# What do you guys think?



## triggerpull (Jan 6, 2014)

I ended the season empty-handed--hunted NW GA and TN near Chattanooga. Here are my impressions based on hunting fairly pressured public areas.

1. I didn't see many large rubs, despite seeing lots of heavily traveled trails.
2. Didn't see much--if any--obvious rut activity.
3. Never saw a deer at all at dawn or dusk.
4. Feeding did not seem to be concentrated in forest areas--maybe due to shortage of mast?
5. Lot's of bedding in "travel transition areas."

I have no proof other than my guesses--but I'm wondering if there is a disproportionate number of does for bucks--and what bucks there are are mostly younger ones. Maybe there simply was no pressure on the buck population as it is for classic "rut pressure?" If true--then I'm a bit baffled by what seemed liked rules which "favored" taking bucks over does (most hunts I did were either sex last day only). 

This is my first season so don't be harsh if something I say seems totally absurd. ; )


----------



## Joe r (Jan 7, 2014)

It,s not easy,lol
if your like me when i started hunting you not no anything about it
best if you can fine somebody to hunt with that can give you afew tips and show you the ropes,,cause its not like on the t.v. huntin show,s and also it,s a bad time to start hunting in north ga. anyway with the deer pop. down
are you hunting from a tree stand are on the ground?


----------



## triggerpull (Jan 7, 2014)

Joe r said:


> It,s not easy,lol
> if your like me when i started hunting you not no anything about it
> best if you can fine somebody to hunt with that can give you afew tips and show you the ropes,,cause its not like on the t.v. huntin show,s and also it,s a bad time to start hunting in north ga. anyway with the deer pop. down
> are you hunting from a tree stand are on the ground?


I've done both stands and still and readily acknowledge that I'm doing beginner mistake stuff that is probably limiting my chances. And I always seek out and welcome any advice I can get. I do have experienced hunting buddies that have been tremendously helpful--though their schedules don't often allow us to be out at the same time. Although I didn't get anything--I did track and follow signs and see deer in the woods on about a third of my hunts--that in itself was great fun and very rewarding, but I was just never close enough to have a clear shot. I also saw lots of hogs sign, hogs and turkeys and wouldn't be surprised if they are pressuring deer too.

What I was looking for here in my OP is whether or not anyone who hunts in the area had similar observations or if they had a totally different take. In other words, I'm trying to put the bigger picture together to get a base of understanding for hunting in the areas I go to.


----------



## greatwhitebuffalo (Jan 7, 2014)

Yes. I've had similar results. Just keep at it and you'll make it happen eventually. I know this might not be what you really want to hear. But, it's the most truthful since it sounds like you're putting the right effort in. Patience, patience, patience.....


----------



## cliffdweller (Jan 7, 2014)

Truth is it was a tough year.  I shot 2 bucks and 2 coyotes and worked my butt off.  Probably hunted 20 days at least 5 hrs at a time.  Hunt the sign, but if you do get on a spot with a few deer, mark it down if there are does and hunt it hard.  Where there are does, there will be bucks.  But don't shoot unless you are ready to not see any more deer.  Because public land deer quickly figure out if they are being pressured.  To me best time of day to see deer is 9-11 a. m.  forget day break.  Next best time 5 p.m.  in my opinion.  Don't get discouraged, sometimes it takes the patience of Job to sit in those woods.  Just be still.


----------



## marathon (Jan 7, 2014)

"Fairly pressured public areas" says a lot about your situation. I've been hunting public land for over 30 years now and have learned a few tricks along the way. Just like anywhere else, you've got to go where few will go, you'll never find "that place" that no one's been before, but the farther off or deeper in you go the better your odds. As far as your observations:
#1 Didn't see many large rubs but heavily traveled trails. The older deer, especially bucks, on pressured areas know good and well when deer season kicks in. I am of the opinion only the young bucks are foolish enough to lay their sign out in the open for the camo army to see. Chances are there is a good buck or 2 traveling the area. Again, go deep, go thick.
#2 Didn't see much, if any rut activity. Where I've been hunting all these years you could pretty well count on seeing rutting activity and "Him" around Thanksgiving weekend, up untill the last couple of years for some reason. Last year saw no sign, other than small rubs, until mid December. This year didn't see much of anything til the very last day of the season (Jan 1) There's a good chance there may be 1 or 2 really good bucks in the area and the subordinate bucks know not to be messing with the ladies. On the other hand there could be way more does than bucks and the guys don't have to compete much if at all.
#3 Never saw a deer at dawn or dusk at all. Deer "pattern" us better than we pattern them. Remember we are in their home, they know when they have an intruder. A lot of the public land hunters are in the woods at dawn and dusk, deer adjust their movement accordingly.
#4 Feeding not concentrated to forest. Where I hunt mast crop sucked. Deer are gonna go where food is. Gotta learn what food sources are available in the area at certain times of the season. Find the food=find the does=found the bucks.
#5 Lots of bedding in travel transition areas. Yeah, they're good at that this time of year, especially at the edge of an opening. Hunting pressure has taught them to lay low til dark or well after light in order to keep from taking a dirt nap.
From what you've observed sounds like you got run of the mill public land hunting. It's tough going, but when you succeed, to me it's all the more satisfying. Another thing that may help for the future is the reduction of either/sex days. Since they upped # of "anterless" deer to 10 per season and increased either/sex days over the years my personal experience has been less and less deer seen each passing season. I feel like that increase led to the slaughter of way too many does on public land from "hunters" with the lack of trigger restraint. Back in 1995 when I killed the buck in my avatar, we had physical tags you had to attach to the deer when you killed one. The limit was 1 buck and 2 does, get this, we only had 1 either/sex day to get those does. Back then it was rare NOT to see deer most anytime I went to the woods. And yes it was public land. depends on how many days you hunted versus how many deer you saw this year. If you saw 10-20 deer in a year on public land consider yourself lucky. I usually hunt around 30 days out of the season and it's to the point for me now that if I see a handful of deer a year then it's been a good year. On public land you just gotta be at the right spot at the right time.


