Would you still be motivated to hunt with a significantly lower deer population?

Nope, most don't. Its apparent in every management thread that comes up. But, I'm not going to get into that debate now....or ever again. :d

It's also the MNRs fault up here. Ontario is so big and most of our laws are created in Southern Ontario by people who have no idea what goes on up here. It would be like someone in Arizona making the laws for hunters in Wisconsin.

It is what it is, I'll just deal with it and keep hunting......but, I'll be spending less time here and more back home in WI and in IL.

 

I grew up and learned how to hunt deer on those types of populations. I had more than one season in Vermont where I only saw one or two deer the entire year. You learn how to still be successful though if you keep at it, I managed to kill quite a few deer in those types of conditions. Where I hunt in the Adirondacks now is the same way, the only good thing about it is that the buck/doe population in the Adirondacks seems to be fairly balanced, and they have a better age structure simply because it's so difficult to get to where these deer live, not may are willing to do it.

 

Rick, I have heard that the Adirondacks can be very tough to hunt. I have also heard that they offer a beautiful, yet rugged environment. Do you make a base camp and hunt for days on end during the rut to up your odds or do you just do shorter more frequent hunts?

 

If you have a good 4wd, you can access the land on hundreds of miles of paper company logging "roads" to make access easier. There is almost always snow after the end of October, and the roads aren't maintained or plowed, but they do make access easier if you have the right vehicle. Last year we actually hunted 2nd week in November, and they had 16-20" of snow on the ground already, we had to put chains on the truck to get in there.

I'm lucky, my (soon to be) inlaws live in the Adirondacks, so I stay there at night, and then we drive to where we hunt, usually 10-20 minutes and then another half hour or so on the paper company trails. We usually head in a good 4+ miles from the nearest public road on the paper company "roads", and then our hikes are usually under a mile to actual hunting spots.

The pic below shows where I killed my last buck there, he was shot by the red dot (southwest dot), and I hiked from the purple/pink dot (northeast) to kill him. There is a great saddle there that you can see quite a ways from, it's just a terrible hike getting in there. The blue lines are the paper company "roads", and the nearest public road that the paper company "roads" connect to are southwest of this mountain by probably 4-5 miles.

 

When I first started hunting, there were far fewer deer around my areas, but enough to make it interesting. So yes I would continue to hunt them if the numbers went down. How far down, I don't know. But I can honestly say I'd probably have a VERY difficult adjusting from the numbers I am used to now. Call it being spoiled, but I really wouldn't want to experience very low deer densities.

 

last year my first bowhunting season, i only saw two deer, and i cant get enough of it! last year was a blast for me, so yes i would still be motivated, you can really only go up from last year. so hopefully every year ill make an improvement!

 

Rick, that is some impressive terrain you hunt. I got a lot of respect for guys that walk in 4 miles to hunt, all the while walking up and down large hills.

 

While it is impressive terrain, we take 4wd vehicles at this spot about 4 miles from public roads, the hike is only roughly a mile. With that said, the elevation change over that one mile hike is pretty rugged. You should see the view from the top of that mountain though, it makes the hike worth it. :d

 

I was motivated, to be proactive and create opportunities rather than wait for them to happen. When our sightings dropped to "no deer seen" in 1998 at our 186 acre parcel, we set out out on a plan to attract more deer. Logging was the first step. It took time and sweat, but now we average at least one or two "good" bucks 115-120 ish and routinely pass on doe unless we have decided as a group that we need to take X number out for the year.

 

Honest answer would be no, I would go somewhere where there is a healthy deer population!

 

If we had ONE deer per mile here, I'd still be in a tree hoping. :d

 

Yes I would still bow hunt. I LIVE FOR THIS STUFF !!