Are the glory days of deer hunting coming to a close?

[Bill Loser]

I like to eat venison so antlers are just a bonus if a decent bucks happens to show up. Always have a variety of bucks passing through during season it's just if I am in the right spot at the right time or not. I gave up on cameras close to 10 years ago. I guess I like to be surprised by what runs out in front of me instead of seeing a bunch of bucks on camera but never seeing them during season. The glory days for me was when everyone was still around and the family hunting was something special. Now I just go out hunting by myself.

110% of this. Too much emphasis on horns, not enough for the experience, family, and most of all the animals.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

But how do you know 100% - that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. A monster was killed off the land Dawgs bought. We are talking about spending seven figures in most places to buy enough land to actually manage. I have a 62 acre tract away from the rest of my property that was a little honey hole. Last year, the leasees in the adjoining 800 acres changed hands and believe me - it isnt the same and there is not one thing I could do about it. Cwd can hit near you and they increase the season and bag limit. I bought my place mainly because of the duck hunting and fishing - deer were down the list. We kill one tenth the ducks we used to and we catch one tenth the fish we used to. In my opinion, jumping ship and moving around in hopes of finding greener pastures is most likely a fools errand - unless - of course - you just have funny money

I was listening to Lee lakosky talking about his strategy for buying land and he kept harping on neighbors. Which i totally get. But that’s a ballsy strategy to base almost everything on. Every piece of property is for sale for the right price, so even the best neighbors could sell. Now if you talking bordering a military base or state park or giant river/lake, I get that but individual landowners are unpredictable.

@Hoytvectrix this guy is must be getting “help” from neighbors. I would love to think even the perfect 400 would hold mature bucks but those deer are definitely wandering around the neighborhood. Obviously his track record speaks but while 400 is big for an individual, it’s a hop skip and jump for a buck