2016 is shaping up to be one of the worst seasons ever.

[CTM1]

Not a single deer was taken on my side of the hill, not a one.

My gun club that has 3,800 acres under lease which consists of one 3,200 acre parcel and one 600 acre parcel
has only given up 9 bucks that we know of. Club rules are no does.

My 150 acres looked encouraging based on the number of buck pics I had gotten has been a nightmare. Not a single picture of a racked buck since early Nov. The family to my north that has over 400 acres and has only taken three deer, and only one was a buck and small to boot. Neighbor to the south who has 100 acres did not take a deer and no one heard of anyone else in the valley taking a buck or saw anything hanging.

Both deer butchers I know have said it is the worst year ever, and the kicker is they said they did not think it could have gotten worse then last year, but it is.

The last two evenings and not a single deer seen, but I have heard the yotes howling on Sat and again tonight. When they started howling in the valley on Sat evening the nine does in the plot flipped out and took off
up the hill.

If there is going to be a second rut please let it be more active then most years as we are down to the deadline.

 

[Native Hunter]

That does sound discouraging. What's your best guess for the decline the last two years?

Hope things turn around for you.

 

[struttingfool]

CTM1, I am feeling the same way about my season. I am have been on vacation since Oct 31st. I seen a total of 11 deer from my stand this season. 5 of them were in a morning sit during bow season the first week of Nov. From my observations, and cameras ALL activity is at night. Still finding new buck sign, LOTS of tracks but no deer. Just purchased 47 acres this spring with my other 12. Just a quick over view, hunting ~60 acres and on the one side of me is a 70 acres of non hunted land thick and nasty bedding, safe haven. I have only hunted the 12 for the last 16 years and never seen it this bad. EVERYTHING is at night!!!!!!! This is just my thoughts, can't prove it (yet) but this is the exact thing that used to happen to me in Ohio. I think the neighbors to the south are baiting (illegal in NY) its not like they are shooting all day but they have been shooting. My food plots are being used but not like they have in the past. I thought I was pressuring it too much but I have not hunted it anymore than I have in the past. I think I have gotten 4 daylight pics in the last month. Its been very frustrating to say the least. On the other hand the weather just sucks and the one other factor that hurts my hunting land is a north wind. That seemed to be the direction my entire bow season. I hope it turns around for us soon!!!!!!!

Strut

 

[Chainsaw]

Not a single deer was taken on my side of the hill, not a one.

My gun club that has 3,800 acres under lease which consists of one 3,200 acre parcel and one 600 acre parcel
has only given up 9 bucks that we know of. Club rules are no does.

My 150 acres looked encouraging based on the number of buck pics I had gotten has been a nightmare. Not a single picture of a racked buck since early Nov. The family to my north that has over 400 acres and has only taken three deer, and only one was a buck and small to boot. Neighbor to the south who has 100 acres did not take a deer and no one heard of anyone else in the valley taking a buck or saw anything hanging.

Both deer butchers I know have said it is the worst year ever, and the kicker is they said they did not think it could have gotten worse then last year, but it is.

The last two evenings and not a single deer seen, but I have heard the yotes howling on Sat and again tonight. When they started howling in the valley on Sat evening the nine does in the plot flipped out and took off
up the hill.

If there is going to be a second rut please let it be more active then most years as we are down to the deadline.

Though only one buck was taken on this 600 property all season I'd rate the hunting as good to some days excellent with about twenty percent being downright poor. Only one deer was shot because we were more picky in what we chose to shoot. However our area had some similarities to what you and Strutting Fool experienced.

-I am pretty certain two of my neighbors were baiting but they didn't shoot very often. Our nearly 2,000 released apple trees overshadowed their box or boxes of bought apples evidently.
-The fall food plots were not used as much as the previous year but with the drought they got planted late and really didn't produce so much food anyhow. From the sun room I could see a deer or two in the plots whenever I was home but noticed they did not stay out very long. We did hear a stupid amount of coyotes every evening; in fact just me howling to them at 4 pm would set off three or four different groups of them. After I shot one though the howling stopped.
-The total # of rifle shots heard in two months if you take out two days was less than twenty and being on one of the higher grounds we can hear for three to four miles in three directions.
-almost every one I talked with said there just were no deer;however my most active day (Thanksgiving) was twenty-two seen from the stand in the woods with short visibility while others claimed they saw as little as one deer for the entire season. Yet, many excellent bucks were taken this year in this area (Excellent around here are 3 1/2 and up with some dressing out over two hundred lbs).

