7.62NATO

I have been out four full days since Oct 30, and the only deer I've seen were three does snaking through the woods together, but I had no shot. That’s it. I spoke with about 8 other hunters and they said deer sightings have been very low, and I have heard very little gunfire. Of the four times I’ve been out, two have been on public land (a good-sized state park) and two on a farm 60 miles north. My buddy hunted for two days in September three hours west of here and didn’t see anything either. Anyone else experiencing this?

The mast on the ground is unbelievably plentiful, despite the severe drought we had this summer (so I’m no longer sure there’s a correlation between rain and mast). It’s like if the deer want to eat during the day, they can just poke their heads out from the thickets and nibble on acorns and don’t have to go anywhere…

bigcountry

Very slow in Northern MD and Eastern shore too. Seen some chasin recently by 4pt and 6pt, but nothing significant.

7.62NATO

What's it like hunting the eastern shore? I've thought about hunting it before, but it's pretty far from me and just seems like a weird place to hunt. Not that it is, just seems weird given that I would have to travel 25 miles underwater to get there. The peninsula is quite a bit wider up in MD though.

jks84

Same here. I am in in upstate NY and have been hunting since mid October and have yet to see a deer. I have lots of sign on my land but no deer.

Buck Holliday

Deer have been running wild just South of Charlottesville, VA. There are bunches, but right now in the rut they are all moving in groups and cycling through the land. We'll see 15 to 20 deer one night and then not see them for a couple of days. Then they'll be back. We've got a couple of nice bucks running around. General firearm season starts this coming Saturday so I expect those to be out of the woods and on the table right quick.

doetrain

Come to southern Indiana and you will see a lot of Deer in my area. In my spot in Lanesville IN. alone I have seen over 40+ and this week two brutes were taken there. Our state in some areas is loaded with them and they are studs for sure,see the one I just posted under New Buck In Area.

TRACKER

I hunt up in Northeastern NY and have seen a ton of does and fawns ,
Also seen a couple smaller bucks ,a spike and 4 pointer .
The spike was out running does last couple days .
On one of my better stands I wasnt seeing many if any deer, well I found out why last evening ,,, Had a coydog draging around a dead doe ,, AARRGGHHH,,,,,

jks84 What area ?? I,m in 5A......

bushanic

I hunt down in Westmoreland Va (Richmond county) and it is really slow I have only seen 2 does in 40hrs of hunting. There are a lot of rubs and I have found fresh scrapes but the buck have not been out. I was out in a field Thursday after all the rain and all I saw was doe tracks not a single buck track. The area isn't packed with deer but dam I should have seen a buck by now. Anyone else hunting in this area? any signs of rut being in?

ADVWannabee

It is slow in western Virginia too. I have seen very few deer this year compared to last year. I am not seeing them in the fields in the evening either. I wonder if the hard winter took a toll on them last year.

7.62NATO

That is a good point. And your winter was harder than ours for sure, but they just aren't used to that around here. We had snow on the ground for a loooooong time. And we're lucky to see an inch on the ground per year!