petasux

Been a tough year here so far.Havent been seeing much at all even does and little bucks are scarce.Thought I was just in the wrong areas as I was gone for work and didnt have time to do much scouting.


So I talked to everyone I could find thats been out hunting hard, even the pheasant hunters are commenting on how few deer they have kicked out while walking.Ive driven endless miles at daylight and before dark looking at different properties and havent seen much.Ive walked thousands of acres on foot and seen little sign.Ive moved stands almost daily to try different areas.Been doing this since Oct 20th.


I have hunted around here for 30 years and never seen anything like this, its not hunting pressure cuz frankly I have never seen the parking lots this empty or seen this few treestands out.In a little over 2 week of constant looking I have seen one shooter buck, he was in a standing corn feild which had since been taken out.This morning I was up before daylight and honestly couldnt even think of anything to try and went back to bed.

The only thing different is the DNR has dropped the water tables to eliminate carp and get vegetation growing in the lakes and sloughs around here.It is petty dry out there but even when hunting near water sources Im not seeing much.Theres spots where I can park and glass miles of fairly flat ground that should be crawling with deer, cover, food and water sources everywhere, and theres nothing there.

At the end of last year there were a lot of very nice bucks still alive and well and a ton of does and smaller bucks, I watched them for months after season.Now everythings dissapeared, I suspected maybe desiease or winter kill but in all my walking about I just havent found any dead deer to support it and that includes miles of walking this spring looking for sheds.

So with little hunting pressure, and a more limited supply of water being the key differences what would cause them to leave the area in mass?

ADVWannabee

I had a tough year last year and only saw a few deer and only got 1 shot. Thankfully I got the deer. This year looks like it might be different. I have seen deer regularly in my area and several different ones. I hope your year turns around soon.

doetrain

What state are you in? I'm seeing a lot of deer here in Indiana,my only problem is the ones I have had good shots at have all been a little small so I've past on them hoping for more meat on the bones.

auke0011

We saw absolutely nothing, we hunt on 80 acres in northwestern MN close to the MN ND border. It was about 40-45 with about 45mph winds all weekend. It doesn't help that my stand looks directly out to an open hay field. Worst opening weekend i've ever been apart of.

petasux

Im in NW Iowa about 45 minutes from th MN border.Just got back from walking a 3/4 mile chunk of ground on a lakeshore with foodplots on it, seen 1 deer on the whole thing and not much for trails

doetrain

Iowa and no Deer? I would not think that was possible in that state. Was it a dry year there this year and hot? If your used to seeing them there and all the sudden their gone that sure seems odd. Hang in there it's bound to get better during the rut.

BUCKMARK

I feel your pain. Kinda the same thing for me. We have alot of pics on the cams, but lately the deer sightings have been next to nothing. I am hoping the above average temps and high winds are the main causes for this. The signs are there that they are around, we have seen more scrapes this year than in past years, plus they just finished harvesting the corn. The way things have gone so far this year, they can only get better...

TRACKER

Here in NY where I hunt it is not good either .
Last year I would see anywhere from a few to almost 30 deer in one evening hunt .
Mornings I was seeing a couple to around 10 .
Only change Ive had is my neibor is leacing his beef cows out to graze one of the huge fields I usualy see the deer cross or graze in .
I,ve got more beef cows on camera then deer .
My second stand I have Oats , Clover, and corn witch didnt produce much at all and have seen none and up to only 4 does on .
I,ve had cameras out all year with a couple small bucks and a hand full of doe .
I,m wondering the same thing . Last winter we had 2 good size snow storms back to back that produced abought 14 to 16 inches each , But I havent found any carcases or anything .
AS stated very few deer tracks and nothing like last year .

gator59

Havent all of you had too much wind? Dont know about NY but the MWest has been blowing.

Wind = no deer movement anywhere you are.

shottyhunter24

Same here in northern MN...out of the 7 hunters only 1 has gotten a deer(thankfully me) and we've never seen a year like this before....weather is rough...this weekend its going to be in the 50's and the next day in the 30's...it snowed yesterday and you'd think that it would move them around.....noope we saw nothing.