Just about done.

[Jackalope]

Sorry this is longwinded and I’ll try to keep the whining to a minimum.. But I’m just about sick of deer hunting. Not wanting to shoot does only leaves bucks to pursue. Which is fun and has provided me many years of awesome excitement and time afield. However this season has been a disappointment at every turn, with the majority of them out of my control…


Heading in to the season I knew it was going to be tough due to the crop rotation and the properties I have being all beans.. No problem, adapt and overcome. I started running 4 cams in June when the bucks antlers were only inches. I watched them grow through the weekly checks and set about figuring out where they were staying. I was pleased to see that all three bucks I had on cam last year had made it another season with only one being wounded.. Awesome! I was excited and looking forward to what the season had in store. The crops came off early, the weather changed to cold, and I was amped to get in a stand.


Opening day. After not seeing a soul on this property besides myself last season I was surprised opening day to find another guy hunting. A quick talk to verify his permission found out he indeed had permission. So did his buddy. He had three younger kids he would be hunting with sometimes, and his buddy has a teenager. The property which is a 90/10 mix of wood to field was now quite crowded. Not to mention the farmer started putting in a irrigation sprinkler the week before season. No problem, I have neighboring farms.


One the neighboring place due to a miscommunication with a landowner the property boundaries were wrong and a mineral site that had been there for 5 years was about 20 feet over the line on the landowners sons property.. Only the sons FIL hunts it and he’s quite the dick IMO. The son really doesn’t hunt or care.. The FIL placed a note on my cam over a slat block that he wanted to put a stand there and that whoever I was I didn’t have permission. After realizing the line mistake even though it was his father the neighboring owner who told us wrong originally I moved my stand. This is the best spot and has produced many pics of very big deer over the past two summers. So he comes in, hangs a ladder stand right over the mineral site and uses a chainsaw to cut 3 lanes wide enough to drive a truck though.. Idiot..


The dad had actually sold his property next to the son but I secured permission from the new landowner. It is also about a 90/10 mix of fields and woods.. The new owner kicked the other hunters out leaving only me. Sweet! Well the other guys waited until the week before the rut to ride their quads in the woods to remove all of their stands. And the farmer sprayed ammonia on the fields the same week. So there goes that spot for a while.


JD talked to the old landowner and secured me permission on a parcel he has across the road from his house.. It’s only about 15 acres that is a mix between cattle pasture, old overgrown pasture, and a gravel pit. Half is the landowner and half is someone else. This could be my diamond in the ruff. I started baiting there heavily to pack the does in in hopes that come rut a big boy would cruise through. All was perfect. I had gotten pics of some very nice bucks doing doe inventory prior to the rut. At this point I was dumping almost 100 pounds a week and had been for two months. A week before my vacation three teenagers who had permission on the neighbor decided on a day of target practice and clays in the gravel pit.. Spot 4 blown..


During vacation I bump in to the FIL and one of the landowners driving around in their truck on the other place. Just driving through the fields looking at the woods.. The landowner gives me permission which I could tell the FIL in the passenger seat was not too pleased about. Screw him. It’s like 500 acres of PRIME hunting.. There is hope after all… I was going in blind without ever running cams in there and basing everything off aerial photos. I only got in a couple hunts before gun.. Opening day of gun produces the FIL driving around the private gravel roads traversing the property in a truck with flowmasters and shooting at deer. Yep.. Driving around shooting at deer. Illegal as hell but what can you do.


I move back to the neighboring place. And now the lime spreader is there zooming up and down the fields.. Screw it. I’ll just site here.. Last Saturday I see another truck hunting there.. I wanted to make sure it wasn’t the guys who had been kicked out. It wasn’t and the guy had permission although it had been 5 years since he hunted there. Three week before gun I put a half a truckload of pumpkins out there for later as a late season tactic. Talking to the guy he told me that the week before gun he and his buddy rode their quad back there to trim trees for their climbers during gun.. He said he jumped a monster that was about 190 inches.. I showed him a pic of tank and he was adamant it was him. So after all the planning, work, time and money Tank finally shows back up only to have some boob bust him out on his quad a week before gun.


