my worst season ever
Connecticut
Hunted CT and Mass and sightings were way down . Curious how others did .
Hunted CT and Mass and sightings were way down . Curious how others did .
In over 30 years of bowhunting CT this has been my worst season ever as well. I keep saying that each year is getting worse.....and this year proves it. I hunted multiple state land spots, including new areas looking for better spots, and it was awful. I didn't even have a shot opportunity at anything and only saw deer twice on stand in over 17 sits. The state needs to start logging state areas to start producing a viable deer habitat, introduce a better predator control system and bring back a more reliable tagging system.
It was a slow season with the bow, with 0 shot opportunities. I got alot of nocturnal pics of quality bucks but never saw them in daylight. I did kill a buck on Thanksgiving morning and another with my smokepole last week. It does seem that deer numbers are way down everywhere I hunt.
Although I had a crappy season, I blame it more on lack of acorns in my area. I didn't see many deer, maybe 32 for 151+/- hours. But, one evening I saw 16 in the neighbor's food plot. So, the deer were there, just not feeding in the woods where I was hunting.
I wouldn't mind 1 deer for every 3 hours, but when you consider I saw 2-4 on multiple occasions, that means lots of outings with no sightings at all. I avg'd 3 hours per sit. And out of those 32 or so deer, only 4 were bucks...all during the firearms season. Never saw a buck with bow in hand.
I agree about the tagging system , I believe it’s been abused since 2009 . I had a few good days of deer sightings but generally not good .many issues that need to be addressed by the state .
I actually had a good season with lots of sightings, and did see way more does than last year. I've only have been out a handful of times when I didn't see deer. Ended up with two bucks and a doe all on different properties.
I do agree that they give out way to many tags. I would be fine with 2 bucks and 2 doe per season.
I managed 2 bucks one with the bow and one with the rifle. Sightings were way down. Doe sightings were low. I had some good mature buck pics but 90% nocturnal. Tough season for sure. State needs to do something with these ridiculous tag limits. I wouldn’t mind seeing a 3pt per side buck rule either. Give all the spikes and 4pts a chance. Too many brown it’s down guys.
I think sightings were way down for a lot of people this year, it was a really screwy season. Gypsy moths, low acorn crop, predators, hunting pressure, etc.
I hunted hard all year ....Sightings were down....I think that was due to the swirling winds we had almost the entire season.....I managed to shoot two bucks a spike and a decent 8 both on state land and in new spots I never hunted till this year ...passed up a couple young bucks early....my trail cams had a lot of activity at night so the deer are there ....The scouting begins now for next season... I don't believe rhe new tags have anything to do with numbers...people who don't tag deer didn't tag deer the old way ...your either a poacher or not a poacher the tagging system does not make you one
I only hunted hard for deer for a few weeks around Thanksgiving. I saw deer almost every time out and what made my season crappy was a few clean misses that should have produced a deer in my truck! I do believe that the number of deer in the areas that I hunt have increased a bit in the past few years.
Hunted exclusively in ri this yr pretty much stones throw from ct most properties actually but up to ct very tough slow season not one buck on camera mostly does and at night saw one 4 point during daylight hrs that’s it buck wise saw 15 does total until tonight saw 5 killed one tough yr no acorns weird weather and now extreme temps overall my worst season ever
I hunt 2 private areas that have been consistent with good deer numbers. Harvested a spike and doe this season. Missed a nice 8 pointer. Two deer are plenty for me. I agree that the state should be more aggressive managing the state forest habitat but that takes money and resources. There’s alot more involved in providing good deer habitat than just cutting down trees. The online tagging system does make it much easier for poaching. I wonder how game wardens feel about it?
I had a decent year in ct for seeing decent bucks , I took 2 decent bucks and a few does , I passed on alot of small bucks and fawns. in mass horrible passed some does never saw a good buck despite have alot of pics early. I Did harvest a large bear in mass tho
I can't complain about too few deer, but those warm spells, which I enjoyed, did curtail daytime deer movement. The cooler temperatures arrived too late into the rut,IMHO. I was happy to see that some others posted success with nice bucks.
Next up, ice fishing and snowshoeing.
