Time to move out
Connecticut
Well guys after 3 weeks of seeing nothing on 7 sits and checking my cAms and getting nothing on them and I mean nothing for some reason all the deer have straight vanished off the property I'm just at a loss for words and sick about it. I have had deer on camera on the property consistently since January average of 75 pics on one camera and over 100 on another now nothing zero zip. I have no idea what happened did find out that the neighbor surveyed his property and put up stakes on the property lines but damn guys I'm sick to my stomach over this time to leave the spot and venture else where and start all over this sucks.
I've got the same thing goin on and I know I haven't pressured them cause I haven't hunted but cameras went blank
GRD I can't figure out what the hell happened I'm at a total loss on this one it just doesn't make any sense if it were a couple of days I would get it but 3 weeks just baffling I def know it's not pressure I'm the only one on the property that just vanished
How often do you hunt the same spot or check the cameras?
I was the same way this week I got 155 pics, still down from the 500-600 I was getting but now I have 4-5 does showing up and a couple small bucks but the big boys will follow the ladies.
I haven't hunted one of my best spots nothing , have about 3 does come in at night not 1 buck and no daylight photos this is a un hunted spot turkey are back and a yot a day this spot used to fill a 4 gig card 1200 photos and lots of big bucks I don't know just think there is better food some were else it always gets good in late dec and January , will have to see , lucky for me my zoo came alive 4 bucks tonight but the biggest one hasn't been there since sept 9 every other buck I have seen ? Just have to try something different .good luck heartshot
Treeman I only check my cams once every other week 1 one week and a different one the next as for hunting been in my ground blind 3 times all season and in the tree 4 times total since opener i can't figure it out. Rob it's been 3 weeks since my cameras have caught anything it's just bad bud
HS, I have one of my best spots with nada, took a walk around after the morning hunt, no acorns. My other spots have a good crop. Could this be what's going on in your spot?
Does your property connect to large woods? That was my issue they were feeding deep in the woods and not where I could hunt. But they will have to travel my route once acorns become harder to find or snow covers ground
Just relax, it's still the October lull, in a week and a half these animals will change their pattern again. No worries, its almost time. Patience is a hunters'friend.
hang in there bud...still a lot of food around..things will change soon..how big is the property ?
Property is 30 acres boarderd by an adjacent property of 65 acres on the east and pond on the west edge of the property on south side crosses a small river and has a small pocket of woods that goes up to a school and the rd to enter is on the north side deer come from the north in the late season sometimes in the late season but almost always from the east out of the other guys property I have permission from that land owner to retrieve deer as well as shoot just over the property lines and have the agreement he can do the same he only gun hunts and goes out maybe twice a yr I do not have permission to hunt his land but he has allowed me to put up a camera on his property and I've shared info with him on what is going on he really could care less like I said he goes out maybe 2-3 times a yr in the gun season I've had nothing on cameras at all now on the other side of the pond there r corn fields that have not been cut pond is probably 40 acres of pond and my only thought is that they have moved to the uncut corn it's all I can come up with but to see nothing at all man that's discouraging... Ps all acorns on both properties r already down so they gone
You can't learn to hunt just by reading about it, but since you're asking, here are a few thoughts:
Something changed. You have to figure out what it was, and what the deer are now doing in response to that change.
Ask yourself the question; Why were the deer there before? There are several possibilities, but the answer to that question is important.
Was there a food source, or maybe multiple food sources? For example if they were feeding on acorns, maybe they are gone now. Perhaps they were eating corn in a nearby field that has now been cut. Maybe your spot was bedding cover and their pattern has been interrupted, so they are bedding someplace else. Just seeing deer there is only the first step. Knowing why they are there (and when) will help you plan when they may be there again, or if they are gone for good, and help you plan how to hunt them.
Places where deer are usually fit into one of just a few catagories. It could be bedding or security cover, it could be a feeding area, or it could be a place that deer pass through (usually on their way to and from the bedding and feeding areas.
Feeding areas change frequently, and not always in consistent ways. Bedding areas are (usually) somewhat more consistent, BUT they do shift with what where and when the deer feed. You need to become something of a detective to figure these things out. Oh, and it's likely you will only have a theory or an idea, not definitive proof. So you'll be testing and retesting your theories and hoping to be right or at least lucky. Ask yourself things like: Did I used to see turkeys there along with the deer? Squirrels? Are they still there or have they left as well? This can be valuable because if there were turkeys before, and they are still there, then they are finding food, and feel safe there so that eliminates some possible answers.
All of these learnings, this knowledge, come with experience, you can learn a lot by walking the woods with an experienced woodsman, and asking questions and listening. If you have to go it alone realize that it will take time to learn, that's normal. The more time you put in, the better you get at it. After a while you won't even realize that you are asking yourself questions and analyzing data and observations. You will just be thinking things like: "this is a good spot for a Pre-rut stand in years with no white oak acorns when we have a west or south-west wind".
The sad truth is that you often won't know exactly why some spots suddenly go dead, but you can eventually know enough to make an informed decision if you should give up on a spot or hunt it differently or stick to your game plan.
Have you obtained maps and looked over the area from a big picture perspective? Something may have changed down the road or over the hill, Recent construction? New hunters in a spot? Bird hunters on a club nearby, etc?
Keep at it, observe, learn, take notes (that can REALLY help later). Enjoy the learning process, it's a huge part of the hunt. You can often (usually?) learn more on a hunt where you don't take a shot than on one when you do.