The common denominator that I see here for the properties that are under performing here which is most of them is that their woods have fully canopied and with just a little hunting pressure the deer moved to the properties with true cover for daylight activity. Those open woods make them too vulnerable to coyotes, house dogs and of course hunters legal and otherwise.

 

[Podad]

Work on the coyotes would be my suggestion.

 

[boot]

Out here in the west it was pretty slow as well, while we got some real nice bucks on camera, almost all of it was during the dead of night. Warm temps, high predator populations, I didn't hear a single rifle shot during season. I think the crazy warm fall had much to do with it

 

[OkieKubota]

Out here in the west it was pretty slow as well, while we got some real nice bucks on camera, almost all of it was during the dead of night. Warm temps, high predator populations, I didn't hear a single rifle shot during season. I think the crazy warm fall had much to do with it

I wish I hadn't heard a single shot during rifle...

Slowest day for rifle shots was this past Sunday and I heard 5 shots. 2 were to take a doe I accidentally pushed across the fence and the other 3 were to try for her fawn that ran back to me mewing for momma and then returned to where momma was shot and they opened fire on the fawn too... Most days I heard 40+ shots except opening weekend and the following weekend when I heard 100 - 200+ per day...

 

[boot]

I wish I hadn't heard a single shot during rifle...

Slowest day for rifle shots was this past Sunday and I heard 5 shots. 2 were to take a doe I accidentally pushed across the fence and the other 3 were to try for her fawn that ran back to me mewing for momma and then returned to where momma was shot and they opened fire on the fawn too... Most days I heard 40+ shots except opening weekend and the following weekend when I heard 100 - 200+ per day...

100-200 a day! dang where do you live, Iraq? You got a lot of hunters thats for sure

 

[dogdoc]

I had that season last year. Never once saw a shooter buck and spent countless hours in the stand. But how 1 year can make a difference. I had more shooter bucks this year than the previous 12 and had one of my best seasons ever-in spite of unseasonably warm temps.

Hang in there. Down years happen to us all.

 

[OkieKubota]

100-200 a day! dang where do you live, Iraq? You got a lot of hunters thats for sure

Lots of hunters in our area. Lots of poaching too - most non rifle days before rifle season I hear 5-10 hunting related shots at first gray light or last light. Good thing lots of those folks miss being as the deer are in solid woods. I wear as much Blaze Orange as I can find and try to insulate myself well within our boundaries of our property so the trees can play blocker for me...

 

[JohnL48]

I believe its a coyote problem up by us. Cant really see a deer track without a yote track following. I get deer on camera but all at night and almost always followed by yotes.

 

[CTM1]

That does sound discouraging. What's your best guess for the decline the last two years?

Hope things turn around for you.

One of the butchers swore up and down that this year was going to be a booming year because the 3 point rule on one side has a had a little time to kick in. He is now thinking of closing the shop early because he has taken in so few deer and it costs money to keep the walk in cooler running.

Last year at the house the neighbors called it the year of the basket racks because several were seen, but four were also taken. It is almost as if the buck herd and I use that term loosely was wiped out. FYI in my county the DEC says we have one hunter for every 41 acres. Even though we are really rural the land was really busted up to second homeowners. The avg deer killed in my county going back forever was 1.5 year old. With the 3pt rule it ticked up to 2.5 years old.

As far as what has happened at the 150 piece I just have no idea where the bucks went. Not a single pic of a racked buck since early Nov. Still seeing spikes and a few other little ones, but nothing else. Ever time I hear a shot which has been rare this year I wonder what just went down, and was it the big one, but I guess as hunters we all think that.

Went out again today and for the first time since I purchased it I went onto my 85 acre parcel. Found fresh bear tracks and a bear bed up top. It was a small bear, but it was interesting to see one out this late in the season. Jumped some does on top. The thought of humping my Tree Lounge or any tree stand to the top does not make my body happy. It was a struggle just to get my own body up tot he top. I am convinced every mountain should have a chair lift to the top. The quad is not an option as the road is washed out.

The one thing I believe to my core is that the NYS DEC does not care about the deer herd, just the money. I wish they would push the rifle season back one week so more bucks would live. I think doing that in conjunction with the continued 3pt rule would make NYS or at least my area that is so heavily hunted much better. Real hunters would be on board with it, but sadly NYS is so full of "brown is down" and " I paid for my license and I want to kill something for my money".

PS Just as he sun was setting today the yotes started howling again. Only a few days left in the rifle season, so it is time to charge up the predator caller.