So far, it's been a good year for sightings and trail cam pictures. Like Gene, I had a couple of epic failures that If I had connected would have made for an exceptional season. From what I can tell, I did have a bit of an increase in the number of deer where I hunt. I'll give it a few more sits before I hang it up, but I don't harbor any great expectations. I still have a piece of property that the landowner is insisting I take a couple of deer off, so That's where I'll be this week.
While this is far from scientific, it would seem from these posts that guys hunting state land aren't seeing much and guys on private land are seeing and passing on (and missing) shots. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's kind of what I've been saying; deer get hammered on state land that's marginal habitat at best so they relocate to private, with better habitat quality and limited exposure to hunters.
I agree that CT has very liberal tag allotments, but I disagree that guys are abusing the online tagging system. In the old days, I'd have to load up my deer and drive it 30-45 minutes away from my house to a check station. So why back in the day if I was willing to spend a couple hours of my time and gas $$$ to get my deer checked in, would I now all of a sudden abuse the online checking system? If hunters were willing to check deer in the old fashioned way, the current online system is more convenient and saves time and money.
Coyote numbers are up from 1 3yrs ago to 5 on one of my private spots..there were good doe numbers now down to 6..birthing season would seem promising with twins and triplets but by the time the season came around the last 2yrs 0 fawns..by chance i would visualy see a couple of decent bucks but most were nocturnal..
If guys are gonna cheat theyll do it no matter what..cut the tag allotment in half and maybe put x bows with rifle till season close...possibly a state sponsord dinner..lol
Doc, your analogy is a theory.....that's it. I've hunted state land my whole life. I've been bowhunting since 1985 - age 12. Up until about 6-7 years ago it was ALWAYS good.....ALWAYS. "Good" to me is seeing deer and multiple deer every time out, having multiple shot opportunities. State land is bordered by private land, all the way around......same habitat, usually the same or more pressure (hunters, poachers, hikers, etc.) Find me a piece of private that doesn't have a guy on it trying to kill a deer and I have a piece of beach front property in Arizona I'd like to sell you. :)
Yes, the habitat is mature forest. The state can very easily start logging everywhere like they did back in the 80's & 90's. It's a money maker for the state......but it makes really good deer habitat, and the state doesn't want that. No way, no How. And please, I know about the limited operations the state is doing for the rabbits......but we need it in all the state areas.
Tagging is a joke now. When you had a paper tag that you have to PUNCH and affix to a deer upon killing it, you have a sense of pride and fear (like SWK says). And when you look in your pack and see how many tags you have, you understand why it's important. I had this conversation with Howard years ago.....he said it costs money to produce a paper tag again. He said about $25,000 a year to produce. I said, charge us $1-$2 more on our price for tags......He looked at me like a "deer in the headlights". Lightbulb just wouldn't quite flicker.
It's not so much the way we report kills now, it's the data that the state is collecting using this method of online reporting and magical tags and NOT DOING ANYTHING to make our experience in the woods better by adjusting the limits to let us shoot less deer legally.
How can we make an impact and get some of these changes to at least be looked at in a different light with the state?
How many guys feel bad when they kill a doe these days? Does make the babies. And yet you'll hear it time and time again on here, "My season sucks, haven't seen $hit, first deer that comes by today is going down". WTF is that?? When in reality these guys could say, "My season sucks, how can I make it better for next year and the year after? I'm only going to shoot a nice buck or I'm going to pass everything.
Dilly Dilly...I couldn't have said it better Bloodtrail...It's so simple just follow the money and that is why we have the liberal bag limits...the State has accomplished over the last 10 - 12 years exactly what they were being paid to do by the big insurance companies All the ideas and logic we throw out here make too much sense
Love the cross bow dig already.....going to be a long off season
the state has been logging at places to make better habitat....at least in some of the areas I hunt
Agree with most , I shot one decent Buck this year but put a lot of time after him and his brother. I had maybe 2-3 ,4 other chances to shoot a deer all year passed up 2 small bucks early very small 6 and a spike and couple of does, to be honest I rather shot a doe for meat and l mean like one doe if I don't have an opportunity on a good buck i'm after. I did this 2 out of the last 4 seasons. The paper tags are good to go back to and just for a few years go MAYBE go to one buck and one doe only to see if we can get what we love to do to get a healthy heard back all over in CT. Seems like there are lot more hunters now Everyone getting permission to hunt on small parcels maybe backing up to good piece of woods everyone trying to lure them out . I don't know but I do know its not like what it use to be.
