Buck Blues

[thule]

Hello Gentlemen.
 
My 2nd year in and I'm starting to collect tags. Nope, not liking this at all. I have to be doing something wrong. There are no deer in sight everytime I go out. My stands are located in what others seem to think are great locations. The advise has been to not move my stands. Claiming deer will move around me. I guess the comment is valid I've found deer droppings 5 feet from my stand. Well we have rubs, droppings, trails and even coyote scat yet nothing. Shot gun season has begun and the guns shots echo'd this past Monday yet nothing came my way. Not sure what to do, but I'm starting to choose work or hunting and thats plain wrong!
 
Anybody need a hunting partner with 3 tags to share in Zone 10?
 
Any suggestions, comments, or thoughts?
 
Best

[290is]

ok, it's 2:09pm when you post this. you should of be out there huntin....perfect day for still hunting....a lot of people don't want to get wet....you have to want to hunt 1st and wanting to shoot a deer is the end result of the hunt....do you know every inch of your hunting area? go find the deer (hold off till next week thou, less people. if you do it this week chances are you'll be pushing deer to some body.) hunt for the deer first....do a ton of walking next week and you'll find them....

[thule]

290is
 
Thank you for your kind words. Unfortunatly that 30 year note some of us have strips us of our day. That being said hunting hours are limiting but we do our best. My hunting area could be scouted a little harder I suppose, so a walk in the woods is on the adjenda.
 
Best

[woodsalta]

thule

Just hang in there. It is tough in Mass to hunt. I don't know wher you are in Mass but try this, go to your local animal control officer and ask them if anyone has complained about the deer in their yard or crops. They might tell you where a farm you didn't know of is having problems with deer. The farm might even have extra pest permits that they are not using because they need to work the fields instead of shooting deer.

Just a thought,
Andy

[Proline]

This is Massachusetts!  You gotta put in your time to see deer.  Densities are not that high.  That is why I try to make sure I head to states like NY so I can actually see deer!  Hunted NY first 2.5 of gun season and saw 19 deer. I wont see that many in Mass from Oct -Dec. 

[plt3028]

try to stay positive, scout,and scout...
i've seen more deer this year in my backyard, than from my stand going back and forth. interestingly i figured out which way they moved by wind direction, and weather. This year all my sightings, have been during precipitation, once, in the pouring rain...
all the spots I saw deer last year....nothing, go figure. next year it'll be different again i suppose. i guess thats just hunting.

[thule]

Thank you gentleman!
 
It's nice to get some feed back. It's tough going 2 seasons and no harvest of my own. It makes me 2nd guess the work I've put in. I'm hoping for some snow this way I can track and hopefully get a shot. Back to the woods this Saturday morning with a report on Monday.
 
Best

[chief]

Stay positive next week things will start getting better. I hunt in zone 5 where deer and hunter densities are low. This has been a very strange year with the late full moon. This had really screwed up the rut as we normally see it during hunting season. I saw great buck movement the last week of bow and I haven't seem a deer now in eight full days of hunting. Next week its due to be very cold this will get the deer feeding. Hang I'm there and stay optimistic.

[290is]

[:@] out walking around yesterday 12/3 and a lot of the areas that i wanted to hunt during bow season and didn't get to.  well don't you know it, it is full of buck signs.  next week will be a nice week to still hunt, a lot of the other hunters will be back at work.  

[plt3028]

thule,

you say you have scrapes...well they're probably made during the dark hours...and seeing a deer use it during the day might not happen.
find tracks near the scrape, and back track to where you think they might be coming from whether it be bedding, or feeding...and maybe intercept them there. hunting over the scape may or may not pay off, but figuring out their root will