Jimmy S

This question may not matter for those who hunt both seasons in states/provinces with high deer numbers, because you probably see deer all the time. That being said, do you see more deer during the Archery Season or during Rifle/Shotgun Season? Is it a matter of more time in the woods or other factors? Please explain. Personally, I hunt both (actually three including M/L) here in NH and it varies quite a bit. Some years I see deer a lot during Archery Season, especially mid-Oct and later. Peak Foliage always seems to bring the deer out. Other years, it seems just the opposite. My areas seem to be consistently inconsistent! Any thoughts??

hntngirl

I rifle hunt, but my husband bow hunts and I usually go with him during his seasons. His season is split into two parts, with a break for rifle season in-between. During his first season we probably see more deer due to the woods still being pretty quiet. I know we see a heck of alot more elk than I do during my rifle season! By the time rifle season opens, the deer are still there, but you' ve gotta look harder. If I' m lucky the rut will start late in my rifle season and bucks will be a little easier to find. Last year the rut started pretty late and that made it a little more challenging. During the second bow season, the woods quiet down again, the deer are usually in the rut and most of the time there is snow, so they aren' t too hard to find, same with the elk.

rockytop

I see more deer in early bow season, here in Tennessee. The bucks are still running together and the idiots havn' t scared all the deer to death.

Angus74

I see the most deer during the first bow season from about the third week of Oct. till rifle season starts about the end of the second week of Nov. But it really peaks around the first and second week of Nov when they are chasing does and responding to rattling. Rifle season is usually pretty good but the deer seem to get pretty nocturnal after the first day or two[:' (]

loner

PRE-RUT HERE IN MS.IS BEST FOR BOW{FIRST AND SECOND WEEKS OF NOV.}THE FIRST WEEK OF DEC. DURING MUZZLELOADER IS MY FAVORITE SINCE IT IS THE BEGINNING OF THE RUT.

Straightshot

I see more deer during the bow season. Probably because I hunt private land for bow and hard-hunted public land for rifle season. last year I only saw 3 deer for rifle season, two of which I shot and the other was before first light and at long range (the only way I know it was a deer was from the tracks in fresh snow.) I could have shot a lot of deer for bow season if I had the range of my .243.

wimp

I see many more deer per day during rifle season. Probably sometimes I can see as many deer in 3 days of huinting with a rifle as I do in nearly a whole season of archery. It helps that you have almost a million other hunters pushing the deer around to you.

frizzellr

I see more deer during bow season. I think one of the reasons is because there are fewer bowhunters than gunhunters in my area so the pressure is less during bowseason.

Tazman

Hands down it is during bow season, I probably see 20-30 during bow for every one I see during gun.

SwampTHING

I see deer at more times during bow season,, I see more numbers during gun season. I do not bow and gun hunt the same areas though. If I did I would see many more deer bowhunting the property I gun hunt.