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Down again!

bthompson1004

Member
1,238
100
NWOhio!
I almost forgot to check my deer in sunday...guess i was used to leaving the field and going to check station...got home, called my dad to tell him I harvested a deer and he reminded me to check it in...I called the number and couldn't connect...online was much easier!

Lots of reasons why the harvest down from the weekend...hopefully its cuz less deer are being seen and not cuz more poaching.
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
I didn't hunt at all. Had zero desire to go...

For the first time in as long as I can remember, we were not in the Top-10 for harvest numbers in a given season. We killed 330 this year, which is 109 (25%) less than 2010. Just wait until you see our total season decline for Washington County and try telling me we don't have less deer to kill. Its long past getting old and just plain disgusting at this point...
 

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,720
248
Ohio
I will admit. I contributed to the death of a deer and helped kill a pair of coyotes. Early bow season- Allen county was down. Youth season- down. Gun week- Down. Bonus weekend- finally up! Now granted, we were only up something like 18 deer from last year, but we were up. In my area I will tell you the reason we were up for the bonus weekend is because there was a bunch of corn taken off between gun season and the bonus weekend. Plain in simple. Hate to give the ODNR more excuses, but I feel the amount of corn that came off had a big part in the reason why our county (and Auglaize county) was up for the bonus weekend. Oh yeah, and I killed one. haha
 

Gern186

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
10,171
201
NW Ohio Tundra
I didn't hunt at all. Had zero desire to go...

For the first time in as long as I can remember, we were not in the Top-10 for harvest numbers in a given season. We killed 330 this year, which is 109 (25%) less than 2010. Just wait until you see our total season decline for Washington County and try telling me we don't have less deer to kill. Its long past getting old and just plain disgusting at this point...


You have a buck tag in your pocket and have no desire to hunt......hmmmm. Where have all your bucks went? Did they all get killed in the first season or what?

Hard to believe someone like you that puts all this pre season effort into hunting would not be out there giving it all he had:smiley_chinrub:

Keep your head up man, the 2nd rut should be kicking in down your way right now. I saw several bucks in the last few days dogging does around here.
 
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bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
You have a buck tag in your pocket and have no desire to hunt......hmmmm. Where have all your bucks went? Did they all get killed in the first season or what?

Hard to believe someone like you that puts all this pre season effort into hunting would not be out there giving it all he had:smiley_chinrub:

Keep your head up man, the 2nd rut should be kicking in down your way right now. I saw several bucks in the last few days dogging does around here.

Pulled the cards on the cameras on Friday and have not seen a shooter on them for over a month. I had a grand total of 5 different deer in 6 days. I guess I'm just not a diehard like some of you guys. I can come up with other shit to do when my season is fully in the shitter...
 

JD Boyd

*Supporting Member*
3,173
0
Urbana
Pulled the cards on the cameras on Friday and have not seen a shooter on them for over a month. I had a grand total of 5 different deer in 6 days. I guess I'm just not a diehard like some of you guys. I can come up with other shit to do when my season is fully in the shitter...

Are you only hunting one place?
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Are you only hunting one place?

No. I got nothing going on right now regardless of where I turn and I'm not running around looking for new ground. I can kill ducks/geese from now until January 31st and that is my new priority. This will be the first year since 2005 that I have not killed a deer with a bow and only the second time in a decade. I may hunt Christmas day since the wife works, but I'm pretty much done unless the cameras show me something...
 

brock ratcliff

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
24,834
247
Honestly, Jesse, I'm the last guy to try talking you into hunting if you don't want to...but I gotta ask. Are your cameras on bait? If so, it hasn't been nasty enough to put decent bucks, or many other deer onto corn piles in great numbers yet. Really, if you are waiting for that its a good plan with nasty weather, but we don't have that yet. I don't know if that is where your cameras are or not, but from personal experience I can say cams can make a guy lazy. The thing to do (if you haven't already, and feel the inclination) is to scatter your cams over creek crossings, fence gaps, any pinch point deer use a lot if you want to see what's still alive. I know I have hung em over bait in the past and missed the big picture, just thought maybe you were doing the same. Too, if Moe is still alive, he should be settling back down real soon in the same areas you found him this summer. Just a thought.
 

epe

Senior Member
6,113
93
Lancaster
No. I got nothing going on right now regardless of where I turn and I'm not running around looking for new ground. I can kill ducks/geese from now until January 31st and that is my new priority. This will be the first year since 2005 that I have not killed a deer with a bow and only the second time in a decade. I may hunt Christmas day since the wife works, but I'm pretty much done unless the cameras show me something...

You obviously haven't waterfowl hunted a lot late season ;) with waterfowl hunting you will see lots of birds late, but a lot won't work from being shot at all year. I am seriously thinking about doing a lot of squirrel hunting. Deer are no where to be found. Tree rats everywhere, and fun to spot and stalk..
 

JD Boyd

*Supporting Member*
3,173
0
Urbana
No. I got nothing going on right now regardless of where I turn and I'm not running around looking for new ground. I can kill ducks/geese from now until January 31st and that is my new priority. This will be the first year since 2005 that I have not killed a deer with a bow and only the second time in a decade. I may hunt Christmas day since the wife works, but I'm pretty much done unless the cameras show me something...

