The Season In Retrospect

[dawghater23]

I had a rough year hunting wise. First season with 2 kids, with the youngest still being under a year, made it tougher than I expected. I only got around a dozen sits. But I saw deer more than 50% of the time.

Like everyone else, early season (bow and muzzleloader) was fine. Never saw any mature bucks on my sits, but I hunt primarily public. Did see some young ones that I let walk.

I let way too many does walk. And of course, the only deer I shot was the one I should've let walk. Made some rookie mistakes early that cost me shooting opportunities (I blame it on the kids lol).

I'd like to find somewhere to hunt closer to home. A 3 hour round trip now is just harder to do, but maybe as the kids get older it'll get a little easier.

Be thankful for the time you get to hunt. Be thankful this state has good public land in comparison to our Southern neighbors. I'm thankful for the meat that I have and will learn from my mistakes. Bout all we can do.

For now, I'm going to stay warm, work on some letters to some farmers, and re-calibrate my bow/arrow/broadhead set up (after getting my golf swing back tuned up).

 

[Bone Collector]

Did any of you experience a similar decline in overall deer sightings in your area?

Do yo normally se fewer deer when there is abundant acorns?

I saw plenty but less than normal. I too think the acorns had something to do with it.

 

[Hymie3]

I didn't go as much as normal this season but saw more mature bucks than I ever have. Deer population is good around my area. Still have quite a bit of acorns left that are edible also. Overall good year for me and my hunting buds.

 

[Harold Money jr]

I had a real good year. Had chances at 2 real nice bucks both managed to get away at close range, I can't ask for more than a chance. Saw lots of deer probably 2:1 bucks to does but, the bucks were mostly year old bucks. We saw deer at pretty much every sit, it was also my first year in running a couple trail cams. I ended up killing 2 bucks that made my heart beat out of my chest. They weren't big at all, they were just a victim of their timing. It was a very good learning experience and I was tickled to verify some things I had thought and really learned some things I didn't know with camera help.