Over view of 2012 season

Well,Id say it was a good year BUT, There are way fewer deer and the numbers will get lower,Son and I also hunt Ohio he saw 4 deer in Ohio first day bow hunting Sept 30) and killed a nice 130's 11pt. I hunted the same woods in the rut in Nov,and kill a nice 8pt with the bow.Total deer seen in Ohio 3 deer 2 bucks one doe. Pa. saw several deer but way less than last year mostly doe and fawns and 4 sub legal bucks one big 8pt.  I killed a big mature doe with the bow mid Oct. Gun Pa. 4 deer first day 3 doe,6pt. Second day 7 deer 5 doe big 8pt that I killed and a 6pt came by while taking pic's. I hunted last Friday of the season and passed on 5 doe. One thing PGC doing is making us better hunters,you don't get as many chances,so you better make them count,most hunters had a poor year that I know. I would like to see a less HR,What's a matter with DOE SEASON or let a hunter kill them on the 2 Sat. in gun season. I myself liked the two day doe season that went to three days then two weeks and in some areas a month more after Chrismas.

Season was slow, overall, for me but it had more to do with lack of time to prep/scout in the summer and early fall, lack of time in the stand compared to yrs past and trespassers on the main property I have permission to hunt. Didn't see a legal buck until mid way through the archery season, and that night was my first night seeing a buck, and didn't see a shooter until the last wk of the season, when I saw 4 did. Shooters at two diff. Locations, with the second location having 3 real nice shooters within view on the same evening. I did miss a really nice eight pt. At that same location on the last sat. Am. He would have made it to the wall. If the weather would have been better the wk sandy came thru, I am sure I would have rated the archery season better for me. Gun season is always a crap shoot for me and I never get as excited for it like I do archery. Got lucky this yr, stuck it out, and had a decent buck come thru my funnel on the first day.

Gonna be on the prowl for some new places to hunt next yr and have my eyes on a big, 400 acre block that is on my way home from work that has deer out feeding before dark in the corn fields, even during rifle. Saw a real nice shooter there last week. Thing is, they are unpressured, obviously, and it may be due to no hunting allowed, or at least no hunting by strangers. We shall see.

Overall I'm pretty happy , had some great father & son times which are always great to have. We both have meat in freezer I got 8pt  in early bow season ,then son got a doe 1st Saturday of rifle season in 2D out of my stand. Didn't see a bunch of deer but being retired I got to be out a lot. Son couldn't hunt as much as he'd like to but he did make it out some with his bow. Saw a few nice bucks ,had a nicer 8pt under me 4 days after I got mine, then saw some smaller bucks but no doe really close but I didn't move around hunted out of the same stand all season.....But it was a great year.....

Pretty good season.  I can't complain for the success I had, but there's always room for a more enjoyable experience.  Total deer seen from stand was slightly lower than last few years but not significantly.  Over the archery season I recorded 0.30 deer per hour (previous years ~0.35-0.40).  I only count the deer I see on stand.  Of those, ~40% were bucks with the only legal buck being the one I shot.  Hours on stand were ~63 between archery and early muz.  I couldn't buy a doe in the early season so I had to use the rifle to finish filling the freezer.  It was fun to go out on opening day which I've missed last couple years, even though I couldn't shoot a buck.
 
If I could change one thing it would be for my cousin to get a clue and stop marching around the property alerting every deer under the pretext of archery hunting while everyone else is out trying to minimize their intrusion.

In retrospect, this was a great season for me although I didn't put a buck down (yet).  If it weren't for operator error, this season probably would have been my best ever.
 
I was fortunate enough to spend more time in stand this year than I had in over 10 years.  I got to see plenty of deer and witnessed the most intense rutting behavior in the last week of the archery season that I have ever seen.  Both of my best friends harvested great bucks in archery and I was actually sitting next to my friend while he took a real nice 8 point.
 
And for me, it ain't over yet.  I'll be out hunting in the late season with either bow or smokepole in hand, depending on the weather. 
    
 
 

S-10
I know one fellow who was a vocal supporter of AR/HR on here for years who now hasn't had a shot at a legal buck in the 3pt area since it started. He is now trying to get them to allow seniors  shoot anything with a 3" spike. How times change.

 
Doc Trout changing his stripes?!?!?!  Say it ain't so!!!!

A members website seems to call 2-F a dead sea. Very few hunters and little shooting or deer activity. Someone, somewhere, always finds a nice buck but not many pics on his website...WF... Gotta be more posts then this, how about some others? Opinions are free.

S-10

I know one fellow who was a vocal supporter of AR/HR on here for years who now hasn't had a shot at a legal buck in the 3pt area since it started. He is now trying to get them to allow seniors  shoot anything with a 3" spike. How times change.

 
With age comes wisdom.
 
Or desperation.

Thanx for hangin around us PA boys Retired Guy. I enjoy your outlook on hunting and appreciate your wisdom.
 
BH

I only managed a few evening hunts and 2 days of total searching.
I did see deer everytime and had many chances of shooting a doe. I really only wanted 1 deer and hoped for a buck. But now if a doe presents itself for the black powder season....

One of the best buck taking seasons we have seen around the area we hunt. No as many deer around, but the quality of the bucks has been amazing. below are a few pics of bucks taken all from around the same area. 
 

 
 

 

 

 
 
 

I have seen many small deer this year...Mainly doe. between spotting and squirrell hunting before gun season.   I know there are plenty of deer where i hunt based upon what I saw by deersighn in the woods. 
 
 But the Pressure of gunseason has gotten them on lockdown and they were hard to find.  I don't need to see deer while hunting to verify that deer are in the area.

My guess for 2B based on the shots i heard is average to maybe above average.
 
The first day if memory serves me i stopped counting at 8:30 am at 66 shots, first saturday i kept count of the shots all day, it was 311 and last saturday was a little over 110 shots. The average shots heard from my weekday hunts was in the low 40s (hunting from roughly 3pm-5pm).  Not counting opening day as a weekday hunt i hunted 6 week days out of the possible 9 days. 
 
I can conclude a few things from my data, either there is a good heard population where i hunt, OR the people hunting around me should spend more time at the range. If you ask me, i think it is a little of both.
   
 

BenC

retired guy

Like that around here too- places ya can hunt they get scarce quick and places ya cant they are out feeding in plain sight. They are smarter than ya think and have a dry sense of humor.

Deer drives are what move the deer onto the places where you can't hunt.  If people hunted right, rifle season would be alot better for alot longer, garunteed. 

Whats wrong with deer drives ? What is hunting right ?

BenC

retired guy

Like that around here too- places ya can hunt they get scarce quick and places ya cant they are out feeding in plain sight. They are smarter than ya think and have a dry sense of humor.

Deer drives are what move the deer onto the places where you can't hunt.  If people hunted right, rifle season would be alot better for alot longer, garunteed. 

 

 
Might be the case where you hunt, but don't presume it's the case everywhere.  Where I go, if there isn't anyone pushing, you might as well pack up and leave at 10am, because they lie down and that's that.
 
As far as my season, this was the first year in a long time that I didn't get any deer at all, though I came close on one, and passed a few really small ones.  It's been getting worse and worse over the past 10 years or so, but the past 3 have been, by far, the slowest.
 
My dad has a flintlock, so after Christmas, he will try to get one.  I'll carry a shotgun and push for him.