Hunting is getting...

[stel]

BORING!!!!



I have never hunted so hard like I have in the past 3 years. Scouting when I can, looking for signs of every possible deer. I have been hunting since I was 12 and am now 19. I shot a deer when I was 15 that was only 75 lbs. I thought things would change after that since I was scouting and hunting very few days before that night I shot my deer. I saw 3 deer during bow season the year after that. I haven't seen a deer since then while in my stand and I have put 5 times the more hours in. The only deer I see now are the ones advoid killing with my truck. I said I would quit last year and now I am pretty sure I am done foor good at least til my dad buy some private property. I am sick of sitting in the woods 10-15 days a year for the past 2 year and not seeing squat. Everyone says put in your time and you'll get your deer. Time is what I am doing and I am not seeing one single fricken deer in the past 3 years. I am tired of spending my money and my dads on something that isn't going to happen. I don't expect much but I do expect to see at least one deer several times out and after 3 years of this BS, it's OLD. I can spend my time doing others things like fishing for steel. At least they cooperate sometime. Ok, rant mode off



This past weekend my dad and I made our annual trip to mid michigan to hunt white tail. There were very few hunters in the woods but the guys were there seemed to ruin our time. Half of my dads and mine hunts were ruined by inconsiderate hunters. One guy thought I was dead even thought I was sleeping sitting up(oops) and other guys felt the need to drive through the field I was hunting, not once, but twice during prime time hours. One guy also spooked the only deer that came to eat my dad's bait pile so he says.



The only high light of the weekend was a bald eagle that flew out of the woods near the road we were driving down. It was an amazing site and I can't wait to see the pictures. Another highlight was sitting in the middle of a field we were camping in listening to the coyotes yell and the myst rising over the field. Like it was a magical dream or something like that.



Maybe I won't quit hunting. Maybe i'll just go up north and do the same stuff we always do just not sitting in the woods. Forget the deer, bows and guns!

[mondrella]

Dan

Don't get to down on it. It is kind of like trying to get that first Steelie under your belt. You had to work for it and when someone who really knew what they were doing showed you how to be successful it all came together. That is how hunting is. Unfortanetly in this state your really don't hunt the deer if you want to be succesful year in and year out you use the other people in the woods to your advantage.

[chrome seeker]

Where do you live. I may have an open stand for muzzleloader or late doe season. It is in the southwestern lower. Calhoun County.

[WannaFish]

Stel,
I have been deer hunting with a gun in Northern Michigan since 1982. Guess what? Things have changed in the Northern Lower. I hunted hard for the first 5 days of gun season, and then again over Thanxgiving. I hunted privite land in Gladwin, and public land in Grayling and Hale. I spent 60+ hours in the woods this gun season. I saw 7 deer total. This is the first year I havent got a buck in a long time-I havent shot a doe since '87. 3 years ago I saw 75+ deer, 2 years ago about 20. Last year I saw 6 (2 were bucks). I am unlucky enough to hunt an area in Gladwin that is overtaken by Amish hunters (Killers). If it is brown, it goes down. One guy I know killed 12 does (4 adults and the rest fawns) and 2 small Bucks last year. I cant understand why we now have a "last buffalo hunt" mentality now days.
My point. Seasoned hunters like me will sit forever, year after year, see few deer, and rember the old days. Young hunters like you will hunt awhile, see few deer, and give up. My sons and nephews (ages 4 to 9) really would rather stay home and NOT HUNT, than sit with the old man and see nothing much. Were are we going to be in 15 years?
PS
At least there is a good salmon run every year. The boys do enjoy that!!

[ee3]

some times makes you wounder if the DNR ever gets out..one year its unlimited doe permits ,the next none! some thing has to change or groups like PETA will win as the younger hunters just quit hunting becouse as Stel implys its BORING, not atleast seeing something.ANYTHING!!! I hunt the Baldwin area and this year our group saw the least amount of deer ever.My father in law has hunted the area since 1948 and it was the worst he could remember.Soon people will stop heading north and towns that make their living from the hunters will be ghost towns..

[flyit]

I wouldn't get too upset. The deer herd in Michigan has definitely changed in the last 5 - 8 years. I am lucky enough to hunt private land in Northern Mason county. The DNR says that the deer herd is at the correct managed level for that area. Funny, everyone in the area this year was complaining how they are not seeing any deer. I am 26 now and have hunted since I was 12....needless to say, when i first started I was just stupid when it came to deer. My dad tried to help me but I feel that the best way to learn is by being hands on and screwing up a couple of times. 5 years ago i average seeing around 24 deer on Nov. 15th. The last 4 years i have been lucky to see one. There is a lot of deer sign in my area but they just don't seem to be there during firearm season. My advice to you is just stick with it. Do your scouting, make sure that the deer are passing through your area during the day light hours, and give it a chance. Hunting Michigan is a test patience and unfortunately there are a lot of idiots out there. Don't believe what you see on tv, cause that ain't Michigan. Deer live by their stomachs....where there is food, there is deer. Remember, you will never get the buck of your life if you are not in the woods.

