2014 Firearm Deer (expand God's Cty, now results)

[ImAfossil]

CAMP RESULTS, now on page 2 (12/5/2014)

God's Country-- Please excuse me for jumping in on your thread---The following has me stumped.

In God's Country's thread I gave my update. Don Quixote was needling me on getting wacked with my scope---All is well there. I ran 10 rounds through on Saturday and avoided another embarrassment.

Back on topic: Since it has been 10 + years since I hunted bucks and or antlerless and probably more than 15 years being passionate about deer hunting, one thing really jumped out at me.

THE LACK OF SHOOTING. Where I took my stand, up until 8AM, I normally counted 50, 60 shots by 8AM. I counted 14 this trip. I was hunting where the counties of Luzerne, Columbia and Sullivan almost touch. Near Ricketts Glen SP.

*****My stand was in an area where I harvested 7 deer in 8 years. One was a miss. The smallest rack was a wide spread 4 pointer.

Has the 3 point rule had an affect on the shots taken. Something changed or I am missing something. Remember also, this was before you could shoot a doe on the opening day of buck season, so it had no affect on the number of shots. Also, please excuse me getting effect and affect screwed up. You get the idea.

Any ideas ?????
fossil
*****This was a hot spot for me. To qualify it was not 8 consecutive years (I rotated tree stands) and I believe that I harvested 2 does of the 7 in those 8 years. If I counted 50 shots during buck season, it had to be close to double that during the 2 / 3 day doe season, following the buck season. The shooting seemed to be non-stop, in doe season, until about 9AM. Then we suited up to start driving. I don't believe our camp over harvested, because the camp had the same results for 15 to 20 years on the private farms / private local property we hunted.

[nater99]

I know where we have our camp we just don't see bucks like we used to. We see loads of doe including some that are quite large. There just seem to be fewer bucks and the ones we do see don't have many points despite being heavy deer. A couple years ago one of the guys shot the heaviest deer he's ever gotten but had to turn it in because it was only 2 on each side.

[A-5]

Nope you got it no shooting anymore. I used time the first one, like how dark are these guys going to start shooting. Anyway I could have eaten a bagel drank coffe and had my first dip in and went back to ghe coffe before I heard the first shot. I'm in 5c I think it's hunter participation. There is deer here but no one mives them around.

[Democrat Gun Owner]

I was out in 3B (outside of Tunkhannock) on opening day. I too noticed a lack of shots.

I saw a spike buck, three does, a coyote, an owl, and a turkey. I didn't shoot the coyote...I wouldn't know what to do with a dead coyote.

Today, I had to go to work. I might get "buck flu" on Friday. Otherwise, I'm going out Saturday, and I've got another vacation day already put in for next Monday.

[God's Country]

The bottom line is the deer herd is down....intentionally. I think it's lower than it should be in some areas. Personally I'm seeing larger deer (buck and doe) than ever. Just about every year I see at least one trophy buck during archery. The trade off to a smaller healthier herd is less deer encounters.
The deer in my area just don't need to move. The browse is plentiful, so they can wait us out. Hunters don't seem to drive like they once did. You can't effectively drive deer with 3 or 4 hunters in most areas.

Hunting participation is also way down. Some like to blame it on the current herd size, but the reality is hunting participation has been shrinking in Pa for 30 years. It's a dying sport.

IMO the best time to hunt is pre firearm season and post firearm season. When the deer are relaxed they're more apt to move. I enjoy the two week rifle season, but it's a total crap shoot these days. You really need to put your time in, just like archery season. Pa hunters need to adapt to the current conditions by hunting differently, and IMO you will have better success. Gone are the days of going out opening day and solely relying on it to fill the freezer, and I'm not so sure that's a bad thing. The act of hunting is the tradition, not so much the day or manner, IMO.

[ImAfossil]

All of the above seems to fit.

I guess the sport is changing. We used to work our arse off to move the deer. Meat in the freezer was not our final objective. It was a bonus.

We were a pretty good size deer camp and just the joking, the fibs, all the stories ; it was endless. When the firearms came out, it was all serious.

Discipline, the rules. We knew them all. At the end of the week, who has a tag left and is coming up for doe season. Just about everybody. Even if they filled out. They made great drivers.

Things change.

fossil

[A-5]

I see way more deer in archery

[Karys]

There were way fewer shots yesterday where I was in 3C in Bradford county. I blame it on the weather. It was foggy, wet and miserable where I was until about 1:00 and I think the deer just weren't moving.

Over night, it went down to 25 degrees and all the wet leaves froze solid. There was no way to move quietly where I was this morning.

[TerryK]

Way less deer and hunters here in the center of the state. I hike with my dogs every weekend and there are simply no tracks in the mud or snow like there was 10 years ago. Maybe killing too many does, maybe coyotes, maybe ticks. But there is no doubt the population is less than 1/2, compared to the recent past. I am stunned by the drop in population.

[ar15jules]

There were way fewer shots yesterday where I was in 3C in Bradford county. I blame it on the weather. It was foggy, wet and miserable where I was until about 1:00 and I think the deer just weren't moving.

Over night, it went down to 25 degrees and all the wet leaves froze solid. There was no way to move quietly where I was this morning.

The deer AND hunters don't move in misty, sleety weather like I had. I ended up seeing 11 doe and 4 bucks on Monday. I can't really complain about that. I have friends that hunt large tracts of heavily forested property in the north central part of the state. When I tell you they kill some big "mountain" bucks, I am not kidding. The key is that they do homework all season long. No mast crop, no deer, no bears, no turkey and no squirrel. They need food. Find the food and find the critters. Sometimes these guys are so deep that they practically skin their deer hides of fur dragging them out. Simply parking on a road near public property and walking 100 yards to a stand isn't going to get it done anymore. You need to hunt. Just my small rant.
Jules