BT said it best, but as usually I have to add my 2 cents.
Where Doc is wrong with his unscientific post is that deer from the NW corner don't go to FF county and live on private land. They're DEAD! GONE! Predators and over hunting on state land is what happened. And Doc, do you really think that the deer on state land in NW all l moved to private land in the NW corner? They must be standing shoulder to shoulder if that's true, based upon the huge tracts of state land in the NW corner that would be tens of thousands of deer!
I've been bow hunting since 1975 and I would see 20+ deer a day while on stand back then, whether I was hunting the MDC property near Colebrook River Lake, Tunxis or several sections Housatonic, and all of these areas were, and still are, mature hardwood forests.
I only got out a few times this year. My usual spots were bare compared to years past, a real surprise after several mild winters. A new spot is promising, thanks to one of the guys on this site for providing a tip, so looking forward to next season.
I always enjoy my time in the woods, but the herd is not better today after several mild winters then it was 5-6 years ago when we had deep snow, so it's not the weather that's hurting the herd in the NW corner, it's tag limits and predators. Would love to see bucks only on state land and with a minimum antler size as well. I asked for that several years ago, but the DEP said the herd was healthy,......now they say it's not.
This year (2018) will be different for me. I'll be retired and spending a lot more time in the woods, so really looking forward to scouting and finding those hard to find pockets.
Pretty much a mirror image this year and last year for me. Saw almost an identical amount of deer. I would consider the year above average but not great. I did get one with the bow and ended an archery drought of a few years, so bow specific it was better than last year. Hunted all big woods areas in the NW corner. Killed one with a bow, one with firearm. Also passed on other opportunities with both implements.
Oh yeah, saw a ton more turkey this year than in past years for whatever reason. Watched four giant toms walk right under my stand at the end of September only to get home and realize that the archery turkey season was open and I did have tags. Still kicking myself over that one. For some reason I thought the fall season didn't open until October.
Does anyone know the statewide totals for 2017 yet and how they compared over the last few years? That would probably give a little better big picture indicator than anecdotal reports. Town by Town comparison in the NW would also be interesting.
Bloodtrail, your definition of “good”, “seeing deer and multiple deer every time out, having multiple shot opportunities” is not deer hunting and abundances you equate with “good” are not sustainable. Heck, it sounds like you are describing going duck hunting, not deer hunting, and even duck hunters don’t have opportunities as you describe every time out. As I have said, and will say again having grown up in central MA and only 2 years your junior, CT deer hunters have been spoiled rotten for far too long and can’t handle having to work for their 3 deer/year. Statements like this make that perfectly clear. CT has had such liberal tag limits for so long because the population could sustain that increased take because there are so many friggin deer around. And you are right, it is only in the past 6 or 7 years that we have seen a decrease in abundances and resulting decrease in take.
Yes, you are correct, state land is bordered by private land. But that is not the only private land in the state. DEEP reports that the state forest system is 170,000 acres (http://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?a=2697&q=322868&deepNav_GID=1631). Do you know how many acres are in Connecticut? 3.562 million acres. That means that huntable state land comprises about 5% of the state (170,000/3,562,000 = 5%). So even if deer were evenly distributed across the state that would mean 95% of them are on private land. Let’s add 40,000 deer hunters pressuring that 5% of the state with less than ideal habitat, and I would venture a guess that more like 97-98% of deer in CT can be found on private land. It’s just that nature of land ownership in CT. If you want more public land to hunt, you’ll have to head west to AK, ID, UT, AZ, NV, WY, where the vast majority of land is public (https://www.nrcm.org/documents/publiclandownership.pdf). Otherwise, you are going to have to knock on doors. I’ll bet you can find a piece to hunt, lots of guys do. The “beach in AZ” is just an excuse to not to make that effort.
In the old tagging system, what prevented guys from tagging their deer and not punching the tag? Chances are they would get home without getting checked and could reuse the tag. This sense of fear from not punching a tag, give me a break. As Notme said, cheaters are going to cheat no matter what. To blame the tagging system is ridiculous. Honest guys are going to be honest regardless of how they tagging system works, now we just don’t have to spend time and gas checking them in. Adding $1 or 2 to cover the cost of the punch tags would be a logistical nightmare as those funds are just dumped into the State general fund. Howard was probably processing how to institute your suggestion given the state system, and needless to say while it seems simple to you, it’s not so simple on the back end.
