What are your "expectations" for seeing deer and successfully harvesting a deer when you're hunting? To elaborate I am asking do you expect to see deer whenever you hunt, do you expect to shoot deer, etc. My buddy and I have some different views on this and I wanted all your input.
Expect to see something everytime in the woods. I know it's not going to be like that, but all the effort put in during the year helps insure success at this time of year.
I expect to see deer on every hunt, but I don't expect to shoot one every time though. The first two weeks of season, I'm focused on tracking down a buck that I have on camera. Then I get the itch to shoot a doe or two, then its back to bucks if I don't already have one. I will concentrate on bucks until I get one after the rut, but if I get a buck its all focus on does the rest of the year.
I think you have to be optimistic and hopeful that you'll see something and get the opportunity to harvest a deer. If you go sit in a tree after convincing yourself you're not going to see anything, whats the point? What are you hunting then? Granted, there are days that seem less likely than others to fulfill your expectations but you have to put in some effort. You probably won't kill anything from your living room. I often remember the "deer story" my father told me about how he watched his hunting buddy draw back on a 4-point buck that he had been hunting for weeks - only to have a 21-point monster step out of nowhere. Long story short my father's buddy took a shot at the monster - the deer jumped the string on the 20 yard shot (they were using recurves back in the day) and turned into the path of the arrow. The arrow hit the jugular vein and the buck dropped within 20 yards. No one knew that deer existed on that public land. Of course I'll never know if it was really at 21-pointer but I always try to keep in mind that there's a possibility something like similar could happen anytime I'm out.
Expectations and hopes are two different things. I hope to shoot a deer every time. Otherwise I wouldn't go out with a bow, I'd take a camera. But the logical side of my mind tells me that bow hunting is hard and most of the time things just don't go as planned. Honestly though, who hangs stands, cuts lanes, scouts, gets up at 4:30 in the morning if they don't "expect" to shoot a deer? You should expect to. but also realize you might not. Needless to say, I'm disappointed many times. I still love bow hunting. That's my three cents.
I expect to shoot a deer anytime I go out. I realize this won't happen, but I still have that thought process anytime I go out. Especially when I'm going through so much to cover my scent. I feel like once I'm in my stand that I should be undetected. I stop believing I'll shoot a deer once I'm driving home and it's dark I expect to see deer when I'm out or at least some sort of wildlife beyond birds and squirrels. Turkeys are good birds to see to occupy my mind while out. Waiting to see some bigger deer moving or at least closer.
