What are your whitetail harvest expectations for a season?

A Bowhunters expectations will vary depending on his experience and time available to hunt.

I am very Lucky in the fact that once I start hunting I usually hunt 90+% of the season until I fill the freezer and tag a Nice buck.

Filling the freezer is the easy part. It is relatively easy to tag a Doe if you are looking for meat, and most years I tag a nice buck as well, but like Greg says I won't beat myself up if I don't because undoubtedly I pass many bucks every year and evensome I have 2nd thoughts on.

I think for a seasoned BowHunter it is more about being selective than tagging lots of deer regardless of age, etc. I know some guys tag whatever they can and that's Ok. If I didn't have the opportunity to hunt most of the time my goals and selection on what I shoot might be different. I have many friends that live and/or hunt in AL, GA, NC, etc and it seems like deer out number most other animals so tagging a deer would Not be much of a challenge, but killing a P&Y Buck would take some dedication and skills.

There are other places that tagging any deer would be quite an accomplishment.

It really boils down to where you hunt and how much you get to hunt. Then you still have to be cool under fire.

Dan

 

You left out Pennsylvania. They have more deer than we do, here in NC. I suppose, then, by your logic (and using deductive reasoning) tagging deer there shouldn't be a challenge. And, unless you've tagged a P&Y buck, there (if they have more deer....they have more of EVERY deer....incl. P&Y calibre bucks)......your dedication and skills could use some work?

Is that about right?

Below....is about the most elitist thing I've seen written in a hunting forum in a long time.

LOL....You guys are hilarious!

 

Any of you that have it chalked up as "easy" and "simple" to harvest does, I will be more than willing to show up and take as many of them out of your way as you want. Just ask! :D

 

I have mostly hunted public most of my life. This year I finally got a farm to hunt, and manage for deer. Most years I will kill 2-3 does and a buck. I mostly only bow hunt so again most of these deer are with a bow. I give some deer to people that need it and some that like the special cut that they wait all year for. If I have two in the freezer I pass does. But I work my tail off for the shots at Mature bucks and will shoot them no matter the condition of the freezer. My family will not buy meat until the freezer is empty of deer meat. I consider a year a success if I shot a few does and have an oportunity at a mature buck. If it doesn't happen so be it I work harder the next year. The way I hunt I am very mobile and move with the sign. I have very few (none on public) stands set up allready, my summit climber and lone wolf alpha and sticks are allways by fresh sign, or during the rut in places that have proven themselves in the past.

 

PA hunters (with the exception of a Few special reg areas such as Berks Co. and Allegheny Co) Are typically allotted one buck tag and 1 or 2 doe tags. This is for the entire season (including all forearms, bow, muzzleloader etc)

What are the Bag limits in NC. I was talking with a butcher in Jersey shore Pa. He has a guy who brings venison up for Hot dogs and he was told by this NC resident that they are allowed somewhere up to 6 -8 deer a year he said there is a lot of deer but body size is small??? is this true.

 

I fully expect to kill two deer per season. year before last I only got one. If I can get more that two,(I get 5 tags in Texas), all the better. Buck or doe doesn't matter although of course I would prefer a big buck.

 

PA hunters (with the exception of a Few special reg areas such as Berks Co. and Allegheny Co) Are typically allotted one buck tag and 1 or 2 doe tags. This is for the entire season (including all forearms, bow, muzzleloader etc)

What are the Bag limits in NC. I was talking with a butcher in Jersey shore Pa. He has a guy who brings venison up for Hot dogs and he was told by this NC resident that they are allowed somewhere up to 6 -8 deer a year he said there is a lot of deer but body size is small??? is this true.

You can kill (on my side of the state) 6 deer/yr....and then you can pick up OTC doe tags, after that.

What you cite, above, doesn't surprise me (nor should it surprise anyone). The fact that you have more hunters has nothing to do with the fact that you have more deer than we do.

I just wondered (and you weren't the only one, Frank).....why anyone had to mention alyone else's pursuits in this thread. When you mentioned other states with larger deer herds, it just perplexed me. PA has more deer than NC.

 

Texas is such a large state with a wide variety of habitat. While south Texas and the hill country have dense populations there are other areas such as east Texas where the population density is much thinner.

 

Absolutely

Absolutely ... with one weapon or another ...

venison in the freezer myself, or helping others I hunt with to do the same

{quote] If you are in this category and somehow you didn’t harvest a deer, how would you feel? (assuming you put forth the time and effort)? [/quote]
Like junk .... it hasnt happened in a LONG time, tho ... thanks to my gun

yep

I dont shoot fawns ... intentionally, anyway .....I may let a young buck or doe go that is a yearling, but by the end of the season, it all depends on what's in the freezer

 

My apologies did not mean to single anyone out. but i guess perception is reality. Just referenced a few states that seem to be target rich environments as portrayed on TV etc. My apologies guys. My apologies........good luck this season where ever you hunt ;p

 

Frank, There are states that have very liberal bag limits and dense populations to match those limits. I knew what you meant.

My goals, what I target, and methods I use to hunt have changed greatly over 40+ years of BowHunting. I am sure those guys that have Bowhunted 20, 30, 40 years can understand what I mean when I talk about my choices in what I tag today changing compared to what I tagged when I was still wearing Bowhunting diapers.

I can't imagine it Not changing!

What has Not changed is my Enjoyment, and Love for the sport.

Dan

 

Hey...we agree on something. Doing the same old thing OVER and OVER.,...year after year (much less 20, 30 or 40 yrs) would bore the hell out of me.

That sure didn't take long to figure out.

 

I didn't kill a deer this past season for the first time since I killed my first. I considered it one of my most successful seasons. If that tells you anything.

 

I would love to say that after breaking my dry streak this season that I expect a shot a comparable caliber of deer next season, but that would be foolish. I certainly expect plenty of shot opps on a doe if I decide to take one (although it's certainly not a given seeing as I missed a chip shot on one a week before I shot my buck).

 

"Time" has always been a deciding factor for me while hunting. Killing deer, any deer, is not rocket science providing I have time and the species is present (the latter is not always the case). When I'm afforded more time, my success proportionally rises. When I have limited time, I've learned to approach my hunts with zero expectations. I put my acquired skills to work, and if nothing else, I use the session as a fact finding mission. I gather information to be applied at a later date. My main goal in all cases is to have fun and enjoy that which is given to me. I try to raise the degree of difficult whenever possible. If that means eating tag soup, then so be it.

I guess for me concrete expectations means status quo. If you're hunting for sport and you're status quo, then it's time to change the elements of the game. Where's the challenge of playing if you know from the onset that you're going to win?

 

I wouldnt' say it's "easy" per say (depending on time available). But it's not rocket science either regardless of time. If a person (any person) puts as much time in the woods in a season as I did and didn't kill a deer .... well..... i'd wonder about them lol (no offense to anyone).:p

 

Easy? No....it's still hunting.

If you put your time in though, you should at least get a chance at a doe.

This is the first year I didn't harvest a doe since '03 (with my bow). I had a few chances throughout the season, but either a shot didn't get presented, or I passed for different reasons.

 

My expectations were high just moving back to Kansas last season, but not being able to get into my old hunting spots and then having a heart attack half way through season ending it early, sure gave me a wake up call.
I did get to sit in the blind and watch my grandsons legs shake while he shot a nice buck with the rifle. It was Awesome.
Over all it was a good season with alot of action, beyond my expectations. Ha Ha!