Anyone not having a good season in terms of killing a deer?

[Chiflyguy]

Claiborne County
3 rd season down here.
In 2 seasons, I killed 5 deers.
Always had consistent activity whether out in the woods or on camera.
This year I've seen exactly 6 deer.
Drew back the hammer on my MZ twice, no clean shot.
I've done 10 sits, 8 morning, 2 evening and only saw deer one morning.
I haven't even seen deer moving across the hay field next door where I would see at least 4 every evening before sunset.
Cameras were very active right before MZ season then nothing but very sporadic pictures.
Here's some facts:
No property development in my area.
Not catching or seeing stray dogs.
Very minimal pressure in the surrounding area by other hunters.
I only hunt weekends so my spots rest about 5 days every week.
Thoughts?
FYI
I have a buddy up on the ridge above and behind me who has 106 acres with about 4 acres of food plots and he's seen the same thing.

 

[BSK]

This has been a very strange season. It doesn't match any pattern I've ever seen before. In western Middle TN, movement all of November has been very sporadic, with some OK days, but most being very quiet during daylight. October was amazing but November has been way off.

 

[kaizen leader]

Don't give up. The bigger bucks are running does now. Good luck.

 

[Ski]

Has anyone had timber cut within the last couple years anywhere inside a couple miles of you? That could for sure do it. Also with the wet start to summer and mild fall I'm noticing soft mass and bean trees are holding their fruit late, and many of them have bumper crops when normally they don't. Could be locusts, haws, persimmons, etc. Also the cover that has held the deer you're used to seeing may have grew/timed out, forcing them to shift. It's really hard to say for sure as it could be a myriad of reasons.

 

[PalsPal]

Claiborne County
3 rd season down here.
In 2 seasons, I killed 5 deers.
Always had consistent activity whether out in the woods or on camera.
This year I've seen exactly 6 deer.
Drew back the hammer on my MZ twice, no clean shot.
I've done 10 sits, 8 morning, 2 evening and only saw deer one morning.
I haven't even seen deer moving across the hay field next door where I would see at least 4 every evening before sunset.
Cameras were very active right before MZ season then nothing but very sporadic pictures.
Here's some facts:
No property development in my area.
Not catching or seeing stray dogs.
Very minimal pressure in the surrounding area by other hunters.
I only hunt weekends so my spots rest about 5 days every week.
Thoughts?
FYI
I have a buddy up on the ridge above and behind me who has 106 acres with about 4 acres of food plots and he's seen the same thing.

I could've made this post.

But, it isn't unusual for us. Our family property just doesn't hold deer once the season begins. It's just my dad and me hunting, and we only go 3-4 times a week.

We had access to a much better "deer number" wise property in Smith County but the gentleman passed that owned it and his kids sold it last year.

I don't miss the 1.5 hr drive each way, but at least we usually saw deer.

 

[Chiflyguy]

Don't give up. The bigger bucks are running does now. Good luck.

Oh, I ain't giving up. I'll be doing most of my hunting next month.

 

[backyardtndeer]

I have killed one, but this season has definitely been off. Primary rut here is typically a little earlier, but was about a week earlier than normal for the area. Couple that with the muzzleloader opening a little later and just didn't play in our favor.

With all that said, I watched 4 or 5 does this morning and a really pretty 2.5 year old buck right at daylight. Buck didn't chase, didn't harass, he went and fed on acorns.

 

[GumbyGuy]

Got to have something attractive to the does which in turn attracts the bucks

 

[Griswold]

Got to have something attractive to the does which in turn attracts the bucks

And if a frog had wings he wouldnt bump his ass

 

[GumbyGuy]

And if a frog had wings he wouldnt bump his ass

Absolutely he wouldn't

 

[Tn_Va_Hunter]

Same here in Va. I still have yet to see a buck chasing a doe. We had a great youth weekend and then I killed my 8 on opening day of bow. Since then it's been strange. A deer here and there. A couple small bucks.

But people are knocking down some good ones…just not me. I've hunted 4 different properties and they all have been the same for me. I'm thinking it's just where we had a huge acorn crop this year they still ain't having to move as much.

What's getting me is I can't get to my prime places because of my surgery a few months ago. My abdominal muscles still ain't strong enough to allow me to walk up such steep hills.

