It has been the worst season ever here too. There is a lot of sign with trails beat to mud, scrapes every 20 yards and trees shredded.
But no movement during the day. Now it is raining and maybe it will stop Thur.
Friends in VA are having the same problems too.
Same here in New York, getting all the deer on cams in the middle of the night.
44Man, same up our way. The moon was out bright as daylight, and it has been warm. I think they have been out running all night and laying in during the day.
Maker of Silver Boolits for Werewolf hunting
Where we hunt in Pa things have definitely changed over the last few years. Crossbows combined with 6 weeks of archery season before firearms hunters get a chance has successfully removed a large percentage of the bucks. The early pressure makes deer more nocturnally active. We saw plenty of doe yesterday but not a single legal buck was taken by our group. I know that at least 2 buck that were taken on the farm with crossbows.
Hi...
My 21-year-old son finally got his first buck here in Pa. yesterday morning about 8:30AM. Nice 6-point, about 160lb live weight.
We were hunting in Elk County (northern part of the state). Sunshine, 24F at daybreak.
He used his new Tikka stainless .308 with a Vortec scope and Federal Fusion 165gr factory loads(IIRC). About a 50yd shot, dead right there. I gutted it out for him and he drug it about 1000yds down a ridge, across a swap and up another ridge to a hiking trail so we could wheel it out on a deer cart about 2-1/2 miles to his Suburban.
He is absolutely ecstatic.
He insisted on dropping it off at a processing plant to be cut up. I have never used a processor...I have butchered countless steers and deer myself, but he doesn't like butchering(at all). He is going to pay for it so instead of spending last night skinning and today cutting up venison, I am sitting in the den sipping a cup of hot Earl Grey tea typing out these eloquently phrased missives.
I quit hunting when he called me on the two-way radio with the news. Took me the best part on an hour to find him...I was about 2 miles away and his sense of direction is terrible. We didn't get the truck rolling toward home until about 2:20PM yesterday afternoon and pulled in the driveway to the estate about 6:30PM after dropping his deer off about 10 miles away.
I may go out the latter part of the week to see if I can help a friend get a deer. Not much interested in killing one myself anymore. I have spent the last 9 years trying to get a buck in my son's sights and have only killed two deer in that time (aforementioned other priorities).
Our firearms deer season ended yesterday, out of the 16 day season, I hunted 11 days, most days I hunted both morning and afternoons. Didn't see as many deer as I usually do, and the ones I did see, were too far away. I will be going out during the muzzle loader season and late doe season, as I still have all my tags.
Good on you, it brings a smile when I put a friend in a good spot and he gets a deer. Yours is more important, it is your son.Originally Posted by 375supermag
My thoughts too. I think the moon is the problem.
I have to mention this because you said a few things. The archery season here starts two weeks earlier, doesn't stop before Thanksgiving, and continues later into January. We also have an extended late firearms season. There is no shortage of deer here. Maybe there will be in a few years because this was the first year that the extended portions weren't doe only. But I highly doubt this will be the case.
As far as crossbows go. I see people complaining about them all the time. It's not like you hunt w/ one and you automatically kill a deer. They are heavy unwieldy things. In reality they are a burden while hunting w/ them. Crossbows have been allowed for many years so it's nothing new on the scene.
I'm guessing you are hunting the northern tier. The herds have been diminished for well over a decade if not more. Reasons why range from the PAGC issuing to many doe permits to poaching by locals. I'm young, 36, but have hunted in Pike county for over two decades. It's always been a tough hunt there.
Deer have been going nocturnal for a long time as well. They aren't as stupid as people think they are. You'd have to decrease the pressure to change this behavior. And that would take years to achieve. There is a reason I like to spend as much time as possible hunting early archery. Not only is it warm, but the deer move during daylight.
If it's raining, I would be out hunting. I always see more bucks moving in nasty weather. I also use the "walks a little, looks a lot" method. One or two steps, and then look over every thing around with binoculars. I've killed some nice bucks laying in their beds.
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Forget everything you know about loading jacketed bullets. This is a whole new ball game!
It's cold and raining this morning. It's just miserable out and is supposed to be all day. Can't perform the work they had scheduled for me so it looks like I will get a chance to hunt today
I live in prime whitetail country in central PA, am surrounded by well managed posted property and have heard only two shots on the first day, none today so far.
Gun control is not about guns.
opening day has come and gone here
didn't hear as many shots as a normal opener
I ended up shooting a big doe the second to the last day
fewest deer I have seen during the season
Last edited by white eagle; 12-01-2015 at 11:57 AM.
Hit em'hard
hit em'often
I only saw 1 deer and fortunately it was a legal buck. I got to try out the new Ruger 77/44 and it performed well.
I don't think it is lack of deer here. Seen too many and the county picks up 20 or more road kills a day. Hunting pressure, moon or weather, I sure don't know.
But hunting in rain never panned out for me. They sit tight.
hunting in the rain as long as its not a down pour
I have always seen numerous deer out and about
no fun for the hunter though unless you are prepared for it
as long as there is more season I wait it out more often lately though
Hit em'hard
hit em'often
well here in Wisconsin it is a combination of many things that include the following;
Tree huggers have stopped the wolf management program and a Liberal judge from MN shut us down on hunting wolves.
Too many years of allowing to shoot allot of does have shot in last 10 years.
This state allows baiting and it has ruined the natural movement and foraging of deer for several months of the year.
Using crossbows became legal in 2009 for all Pa hunters. Magnifying sights (scopes) on them became legal at the same time. Before that time only disabled hunters could use crossbows in most of the state.
I hunt in Schuylkill county which has a good mix of farms and woods. I personally know quite a few guys who have killed more deer with crossbows in the last 5 years than they killed with bows in the 20 years prior. Sitting in a blind or big treestand makes it easier to use a crossbow than a bow, for sure. The game commission wants deer killed and populations reduced; crossbows were their latest way to accomplish this goal. If I was really desperate to kill a deer, I would go out and buy a crossbow. I still hunt with my compound bow for the tradition and challenge. I didn't take a rifle in the woods yesterday. Just a 44 which has killed its share of deer in Pa. I enjoy the hunt a lot more than the killin'.
what is the status of the local food sources?
It seems to me that on any abundant year for natural foods, the more difficult the hunt.
I think on abundant food harvest years, they don't have to move around any to feed, they only take a couple steps, feed, and lay again.
It seems like the scarce food years that they are up and moving around foraging for food, that's when we get to see them.
just my 2 cents
Wolves and yotes are bad news and if you bust them I will be silent. I have not seen either yet. Our herd is large with roads the most danger. Yet they are not showing. Even where we can't hunt none are seen.
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