I've been keeping a detailed one for 9 years now, and I do often refer to past journals to see what did and didn't work at different times of the year in different spots. It helps me from not wasting time and getting a bigger picture on what I can expect certain times of the season and what were the most productive strategies given similar environmental factors to the current season. And if for nothing else it is nice to go back a reminisce on past hunts and other events and adventures out there.
In 2017 deer season I hunted 38 days, did 60 sits, spent 176.5 hours on stand, saw 49 deer, and killed 3. Of the deer seen 17 of them were bucks, and most of them were within bow range. I only averaged 2.94 hours per sit, and saw a deer for every 3.6 hours hunted. All my hunting was done in northern litchfield county. Although I spent significantly less time hunting as previous years, my success on deer sightings and opportunities were above my personal average. There may be something to be said about that.
The acorn crop sucked this year in my area, but the fruit trees and green fields were very productive. I hunted lots of transition areas and funnels focusing more on bedding than feeding this season, and it worked really well. I hunted 50/50 state and private land until the rut, then I focused strictly on private. Had 8 cameras out running which did nothing more than tell me which bucks were still alive when. The cameras really do a great job of saving the lives of smaller decent bucks.
I hope the winter isn't too hard on the deer with the lack of acorn mast for that fat layer, I've made the decision to hold off on scouting or shed hunting this winter to ease up the pressure on the already pressured deer. Instead, I hope to get out and do some habitat improvement, and predator hunting.
Good luck all in 2018!! May you and your families all have a good year and good health. Cant wait until mid september!!!!
Gun season: .30/06 & 12ga. , Deer seen: 8 (4 bucks, 2 doe fawns, 2 unknown) , Shots: 1 (1 buck killed/rifle) , 10 sits – 3.7 hrs per sit. , Hours: 37 , 1 deer for every 4.6 hrs ,
Muzzleloader: Deer seen: 1 (1 doe fawn) , Shots: 1 (1 doe fawn killed) , Hours: 9 , 3 Sits – 3 hrs. per sit., 1 deer for every 9 hrs. ,
NO ACORNS. 100% private land this season. No sightings of fox, coyote, fisher, coon or anything else. I did see a swan fly over one day. Not many squirrels or other rodents in the woods. One of the doe fawns during firearms season was a piebald. That was cool to see. I shot the buck while watching her.