 

[Gravey]

Slower it seems here too. Talked to a guy yesterday on the lease across from us and he said the same thing. One of his club members talked to the game warden Saturday and he said he's hearing it a lot across the county (Hickman).

 

[DMD]

So many things can account for slow seasons in an area. Acorn crop, weather, fields and food plot conditions, clear-cutting in the area, disease, changes in hunting pressure in the area, etc, etc. Stay after it, scout, change things up, there are still deer around. It's been really slow in my areas. I think it's warm weather and rut activity at night.

 

[Tenntrapper]

Couple weeks ago...we were getting 6-8 different bucks on cam... consistently. Then it just died....dead dead.
Started showing back up two days ago...not like it was, but some movement.
Hoping for the best.

 

[CHRIS WILSON]

I've had plenty of opportunities but just haven't pulled the trigger on anything. Passed on some and couldn't get a clean shot on one really nice one. Figured I put a doe or two on the ground late season if I don't get a crack at the two main target bucks by then. Movement was decent during October. The first week of muzzleloader had a lot of Movement in the area I was in.

 

[philsanchez76]

Claiborne County
3 rd season down here.
In 2 seasons, I killed 5 deers.
Always had consistent activity whether out in the woods or on camera.
This year I've seen exactly 6 deer.
Drew back the hammer on my MZ twice, no clean shot.
I've done 10 sits, 8 morning, 2 evening and only saw deer one morning.
I haven't even seen deer moving across the hay field next door where I would see at least 4 every evening before sunset.
Cameras were very active right before MZ season then nothing but very sporadic pictures.
Here's some facts:
No property development in my area.
Not catching or seeing stray dogs.
Very minimal pressure in the surrounding area by other hunters.
I only hunt weekends so my spots rest about 5 days every week.
Thoughts?
FYI
I have a buddy up on the ridge above and behind me who has 106 acres with about 4 acres of food plots and he's seen the same thing.

you aint alone. the last 2 weeks of October seemed to be the absolute best, but I was saving all my off time for first week of November. and it was absolutely dead that week. still not getting much on cameras even as of this morning. just weird timing this year.

 

[BSK]

So many things can account for slow seasons in an area. Acorn crop, weather, fields and food plot conditions, clear-cutting in the area, disease, changes in hunting pressure in the area, etc, etc. Stay after it, scout, change things up, there are still deer around. It's been really slow in my areas. I think it's warm weather and rut activity at night.

Only problem is, I'm hearing the same thing from a wide variety of hunters and clients, and they all have different property types. If everybody is seeing the same thing, despite differences in habitat, there is a trend there.

Personally, I can't seem to get a handle on what is going on. Normally, deer movement in my area is going to follow one of two patterns; either the decent/good acorn pattern or the acorn failure pattern. However, even with a very good acorn crop this year, the deer are following neither pattern. A very odd year for sure, and if I can figure it out, it will only be in review after the season is over, and I have all of the data to look at and compare to previous years.

 

[Crappieaddict]

Glad it's not just me, but that doesn't explain what's happening.

 

[DMD]

Only problem is, I'm hearing the same thing from a wide variety of hunters and clients, and they all have different property types. If everybody is seeing the same thing, despite differences in habitat, there is a trend there.

Personally, I can't seem to get a handle on what is going on. Normally, deer movement in my area is going to follow one of two patterns; either the decent/good acorn pattern or the acorn failure pattern. However, even with a very good acorn crop this year, the deer are following neither pattern. A very odd year for sure, and if I can figure it out, it will only be in review after the season is over, and I have all of the data to look at and compare to previous years.

You don't think it's weather related? Been awfully warm. The two cold days we had in early ml season, i saw good deer movement. Not much since.

 

[BSK]

You don't think it's weather related? Been awfully warm. The two cold days we had in early ml season, i saw good deer movement. Not much since.

No, because I'm looking at deer movement 24 hours a day with many, many trail-cameras on video in almost every conceivable set-up. If it were due to hot weather, I would see the movement at night. But very little movement at any time right now.

 

[DMD]

No, because I'm looking at deer movement 24 hours a day with many, many trail-cameras on video in almost every conceivable set-up. If it were due to hot weather, I would see the movement at night. But very little movement at any time right now.