“It's not so much the way we report kills now, it's the data that the state is collecting using this method of online reporting and magical tags and NOT DOING ANYTHING to make our experience in the woods better by adjusting the limits to let us shoot less deer legally.”
If hunters blame DEEP for inaction and want a better experience in the woods by having the DEEP adjust “the limits to let us shoot less deer legally,” why not just shoot fewer deer? Why do hunters need DEEP to mandate they shoot fewer deer? Why can they not just take it upon themselves?
Crossbows were allowed to permit guys to legally and more efficiently hunt in tight spots in Zones 11 and 12, where it is tough to get 500’ away from anywhere.
I like the new tagging system....you can log in and look back at all the deer you tagged over the years....it is pretty neat....
If you hunt state land, you aren't going to see the numbers that guys who hunt private land see. I hunt public land exclusively and it's the pressure of so much human traffic that sent my sightings down this year. Good long season, not much to complain about as far as I'm concerned, and no, I didn't get a deer this season. Guess what, it's no one's fault but my own.
Last time I checked, the total harvest numbers for the state didn't look that different from last year, yet it seems that a lot of people are saying they had a sucky season. I had a couple of close encounters this season but no decent shot opportunity where I could take an ethical shot, so I will be eating paper tags this winter. Can't say it was a "bad" season though. I made a few new friends, got to spend time outside with some old friends. Discovered a couple new hunting spots and learned a few new things about some of the older places I have hunted. Learned more about the deer I hunt and tried to cherish each time out as if it might be my last. God willing, I hope to do it again next season.
Northeast corner, all state land. Had a few year "vacation" from CT, and a few new, and several "old" spots were as good or better than in the past for me. Saw more deer in that area than I did in the past overall. I was pleasantly surprised.
Ended up not killing a deer in CT, but it wasnt the deer's fault, it was mine (shot over the back of a nice buck, passed a small buck and didnt shoot several does that just seemed unwilling to offer a shot I liked the looks of). I'm excited for September.
The state has clearly stated they want a reduced deerherd. It has been moving in that direction for years. I would like to see hunt opportunities for bear and bobcat to make up for the reduced hunt opportunities of deer. There is a drastic diffrence if your hunting state vs private. If you own a 10 + acre lot there is no comparison. Beteen landowner, and all implements its ridiculous the number of tags but its also your land and you pay taxes on it so i say its reasonable. Your could harvest all the deer on your lot jn one season but what are you left with? Forces you to manage your land. The realisty is its just not fair if your hunting state vs pvt land but all of life is not fair.
I had an average to above average year for deer sightings. Lots of small bucks around this year. I only saw 1 big buck but that happens. I did not see a lot of big does but the other guys saw quite a few.
Bloodtrail,
"Find me a piece of private that doesn't have a guy on it trying to kill a deer and I have a piece of beach front property in Arizona I'd like to sell you. :)"
"The state can very easily start logging everywhere like they did back in the 80's & 90's. It's a money maker for the state......but it makes really good deer habitat, and the state doesn't want that. No way, no How. "
Regarding occupied private property, that just isn't so. I've traveled numerous back roads between Danbury , New Milford, Newtown and Waterbury that have potential for great deer hunting and owners will not allow hunting, for various reasons. I've always wished the DEEP would inform the public, in an aggressive fashion, that hunting is their primary means of deer population control, and encourage land owners to let hunters in.
The DEEP has opened logging in the Naugatuck State Forest and the bow only area off of RT34. Problem for me with that was that it was during early bow season. I have noticed more deer on some private land I hunted. I didn't get one, but that's another story.
If you have evidence of people abusing the tagging system, not rumor, but evidence, show it to the authorities and let us all read about it. You talk about hunters being their own worst enemy, well unsubstantiated accusations against hunters in general fits that description, IMHO.
The majority of deer on state land are accustomed to forays into nearby private land for tasty lawns and shrubs.
Wild Bill. Thanks for input. My statement regarding people killing deer on private land had nothing to do with it being legal. Almost without fail, when I have had access to private land I have found evidence of people trying to kill deer. Also on land that is not open to hunting that adjoins private or state....I've found the same. So deer are being "hunted/poached" in most areas. I'm sure others have seen the same scenario played out.
