Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting PA HUNTERS HOW GOES IT SO FAR???

Well by golly Teeder, I think I've seen the light! So help me god I'll never shoot another deer with less than a 24" spread, and I'll make sure I have your blessings first! Of course, I may go several years without eating venison, and a spike might taste pretty good, but we wouldn't want to do that. Let's see- if I find a buck that matches your expectations every 3 or 4 years, well heck, that would average out to about 40 to 50 lbs. of deer meat on the hoof every year! Boy, I love your kind of math!

Just got back home (350 miles) and outran the storm. Although it was way too warm, I did manage to shoot a 6 pointer yesterday afternoon. Worked hard for him.
On tuesday I had a 4 and a 6 pointer bed down about 200 feet away from me. After scoping out the 6, I saw that the brow tines were less than an inch long, not legal enough.
Although I had a doe tag, I did not shoot one.
Overall in our group, 4 bucks and one doe were taken. Not a lot of deer seen overall. This is in Potter Co.

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Monday we bagged a Nice 9 Point by 8am & Tuesday we nailed a another nice 8 Point. within 5 minutes of sunrise with another buck moving thru the valley where I could not get a good enough read on his rack, but after he broke into the light full sprint straight away at 200 yds. I could'nt get my crosshairs on him, but in the light he was probably bigger tha the two we shot. Spreads on the both we bagged were close to 20 in. Maybe its all for the better, because we were there hoping to get a chance at a couple Huge deer we sighted while scouting earlier in the season with 25 inch speads or more.
This is not private land or anything, in fact I passed an 8 point, 6 point in archery holding out for the big one. We are seeing more bigger deer with QDM. I guess thats why the call it QUALITY, bigger racks. I've heard of & seen some legitimate monsters this year & in the recent years. I heard someone bagged a Buck that scored 190 in Reynoldsville this week. I'll look into it.
Now about Quantity; I can appreciate that certain areas do not have as many deer as they used to.
I am a Hunter. When I hunt I do my homework & it is called scouting prior to the season. I know where the deer are because I find them, then I actually hunt there. I have more locations prescouted than I have time to hunt them. State Gamelands, I might Add.
Now if your version of deer hunting is showing up in a patch of woods on opening day and expecting to bag a buck, then your more of a gambler with your time than a true hunter. A hunter scouts til he finds what he is hunting. Then he successfully hunts that area where he was successful at scouting. Believe me it works.
I really cannot understand why some people would drive 200 miles to potluck hunt some deerless patch of woods. I guess that's keeping them out of my areas.

But, anyway the hunting is great for those that are really hunting. And it has nothing to do with how many hours you sit in a deerless patch of woods.

P.S. For those who may want to try this thing called scouting, my first hint: The thicker areas along the edges of the woods and near field openings have smaller trees with the fresh bark scraped off at about 1-3 feet above the ground. These are called Buck Rubs; and you guessed it, WhiteTail Bucks make them. So look for the rubs and your hunting experience will definitely rub you the right way!
Next Lessons are on being STILL & QUIET with your eyes open.

Let's see first post w/ an I'm really good and the rest of us are lazy sacks that don't know what we're talking about attitude.

What's that smell? Did somebody fart?

Nevermind, it's the smell of a troll. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

RH

Hunted for a doe today with my son. Absolutely nothing moving in the morning; cold and windy of course. We did not hear a shot within a mile. Must be no deer then, right?
Nah. A couple guys walked below us around noon and put 5 out one way and 2 out another direction. Then saw 5 more (1 buck) scattered around before dark. Deer are here, just not moving on their own since the shooting started Monday....why would they? For some reason I am noticing fewer road hunters this year. Not sure why, but I'm glad. Western PA.

Bad news is that I had a pop-up blind set up ahead of time and it was out during the storm last night. It is now smashed up. The wind blew it about 100 yards, breaking most of the hubs. ameristep mini-brickhouse I think.

I shot a 7pt the first morning. Saw 5 deer before 9:30. Shooting was very slow. I do think antler restrictions work. I am not in favor of all the doe being killed. One thing that gets me is I here a lot of hunters complaing about a lack of deer and then they shoot a couple because of all of the tags they got. You don't have to fill the tags, but this is one of the problems. Another problem is the buck we are hunting are a lot smarter then the the spikes we where shooting years ago. They are mostly nocturnal . Good luck the the rest and hope you get the big one.

Was out this morning in spite of my back hurting like a tooth ache. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> Saw two, a doe and a youngun. Very, and I do mean very, little shooting. I heard more rifle shots Thanksgiving morn from guys sighting in.

Call it what you will, Herd Reduction or QDM, but they screwed the pooch around here.

SakoJake, where are you in Bedford County? I'm here in Pleasantville, about 12 miles east of Bedford.
7mm

Was out. On the first drive of the day one of the youngsters filled his doe tag.

Seen several does and spikes which we let go. The only time we saw deer was when we put on drives. For sunrise the group of seven of us were in the woods for the first 90 minutes of sunlight and nobody saw a single thing of deer. At that point we regrouped and did our first drive and then things began to happen and the boy filled his doe tag.