Oh.. And the 15 acres across the road that was the diamond in the ruff.. Two guys were driving it Tuesday morning.
I say all of that to say this.. I’m done.. I realize that’s hunting, I realize you have to hunt around people. And sometimes that’s how it goes. But here’s the issue. I’m tired of it. I’m tired of putting in the time, scouting, shed hunting, running cams, drooping 100 bucks a month on corn, hanging stands, moving stands, and doing all that 4 months before season. Only to have some couch jockey get off his ass the week before season and go fuck it up. Or the ones who start hunting when “Gun Law” comes in as he called it.. I’m tired of dealing with people who have every right to be there but hunt like a 2 year old. It might not be so bad if I hunted does. But due to the population I choose not to. Which leaves me with only bucks, and I’m not about to shoot one short of his potential.


I can’t help but wonder if there are things that are more fun I could be doing with my time and money. One of two things will happen next season.. I will locate a property by knocking on doors where I have sole permission. Or I might lease a place so I can have sole permission.. I don’t want to kick anyone off by leasing . So after I make my rounds all summer if I fail to secure permission I will take one of my “no” properties and go back with checkbook in hand. I never thought I would pay good money to hunt a place. They way I have always looked at it is Im paying YYY dollars to shoot a buck. I don’t look at it that way anymore.. I think it’s more securing my time and money investment from lazy bob and his band of merry amateurs screwing it up.. It’s either that or I’m selling everything and finding something better to do with my time..


I love hunting, I am absolutely ate up with it.. I am however sick of people who put in no time or effort screwing it up..

 

[rgecko23]

Joe, im tellin ya. Its not a bad idea. I have thought about it TOO. Just a place all to myself where noone else can go and I can do with it how I please and not have every tom dick and harry in there busting stuff out or what not.

 

[epe]

Taking it too serious man...I now only have two places to hunt and both have a- hole hunters.. When we had the lease, I ran cams, feeders out the ass, and food plots.. It took up a ton of time and consumed me...I am enjoying hunting more now.

 

[cotty16]

I just had this conversation with my dad last night. I experience what you do at the hunting club I belong, but it's nothing new to me and it's expected.
The private property I hunt I have sole permission, but the landowners (who do not hunt) are all over the place. They walk, jog, run bulldozers and chainsaws. It's their property and they can do what they want, so I can't complain, but it does run the deer out as it is not a very big place.

So, we talked about trying to find a lease for us. I'm not sure if it will come to fruition, but it is something I'm going to try to do if the price is right.
I'd LOVE to buy my own place, but there is no way that will happen right now.

Good luck, man. I feel your pain!

 

[at1010]

Taking it too serious man...I now only have two places to hunt and both have a- hole hunters.. When we had the lease, I ran cams, feeders out the ass, and food plots.. It took up a ton of time and consumed me...I am enjoying hunting more now.

short, sweet, and to the point!

On my place I think I spend as much time check cams, filling batteries, running feeders, thinking about fooplots then I do hunting!

Sometimes its fun to just say FUGG IT and go sit in a stand, and see what happens!

 

[cotty16]

short, sweet, and to the point!

On my place I think I spend as much time check cams, filling batteries, running feeders, thinking about fooplots then I do hunting!

Sometimes its fun to just say FUGG IT and go sit in a stand, and see what happens!

Good point... I was more succesful that way.

 

[Jackalope]

short, sweet, and to the point!

On my place I think I spend as much time check cams, filling batteries, running feeders, thinking about fooplots then I do hunting!

Sometimes its fun to just say FUGG IT and go sit in a stand, and see what happens!

Taking it too serious man...I now only have two places to hunt and both have a- hole hunters.. When we had the lease, I ran cams, feeders out the ass, and food plots.. It took up a ton of time and consumed me... I am enjoying hunting more now.