----------



## triggerpull (Jan 8, 2014)

Great response marathon--just what I was hoping to hear to help in the learning! Did I meet you at Zahnde once--you and your son had just bagged a nice buck and we talked a while? The guy I talked to (who had grown up in and hunted the area for decades) made a very similar observation about deer/hunters balance.


----------



## marathon (Jan 8, 2014)

triggerpull said:


> Great response marathon--just what I was hoping to hear to help in the learning! Did I meet you at Zahnde once--you and your son had just bagged a nice buck and we talked a while? The guy I talked to (who had grown up in and hunted the area for decades) made a very similar observation about deer/hunters balance.



Nah, wasn't me you talked to at Zahnde. Probably somebody else with just the same luck.


----------



## honeydoo (Mar 25, 2014)

*Worst season ever*

Hows that for an answer?

2013 had to be the absolute worst deer season I have experienced in 20 years. 14 full days in the field from well before sunrise to dark and I saw a fleeting glimpse of one deer.

I hunted Berry College, Allatoona, Paulding Forest, Pine Log, Cohutta & think one called Sheffield.

Very little sign anywhere. What really struck home was the at the sign in board at Allatoona it said something like 700 hunters and around 12 deer killed. That is pitiful. 

I guess next season I am going to have to go south as the opportunity in North Georgia is not good.


----------



## triggerpull (Mar 25, 2014)

It's very interesting to me--since I was completing my first season as a hunter I really didn't know what to compare to. I saw a fair amount of deer (about a third of my hunts) but it was always while I was stalking and/or walking through the woods. I never once saw a deer approach my stand or blind. I always hunted high-pressure public areas.

I don't know if the deer population is significantly down (I have heard that) or if they just were pressured into being primarily nocturnal. I did find many signs of transition travel corridors and temporary bedding spots so I'm assuming that they might be traveling significant distances to protected day-time beds to feed areas.


----------



## honeydoo (Mar 25, 2014)

I have no doubt that the deer on high pressured areas have gone nocturnal; however there was very little sign present in ideal areas with good thick cover, nearby water, and good food sources. 

I have friends in middle and south Georgia also who normally bagged anywhere from 5-8 in a good season and they got none and say very few as well. And those folks hunt over C'Mere Deer and Deer Cocain.

I have always been convinced that the current season is skewed and out of whack and is not in good alignment with the rut. It came in for bows Aug 15 and went out Dec 31 in the north zone.  And the bag limit is far too high.

We need to be good stewards of the land and that includes the game animals as well and when the season and bag limits are as such it promotes the stupid "if its brown its down" attitude.

Bring it in for bows sometime in October once it starts to cool off, and carry it through till around the middle of January to more closely align with our neighbor to the west (Alabama).

Lower the bag limit down to say 3 deer, one buck and two does. 

WMA still can do quota hunts.


----------



## triggerpull (Mar 25, 2014)

I'm not arguing whether you're right or not--but implicit in your bag limit assertion is that too many young deer are going down to sustain good proportions of mature adults--this may or may not be true--I think the very limited either sex days at least partially addresses this problem--if in fact it's really a problem, I don't know. I would like to see some hard numbers from the state before going down the path of substantial changes--which sometimes make no sense to me (like plugging my shotgun magazine this weekend for turkeys). I for one would argue that modern muzzleloaders are now so accurate and efficient out to substantial ranges they are no longer comparable to "true" primitive weapons. I also hunt with 6-shooter revolvers--which takes an significant amount of skill compared to even muzzleloaders and don't understand why they don't get at least equal billing as a "primitive" weapon. But I digress : )


----------