What surprised me was for the first saturday of deer season there were very few hunters out. Fine with me as we hunted SGL in Wayne county. Also on Monday (which I could not hunt) one of the fellas from our camp, on the same SGL shot a real nice 8 pointer. Rack was symmetrical and ok size, not heavy or big but nice. The body on the buck was estimated at 225 lbs.

I really do not know if there are more or less deer, but I do know that with the warm weather and less hunting pressure they are not moving around as in years past. Once we started to drive though, they got moving.

Dropped a good 8-point today. Posted pictures on another thread:
Pretty good buck where I live.

Steve

gopher - don't really care for your statements thus far but my experience has been similar to Teeders.

Case in point: I hunted a new stand in Washington County yesterday -had only scouted the area once prior to yesterday. Saw 41 deer from the treestand, only 1 small buck. My buddy saw 25 with a buck, his father-in-law saw 14, 2 bucks. The neighbor stopped me on the road at dark asking about deer sightings. I did not let on I had seen that many deer. His next statement was that deer numbers are way down. But he's been hunting there his whole life.........

Passed on a 7 pt on Monday. Saw a very large buck in bear season in Clinton County off Pete's Run road, my buddy saw 3 with 2 Wallhangers" as he described them. My 3 best buddies shot 2- 8 pt and 1- 10 pointer in archery season. My Dad saw 4 bucks on the first day of gun season, he saw 3 more yesterday.

Yeah QDM really sucks and that Larry Alt is a real moron.........

Or could it be that, as Teeder astutely points out, bigger bucks are different than the dinks we've been used to seeing? Thats where my money is. I've never hunted bucks in the same way as I hunt "deer" - they are different, move different, bed different, react different to pressure.

Simply put QDM works in the farm country. Issues exist in the big woods country but my experince in the past 3 bear seasons in Clinton County tell me that the bucks are there. I've seen at least 1 big buck (16" spread) all 3 years I've hunted up there. I'll give you a clue - it ain't where 95% of the treestands and other guys are hunting. It always pays to scout more than you hunt........

Would also add that Washington County is 1.5 hours from my house. I wasn't happy about the number of deer sightings in and around my house (plus the fact that neighbors shot a pile of does), so I could have sat around and bitched about the deer situation or adapt. I chose adapt. Adapt is something many PA deer hunters can't/won't do.

I also find it interesting that I seem to never hunt the same area in subsequent years. Deer have a home range that is much bigger than most realize - and they utilize it differently from year to year. The same spots ain't goning to work every year unless the food supply stays constant - which it seldom does.

QDM works, and it can work anywhere. The issue is whether people are satisfied with the results. It is drawn from decades of research. A herd in balance with food supply might mean 50 deer per sq mile in the farm country, or 6 in the big woods. Many PA hunters are apparently not very happy with the latter.

QDM is adapted to each situation. It does not mean shoot every doe you see...it depends on the location. In the southern states, that is exactly what they do and they still can't kill enough. But that is not the situation everywhere. It is not a simply paint by numbers thing, yet many people try to generalize it that way.

-Point well taken about the scouting Bwinters. I fully agree tha tthe guys who put their time in and pay their dues in the preseason see more deer. I'm not afraid to admit that I was spoiled on routinely seeing lots of deer early in the season. And you're right about finding the deer. I've hunted the same quarter mile area for over 20 years, but that was mostly before QDM. I took my buck most every year, but they were the typical year and a half old spikes. The thing is, I could care less if I ever shoot a rack. It's just not that important to me. But I don't like being made to pass up spikes. It's hard to lay off a deer that in the past was considered a legal buck. I also agree about QDM probably working better in the farm land areas. We hunt Clearfield County between Sabula and Penfield on Boone Mountain. (all State Forest land.) From talking to our guys, and many of our friends and neighbors, the sightings have been very slim. It does seem like more deer were at least seen this year, so maybe I'll be singing a different tune next fall.

My brother in law and I scouted numerous areas and saw a lot of great deer sign but we haven't seen a deer yet. It just seems that the deer are getting pushed another direction or that the deer are not moving much at all.

Shooting in my area has been extremely light compared to other years. I think we are going to start moving North to hunt where it's less populated. One thing I have noticed in my area is that shooting on private property has been very good versus the SGL's.

Agreed on the paint by numbers deal. I think it will work but does need tweaking - especially in the big woods type terrain. I"ve personally have not seen large deer numbers in the "big woods" since the mid to late 1970's. IMHO deer numbers fell in many of those areas when all the timber matured. I shot my first deer in Marienville in 1975 out of a herd of ~ 25. Must have saw 100 deer that day. I hunted the same area in 1984 or 85 and was surprised how many deer we didn't see druing the week. That was way before QDM. As a result, we quit hunting up there.

gopher - my intent was not to put down those that hunt in the exact same areas year in and year out. Hell my Dad has hunted the same tree for the past 20 years - but he still sees deer and kills a buck there every year. His situation is likely a good case in point. Before QDM, he would see a buck every year before 10AM, he'd shoot it and someone else would get in the stand. Rarely did shooter two see a buck. In the last few years, he sees 3-6 bucks from that tree and we shoot two from it the past 4 years (my Dad and nephew). This year, they have seen 7 bucks in 2 days, but the total number of deer seen has dropped to ~ 15 day versus the 25-30 he used to see. In my mind, that is the result of QDM.