Logging to create habitat suitable for fawning and food sources is something the deer managers of this state are not looking to do.
When I have had the privilege to hunt private land, it was always better than state land. Bigger deer, more deer and easier to hunt.
I am not privy to the abusers of our wonderful online reporting and tissue paper tags.....but I can say with confidence that once that deer gets in your truck without a punched tag on it, there's a pretty good chance it doesn't get reported online by the lazy or inept or just plain cheats. Do the lower harvest numbers we've seen reported over the last 4-5 years warrant less deer killed/smaller herd or less deer reported killed? It's a valid question. So I can also ask, if the numbers are low, why isn't the state adjusting our tag allotment to keep a stable herd rather than keep seeing it decline? Or....do they know what we assume, lots more deer are being killed and not reported (whatever the reason) and our herd health is a lot smaller than what we've enjoyed? I don't know the answer.
I do know that for certain, my enjoyment of being in the woods in archery season for deer has decreased immensely over the last decade. It absolutely stinks watching the leaves for a morning or afternoon time and time again. Maybe I'll get another chance to hunt some private land this fall and the world will be great again. Or maybe I'll find another honey hole on state land that holds a big buck...until then I'd like to get involved with the state and figure out how to make all our time in the deer woods with a bow improve. After all, our future with bow hunting rests on all our shoulders.
Harvest numbers are declining from incredibly and unsustainably high densities from 10 years ago. DEEP is reducing tags in certain zones of concern. As long as DEEP continues their aerial surveys where they are counting 30-40 uncorrected deer/square mile, don't expect a change in tagging anytime soon. There are plenty of deer out there, they've just been educated and avoid the areas they've been hammered for decades. The rabbit clearcuts on many state lands will benefit many other species including deer.
DEEP Forestry Division is in charge of managing state lands, not the Wildlife Division. The state foresters are mostly of retirement age and are not being replaced. Voice your concern to your legislators and support DEEP Forestry for state lands management.
My trailcams had great seasons. Two October does (one state land the other private), passed on a few small bucks early, December limited hunting with low movement.
Smoothie - how have you been? Feel like I didnt "see" you on here as much this year... Just hoping all is ok.
If you want to improve the deer habitat where you hunt try hinge cutting this spring. I just spent the last hour reading about it due to boredom and to avoid shoveling. Google it.
They need to go back to punch tags for all deer hunting. Cost is not the issue, Ct has many options for low cost printing ie: tech schools that have printing programs and the corrections dept. to start . Just another case of DEEP and mismanaged funds. They look the other way with the abuse of the current printable tags and acknowledge the lack of reporting.
the deer in my area were feeding on a hinge blow down tree, so smooth is correct, great natural attractant, just don't do it on state land :)
I’m hunting zone 11, and yes the overall deer population is down considerably from 10 years. I’ve also noticed the coyote population is down significantly in my zone. I put in over 50 days on stand and my doe and fawn sightings were the highest I’ve seen. Most sightings had does with 2 fawns. My subjective conclusion is that fawn mortality was very low this year. Saw plenty of young bucks and a fair but lower amount of mature (4-5) yo bucks. It was my most successful season but primarily because of excellent private land locations. I typically hang 15-20 trail cams starting in late sept to Jan and tote pics were few and far between. Doe and fawn pics very high and buck pics avg.
I think Ridgerunner nailed the current state of things. I think deer population in general is down from a decade ago, but I also think that the past mild winters and banner acorn years is giving the current deer population a bit of a boost. Generally seeing more deer around this year and the reports of does with 2 fawns seems just about right.
Saw one a few weeks back with triplets. She’s down to twins now. As much we all like the big antlers these are the best for eating in my opinion. Seems like numbers were up a little this year from what I saw.
2017 harvest numbers in attachment do not include December. Not sure what year they allocate January to. Total harvest looking similar to last season but obviously some parts of the state did better than others this year
January take is included in the previous year's totals. So Jan 2018 counts for the 2017 season. Looks like harvest will be higher than 2016 once Dec and Jan take are added in. And 2.5 month 2017 totals already exceed all 4.5 months of the 2015 season.
How did Bridgeport have no bow and one shotgun/rifle? Where was that harvest?
Off hallet st..lol. lots of shots fired there
Killed deer in Bridgeport was an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire between local gang and WB ...
