I haven't see 30 people out. And I've been out everyday. Used to be orange everywhere I looked. I don't think I've heard 50 shots this year where it used to be 1_200 ending morning. Aint nobody out.
Only 4 cars on the WMA yesterday 2 this morning. All 3 deer that I saw yesterday were running as soon as they saw my truck.
Hunting has been ok. Called in lots of dinks here in NY but all the mature bucks will come in and stop a few steps short of a shot opportunity and wait for the wind to swirl. Thats happened 3 times in the last week to me. I seen tons of action last night at dark then again on my way in this morning. Only seen 1 chasing during daylight and he was out by the road after I hiked through tall crap for a while to get to my stand, go figure. Sent from my SM-G965U1 using Tapatalk
packed on the FWA's Ive been on .... twice now in one week Ive had crossgunners walk in on me right at first shooting light, cant get away from these Elmar Fudd's it seems, even after walking a mile in ... .... I sat opening day gun(Sat.) in the bow only area to get away from the gun guys, it sounded like WWIII on the place ... all those dinks I passed last week didnt stand a chance to mature ... while waiting for the check station to open (4am), I stood around listening to some of those guys, man, I'm sure glad I dont gun hunt any longer ... smh ... luckily not all are as scary as several gunners that were there ....
Yeah, gun season is scary sometimes. Makes me worried to even take my boys out sometimes with some of the weekend warriors that show up opening weekend in their grease stained carhart overalls smelling like oil and gasoline. Hahaha. Sad but true. A kid I worked with got shot 2 years ago on the opener of rifle here in NY. His first time out and his uncle shot him doing a drive. The deer supposedly ran across a bunch of the guys driving and the idiots just kept unloading. Sent from my SM-G965U1 using Tapatalk
Not too bad, I usually walk at least 2.5 miles to my stands, last weekend somebody moved a climber in about 100 yards from me, and the opening day on the NF sounded like WWII, so we still have hunters in Arkansas Sent from my motorola one 5G ace using Tapatalk
Have not seen the numbers but shooting was down and I was #40 at the check in at 10am opening morning. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
We all have to remember. Most of us started out hunting in an orange "army" and have many fond memories of such times. I know I sure do. Let the gunners have their fun. We aint "special" just cutz we took up archery
Yes we are. We're better than them in every way. We're faster, slower, quieter, sneakier, more dedicated, more practiced, better callers, better trackers, better athletes, better drivers, better workers, hold our liquor better, more fun, more funny, more serious, more handsome, have better looking spouses, and better in the bedroom.
Its hit and miss here south central/west illinois. I talk to some guys who have seen some chasing and others like myself that havent seen much of any action. Hopefully it pops soon. Definitely cant complain about or blame it on the weather this year.
Worst year i can ever remember in Northern Illinois. I have seen no rutting activity at all until some on a cell cam today. I have no answers. I know i’m not the only one.
S.E. Michigan... Hunting with my Daughter....filling the freezer - 0-lbs- No archery success. We had a weekend in the U.P. (Rock, MI) Nothing but Doe's... At home S.E. Mich. We had several Bucks' near by..4, 6 and one big 8 Point...they just did not come into range. It was an exceptionally warm archery season. don't know if that had anything to do with it. First yr. for our food plot...Plenty of education there. I'm sure more mistakes were made. Its all a learning process
Seen multiple bucks chasing and on the move scent checking doe bedding areas downwind. My son got his first buck set up for that this morning. Had a mature doe come in to us in esterous and knew a buck would skirt her trail but down wind. Exactly what happened. We thought it was a wide 8 we had seen earlier but got robbed as he had a broke off or deformity crotch on his left side that we didn't see and 4 on the other. Regardless it was a heck of a lot better than my first bow buck, lol. Heading back out soon Sent from my SM-G965U1 using Tapatalk
While I'm new to hunting, I'm not new to research. I was checking this trend last year. California licenses purchased is down 25% from 2019. The quota has not been filled for my zone & AO tags are also WAAAY not filled. 3000 tags available specifically to San Diego residents. I can still purchase deer tags for AO good until Dec 31st. Hmmm. We've had a ton of people move from CA and even more effected by disastrous fires. A HUGE amount of CA's hunting forests have been burned down add drought and you lose a ton of bird opportunities too. Its no wonder I can't find people in San Diego to Hunt with.
In Colorado, first week of November was good for movement. Since then, it’s been very quiet. But, it’s been 70-80’ fir the past 3 weeks! Sooooo hot!
I live and hunt in SW Michigan. For the 35 years I have been hunting, the story is rather consistent. Michigan has some of the highest hunter numbers in the country. There are lots of deer around here. We have an unbalanced buck to doe ratio - far more does. I feel our culture would rather shoot a little buck than a doe. Hence, we end up with too many does and a small portion of big bucks. It is uncommon for me to see a buck that I'd age 3+. I shot a 131" 10 point in Michigan and everyone said big buck. I showed people in WI the pic - not one person thought it was "big"...just normal or even small for around there. I will frequently see 10-20 does and a couple of little bucks. I've seen 2 3.5 yo bucks this year, which is a lot for me. The past 3 seasons I have shot 20 does (+3 this year) and ZERO bucks in MI. Frustrating to hunt with people that just keep shooting little bucks and no does. People tell me you can't eat antlers...which is true. BUT, you can shoulder mount a big ole shag nasty buck and tell the story for years to come. I don't see shoulder mounts of does.
Its the same here in upstate NY. I keep pushing anyone I know that hunts to shoot a doe to get "meat in the freezer" and no need to shoot everything with antlers. It seemed to work for a couple years but seems most have reverted back to shooting everything they see with a small rack. I dont get it personally and would welcome antler restrictions for gun season. Youth should get a pass as to get them into hunting. Here we usually get 2 doe tags plus archery is either sex. Then their are leftover doe permits you can get over the counter. That is a ton of meat if you put in the work and it's honestly not to hard to accomplish if you put in the effort. Good luck. Sent from my SM-G965U1 using Tapatalk
Idaho has been invaded by a million new hunters from California. It has to be stopped. The out of state hunters from California out number the Idaho hunters. The state should stop selling so many out of state tags, limit those losers from coming here-