I started seriously deer hunting in 99. I've gone three years in that span not killing a 140 + gross buck. And in the three years I didn't I hunted till seasons end. I felt depressed about it at the time but I never quit going after them. I sat many times then and still do now and don't see a deer. But I never quit going after them cause they sure wasn't gonna come to me...
 

jagermeister

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
18,060
223
Ohio
Honestly, Jesse, I'm the last guy to try talking you into hunting if you don't want to...but I gotta ask. Are your cameras on bait? If so, it hasn't been nasty enough to put decent bucks, or many other deer onto corn piles in great numbers yet. Really, if you are waiting for that its a good plan with nasty weather, but we don't have that yet. I don't know if that is where your cameras are or not, but from personal experience I can say cams can make a guy lazy. The thing to do (if you haven't already, and feel the inclination) is to scatter your cams over creek crossings, fence gaps, any pinch point deer use a lot if you want to see what's still alive. I know I have hung em over bait in the past and missed the big picture, just thought maybe you were doing the same. Too, if Moe is still alive, he should be settling back down real soon in the same areas you found him this summer. Just a thought.

I agree with this 100%. It's funny because I was telling my buddy at work the same exact thing today. He was telling me he wasn't getting any action at all over his corn pile in the past couple weeks... And this is at a property that is absolutely full of deer. Right now they are hanging out in a new-growth clearcut and have more natural food sources than they know what to do with. They have no reason to come to the corn yet.
 

JD Boyd

*Supporting Member*
3,173
0
Urbana
I agree with this 100%. It's funny because I was telling my buddy at work the same exact thing today. He was telling me he wasn't getting any action at all over his corn pile in the past couple weeks... And this is at a property that is absolutely full of deer. Right now they are hanging out in a new-growth clearcut and have more natural food sources than they know what to do with. They have no reason to come to the corn yet.

Grass is still green. Threw some grass seed in the yard a month or so ago and it could be mowed now... Turkeys still haven't hit the fields yet around here...
 

Buckslayer

*Supporting Member*
3,166
76
Jackson County
Increase in my county.....:smiley_chinrub:

Also deer are walking past the corn pile to go to turnips and honeysuckle...once snow is on and food is scarce you wont be able to keep em from the bait.
 
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Gern186

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
10,171
201
NW Ohio Tundra
No. I got nothing going on right now regardless of where I turn and I'm not running around looking for new ground. I can kill ducks/geese from now until January 31st and that is my new priority. This will be the first year since 2005 that I have not killed a deer with a bow and only the second time in a decade. I may hunt Christmas day since the wife works, but I'm pretty much done unless the cameras show me something...

Deer are very skiddish this time of year.....just because you don't have a picture of one don't mean shit dude. Like Brock said the weather hasn't been rough enough for them to come to bait yet, and a shooter buck is smart enough to avoid cameras if he wants to. Give it a short break and get your head back in the game by muzzleloader season, there's plenty of time left!
 

Schu72

Well-Known Member
3,864
113
Streetsboro
No. I got nothing going on right now regardless of where I turn and I'm not running around looking for new ground. I can kill ducks/geese from now until January 31st and that is my new priority. This will be the first year since 2005 that I have not killed a deer with a bow and only the second time in a decade. I may hunt Christmas day since the wife works, but I'm pretty much done unless the cameras show me something...

What happened with the property in Athens? I thought that sounded promising.
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Honestly, Jesse, I'm the last guy to try talking you into hunting if you don't want to...but I gotta ask. Are your cameras on bait? If so, it hasn't been nasty enough to put decent bucks, or many other deer onto corn piles in great numbers yet. Really, if you are waiting for that its a good plan with nasty weather, but we don't have that yet. I don't know if that is where your cameras are or not, but from personal experience I can say cams can make a guy lazy. The thing to do (if you haven't already, and feel the inclination) is to scatter your cams over creek crossings, fence gaps, any pinch point deer use a lot if you want to see what's still alive. I know I have hung em over bait in the past and missed the big picture, just thought maybe you were doing the same. Too, if Moe is still alive, he should be settling back down real soon in the same areas you found him this summer. Just a thought.

I have 4 cams I have been moving around every 7-10 days and 2 cams running over corn. The one cam has been in the same place since October and was the main place where Moe was showing up before he left. Same thing with Boss. The other 4 cams are being run on a main creek crossing, a fence jump, a fence gap, and along a main travel route. I'm still working just as hard at scouting on foot and with cameras as I was when the season started, but I'm not getting anything from it. The fact of the matter is at this point, I don't even want to hunt. I believe Moe is dead and if he is not, then I'd just assume keep the pressure off of him and wait for him to show me I am wrong. My freezer is full and I'm used to eating buck tags, so why continue to kill myself?!? If I was skilled enough to make this happen, it would have at some point in the past decade. Obviously I suck at what I love most and I don't have the fortitude to keep battling any more. I'm quitting while I am ahead because if I keep pushing and getting the same results, I'm afraid I'll hang it up for good...

What happened with the property in Athens? I thought that sounded promising.

I have not had a chance to go back. But I see it as a late season spot anyways, so until the standing corn around that place comes down and the weather turns nasty, I don't see any reason to go back just yet...
 

finelyshedded

You know what!!!
Supporting Member
31,855
260
SW Ohio
That just might be the ticket Jesse! I forgot about that place. All it takes is one encounter to relight that fire or possibly tag out on a bruiser. Just saying'!
 

DJK Frank 16

Senior Member
Supporting Member
9,358
133
Hardin County
Threw the shotgun in the truck on Sunday and met up with 7 or 8 buddies. We pushed what had to have been close to 500 acres of standing corn as well as at least that much woods in one day. Granted there were probably deer that didn't come out of the corn, but I seen 1 immature buck and one big doe. One 50 acre corn field had quite a few tracks, but the others didn't show much sign at all. When you cover that much ground and still aren't seeing deer, that makes you wonder.