well with only a month left of deer season i still havent gotten a deer. This time of year its much harder to hunt deer. This is going to be my second year not getting a deer. I feel bad that I havent gotten a deer in two years. I spend about a total of 30 hrs in the woods a week. I have seen many deer. Three things happen one the deer is to young, two I miss, or three not a good enough shot to take. whats the longest you have went with out getting a deer.

Don' t get down on yourself. THINK POSITIVE! You still have a month left - that' s plenty of time! I got a doe during archery last year, but the gun season was bad. The deer disappeared - can' t shoot them if they aren' t there. Now that I think about it I didn' t get out much during the gun season last year. This year (gun season tomorrow) I am hoping that the people on the adjoining properties chase them my way. We have most of the woods in the area while they have mostly fields. I' ll be waiting at one of the escape funnels.....

GOOD LUCK!

I know EXACTLY how you feel... [:' (]

This is my THIRD season and I still haven' t gotten a deer or turkey or heck, even a darn tree rat! [:@] The only thing I have to my name is, last season, I got a pair of ducks when out duck hunting with a couple of guys that I know.

People have said that it gets easier as you go along or it gets easier once you get that " first kill" . Part of me gets so discouraged and so p*$$ed off over the aspect (not to mention fierce competition) of hunting on public land, that I' m tempted to save up my paychecks and book a canned hunt somewhere up on a ranch on Alberta, Canada or Montana or wherever. Imagining a brochure: $1500 dollars... Deer, Elk, all sort of game species... Guaranteed successful hunt! Then again, I' m just a common frustrated hunter. I don' t have the successful hunts like those guys you see on TV on OLN or Outdoor Channel or whatever.

Butch

It is not always a case of luck.If you are seeing a lot of deer you are not unlucky.If you miss shots it is not because of bad luck.I have been accused of being lucky myself because the bucks that I have killed in recent years were all large mature bucks.I have however gone without killing a deer for a couple of years because I passed up as many as 20 or 30 bucks in a year because I only get one general tag and none of the bucks were as large as I wanted.I don' t regret passing up bucks and not filling a tag because I hunt for the challenge and not just to kill a legal deer.If you are seeing large numbers of deer and your shooting skills are good you will take deer reguardless of whether or not you are lucky.

I know what you mean, too. This is my third year of hunting too and I haven' t killed anything. I hunt on land that my pastor' s relatives own. I can only go when he goes, and he said that he has a busy schedule for December and January, so I won' t be going that much. I have friends that I could hunt with, but my dad doesn' t trust them with guns. My dad doesn' t really like to hunt anyway. In other words, I have guns, equipment, and the passion to hunt, but no land to hunt on. I feel like giving up hunting, only because I don' t have anywhere to go. Back on the subject, anytime I go, I never see a darn thing.

I guess the longest I went with out was from 94 till 96; that was over the time i moved from PA to TN. Didn' t have much time to hunt, and also took me a lil time to get used to hunting another state. Part of deer hunting is luck, but a bigger part is doing your homework, and doing things the right way. I have seen way to many people go into the woods with no concern for sound, scent, etc. A deer' s senses will kick your butt every time; you have to be smart. Jeff G, you are within driving distance of some good public hunting land, living in Dyersburg. It' s us east TN guys and gals that are hurtin' !

This was my first bowseason being skunked. I did pass on 4 different bucks and couldn' t quite get a shot at a few more. But nonetheless, it was a skunker. I have harvested 1 doe during gun so far. I spend an enormous amount of time in the woods between bow and gun. I can relate to what you' re saying. However, it' s not how many you harvest it' s the experiences you get. I know ultimately we' re out there to harvest deer, and it gets tough sometimes. Keep a positive attitude and get back to enjoying hunts (whether seeing deer or not). I have just as much hop in my step in the AM going to hunt as I ever have. And I consider this probably my worst hunting season yet (as far as deer taken). I wouldn' t trade it for the world. Relax and hang in there. Ya know they can sense anxiety too!!! lol

I have never had a year that I did not get at least one deer with the rifle. I have however came up empty a few times with the Muzzle loader. The muzzle loader season is after rifle season and at times its a little hard to get close enough by this time of year to get a good shot. I hunt on the prairies. If there is quite a little snow however I can climb up on one of the landowners haystacks toward evening and get one when they come to raid the haystack. There are always plenty of landowners willing to let me get rid of a deer or two this way. Our muzzle loader season is antlerless deer only and was set up to reduce the doe populatio which is huge.

I would hunt on public land, but my dad thinks that there is too much risk of getting accidentily shot at. Although, we might have to resort to it.I feel a lot safer on private land than public. I wish someone in my family owned land I could hunt on.

Hang in there. Your time will come. There is nothing wrong with a young deer, small buck yes, but a young doe is just a tasty morsel. As far as missing, all we can say is practice more. The more you practice the more confident you become with the weapon in your hands. I applaud you for not taking questionable shots. There is no shame in letting one go as opposed to crippling it and never finding it. As far as the length of time that I have gone without harvesting a deer. It' s about 9 months. I usually harvest one during the first week of bow season (OCT) and one during the last week of our season (JAN). In between I take several.