[ee3]

I have no plans to quit since I enjoy just being out.I have taken my share of Bucks (15) all on public land in Lake Co.Used to see enough does to keep the blood flowing waiting for the Bucks to show.This year I saw 1 deer in 5 day's of hunting.I have accsess to 500plus acres in Jackson Co. but I enjoy it up north.My concern as much as anything is tring to keep my daughter intrested enough to keep wanting to go.She has taken 3 deer, (2 does, one buck).This year see saw 6 deer before 8:30 am opening day and nothing since.Hope we see some muzzle loading or she might want to stay home and go to the mall next year.

[mk4b]

Been hunting northern Newaygo county just south of you for many years
It's been up and down, but the last 3 years I believe a hole lot better, no
doe permits on state land, and thats where my sons and I hunt. Been seeing
more deer and more bucks. Opening morning we saw 6 bucks, my son passed
on a spike his friend first time hunter shot a spike and I shot a nice 8 point
my biggest buck, we have access to many acres in sothern michigan but
we to for many years have injoyed hunting up here, don't get to down it took
me 25 years to get my first, I should have given up a long time ago, but I
guess It's just the love of being out in Gods creation, so don't get to down
just keep going.

[Don B.]

If you are only going out and sitting because you WANT to see something
or HAVE to kill something then you are missing the point!!!! Enjoy the outdoors wheather you shoot something shouldn't be a factor in determining
you hunting or not....Does it help? Sure it does..but its not all that matters.
My 5yr. old has been out with me 6 times during gun season and we've only
seen deer (5) the first time he went out with me and that is all he talks about, he just can't wait to go again. Deer or no deer its quality time with someone you love and its our responsability to make sure we keep introducing them to the sport...
just a humble Dads opinion!

[mcflyfisher]

Alcona County is where I grew up, and still hunt. It is also in the center of the TB area, and still has unlimited doe permits. For the last 25 years we have had growing Deer herd. It grew to an unsustainable size, and nature took it's course. The Deer herd now has Bovine TB. My great uncle took an 8 point in to have it check for TB. It was infested. The DNR kept the Deer. Several of my old neighbors have have lost whole herds of beef b/c of positive TB tests. Between crop damage block permits, and unlimitted doe permits, we have been killing as many does as we could use for the last 15 years. The first year we had crop damage permits we took 14 does on opening day, from less than 300 acres. I seemed to me that this would put a dent in the herd. That spring I still saw 30 deer pulling out the new seeding. After 15 years of harvesting a lot does, it appears that we have made a small difference. I didn't have a day this season where I didn't see a doe. I harvested 3 does, and coyote this deer season. I don't feel guilty at all.

I was talking with my grandfather about this (78 year old). He said that when he as a kid there were fewer deer than there are now. He reported many seaons in which he would not see any deer. Killing a buck was an acomplishment then. Deer were a big game animal.

Due to the creation of prime deer habitat through the management of timber in the area the deer heard ballooned to the size it was 15 years ago. The real problem is, we are expect to see a dozen or two deer a day, because we have in the past, or we have been told stories about how it was in the past. If we have a healthy deer herd, we won't be seeing so many deer.

We all know that we need to interest young people in hunting in order for hunting to survive. Some kids love to sit with Dad or Mom and wait for Deer. Many don't have the attention span for that. How many of use spend as many days afield in pursuit of small game as we do deer? I have had several young hunters out hunting rabbits with me. When they hear the beagles barking and see that bunny go by, they are hooked. Let's face it, sitting for deer is tough. I am 31, and I still get very bored waiting. If you want to interest kids in hunting take them to the hardwoods to hunt tree rats, or kick brush for rabbits (or buy a beagle from me:) . Take them bird hunting. Find someone who coon hunts. Show them that there is more to hunting than sitting stands for deer.

Stel, if I had seen as few deer as you report, I would have quit deer hunting, and gone home to tie flies. One other thing about seeking private land to hunt, offer to shoot does. My wife's uncle farms 1700 acres. He estimates his crop loss to animals at about 20%. He doesn't care if it is a doe or a "trophy" animal that is doing the damage. He wants that percentage to go down. If the property owner is a hunter his may want to hunt bucks himself, but may not begrudge a guy trying to kill does. There are also a few out there that are still traditionalists and don't want to see any does killes so you may have to feel it out.

Well that is my two cents.

[stel]

Like I said in my post hunting to me is not about killing something. It IS about being in the woods. However, 3 years of sitting in the woods and not seeing a darn thing gets old real quick. I hunted probably 8 times 2 years ago and saw deer the first day out and that was it. Hunted 15 days last year and didn't see a thing. Hunted 6 times prior to this night and not seen a thing. However, I did see something tonight:)


BTW, I hunt 70% of the time by myself. It's different with other people.

I also don't plan on quiting hunting. Concider it a break for awhile. Once my dad buys property I will learn that property like the back of my mind and do everything to make it a deer home. we'll just have to wait and see what happens. I will always concider myself a hunter because I don't want peta taking away my right.