That was my point.. I basically do this now.. Starting 4 months before season... The work is fun to me, I absolutely love it.. What I don't love is doing it only to have a barrel of monkeys screw it up. I love running cams almost more than hunting itself. To me 99% of the fun of hunting is the pursuit, the prep, and the planning. Except after all the work, a week before season, I get the added bonus of that prep work being washed down the drain. The work doesn't bother me and I find it the most fun of all.. It's the people who screw it up being boneheads that torques me off to no end. I guess what I'm saying is I take my hunting quite seriously, almost to the point of being an obsessive fanatic.. And I love it, never bothers me and I have a great time.. You're right, I take it very serious. But that's not what's making it not fun... What takes the fun out of it for me is people who don't take it serious and screw it up. They don't have any plans, they never put an ounce of thought into it, they just set down their beer and say "I think I'll go ride my quad in those woods and hang a stand because next week is "gun law". I see leasing a place as a way to get away from those people. Then I can continue on my happy way of being borderline psychotic with my love of hunting.. lol

 

[bowhunter1023]

I'm gonna be honest with you because I know you would be with me. My personal opinion is that you've painted yourself in to a corner with this whole "potential" thing. I don't remember that every being an issue in Vinton County and IMHO, it is and will take the fun out of hunting. I know you are on some prime ground and I know you've been provided a new perspective on "potential". But it is foolish to pass 150" deer any where, for any reason IMO and that sure as hell would take the fun out of hunting for me. I have no idea if you've passed on deer in that category this year or not, but I know you will eventually pass deer that you would have gladly killed elsewhere if this mentality persists. To me, that makes sense if you controlled a ton of ground and you made your living off the back of the "potential" those deer held. Or if you had a wall full of 150's. However none of these are true and pardon the pun, but you are just an average Joe bowhunting some great ground. Sure you could kill a buck worthy of the front of NAW. Sure if you shoot a 150, you can't kill a 190. But if you restrict yourself with unrealistic parameters heavily influenced by things outside of your control, you'll never kill anything and it will make you hate what you used to love.

I also think you are being a little quick to discount these properties and to give up on the season. Those couch jockeys won't be out there in January when it is brutal cold and the bucks are back on their feet. And those big deer are used to humans, so these encounters are not going to force them to dig a hole somewhere only to never return. Take some time off. Set some realistic goals. Have fun again. And get back to basics. The late season is a great time to hunt and you know this. It ain't over yet and the fat lady isn't even in the ball park...

 

[at1010]

That was my point.. I basically do this now.. Starting 4 months before season... The work is fun to me, I absolutely love it.. What I don't love is doing it only to have a barrel of monkeys screw it up. I love running cams almost more than hunting itself. to me 99% of the fun of hunting is the pursuit, the prep, and the planning. Except after all the work a week before season I get the added bonus of Mr. "let me put down my beer and go hunting". Or they show up and hang ladder stands everywhere the week before gun. 5 months of prep work washed down the drain because of one lazy bonehead.

I hear ya man, I honestly hate gun season in Ohio no going to get into that, but just keep at it, only takes a second to change your season!

 

[CJD3]

Ya know Joe, Over the years, I have found my attitude runs in cycles. (really its more like spikes)
Weekend warriors and slobs seem to run in cycles TOO.

 

[Kaiser878]

I feel your pain Joe...I know the game, I know the saga.. Time effort and money are not disposable..This is why I get so irritated, this is why I despise many other hunters.. All it takes is one dickwad to ruin a piece of ground...Unfortunately this is the growing reality....This is why leasing is getting big... Even then, you lease ground, then all you do is deal with the dickwads sneaking in and still messing things up....Its goes right back to the issue of ZERO accountability.... I often sit back and think to myself, "is it even worth it?"

