Been an awful bow season. I am not seeing deer, my son is not seeing deer. I am beginning to question myself and my abilities.. I swear. I have hunted this large 7k tract of private land for 11 years now. It's always been more difficult to get on deer than any other place that I have hunted, but this year seems even more so. Where I have acorns, which are not abundant, no deer. I sat last saturday evening and had acorns falling around me, I did see two bucks, and yet, they paid no attention to the acorns...and when i say we don't have a lot of acorns I mean we have 1000s of acres of pines and cutoiver and very sparse oaks..you would think that would be like a dinner bell...but not so.. strange. I maybe putting too much thought into it.. easy to do when when there is so much land to hunt. I need to get back to following my instincts...another thing, do you guys ever feel like trail cameras can lead you on a wild goose chase? I never get more than 2 days in a row of deer on my cams. it's hit and miss. It's also been in the upper 70s and low 80s this week. All my cameras are showing night time activity.. but damn, on 7k acres in one of top counties in the state for deer numbers, you would think seeing a doe would be automatic.. Im just flat out not seeing deer. Ok, my pity party is over now.. Back to the grind
I wouldn't know what it is like to hunt thousands of acres of private land, I wouldn't even know where to begin or how to do it truthfully. We have a 15,000 acre tract of public land and cutting that in half without 100's or even a thousand other hunters out there would be daunting. I hunt just under 60 acres and see great bucks every year, every now and again I am successful because of where I sit. My late uncle lived on and hunted that land for decades and molded the terrain to fit deer travel through it. Landlocked on all sides with big woods, no plots or ag fields. He just cut where it needed to be cut and mowed where it could and needed to be mowed to encourage deer travel routes. I don't even know what 7,000 acres surrounding it would look like, but I can say that I am content with that small 60'ish acre tract.
and on top of that I am surrounded by 5k of public land and 16K of another private tract and 6k private on the other side...it's overwhelming..
it's a lot of land for sure.. I put miles on foot every weekend and run cameras...it's like playing checkers and the deer play chess. my hunt club has 43 members. 12 of us bow hunt. gun season we kill 130- 140 deer and we have 15" wide buck rule. granted we run dogs from mid november to Jan.. it's the south, and every club down here in my part of the state is in it. kind makes the deer skiddish
Don't hunt it all. Find that honey hole and leave the rest as sanctuary. In 7,000 acres there has to be that slice of heaven that everyone wants to hunt year after year, be it 25 acres or 100 acres there is that place. Just have to find it and figure out how to keep it that way year after year.
That changes things a bit, didn't realize there were that many others hunting and doing drives with dogs. That would change things big time
it doesn't work like that down here. southeast VA is one of only 3-4 areas left in the south that allows hound hunting...been that way for 400 years.. it's big business here...and I do enjoy the tradition, but it does mess the bow hunting up. because people run dogs out of season...just tonight I heard dogs running off in the distance..My first love is bowhunting, but down here. dog hunting rules
No answer to that other than find another parcel that is archery only. I don't have a clue about dog hunting and truthfully never wish to lol, have had coon hounds ruin hunts and even had my uncles rabbit dogs ruin hunts, I don't see how that does any good for archery hunting and also understand you did not say it does From my experiences with dogs while hunting, only once have I seen them chasing deer(coon hounds), I would never be for them in the woods. I get tradition and all that, it is custom where you are from etc... I'd never be for it here, I don't see how the deer would ever be at ease. I'd be willing to bet those same dogs are not caged up for 9-10 months out of the year, who would do such cruelty, and they are out there out of season chasing them same deer as that is what they are trained to do, not when to do it. Yeah, this topic has left my area of offering advice, something I do not deal with, but I could certainly understand your dilemma.
I'm hunting maybe 50 miles from you on public land and it has been tough. Hot, humid, and movement hard to come by....and mentally it can be tough. But I'll tell you. If you know what you are doing and you do, keep doing it. Keep stacking the odds. Dont let self doubt kick in right when the good stuff is coming. That is downfall of many.
I agree with VS^^^^^ . Confidence is key, just believe in your setup and keep hunting. The best is still to come. There are little honey holes on any property that size. Just need to find them and jump around from each one until you find them. I've had areas dry up and not get good again. Just got to move on to the next spot and not get stuck in the old reliable stands that only produced on years past. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
seems like most areas change because they are always timbering. there is a ton of bedding well over 80% of 7k could and is a bedding area...so many cutovers, those 3-10 year old ones hold the deer well and that are vast. I am just baffled at how much night activity there is right now..
most of us if not all born on the southeast to central VA were introduced to hunting through hunt clubs and hounds.. By the time I was 18-19 I grew to love bow hunting more but there just isn't much land available for the bowhunter. all the land is tied up with hunt clubs and dog hunting/timber companies...it's big business. There was a time when I would have pushed for the practice to go away, but my son came along and killed a deer and that memory will stay with me...he loves it, like I did at 14-15 years old...there is an element of excitement about it, hearing a pack walker hounds run and gathering in the morning at the club and dinners with all the guys, it would equivalent to the northern boys deer camp cabin in the woods with 5-19 guys... minus the dogs, honestly, the practice of dog hunting is on it's way out, I give it 10 years max. Anyways, it does make the deer spooky year around and keeps them from herding up. I rarely see 2 deer together. There is a law here that is suppose to prevent hounds from being out from From Jan-Nov...however, lots of guys are "running fox/yotes" wink wink...
I have sat one time and it was depressing, sore for 2 days after sitting for 3 hours. Bound and determined to hunt again next week.
I hear ya b ro. same here. Opening day afternoon, I saw an absolute stud at 67 yards! 170" easy, absolute giant! Since then, Ive probably been out 8 times. Seen 1 small 5 point, thats it!! Rough start as well bud, but it'll change, hang in there, all we can do! Best of luck
Its been slow for me too. Not nearly the number of deer around as most years. I can't do anything about it. Just keep hunting. I'm not sure what you pay to belong to that club but I would be looking for some private ground to lease. Having a bunch of people running dogs etc is a no go for me. I would rather take my chances on public that pay for that.
