drdi

.......would he/she be as successful?

I got to thinking about this after reading a post on another forum. An older gentleman was talking about how he doesn't hunt as much as he used to because killing deer is so easy for him.

Well I've been hunting almost 10 years and killing deer is NOT easy for me. I took my first deer in 2000 and I've only shot 2 other deer since then. About 1 every 3 years. But I do have some limitations. Now before I get to what those are, let me say I am not complaining. I feel blessed every moment I spend in the woods even if I am not seeing a deer. I just have a hard time comprehending that killing a deer is easy.

I think the biggest limitation I have is time. I only gun hunt and while I do own a bow, I just never seem to have enough time to practice and become proficient so the bow sits. Ohio has 9 days of gun and 4 days of muzzleloader. Since I do work full time, I am lucky if I get to hunt 5-6 days of those 13 days. And you know how nocturnal the deer become after the first day or two of gun season. Last year I saw not one deer during shooting hours on any day I hunted and there are plenty of deer around.

Even though I live on 140 acres of croplandand woods,there is a LOT of neighboring property that is off limits to hunting. Great haven for deer and no way to get them out. Also Ohio is shotgun only, which I don't view as a big limitation because most of the time when I see deerthey are within 50-75 yards or if they are farther they are through thick woods where I wouldn't shoot anyway. I think my scent control is good because when I do have deer up close, I seldom get winded (ok once in awhile, but not often). One more thing, I do let the yearling bucks pass, so I have had those in range a couple of times over the year. But I think only twice in 10 years that I can remember.

So I guess I have two questions.

1. If you took an experienced whitetail hunter that shoots mulitple deer every year and gave them limitations as I mentioned above, would they still beable tokill at least one deerevery year? (6 days in the field, gun season only, shotgun only, farmland surrounded by land off limit to hunting.)

2. Working within my own limitations, is there anything I can do to become more successful? (This year I am taking some vacation days and will have 10 days to hunt. Yay!!!!!)

Matt/NC

Not a veteran by any means, but I am very fortunate that I can sit in just about any of my stands and see deer 90% of the time. I think in your situation scouting, scouting, and more scouting, would be of great benefit. With limited hunting time you need to be where the deer are going to be a high percentage of the time. Alot of people setup to avoid the large number of does, but in your situation I would pick a hot doe spot and hope the big boy follows.

Mossy_71

I would agree that scouting would help you identify where and how the deer are using your property. With your situation (time limitations), I would suggest that you invest in a coulpe of Game/Trail cameras. Place these along some well-established trails to get an idea of who is lurking around you area and to get some ideas on the various times of day and direction in which they are moving. Then, scout around the areas to which they are headed to locate either bedding or food sources. Hunt these areas and be aware of the prevailing wind directions to place your permanent stands accordingly.

I also agree with the previous post that you should locate doe groups and hunt them. This would hopefully result in the sightings of the big boys (assuming the gun season corresponds with the various stages of the rut in your area).

Killing deer isn't easy, but there are definitely things that you can do to increase your odds each outing. As for those that make that claim...maybe they are just in a better situation and have a tremendous amount of time to prepare.

nchawkeye

Dang man...Move to North Carolina!!!

Most of the state has a 3 1/2 month season and liberal bag limits (unlimited doe tags, free)...

If I could only hunt 6-7 days a season, I'd go crazy...How much can a hunter learn about their quarry with only 6-7 days in the field???

Of course, guys down here complain because they aren't allowed to hunt on Sunday...

Matt/NC

I agree with Hawkeye, we get alot of hunting down here. In NC we get months of gun season. In SC there gun season is in from like Sept to Jan. I would also go crazy if I could only hunt 6 or 7 days a year. I also agree with getting game cams out. Would be a huge help

D Rock

For the past five years I have been in a similar situation. I am now in my last semester of college (I had to take the scenic route), and I have had very little time to hunt. I have been lucky enough to getexacly threedays of hunting in the past two seasons. Two years ago I got two days and last year I got one day. In the previous years I got somewhere about the same amount of days per season. With this limitation I can say deer sightings are not easy to come by. The way I see it, it is all about averages. Some days the deer are just not moving around for whatever reason and you just aren't going to see much action. If you happen to be hunting on kind of a slow day you aren't going to have the opportunity at many deer.

I hunt on my parent's 40 acre property so we have a very limited amount of space, but we have had some success with planting food plots. The fall is often a busy time, but summer and spring is usually not as busy.We feel puting in some effort in othertimes ofthe year will help come fall.We have seen a definiteincrease in the traffic on our property since we started doing this. We are also surrounded by a lot of land that is unhunted so we have tried to give the deer a reason to come to our property.

As others have said get some game cameras and scout hard. Go scouting right after season is over when there is some snow on the ground and see how much activity there is in specific areas. Note where you see a lot of travel and look into hunting those areas next year.

To answer your question I think if you put limitations like these on all hunters the chances of success would be limited. Maybe if you happen to be in an area with an insane amout of deer you will always be able to tag out, but in areas with low deer density your chances are going to be limited.

Doe Dumper

Im moving into nchawk's spare bedroom...lol.

I try to make it a point to hunt deer like I breathe. Very regular-like and every chance I get!

virginiashadow

Yes. If you work full time and don't get much time off, practice with your bow and become proficient. That in itself will get you more time in the field which will directly correlate to a greater chance of seeing/shooting a deer.

TristateHunter.com

This is EXACTLY why i began bow hunting this year!! my work schedual and Ohio gun season rarely seen eye to eye lol so I bought a bow.. and while i am still learning how to get them close enough..I am seeing alot of deer. And really loving the time outdoors!