I have not seen a deer since opening day on evening hunt, I joke around about it, but it does not effect the way I hunt. If the wind was coming out of the SW again I would hunt the same stand. With the way I precieve deer movement where I hunt, it's the norm for the deer to move of one section and on to another. Today if I hunted I might see 15 or 20, the next day none. Here is a clssic example, this buck was 50 yds from me, I never seen him. He's me spraying some scent in the scrape that morning
I think it keeps my spirits higher if I see at least one deer on a hunt. It doesn't always happen that way, but it gives me hope that a nice one will come walking by within range.
During the early season it doesn't bother me too much if I don't see many deer. But if I am not seeing any bucks later in Oct through Nov...yeah it would bother me a lot.
Since this past Saturday was opening day it was disappointing to not see a thing. Sightings where I hunt are sporatic at best. I certainly don't go out expecting to see deer. I hope to see them. It does help keep the spirits up when there is a sighting.
Yes. Not seeing deer bothers me. It's boring. Frustrating. I can handle not getting shots at them all the time, but I like to see them. But, maybe it's a sign I'm abandoning my old ways, sitting in different spots.
I love going out and not seeing anything....it makes the hunt more exciting...sitting there listening to birds churp and squirrels wrestling in the leaves, teasing me into thinkin its a deer approaching. Yup...thats been my luck..im gonna stick the next squirrel i see, screw it
x2 ... I HATE it .. I see where guys are going days upon days without seeing ANY deer ... I couldn't do it ...
Absolutely! My spot in WI typically produced at least 2 to 12 sightings per day. I didn't hunt there last year but this year both myself an the neighbor are lucky to see a deer every 5-6 sits. What gives? Well this past weekend I noticed the farmers dogs coming out of our woods around 11am-2pm every day. What do dogs do in the woods? They chase anything they can! BTW, the farmer doesn't really care for hunting and is totally opposed to killing does/young deer. And this is earn-a-buck zone. We think he's letting em out on purpose. I'm fuming, but I'm just a guest, and i'm not going back, but the other guyis gonna take one out if it comes in bow range and apply the rule of the 3 S's. Shoot ,shovel and shut up!
20-25 years ago, we had so few deer that not seeing one was the norm. It was a big deal if you just saw one. Today, it is very rare that I don't at least see something, but keep in mind our country is fairly open, so my sighting might be 100-300 yards away. If I sit 50-60 1/2 day hunts per season, I will usually only be completely skunked 3-4 times per season and that is usually in areas with limited visibility or low percentage mature buck haunts. So yes, if all of the sudden my non-sighting increased, it would bother me.
It doesn't really bother me all that much. If I don't see anything, no big deal. I am at least out there trying. You can't see, or kill for that matter, sitting on the couch.
At this time of year, not seeing deer does not bother me. I expect it. Two weeks from now if I don't start seeing deer, it would start to bother me.
While being out in the stand and enjoying nature is great, I'm there to hunt deer. I can handle a couple sits here and there in which I don't see deer, but if it becomes a reoccurring thing I start to get frustrated. Early season doesn't bother me AS much, but I still get frustrated when I don't see deer because I'm used to seeing at least 6 deer per sit.
It doesn't bother that I don't see deer but it causes me to second guess myself. It bothers me in the sense that maybe I am doing something wrong in my scouting and/or stand placement/setup.
I have to admit I don't love it, but it's part of the package. Take this Saturday for example, our bow opener. I've put in some good time since last season and have some good stands in play and sat all morning til noon without seeing anything(I may have slept a little though), that hunt actually didn't bother me much since my friends dad who went with us as a guest had 7 come by him at around 730 and he was only a couple hundred yards away and the stand I was in was real comfortable. The stand I hunted in the evening was not, I saw 2 does and 20 turkeys in my evening stand but still felt frustrated by the end of my sit probably a combination of low deer sightings/no shot opps. and discomfort. I'd sa myy frustration starts more today because I know I have to wait until this weekend to bowhunt again and even with some time off this season I will only get about 10 good hunts in before gun season kicks off. I need winning lotto numbers asap!
Yes it bothers me, it bores the heck out of me. I'd rather see does every sit and catch a buck chasing one than sit and not see anything. Like stated before if I'm not seeing deer I'm wondering what I'm doing wrong.
It doesn't bother me unless I'm hunting a property with someone else and they are seeing deer. Especially if we are somewhat close. Then I start to second guess my scent control, my movement in the stand, my noise, etc. Generally I know that where I'm sitting is a spot that will produce deer, so I start looking at the X factor, ME.
