How Many Deer Do You Expect to See in One Hunt?

[Brian662]

Holy crap! Shelled corn, on the cob, a block, and apples! Quite the pile!

Gotta cover all the bases. Hopefully had some acorn rage drizzled on there too.

 

[Native Hunter]

Holy crap! Shelled corn, on the cob, a block, and apples! Quite the pile!

Yea, when I saw that I thought of the old food pyramid they used to teach us in grade school, but I couldn’t remember all the parts.

 

[rogersb]

Here in PA its different depending on the property and season. During archery I see a handful on private and 1-5 on public. During rifle its a lot more. Opening day on public I saw 20-25 by noon on public. I shot a buck at noon so I didn't see any more because I was busy, but there was a father/son duo near me that got some shooting in so deer were still moving.

 

[Turkish]

I read on this forum about hunting and not seeing a deer for days. Depending on which stand I hunt on my place, I expect to see from 2 or 3 to 15 or more. I know everywhere is different. If I went several days hunting without seeing a deer - I would quit shooting them. I would expect to see a deer or two everyday hunting public here.

How many deer do you expect to see during a single hunt - and if you arent seeing a deer for days, how do you justify shooting one when you do see it.

I expect to see nothing. I don’t hunt fields or food plots unless my son is with me, though. And I feel like there are too many deer for the amount of quality habitat I currently have.

Couple things:

1. I think harvest #s should be set based on habitat observations, not sightings. A place I used to hunt, I couldn’t fill a doe quota if my life depended on it. But damn if there wasn’t a browse line.
2. You po’ mouth your place awful bad to be seeing this many deer.

Maybe I’m just a shitty hunter.

 

[SwampCat]

I expect to see nothing. I don’t hunt fields or food plots unless my son is with me, though. And I feel like there are too many deer for the amount of quality habitat I currently have.

Couple things:

1. I think harvest #s should be set based on habitat observations, not sightings. A place I used to hunt, I couldn’t fill a doe quota if my life depended on it. But damn if there wasn’t a browse line.
2. You po’ mouth your place awful bad to be seeing this many deer.

Maybe I’m just a shitty hunter.

I am proud of what I have done to my land. I have helped increase adult doe numbers on my place five fold in a dozen years. We worked hard and sacrificed. But it is a fragile existence - and it still takes a lot of work every year. I feel my deer density is one bad fawn crop from a declining herd and several years of recovery.

I know I blame a lot of my adjacent landowners - and I admit I am unfair to them - when they own fifteen acres and dont plant a single acre and kill five does every year and we kill one doe a year. Their actions require a lot more more effort, sacrifice, and money on my part to keep what I have - but to be fair, they are doing nothing illegal and I would probably be doing what they are doing if I were in their shoes.

Deer hunters in general are often a whiny bunch- blaming crossbow hunters, multiple buck limits, long seasons - many of us want our neighbors to be restricted by G&F to satisfy our desires.

My place is great compared to what it used to be - 100% because of the actions of me and the folks who hunt that land. To have four or five mature deer - or more - most years on 350 acres in an area with over six weeks of gun season, crossbows, baiting, two buck limits, dog hunting, rut hunting, etc - is a true accomplishment. I cant change that our mature bucks often have smaller antlers, but it can be depressing.

A lot of these things are outside my control. I do complain, all too often, about a lot of the things I cant control. But I do think I have done a good job managing the things I can control. I am proud of my place.

 

[swampbuck]

I'm in south central Wisconsin. Property is a mix of swamp and woods. Average just over 1 deer per sit on my property. However less than 10 miles away there are public spots that I see more deer just not bucks.

On my property, I have a lot of cover and not much for food. Working on the food part and will be interested to see how that impacts deer sightings. So far on my property i have seen 2 does while on stand with the rest being bucks, including one buck that was 4+. That has been an shock to the system being i have spent most of my time hunting DNR ground previously

 

[SwampCat]

I'm in south central Wisconsin. Property is a mix of swamp and woods. Average just over 1 deer per sit on my property. However less than 10 miles away there are public spots that I see more deer just not bucks.

On my property, I have a lot of cover and not much for food. Working on the food part and will be interested to see how that impacts deer sightings. So far on my property i have seen 2 does while on stand with the rest being bucks, including one buck that was 4+. That has been an shock to the system being i have spent most of my time hunting DNR ground previously

That is backwards for where I live - the public ground is hunted hard and most public land hunters dont feel there is benefit in passing bucks. A lot fewer deer on most public.

 

[swampbuck]

I wouldn't say all public pieces by me are like that. I was more trying to say deer populations are hit or miss in my area with some areas having a lot of deer and some not so much. But if I am looking to get a doe, id hit certain public spots around me.

Bucks though its exactly as you said. Have to find the hidey holes to find good bucks or get lucky. My piece i do see more good bucks than I ever see on public, unless I am hunting in Iowa, which is a different story