Grade your season

[Brad Juaire]

I bow hunt and gun hunt in Buffalo, Pepin and Dunn counties and I would rate this season an A in regard to the number of deer seen while on stand. Even though I never released an arrow or pulled a trigger, I would still rate it an A due to the the number of encounters I had with trophy bucks along with trail cam pics/videos. The three bucks below I had each had at 50 yards or less while bow hunting but no good shot opportunities. Success to me is all about the encounters and not the kill.

[umpiremark]

"Success to me is all about the encounters and not the kill."

I concur ... however with no encounters and countless hours scouting, checking cameras and placing - repositioning - stands and still no sightings? The season was still an "F" where we hunt.

Addendum to this thread ... I've heard from many hunters - north, central, southeast - who've experieinced what we did: Many hours on stands, few if any sightings. I wonder then, what the final counts will be like, what the DNR will change (if anything) for the 2011 season as well as what hunters think should be changed for 2011.

[Gafrage]

I would rate this season as an A-.  Although I did not harvest a deer this year, I had 4 encounters with mature bucks that I would shot could I had got a shot off.

I am hunting this weekend for muzzleloader.  It might go up to an A depending on what I see.

[Luv2Hunt]

Sorry, my season F-
I hunt the Central Forest Area in and around Necedah.
Four straight years of not even seeing a sign.
Hunting has been so poor, I didn't even buy a license this year....first time in over 40 years.
PreSeason scouted several areas......not even an old track.
There is nothing left in this area.
Deer, turkey, grouse.....all gone.
My Property ...For Sale.......I want out of here
 

[umpiremark]

Luv2Hunt ... where do you hunt?

We hunt 5 miles west of Necedah off 23rd Street. We've seen sign the last several years on our property, just less of it. Trail cam pics show bucks (some big) but more and more pictures are being taken at night. I had maybe 3 or 4 pictures taken in daylight this year and one was a fork. I will admit that sightings on our property have been less and less over the years, but (for a multitude of 'excuses') we did not get any food plots planted this year. We're not in a high agriculture area, so most deer pass through our property - mostly at night. We have no food - planted or mast crops - to keep does and fawns occupied, attracting bucks. Doe and fawn sightings have been less this year than last, less last year then the year before, etc. and we're not even in EAB zones. The coyote numbers were high last year and I read where the DNR and Ag agency shot 7-8 wolves up by Tomah this fall. Maybe that has something to do with the down numbers, I don't know. Weather this year was a big factor (for us) as two rainy weekends in a row held us out of the woods more than we would have wanted.

I shot this guy <<<------- last year (145-3/8") and had 3 more as big if not bigger on camera last year (all at night, too). I graded my season as an "F" too, because from Oct. 1 to end of gun, my son and I saw 6 deer on stand. And 3 of those were bucks, Halloween weekend. This was a down year, for sure near Necedah. But we're seeing signs on our property, just mostly at night. Next spring, we are committed to getting all the food plots planted for a better 2011 (we hope).

[bushmanb27]

A- for me. Didn't see a lot of deer but took a nice 9pt. 2nd weekend of bow season. Had another trophy within 60yds in late Oct. And I'm embarrassed to say I missed a giant with my shotgun on Sunday afternoon of opening weekend. I just rushed the shot. But I'm not giving up, I still have till Dec. 8th to take him with the shotgun.

S.E. WI

[Luv2Hunt]

Umpiremark:
The home property is located 5 miles north of Hwy 21 on Cnty Hwy G (13th Street & Cnty G). (five miles north of Nelsons Auto Salvage)
It's now been 4 years without a sign of deer, turkey, or grouse on our property. 
We also hunt the Cranberry Mounds area, and the "Bombing Range" both areas being just north of us.
 
Last year I logged in over three hundred (300) hours in my various tree stands in these locations......saw an owl.
 
