as the season draws to a close
 

I know there was post all most like this. As the season draws to a close do you tend to not care as much about hunting as in the earlier part of the season. Meaning you are not careing on scent control. Getting out there a bit later. Tend to do alot of just salking.

RE: as the season draws to a close
 

Well with me it depends on success or not, I will admit to not having the drive to get out there after I have put one in the freezer, but then again I hunt from September through January I am almost finished butchering my buck so I will probably go back into the woods next week after a week off. I hunt no different with meat in the freezer or not, if anything I probably am better as the season goes on, I am more in tune with the woods at the end of the season than in the beginning because I gain confidence in my stands with every hunt.

RE: as the season draws to a close
 

Like I said on the other post like this. I'm guilty as charged. I think it's just an accumalation of soooooooooooooo many hours in the woods between scouting, stand location,etc.......
Then bowseason comes and I'm in a tree from sunrise to sunset everyday. After bowseason I see myself going out of the woods at 11:00 and back in at 2:00 for the first week of gun. As the weeks of gunseason go on it gets progresively worse. I start getting discouraged and find myself doing a lot of still hunting and not being able to stay on stand very long. The last week of gun seems like an excersise in futility.
I know this attitude sucks and is not doing me any good. It's something I've battled and trying to work on. The hardest part of it for me is simply the amount of deer that I see during bow and then during gun. It's like flicking a switch. I do try and learn something on every hunt, but it's tough to pick up any knowledge when you're not presented with any situations. I guess the only thing I try to learn is their pattens by still hunting which turns into more of a scouting mission for next season.
So I guess I go from hunting as hard as humanly possible at the begining to not hunting very well by the end.

RE: as the season draws to a close
 

Well, I got up this morning but said "phooey", and went back to bed. Why? Hunted all first week of gun on state land and didn't see a deer (except in no-hunting zone). Public land in NE PA is just hammered with hunters year after year, and after the first shot on Monday, the deer go underground. Also, PA's deer management has reduced the population in this area through excessive doe permits. I retired this year and so, spent many days in the woods, from beginning of Oct to last Saturday and saw a total of 11 deer, one of which I was fortunate to shoot with my in-line. So I have deer meat in freezer, which probably adds to my attitude.
PS. Probably will give the flintlock a try in that season.

RE: as the season draws to a close
 

As the deer season comes to a close, so far, I'm earning a BIG FAT ZERO once again! :([:'(] I have myself convinced that I'm just NEVER going to get a deer. They know me... They know my scent - regardless of how scent-free I make myself... Or, they have some mental telepathy or mysterious powers that psyche me out as soon as I step foot into the woods. The minute I get out of my truck, all the deer within a 5 square mile radius vanish into thin air! :(

So, I'm now taking up goose hunting in a farmers field and I will also be getting invited to sit in duck blinds and hunt ducks. Hey, at least I can do that!

Butch

RE: as the season draws to a close
 

Ah, you'll shot something someday. I went six years between harvests.

RE: as the season draws to a close
 

ButchA hang in there bud, try waiting your unnotched tags on other positives like seeing a doe and fawn mill around naturally or watching the woods come to life in the am, etc. Many more things to hunting than notching the tag and try to focus on the experience as a success. Also mind over matter your convinced you won't get one and your probably right, start thinking about how you can and WILL get one. Good luck with the feathered variety:D

I will admit that sometimes I don't spring up at the sound of the alarm or hustle like I did a few weeks or months ago to get to my spot as the season dwindles, it is called fatigue which we all get and have! However being able to hunt is always a zest and I always attack it as it were a fresh chance at getting my animal. Things that can keep you going are remembering the dwindling day of a hunt in the past or the last minutes of a week long hunt that made it all worth while. Hunting is a sport of you never know what is around the next bend or the next few minutes will bring. Think about it how many times we have thought well there goes that day, only to be interupted by a deer appearing like a ghost and shifting the mood to high gear. Right palce, right time is phrase often used and sitting at home will never be the right place. You have all off season to sulk and lick your wounds, so get out while you can and keep hope that today will be the day, cuz tomorrow she will be closed and you won't have the chance until 2004!

My season officially ended now I am depressed and sulking but the bright side is only a few months until I can start shed hunting and preparing for next fall:D.

So ends the pep talk get out in the wood and enjoy nature...you never know you may just tag a deer at the same time!