 

[jagermeister]

I'm gonna be honest with you because I know you would be with me. My personal opinion is that you've painted yourself in to a corner with this whole "potential" thing. I don't remember that every being an issue in Vinton County and IMHO, it is and will take the fun out of hunting. I know you are on some prime ground and I know you've been provided a new perspective on "potential". But it is foolish to pass 150" deer any where, for any reason IMO and that sure as hell would take the fun out of hunting for me. I have no idea if you've passed on deer in that category this year or not, but I know you will eventually pass deer that you would have gladly killed elsewhere if this mentality persists. To me, that makes sense if you controlled a ton of ground and you made your living off the back of the "potential" those deer held. Or if you had a wall full of 150's. However none of these are true and pardon the pun, but you are just an average Joe bowhunting some great ground. Sure you could kill a buck worthy of the front of NAW. Sure if you shoot a 150, you can't kill a 190. But if you restrict yourself with unrealistic parameters heavily influenced by things outside of your control, you'll never kill anything and it will make you hate what you used to love.

I also think you are being a little quick to discount these properties and to give up on the season. Those couch jockeys won't be out there in January when it is brutal cold and the bucks are back on their feet. And those big deer are used to humans, so these encounters are not going to force them to dig a hole somewhere only to never return. Take some time off. Set some realistic goals. Have fun again. And get back to basics. The late season is a great time to hunt and you know this. It ain't over yet and the fat lady isn't even in the ball park...

You hit on pretty every single thing that was going through my head when reading Joe's post. Well said.

Joe, there's 2 months of bow season left to go buddy. Now is certainly not the time to give up on properties. The deer may change their patterns, but they'll still be there. Here's the thing... only the diehards stick it out and bowhunt 'till the end... they weekender wing-wangs call it quits well before that. If you stick it out, I think it'll pay off for you.

And I know you're frustrated... I know having others screw up your hunts is not cool... But you need to just put things into perspective and find a way to enjoy yourself more out there. Don't put the pressure on yourself to kill big deer just because they are there. If it happens, great... If not, who gives a chit. Sitting in a tree is still better than sitting at a desk, man.

 

[Beentown]

Your not the only one Joe. Hope it turns around for you soon. I haven't seen a deer on stand in a LONG time. I haven't even been able to draw on one the entire season... I guess I have had two wide open opportunites to kill the same 6 point basket. Maybe I should just to remember the feeling.

Time, money, results VS. enjoyment/reward

I don't ask to kill a slunger. I just wanna see some deer and be able to provide some meat that the family enjoys. Not as down about it as last year but sadly I think it is because I don't care as much. I find myself logging in here less because even talking about deer is depressing.

 

[Lundy]

You will be faced with similar issues even if you find a lease, maybe not to the same degree but you will still face challenges.

Most of us could never purchase or lease a property large enough to have complete control over the deer.

I have a large tract of land that I have exclusive hunting rights to. The problem is the deer don't seem to understand the property lines very well. They don't understand that if they would just stay on the property that the chances of them being killed is minisclue.

We have many of the largest sections of woods on the property off limits all fall, we never venture into them. It does provide a sanctuary of sorts but they are not all always smart enough to understand it.

I run a bunch of cameras all year and get to know the deer really well. When I watch the drives on the adjoining properties I know many of my resident deer are being hammered. When I watch a group of does or any buck cross the property lines during the gun seasons I know I will hear a shot(s) any second and most of the time I do.

I know I have a great setup that anybody would like to have, I get it and I really do understand what I have and appreciate it. However even in this great situation there are some issues that bother me that I just can't control no matter how much time, energy and money I invest.

I know it sounds like I'm whining when I have little to whine about, but the reality is that unless you control HUGE areas of property you still will have stuff to deal with that you don't like.

 

[bowhunter1023]

But you need to just put things into perspective and find a way to enjoy yourself more out there. Don't put the pressure on yourself to kill big deer just because they are there. If it happens, great... If not, who gives a chit. Sitting in a tree is still better than sitting at a desk, man.