This year myself and other neighbors did some preseason scouting, we saw nothing....so I made the decision not to even buy a license.  First time in over 40 years that I did not hunt.
I have attended meeting after meeting with the DNR. Local Wardens concur with us about the terrible lack of any game, however, Madison makes the final decisions. 
Maybe next year Madison may cut the Special Sale of Doe tags again for our area. 
Unfortunately, it's all economics. The State needs the revenue, and they will never admit mistakes have been made in the process commonly referred to as Deer Management. 

[umpiremark]

Luv2Hunt ... I have no idea what the property you own looks like, but for game ... other than deer ... we see alot. I commented that I saw more grouse this season than in many season's past. We probably kicked up one, if not two almost every time we went to stand. Acorns were very scarce by us this year (we don't have a lot of oaks anyways) but squirrels were everywhere (noisy basterds). Turkeys? We have them by the handfull trading between properties. My son had about 2 dozen treed about 40 yards from him one morning and never knew they were there ... ... until first light and they got down!!! We have a bunch of rabbits in the tangles behind the garage. Where we practice shooting our bows, there's rabbit M&M's all over, back there. I saw more Woodcock than I can recall in past years and it wasn't exceptionally wet back by the south 40. I've seen fishers and mushrats on the ditch and the occassional wood duck (looking for acorns??) on the ditch.

Again, we had signs deer were on our property (scrapes, trails, rubs, cam pics, kicked them up on the way in, headlights coming back from burgers at the Reel Inn) but most all deer movements seemed to be midnight, 1:00 a.m. typically, this year.

All I can say is that if truthfully the absence of deer sign of any kind in 4 years, you have to be hunting on some poor deer habitat. "Make your spot better or find a better spot." (Drury Outdoors). That's why we're going "all in" this year to re-vamp and re-plant all our food plots. last season (2009) little rain and over-crowding weeds and the wrong seed, severely hampered our plots. This year - for various whiney excuses - we never got plots in. The deer seen per hour on the stand by my son and I up there, decreased immensly over seasons before 2009. Food plots have to get in for 2011 to be better. I'm convinced of that.

Is there a way to make your property better? Can you plant fall food plots? Do you use trail cams? So I question if your property can hold and maintain deer based on habitat, food, water, cover ... but I don't think the absence of "all game" on your property can be the fault of any DNR actions. But that's my opinion.

[Luv2Hunt]

Umpiremark:
Between myself and my immediate neighbors we have over 200 acres of joined wooded area with trails. These trails are planted with soybean, clover, and buckwheat. Grows well. We also have a couple ponds. There is approximately 50 acres of open area (grassland). We are also situated in an area with 1000's of acres of cultivated farmland fields growing potatoes, sweet corn, soybeans, green beans, cucumbers, and peas. Of course this time of year these fields are planted with a rye grass.
Our properties had always been a good area for holding and maintaining good numbers of deer and other game. 
I know several hunters who, like myself, have not seen any game in this area for a long time.
We know there are coyotes, wolves, and a few bobcats in the area.
We also know the decline in deer population started immediately after the first T-Zone hunt. Then it got even worse when this area was placed in a consecutive T-Zone again, then followed two years when we had deep snow for a long period of time.
 
Predators like the coyote, wolves, and bobcats must also eat. And the State must sell their license to maintain the income stream, which dosn't leave for us hunters, especially in this area.
 
Another good method to judge the area, are the number of farmer crop damage tags being issued for this area......NONE. 
 
All the local Wardens are in agreement.........the game numbers are down drastically. Unfortunately most of the States efforts or studies are being focused in the Northern Zone, because those people screamed the loudest, but look at any stats the State provides and you will see the "Central Forest Area" is lower than the Northern Zone.
 
Currently, the "Central Forest" has the lowest game ratings in the State
We can only hope the State will wakeup and stop the devestation which is and has occured in our area.    

[Osty]

I grade it as an A.

I got a doe on my property on the second day of the season. It was small but I had the opportunity on a rainy day and I took it!
I got a 6 point on my in-farm. It started to snow before I got him. Really neat because the snow had covered him by the time I tagged him and was starting to drag him out.
I saw a few more deer in 2010 than in 2009. This has me excited for next season.