Few Sightings !!

[tinman]

Hello fellow Hoosier hunters,
   My hunting buddy Jeff and I have been hunting together for more than 20 years, and neither of us can believe what we are NOT seeing. We have very good grounds to hunt, but are amazed at the lack of activity so far this season. Is it just us, or are our fellow Hoosiers experiencing the same. We hunt in Hamilton, Fulton and Decatur counties. We cannot remember it ever being this slow. We thought with the rut heating up our sightings of all deer would increase. It seems as if just the opposite is true. Are we just a couple of old fools who have lost our touch, or is what we are experiencing happening to others? What is happening in your neck of the woods? Good luck to you all. Jay

[tinman]

As an addendum to my previous post, I failed to mention tremendous numbers of scrapes and rubs in our hunting locales. It is the most we have ever seen in these areas, thus the utter amazement at the lack of sightings. Go figure!

[hunter480]

My buddy and I hunted last Saturday evening along a corn field that was being combined as we sat in our stands.
 
He told me he saw a buck slipping out of the way, then 2 nice does shortly after. The combine driver said he saw a doe about 30 yards in fron of a buck, with the buck, nose to the ground, on her tail.
 
I`ve yet to see a deer, but hopefully that will change early this Saturday morning when firearms season opens here.

[djohns13]

When I hunted White County a couple of weeks ago I saw lots of deer.
 
All of the rest of my hunting has been in Hendricks County where all of my hunting partners and I have seen very few deer.  The only exception was last Saturday where we all saw small bucks chasing does but now we are beginning to believe that we all might have been seeing the same small group of deer.  In my area I am seeing very few scrapes and rubs.
 
I am at a loss why deer activity/sightings are so low this year.  At this point we have taken less than half of the deer off my hunting property that we normally do.  It is very frustrating at this point.  If anyone has any ideas why or what to do to deal with it, let me know.
 
Good shooting.

[tinman]

Mr. Johnson, Thank you so very much for verifying what Jeff and I have NOT been seeing. We were thinking it was only us this was happening to. In 30 plus years I have never seen it this slow. Sure wish I had an answer as to what is going on or Not going on as the case seems to stand now. We'll see what bringing out the big hammer this weekend does. Gonna miss those relaxed deer. Thanks for your insight. Jay

[RatherBeHuntin24/7]

ive seen deer almost every time out, but really not a lot of buck sighting. seen a spike, 4 point, and one nice 8 but ive been waiting til the rut for a big boy to show up. seems like its taking for ever for the activity to really ramp up. i went out today saw four does but really no bucks around bothering them yet. i saw that 4 point chase 2 does last weekend but thats all the chasing ive seen. deer and car collisions are still pretty low around here so far.. im in southern indiana by the way, warrick county

[8uck5nort]

I hunt White county and have been out almost every weekend since beginning of October. I have always seen at least one deer and sometimes as many as 11. In the last week or so I have seen and had several shot opps on bucks. Mostly small ones, but I have seen 2 or 3 nice ones. I missed once and the others have been too far away.
 
Good luck!

[djohns13]

Was out yesterday morning, saw two does and one buck. Missed one of the does because I hurried the shot - when will I ever learn.  Other than that, the woods were eerily quiet during a time when the bucks should be pushing does all over the place. 
 
Would love to know where they all went or are hiding.
 
Good shooting.

[hunter480]

ORIGINAL: djohns13

Was out yesterday morning, saw two does and one buck. Missed one of the does because I hurried the shot - when will I ever learn.  Other than that, the woods were eerily quiet during a time when the bucks should be pushing does all over the place. 

Would love to know where they all went or are hiding.

Good shooting.

 
[quote]Internet Pro Staff Member - Indiana [/quote
 
I`m guessing that since we`ve seen bucks chasing does for better than 2 weeks, that we`re cyrrently in the lockdown phase-in which the bucks are tending hot does. That would explain the minimal movement and shot opportunities in the field.
 
Greg Russell
Internet Pro Staff Member - Indiana

[djohns13]

Hope all of your sightings have picked up.  I was out yesterday morning with two others and we didn't see anything moving other than squirrels.  I had hoped that the cold would have the does moving a little but apparently not.
 
I do have a buddy who shot a huge six pointer this morning.  It was so big that he had nicknamed the "sofa buck".  He estimates that he will field dress over 220.  It was a very old, very impressive buck.
 
Good shooting.