How was deer season for you?


EastTnHunter

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Catching up a little here but MAN did deer season die here about middle of December and it never returned. Talked to my cousin in NE Mississippi yesterday and he said hunting was terrible this year. Im guessing weather had a lot to do with it.... I sent Spook Spann a message asking him how it was going for him in middle Tennessee and he said the moon had them all messed up and that was middle of December. How was it for you?

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For me down in Marion County IL, it seemed to be a very weak and drug out rut...i hunted almost everyday of november and it never really clicked - even on those very cold mornings. It was kind of like a trickle rut, where it was hot and cold for a long time...I saw bucks chasing does all the way into the third week of december. I did pass on a quite a few immature bucks and let 2 borderline bucks walk. Was fortunate enough to harvest 5 does though - 4 with my bow and 1 with my smoke pole. I was also fortunate enough to get one of my brother in laws on his first deer...and one of my best friends came down to bow hunt for a few days and i got him on a big fat doe...pretty eventful season.

the highlite of my season however, was getting my other brother in law on his only deer with his bow 3 weeks after he was diagnosed with brain cancer and had a brain tumor removed...that really helped raise his spirits...Found out two weeks later that he will make a full recovery and that the cancer is totally treatable and should not return due to a gene called IP19Q or something like that...Definitely blessed here.

dan

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Season had the makings to be a good one, we had a couple shooters around, but I would rate the season in general as being fair to poor. Saw 9 different bucks one morning during archery season over probably 2 hours or so, that is the most bucks I have ever seen from a stand in one sit. Most of those were 1.5 and a couple were 2.5 year olds. Muzzleloader had a decent 8 I misjudged in the fog and passed on, ended up being the best buck I would see and after reviewing trail cam pics and video I shot of the deer think it was a 3.5 year old.

Doe sightings were down significantly, the liberal 3 doe a day limit imho is taking its toll on the overall population here. All total I would guess I probably saw at least 20 different bucks on our small farm, but I did not kill a deer. Oldest daughter took a 2.5 year old buck during the opening weekend of our rifle season. My wife did not get a deer either. I did see 4 different little bucks the last few days of the season, maybe this coming season will be better.

Weather was pretty screwy here too, seemed to have more high winds early season than I can remember in the past. Rut never seemed to really have a peak either.

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Weather was pretty screwy here too, seemed to have more high winds early season than I can remember in the past. Rut never seemed to really have a peak either.

Right on...this had to be the windiest deer season i have ever hunted. It seemed like every day was 25-30 mph winds. Not too sure about you guys, but when the wind is howling like that, and im in a tree looking down at all the dead fall, it doesn't take long to boogie out of the stand and get out of the woods. The wind definitely played a large role in this years season.

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My season sounds just about like everybody elses here in Illinois. Warm weather and wind made for a weak rut. I had two hunts in early November where deer movement was great, bucks were searching and opening up scrapes like crazy. Before and after that the does seemed to dissapear though, and chasing never really heated up. I hunted two weeks without even seeing a doe, and only a handful of bucks. I did manage a nice 8 with my bow, and a doe with the shotgun. Overall deer sightings and harvest numbers were down quite a bit where I hunt compared to last season.

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Bow season was great. Killed my 1st MS buck that crossed the 150" mark. Saw more mature bucks during bow season than I ever have in MS before. My KS bowhunt was pretty good too even though I ate my tag. The bummer about KS was 2 scumbags were shooting deer around the property we bowhunt at night with guns. One friend of mine watched them load up a deer. We notified the local GW and they finally caught them using their electronic buck decoy. Last I heard their fines were over the $10K mark & they were still in jail. The biggest bummer about that was they found the B&C class 10 point I saw on my 3rd day bowhiunting there at his taxidermist. They confiscated the buck for evidence.

The firearms seasons in MS were a disappointment. Didn't see nearly as many mature bucks as I did during bow season. When I did, they were just not what I wanted so I passed them. Most of them had less than 8 points. I also got skunked more times than usual during the MS firearms seasons.

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Good in the beggining but then got really bad. I got my first deer with a bow in the middle of August which is our rut down here and then in about October i rode the fourwheeler in on a button buck and havent seen and deer or deer sign since. I had about 6 different deer which is pretty good for about a 3 acre land area. But no deer since. It's sad not even a doe!

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id have to say my season so far is going ok, havent seen but 3 bucks this year, killed the first 8 point with my bow, and have harvested 2 does with my bow. the other 2 bucks i seen i blew it my self. one was a trashy 6 point, realy small horns, the other was a big 8. i had them at 35yards but they were walking towards me, so i thought i could get a closer shot, but the big 8 got between me a a pine tree brach at 19 yards never giving me a shot, been seeing alot of does now, had 6 at one time come in on friday, we still have a little over a month left so its any bodies guess how my season will end .

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Been a pretty good year for me. I've taken 2 does, and had encounters with 4 shooter bucks. 1 presented a shot opportunity on Nov 7. At 22 yards, you can sail an arrow over a bucks back pretty easy...

Spent quite a bit of time hunting a new "old" farm - one that I deer hunted on 15 years ago or so. It's a great place, and just 10 minutes down the road. Passed on numerous does and small bucks at this place, just waiting for another encounter with the shooters I've seen there this fall. In fact, I went out there a week ago for a late season bow hunt. As I was climbing my tree, I saw the largest buck I think I've ever seen in the woods alive just 120 yards from me, feeding in the wrong direction at 3:00pm. That gets the juices flowing, for sure. Going back out there this weekend, hopefully he shows up, and is still holding on to his antlers... :D

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Northern Indiana was slow early on and didn't pick up until late Oct. Oct.23-31st was some of the best hunting I've ever experienced. The 1st week in Nov. slowed down and after that things really died until a few days the week of Thanksgiving. We got a great cold snap around Dec 7th and that led to me taking a good buck on Dec 10th over a food plot. As for does, I was able to take 6 total on 3 different properties. I took my largest IN doe at 153 lbs dressed.

I do think my expereince was the exception because overall I heard numbers were way down as were mature deer encounters. I'll be interested to see IN harvest levels but I think that overall IN will be down 10% statewide. I expect somewhere around 115,000.

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Had another great IL season. Had to move around to make it happen though. One area I usually hunt and see good size bucks came up empty after 4 late October early November hunts. Didn't even see a doe! That was odd. The other places made up for it though. Two bucks in the 120's and two mature does. One of the bucks fooled me. Should have let him go, but what's done is done. I get the Texas mount back tomorrow. I'll post pictures.

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In fact, I went out there a week ago for a late season bow hunt. As I was climbing my tree, I saw the largest buck I think I've ever seen in the woods alive just 120 yards from me, feeding in the wrong direction at 3:00pm. That gets the juices flowing, for sure. Going back out there this weekend, hopefully he shows up, and is still holding on to his antlers... :D

Posting from the tree right now, he lost his left side. Just fed out of range 20 minutes ago, got a free pass till next fall.

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