Amen to that as well. If you remember, I was ready to give up bowhunting all together last year as the pressure to succeed and the constant failure were beginning to feel insurmountable. I took a long, hard look at things this spring/summer and realized that I bowhunt because I love to be in the woods. I run cameras and put out feed because I love getting pictures. I do a lot of what I do so I can share it here and I wanted to get back to having fun doing those things. I managed to remove the monkey from my back before actually doing that on November 5th. My entire bowhunting career took a turn for the better that day and it would not have been possible without a completely revamped attitude toward my biggest passion in life. Sometimes you need to recalibrate and it sounds like you are due for one...

 

[Milo]

Joe we talked some about this the other night and i think i agree with most of your ideas but i think you could appreciate the chase a little more...I know i do and how bitter sweet the end really is. i there now and it sucks. i have one more deer to get and that's it for me. for so many years i have hunted up to the bitter end, eatin' tags at times and others not...I love it though and i KNOW FOR A FACT it makes me a better hunter...i feel like i'm going a bit mountaineer with this post but there is some validity in it. i love figuring things out and that's probably why i do what i do. i think there are a lot of things out there left to teach you and feel you will be missing out on that opportunity if you don't stick it out and finish what your started.

 

[Jackalope]

I'm gonna be honest with you because I know you would be with me. My personal opinion is that you've painted yourself in to a corner with this whole "potential" thing. I don't remember that every being an issue in Vinton County and IMHO, it is and will take the fun out of hunting. I know you are on some prime ground and I know you've been provided a new perspective on "potential". But it is foolish to pass 150" deer any where, for any reason IMO and that sure as hell would take the fun out of hunting for me. I have no idea if you've passed on deer in that category this year or not, but I know you will eventually pass deer that you would have gladly killed elsewhere if this mentality persists. To me, that makes sense if you controlled a ton of ground and you made your living off the back of the "potential" those deer held. Or if you had a wall full of 150's. However none of these are true and pardon the pun, but you are just an average Joe bowhunting some great ground. Sure you could kill a buck worthy of the front of NAW. Sure if you shoot a 150, you can't kill a 190. But if you restrict yourself with unrealistic parameters heavily influenced by things outside of your control, you'll never kill anything and it will make you hate what you used to love.

I also think you are being a little quick to discount these properties and to give up on the season. Those couch jockeys won't be out there in January when it is brutal cold and the bucks are back on their feet. And those big deer are used to humans, so these encounters are not going to force them to dig a hole somewhere only to never return. Take some time off. Set some realistic goals. Have fun again. And get back to basics. The late season is a great time to hunt and you know this. It ain't over yet and the fat lady isn't even in the ball park...

That's the thing guys. Don't get me wrong. Not shooting deer has never bothered me. I don't judge my season by what's at the taxi. I can go 4-5 years at a time and not loose an arrow at a buck if need be and it will not bother me at all. That is if I'm seeing deer. I don't have to kill them to see the season as a success. To me having that 140 with potential in range and letting him walk is just as much a success as killing him.. Now that doesn't fill the wall or make for pretty pictures. But I know I was successful, and I get the bonus of pursuing him again next season when he's bigger and potentially a shooter. But the key is I need to be seeing them.. Seems every time I get close this year some other bozo pulls a bonehead move.

