GMMAT

Let me start out with a big "".

I'm really not complaining.....but since the PA boys left....I've been playing the wind, religiously......and picking spots that I (with the help of a few awesome HNI'ers) thought bucks might frequent moreso than the does.

I'm gettin' SKUNKED!

I've had 8 hunts in a row......with only the doe and twin fawns from last night sighted.....and they were 60-70 yds at their closest. That's a little unusual for the Jeffster.[&:]

I know I've chosen this route......and I'm OK with it. Fully. I keep remembering what Duke said to me. "Right buck - Right time". I've altered that to "Right DEER - Right time". I'm still gonna go after some does.....but a LOT less frequently than I have in the past. My overall numbers will hurt for it.....but I'm hoping I'm learning the new land. I got lost as hell this morning....lol.....but ended up in a great little spot.....not 150yds from where I took the two does a couple weeks ago.

I figure it took me the better part of a full season to find the DOES on the 100 or so acres I was hunting. I now have 150+ MORE acres......and I'm trying to find the bucks, there.

Not complaining, like I said........just checking in. This is fun....but tough!

Good luck to all.....and congrats to all who've scored!

Matt/TN

You've become a VERY disciplined hunter and not to mention an extremely dedicated one at that. Good luck Jeff, I know you won't end up getting skunked, you've got too much determination.

GMMAT

I know I won't get skunked, too, Matt.....but I might get skunked on a buck......lol. I SO wanted to tke one outside the rut.....and I still have time, I know.

Gonna go to a good doe spot, tonight. With this wind we have forecast.....I "may" be doe hunting for a week or so. I don't need ANYTHING with an "N" in the forecast (wind).....but it seems to be dominating our weather, right now. So.....we'll go for the does for a while.

Good luck to you, Matt. Hope your season is rolling along, nicely.

Siman08/OH

Im sure you'll pull through Jeff

early in

Good to see you post again. Keep playing the game, you'll score on a buck. You're one of the more tenacious hunters I know of.Good luck to you!

mauser06

good luck Jeff...im in a very similar boat....only, ive never hunted does(with a bow)

all ive seen this year from stand was a BB....but im not complaining either....i found a new spot that i think is gunna pay very well in the future...awesome little funnel with awesome sign in it...ive found that the honey hole has changed because the crops have changed. its hurting me this season....but i decided i gotta do something about it...left hte climber in there locked up...snuck up the ridge and found a tree that i aughta beable to see 100yds or so...might not get shootin...might not see a thing...but if they come through, i almost HAVE to see them....aint real big in there...but i dont think they are coming through my honey hole very much this year...well, early season...

this buck hunting stuff aint as easy as they make it look on TV huh?? i might even take tomorrow to walk the honey hole hill...i cant hunt it for atleast 2 weekends(halloween weekend will be the next time im guessing) so i dont have much to loose by beating the brush for an hour....trimming lanes and trees need be...by the time im back in there they aughta be calmed down...

GMMAT

Here's an example of the switch-up in philosophies......

I. Through 21 hunts in'06 (first year I started keeping a journal) I had sighted 123 "deer". What's interesting is.....15 of those sightings were bucks (I counted BB's as "bucks" in 06. I switched to counting them as "fawns in '07....so this number is a little skewed). That's more than I saw in the entire '07 season.....though I hunted the same spots and in the same manner.

II. Through 21 hunts in '07 I had sighted 78 "deer". Of those sightings.....7 of them were bucks (all the same 3 1.5yr olds).

III. Through 21 hunts, this season, I've sighted only 46 deer, total......with only 2 of them being racked bucks. Both of these bucks were seen only once....and both were 1.5yr olds. I didn't count busting the 2.5yr old I'm after out of his bed as a sighting.

I can attribute this to many things, "I guess". 1. More pressure? 2. The fruits of my doe thinning paying off? 3. The new outlook towards bucks, this year (although I'm sure not SEEING any of them.....lol.

Who knows? ALL I know is I continue to have more and more fun doing this. That's all that's really important, huh?

Good luck....like I said....to all of you. I'm pulling for you all!

Matt/TN

It is.

I've seen more deer thus far, than I have all year. I've passed a few opportunities. I had one opportunity at a doe I wanted to take but was unable to capitalize. I was watching some does to my left, preparing for a shot, but they turned and went the opposite way. I was still facing that direction, and had a BIG doe come in downwind of me. She had circled around. She pegged me after I got turned around. We had a staring contest for a solid 5mins, and she won. LOL!

She bounded off to 35yds and I made a good shot, but she just ducked it. No harm, no foul. Just a clean miss. She won the battle. . I've seen her 3 times since then, with no opportunites.

I'm having a lot of fun with it.

dukemichaels

So you're out hunting and not seeing any deer but in a place you believe a buck should be..??

Jeff.. welcome to buck hunting. You're on the right track.

Schultzy

Right on Dukester!!

Your deer sightings will likely be wayyyyyyy down but the quality of a certain sighting might be wayyyyyyyy up!!

This absolutely normal Jeff.