Huh. I'm seeing quite a bit of nighttime movement on my cameras. Interesting. Please let us know what you think is causing it when you form a theory. Thanks for your insight.

 

[Creek bottoms]

I think the EHD die off in my neck of the woods was worse than originally thought. Couple that with a bumper crop of acorns and things have been way off. Not seeing the number of deer hunting nor on camera.

 

[BSK]

I think the EHD die off in my neck of the woods was worse than originally thought. Couple that with a bumper crop of acorns and things have been way off. Not seeing the number of deer hunting nor on camera.

Our EHD infections were much worse than I originally estimated. Although we didn't have many die, I'm seeing a large number of deer limping from hoof sloughing.

 

[Creek bottoms]

Our EHD infections were much worse than I originally estimated. Although we didn't have many die, I'm seeing a large number of deer limping from hoof sloughing.

Wood duck hunters on the lower end of the Duck said the river was full of deer in September. I saw a doe last night walking funny, likely hoof sloughing. My place used to be full of older, horse faced does. Most of what I've been seeing are yearlings.

 

[maclet24]

In my areas I hunt in Arkansas its more or less normal I normally would expect to have seen a couple more mature bucks by now. My uncle was just complaining yesterday about not seeing anything despite hunting a lot yesterday in Arkansas though...
But in my area of TN it's been the worst year since I've lived here.

I haven't gone through all my pictures to confirm, but my doe numbers seem significantly down. My plot usage is way down. My deer sightings are way down. My number of pictures are down. I've only seen 1 buck that is 3 years old. Even the number of yearling bucks seems pretty low in comparison to past years.

On the flip side, my food plots have never looked better and I do not have a green thumb. They've come up despite me. I can't walk anywhere with crunching acorns the entire way. The number of squirrels, racoons, yotes even seem low based purely on vibes.

My working theory has been that it was just such a great year for food production in the woods that the animals are spread to all corners of the woods. I've only lived here for less than 5 years though so my experience is some what limited. My expectations are that when/if it will ever get cold again for more than a couple days that things will tighten up a bit.

I hope I get to enjoy a good December in TN. I'm getting sick of driving 2 and half hours to go deer hunting.

 

[Ski]

Only problem is, I'm hearing the same thing from a wide variety of hunters and clients, and they all have different property types. If everybody is seeing the same thing, despite differences in habitat, there is a trend there.

Personally, I can't seem to get a handle on what is going on. Normally, deer movement in my area is going to follow one of two patterns; either the decent/good acorn pattern or the acorn failure pattern. However, even with a very good acorn crop this year, the deer are following neither pattern. A very odd year for sure, and if I can figure it out, it will only be in review after the season is over, and I have all of the data to look at and compare to previous years.

My guess is when the dust clears we will see this was a long strung out trickle rut starting earlier than normal and not showing much of a spike at peak. Anecdotally speaking it looks like does are hitting estrus one by one rather than a big swath at a time like normal.

 

[BSK]

Wood duck hunters on the lower end of the Duck said the river was full of deer in September.

VERY interesting. I'm at the lower end. We didn't see dead deer on our place because we have no stagnant water. But I bet it was mess down in the swamps nearby.

 

[BSK]

My guess is when the dust clears we will see this was a long strung out trickle rut starting earlier than normal and not showing much of a spike at peak. Anecdotally speaking it looks like does are hitting estrus one by one rather than a big swath at a time like normal.

I thought we had seen peak rut already. However, my daughter and I saw several "orphaned" fawns this last weekend. One was even wandering around bleating loudly for momma. That's says breeding is going on now, or at least some breeding. I've been watching heavy chasing since mid-October.

 

[Stalkhunter]

I hunt Claiborne county as well, I have seen deer every time out but slower buck activity. I seen and killed my first last Tuesday had good deer movement but no actual chasing, Sunday we had sight of some following pestering or chasing. Things seem to pick up more the last week of muzzleloader and then right into rifle. I like December hunting the best most of the time. I am going home to NY Friday. I will miss 20 days of rifle. So December 16- Jan 4 I will be hitting it hard. This pic is off the small farm we hunt. I am going in the rain tomorrow. Not great pic but he is a 6 pt. Following doe with nose down. Ears are back too lol.

 

[Stalkhunter]

In the field this morning where I hunt.