Potential is quite important to me. Always has been. Even in VC. I never really have a set minimum score.. If I think a 150 might be a 170 next year he'll walk.. If I think he'll never make much more then I'll shoot him. And I did the same in VC. I had shots on deer there every year that in retrospect I should have shot. Solid 130 deer. They were not at their physical potential, but were probably at their life expectancy for that area. The problem I had there, and the reason I didn't fill a tag for 4 years was because I was letting deer pass that odds are were not going to make it another season. I failed to understand that 99% of those 3 year old would not see 4.. The jump between 2 and 3 is usually a nice difference in antler growth. I would pass on a 3 year old hoping he would make it to 4.. But the odds of him making 4 was slim to none. Of all the time I hunted there I think I saw one 4yo from the stand. As you said I " restrict yourself with unrealistic parameters heavily influenced by things outside of your control"

Where I'm hunting now it's different. Deer can make it to 4, 5, and even 6.. The Tall and wide 10's are both four years old. I passed the Tall one last season when he was three years old and about 135, in hopes of him being a slammer 10 this year.. He didn't produce. He put on about 5 inches total of G4's and some mass making him about 145 this year.. I would shoot him at 145. No questions asked. It doesn't matter if he lives to be 6, he'll never put on more than 15 inches. I can't say that with certainty. But I am certain he will never make booner. So shooting him as a 145 4 year old, or 155 5 year old doesn't matter to me. No real reason to let him walk another year.


And you're right. I'm not giving up. There is plenty of hunting left and you better believe ole Joe has a trick or two left up his sleeve. I'm just talking about next season.

 

[Gern186]

Those big mature deer most likely just hunker down when all the dipshits are trudging around. Those mature deer have been exposed to that kind of activity longer than all the other deer around, think about it...The chances of the careless hunter or weekend warrior tagging one of the brutes in your area is really quite slim.

I feel your pain Joe, what you experienced this year is commonplace every year up here where I live.

The first morning of gun season I got to my spot to sit, a place where I had carefully bowhunted all fall without seeing a single person, when in pulled a S-10 truck with Tennessee license plates....the guy got out and introduced himself to me as Eddie..... Johnny's (landowners son) cousin from Tennesee....

I said hello, he said, im going back yonder over there to sit....and my other cousin is sitting on the other side of the creek....

FUCK! ruined my plans for the day that's for sure. So much for the patterning I did of a really nice buck....these guys were telling me they were going to sit right where I have been hunting all fall and where I planned to be that day.

What could I do? Nothing really, just smiled and told him good luck and went to one of my other stands.

 

[Dannmann801]

I understand all the pain, really I do.
But unless you own a butt-ton of land, this is just the reality.

I'm just gonna think out loud here for a second -

Got booted off my main hunting property a couple years ago 1 week before opener. Had to scramble for new place to hunt. Still had a good year.

Last nite heard that one of the owners is gonna have to auction a farm I have access to - great place - I'm gonna lose that spot and option. Ouch But it's even worse for him, losing the family farm. My problems are insignificant compared.

One guy I hunt on is 90 yrs old. When he goes, so does the property. Ouch. But I learned a ton while I was there and thank God for the opportunity to have been there.

You guys who dutifully run cameras and gather all this intel on bucks and watch them grow - that's amazing in itself.

Anything can change at anytime unless you own the land or have a lease contract. If you've just got permission, any investment of time or money you put in a property is a huge gamble.

Hunting drama sucks.

Anything can change at anytime.

Landowners are fickle.

Deer are fickle.

We don't own the deer. And generally don't own the land. And even if we own the land, we don't own the deer.

Everyone has the right to hunt. Here's hoping they do it right.

Gawd I love deer hunting.

I think alot of guys get wrapped up in unrealistic expectations.

Deer hunting should relax you, not make your head want to explode.

Don't worry, be happy.

I need to invest some time hunting yotes and crows.
but yotes and crows ain't venison.

If I see a single deer in a day, I ain't been skunked. Means I was in the right place. I mean it - if I go undetected seeing deer, that's a rush. the closer the better.

Deer hunting is not automatic.
You guys who consistently see or have shot big deer are damned lucky.

We don't "deserve" deer. Deer is a privilege.

Count your blessings if you wanna be a happy hunter.

Killing coyotes will take the edge off.

shit, just lost my train of thought....sorry...what was my point?

 

[Dannmann801]

fuggin 7 guys posted while I was dawdling around with my post....fugg <embarrassed smiley>