Is the deer population down? Yeah. But am I still seeing deer? Yes. As many? No. Am I seeing larger bucks? YES.
Option 1: I go all season see a handful of does and have a chance at a +130" buck
Option 2: I go all season see does out the rear end and have a bunch of scrub bucks walk by that'll surely get shot by someone else
I'm rolling with Option 1.
Growing up I've always known deer hunting as HARD, bow or gun. Seeing a deer in a sit is an win. And recently the size of bucks I've been seeing are a lot bigger than what they were a couple years ago. Yeah the does are a lot fewer BUT having too big of a deer herd limits food at food sources and then deer aren't receiving the proper nutrition, and some may even die of starvation over winter.
The next question is: if you aren't seeing deer, have you hunted the same areas in the past couple years? There are plenty of grounds out there to hunt. Question your scouting, is it you go out and put surveyors tape up every 5 feet so you know how to get to your "tree". Or do you take a couple days a month to go out and just walk the area that you hunt.
Wait you don't have time to scout?
Go to mytopo.com and google earth and scout from your computer chair or while you're watching TV, or searching this forum. You can maximize your scouting time by searching maps first then going into the field with the maps and key areas you wanna look at.
I've been successful hunting out of state and I've never stepped foot on the area that I hunted. I did all my scouting from Pa and looked at topos and satellite images of the area.
Nothing is a gimme in this world, if you want to see deer you have to do your own WORK. Hunting the same spot year after year with no success is not putting in the work.
Sorry am tired
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of the "there's no deer in Pa" people.
ALSO, I don't mean to offend ANYONE, just had to vent.
Option 1: I go all season see a handful of does and have a chance at a +130" buck
Option 2: I go all season see does out the rear end and have a bunch of scrub bucks walk by that'll surely get shot by someone else
I'm rolling with Option 1.
Growing up I've always known deer hunting as HARD, bow or gun. Seeing a deer in a sit is an win. And recently the size of bucks I've been seeing are a lot bigger than what they were a couple years ago. Yeah the does are a lot fewer BUT having too big of a deer herd limits food at food sources and then deer aren't receiving the proper nutrition, and some may even die of starvation over winter.
The next question is: if you aren't seeing deer, have you hunted the same areas in the past couple years? There are plenty of grounds out there to hunt. Question your scouting, is it you go out and put surveyors tape up every 5 feet so you know how to get to your "tree". Or do you take a couple days a month to go out and just walk the area that you hunt.
Wait you don't have time to scout?
Go to mytopo.com and google earth and scout from your computer chair or while you're watching TV, or searching this forum. You can maximize your scouting time by searching maps first then going into the field with the maps and key areas you wanna look at.
I've been successful hunting out of state and I've never stepped foot on the area that I hunted. I did all my scouting from Pa and looked at topos and satellite images of the area.
Nothing is a gimme in this world, if you want to see deer you have to do your own WORK. Hunting the same spot year after year with no success is not putting in the work.
Sorry am tired
ALSO, I don't mean to offend ANYONE, just had to vent.