I'll also agree that the private land guys have it much eisier than the public land guys. I've witnessed it. The solution is not to keep going to the same public land areas or get permission to hunt private land. It's not as easy to get permission as it used to be but it can still be had - I did it this year in a new area. It do take a little more than banging on someone's door. I've bucked hay, mended fences, helped pay the taxes (small amounts after permission granted), hung posted signs and sent Christmas cards. A good private place to hunt is invaluable but does take some effort.

What really gets me irratated is the incessant whiners. I've no doubt guys are finding it harder to find deer as compared to days gone by. But they refuse to change tactics, areas or anything else for that matter. Stop by the Market House in downtown Meadville, PA on the first day of deer season. They have a big buck contest every year. Somewhere, somehow these guys are shooting some big bucks - you'll see 100 or so with very good PA racks with a handful of true monsters. The deer are there albeit not in as a great of numbers but for buck hunting these are the good ole days. I too miss the days of shooting any buck because I used to hunt alot with my recurve and pistol. Shot alot of 6 and 8 pointers that way. Now I have to be a bit more selective. Thats the way it is.

Well How Dee Doo to You, Too. You must be the self appointed welcoming committee to this campfire forum & the spokesperson for all lazy sack whiners that call themselves hunters. I know you're not speaking for us hunters that think we should scout an area before we wander aimlessly for hours & days on end, embarassed that we can't show our kids what a deer looks like. After reading your contribution to this forum I can understand why your paranoia runs wild.

I thought this forum was about "How did your PA hunt go this Year? NOT, EXCUSES why do I continue to suck at hunting year after year & am still not willing to try anywhere or anything else different than what or where I've failed to "get er done" at. I'm sick & tired of hearing no more deer, Larry Alt, QPM, it's too hot, it's too windy, it's to cold, not enough snow, too much snow. SHUT UP AND HUNT!! And if you havent been successful, buy a damn book on it and learn.

Now, back to your comments. I can appreciate the highly sensitive olfactory developement that you've aquired over the years that gained your expetise in the area of Fart Sniffing; I'm sure you've had a lot of practice with you 12 Long-Haired Sleeping Gnomes in that one cabin; with no DEERmeat to go with all those baked beans. But in this case I know your mistaken. That limburger cheese smell is more than likely rising from your crotch area and can produce undesired results when it comes to hunting 2 or 4 legged deer especially in the Allegheny Nat'l Forrest. And besides, everybody knows that smells can't be transmitted over the internet, So, the smell is obviously coming from you on your end, DAH!! What were you thinking?

Secondly, I do not question that you in fact do know what a troll smells like by now. Trolls are the only things that I can think of that is keeping you Twelve Gnomes from crossing that bridge that will lead you all out of the DEERLESS FORREST!!!

P.S. You might be able to sneak by a sleeping Troll when he farts with you smelling like all that fromunda & Limberger Cheese in all. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/help.gif" alt="" />

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />Remember, you drew 1st blood, Rambo. But, I'm so so glad you decided to include me into your private little discussion. I'm feeling real cozy around this campfire now; I think I'll take my boots off & stay awhile. Feel free to speak your mind, for yourself in 1st person next time.

Thanks to you, Mr. Helper, I've now come up with the quote I'll be using.

"IN THE LAND OF THE BLIND, THE ONE-EYED MAN IS KING"

Sometimes the cold, hard truth affects folks just like gettin' whacked in the face with a wet towel. I didn't see anything wrong with your previous post, but it likely hit too close to home for some.

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Have seen a fair number of baldies and three sub-legal bucks thus far. Could've tagged a doe several times during the first three days without much of a tussle, but was still "buck huntin'" at the time. Some very nice bucks taken within a few miles of me, including a couple within a half mile on opening day. No complaints here. Know there's at least one bruiser left in the area, a neighbor missed a whack at him yesterday not far from where I was.

Only day I haven't seen any deer at all, was the day it rained hard most of the day, Friday I think. Far fewer deer where I hunt than five years ago, still enough around to suit me. Bucks fetched in to the local big buck contest since Monday, are far heavier and better endowed than anytime in the past few decades and I've hunted here (NW Tioga Co.) for over 40 years and tend to notice such things.

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gophergun,

I'm not sure where you saw me suggesting that to you? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

You can do what you want, but I'd rather shoot a big buck WITH large antlers AND a lot a meat. That does add up.

Your mileage may vary.

Anyway, I got a nice plump doe on Saturday, so I'm all tagged out for this year.
There were 8 does and two bucks in the same bunch. Both bucks were 8 pnts at least 16-17 wide.

Editted to add:

The doe was on private land (mine), but the buck I shot with my bow was on public land. 75% of all my hunting is on public land.

PA D.H.,

I will offer a welcome to the 'fire, but will also ask you to back off on the harshness a little.
No need for it here.

Do take your boots off and stay a while. It's a great place.