into the wilderness this season. That's a harvest I don't think can be measured.

Now I can say that I am having a good season, 8 pt with the bow and shotgun. I am not seeing many deer at all but here is a run down of my sons first season deerhunting. I keep telling him, you are giviing me great stories and i don't need to drag anything.LOL

Misses
#1 doe 5 yrds hit a tree..bow
#2 doe 10 yrds over the back..bow
#3 buck 25 yrds under ....bow
#4 doe gun opening day am
#5 doe gun opening day am
#6 doe gun opening day pm
#7 & 8 Doe an fawn thanksgiving day am 5 shots 20 yrds lol
#9 Buck thanksgiving day am, came in right after the doe and fawn 30 yrds
#10 doe thanksgiving day am at 11am, we were packing it up for the morning.
#11 finally shot a doe at 8am
#12 2 shots at a coyote and 1 shot at a doe. miss, miss, miss

I've been hunting 20 years and it seems like every season has had its share of head scratching events but I suppose this season ranks up there.

I set up a new stand on my family's ranch, meant to put it out of the way in a place no one else hunts and when I hunt, I want to be left alone with the game and my thoughts. Unfortunately, my dad doesn't recognize this point of view as being valid and has doen his best to interfere with my hunting this season.

The brush on the ranch is very thick and the terrain rather rocky. Over the years, my dad has had himself and his ranch hands clear alot of the cedar out with a dozer but they generally do a pretty awful job, just kind of indiscriminate and random leaving piles all over the place. Occasionally when its rainy, they'll burn them.

Two weeks ago, they did so including the one between my feeder and blind. The still smoldering pile didn't seem to attract deer...go figure. The following week, someone decided some more brush needed to be cleared and began doing so....right next to my stand. Several of the main trails leading the deer in are no longer there. I even caught the dozer on my game camera.

So, I called my dad and explained to him that I was unhappy with the timing of his landscaping projects and that didn't go over so well....He had to inspect first hand....while I was hunting. He saw my truck and called me and at least I convinced him to stay away...sorta, he still drove by the feeder on the backside and ran off all the deer that may or may not have been there eavesdropping our phone conversation where again, I had to raise my voice in a vain attempt to get my point across.

So....he decided that later, he needed to call me again and see if I was seeing any deer. To cap the evening off, he rolled by my blind again in his big diesel pickup and spooked the 4 pt I was watching.

Hoping things inprove. I have some nice deer on the game camera from before the dozer came through. Anxious to see if they are still coming there.

I haven't seen a deer in Massachusetts since opening day... Mid October...
ugh...
been hunting alot too.

Two seasons ago was bad on private land, got kicked off, had to hunt public, seen too many deer to count. Seems a bit backwards to me.

I've had a rough and odd season as well. It started in September with the youth hunt I took my son on. The first day, we see a dozen deer - all does. He wants to wait for something better. The next day we see 10 different does, and he finally decides to shoot. He misses a fairly easy 120 yard shot (rifle hunt). The last day, after seeing dozens of does the previous 2 days and determining that we'd shoot anything, we see nothing. Not a single deer.

So, next hunt, we go out for an early season hunt in October. Only see one doe escaping at about dusk. Now, I've been out 3 days during the rifle season and haven't seen a thing. Just turkeys. I could have shot dozens of them by now. It's frustrating because I'm in a good area with plenty of sign, but the weather hasn't been cooperating. On the days I've been out, it's been very high wind, 25 miles an hour, with a full moon. They've only been coming out at night it seems. Hopefully, I wont' get skunked.

A step broke I fell and got sore all over, and my sholder still hurts.
I think I tore the rotater cuff.
I then kicked a small stump, broke my big toe on my right foot.
Then I pulled a mossle in my back.
I am going to Dr tomorrow for stress test.
And thursday I get a physical.
At least yall have got in the woods.
I haben't even stepped in the woods this season.
Season is over Jan 1st.

So I gotta laugh, better than crying lol.
It's gotta get better.

guys i appreciate the levity. at least i'm not alone in the misfortune department. hopefully i'll bag a turkey this year. because a decent buck seems out of the question.

I've been out since Bow season and haven't even got a shot. Two weeks ago I encountered a guy with his kids walking through the woods beating on trees and screaming! I also found out my car is to low to navigate some of the roads where I hunt! Today I finally saw a hog, but he was in such dense cover I couldn't get a shot. I tried to head him off, but he was alot better at running through palmettos than I was.

Don't feel bad, man. I have seen MAYBE 6 deer all season, and haven't gotten a shot at anything. Done probably 10 drives and accomplished nothing, not one deer. Missed a 5 pointer opening day of bow season at 21 yards, which would have been my first deer with a bow. After that, an incredible amount of ZERO. Can't say as I've fallen in a frozen canal, however. . . . smooth. :sign0004:
Anyway, you're not alone. Welcome to the Benevolent Society of Bored Hunters. :sign0016:

I've got to update. My comically bad season turned out great. As I was walking back to my car on the last day with only about 5-10 minutes of light left, I bagged a good sized 4 x 4 buck. I'll post pictures later. So, everybody, keep plugging away. A bad season can turn out great.

Choked
 

Finally saw the 8 point i have been chasing since bow started...Blew it. I didnt get a shot but im a first year hunter and the deer was going down another run so once he had his back to me i gave a little grunt and he picked me out like I wasnt even wearing camo...Talk about an all around bad feeling seeing that white flag go up and listening to that big guy wheeze as he ran off. What did i do wrong? Should i not have grunted til he was further away ?

Ya I blame it on the demacrats. That's why I lost a few spots this year. Everyone is down sizing. And most the democrats are against hunting but for higher taxes. Just make sure you use your saftey harness. And if you use a crossbow, change the string every year. I had mine go off and catch my thumb. That gave me a late start and now I don't even want a big ol stinking buck. I already got seven mounted on the wall!
I guess I'll just sit back and let the cars kill'em, there's good money in insurance repairs...