Of course, another huge factor to all of this is that we can only hunt properties that are either open public spots, or private with written permission. So if you research, observation and experience suggest a particular spot at a certain time but you don't have permission there, you are out of luck. That is exactly why you will see the experienced and consistently successful deer hunters have multiple plans and multiple properties. Hunting a good spot at the wrong time may just result in no deer sightings BUT hunting a good spot with the wrong wind may ruin a spot for quite a while.
I don't know you and so I'm speaking in general terms here, but I teach Bowhunter and Firearm Ed classes, so I talk to a lot of new hunters, Most of them think killing deer consistently is going to be a piece of cake. Why? Well, just watch any hunting show, all you do is sit in a tree and in a few minutes, sometimes between the first and the second commercial break a big buck walks by in the open in broad daylight. You shoot it, you recover it in the dark and hoot and holler a lot! Combine that with the fact that you see deer frequently when you are driving around, and people tell you: "come hunt my yard, they are here every day". The natural tendency is to think deer hunting is easy.
Hate to break the bad news to new hunters but: WHITETAIL DEER AREN'T EASY TO KILL! Oh sure, sometime we get lucky, and a young of the year of 1.5 year old buck are often curious and careless enough to wander in front of us despite the mistake we make, but a mature deer got that way because they are good at avoiding all the things that conspire to kill them, cars, coyotes, bobcats, bears and hunters. You will earn your deer, and trust me, eventually you won't want it any other way.
Don't look at time in a deer stand without any deer sightings as a waste of time, that is a beginner's mistake. First of all, be grateful to be out in nature and enjoy it, soak it in. You will have days you wish you could be out but work or family obligations take precedent. Secondly, think about what the woods and the deer, (or lack of deer) is teaching you. If your answer is "nothing", then you haven't learned enough, or asked the right questions. Nature always offers us things to learn, we have to be open to what she teaches.
Hope that helps some.
Enjoy the ride.
Ace I've been hunting for 27 yrs bud I appreciate the insight though I've killed my fair share of deer but this is the first time I've had this happen where they have vanished off the property all my yrs r as a bow hunter and only a few yrs with the gun it just wasn't challenging enough for me what is going on out on the property is this it's my uncles land I've hunted it for 7 yrs now and it has never had a droutght like this the deer have vanished like a fart in the wind one day there next day gone turkeys still coming through about every 2 or 3 days so acorns r still on the ground white oaks have stopped dropping about 2 weeks or so ago and reds also corn is still up about a half mile down the road on the other side of the pond which I can't get any closer to unfortunately there is also a smaller corn field about a half mile to the east the property is a cut through and they often feed at the school in the field late season to the south but nothing is coming through it's just dead out of nowhere man can't figure this out
NM no way to get closer bud he only owns seven acres into the pond so boat doesn't even work in that case lol I'm just stuck dude gonna have to go check out 2 of my public land spots on Sunday and get a stand site I've got 2-3 trees that I know have action just didn't wanna go that route but desperate times desperate measures bud
Good points ACE. That is exactly word for word what I was about to say.
I think you are over hunting the property. 7 hunts + camera check in 45 days has disrupted their pattern. That place smells like you now and they don't like what they smell. :>)
I was thinking same thing leave the place alone for a while prob till late season first 4 hunts pics and deer every sit then poof nothing state land here I come
You need a few places to go, so that you don't burn one out. I have never sat and not seen deer 7 times. Because after two, I go somewhere else and somewhere else for a while. Visit the "cold spot" a month later and guess what? Fresh droppings!
Thanks guys it just threw me for a loop never had that happen in the 7 yrs on the property other places yah but not there
all good points stated above bud..if you cant move closer to the food then stay out for a couple weeks.hopefully when the corn is down theyll move back in..
That's what I'm going with bud gonna stay off the property for a while
Sorry Heart, I thought you were new to hunting, I think I mixed you up with someone who was on another thread, no offense intended, just trying to offer some helpful advice.
Deer will make fools of us more times than we'd like to admit. Good luck, stick with it, it sure beats the alternatives.
Ace I totally appreciate it definitely didn't take it wrong sometimes we forget the things we learned over the yrs it was great to to read and remember the little things that have been forgotten that count. time to be like I used to instead of being lazy
Heartshot my luck just turned I can now start hunting . Couple decent deer showing up including this years new top hit lister .
Heart I had nothing for three weeks and before that I had two small bucks and does well today I checked and three rack bucks have showed but during the night
You're not alone. I hunt an 80 acre deer paradise. Water, swamp, pasture, Xmas trees, cedar grove, hard woods. Haven't seen a deer there this season. A few random cam pics. Land owner says she hasn't seen as many either. We'll see what nov brings.
Set up a stand yesterday on state land in one of my go to spots and finally saw a doe first deer in a month guys. Rob happy to see those two shooters finally came back for u. I remember the early season and aug pics of the first one. Going out to scout another piece of state land today. It's a buck spot and is deep so we will see. My uncles is dead no sign no nothing deer r gone gonna give it a rest till late season and try my state land spots I don't have a choice. GRD glad they showed up bud it gives u that confidence to get out there.. Buck n doe it suck brother I know been dealing with it and after 27 yrs hunting it's got me baffled but hey gotta go where the deer r
I have been having the same issue, very few deer and if they do come by its during the night, pics are usually 1 hour after sunset to an hour before sunrise. Most around mid-night. This is the samething that was happening to me last year about this time, all the deer turned nocturnal. Have yet to see a deer on stand in all my hunting spots.
Heart shot
I have had the exact thing happen to me ! three cams out for a month ! Nothing ! no good runs , scrapes or rubs ... gone like smoke !
