This year/season was horrible

[john in jax]

Drought all year.

Bow season was hot and DRY, so dry that large ponds dried up and creeks/ditches that usually have 4-6 feet of running water were completely dry. Places that were eat up with tracks and gamein previous years were all but deserted.

Blackpowder offered more of the same.

Gun season has been worse, windy, raining, and we had one cold weekend, but This weekend, the last weekend of our Deer/Gun season it's supposed to windy, with a 50% chance of afternoon thunderstorms because the temperature's are going to be running up towards 80*.

A muggy 80*, windy January 5th with a 50% chance of thunderstorms . . . pretty much describes this hunting season.

[Trapp]

You need to change your tactics, use the weather to your advantage.

Rain? No problem, the better to fool your quarry's senses with. That is the perfect time to stalk around and jump a buck. They can't hear you or smell you.

Wind? They can't smell you, and easily mistake your sounds for the wind. Despite what people believe, deer move in bad weather.

Dry hot and muggy? Yep, that makes it harder, but once you have isolated the food and bedding spot, get out that much earlier, and stay until shooting hours are over. Set up your ambush where they will be while you can still shoot. Don't hunt over the food or bedding, go somewhere in the middle. They will be there (not all of the time) during shooting hours.

Scout, Scout, Scout, even if it means giving up a few hunting days...Scouting finds deer.

I could have had 4 deer and a hog this season so far (COULD= not paying attention and spooking them before I see 'em!!!). I still have over a month left (almost 2). Come on over to the northwest region, they have some good hunting here!

Sounds like, if you would have found their water source, you would have found the deer.

[john in jax]

I'm hunting in 12 Mile Swamp WMA there are a couple of ponds holding water, and hunters are practically sitting on top of each other around them. Just a little too crowded for me.

Standard tree farm, only place to slip quietly through is a few cypress ponds and the ocassional bottom. Last year I saw lots of sign slipping through the woods and actually snuck up on a few hogs, but this year sign and game seems scarce, and snakes seem plentiful.

I'm trying, just hard to get excited when you sweat more hunting than doing yardwork.

[SD_Chop]

i know how you feel, today was closing day in Va and it was wet, windy and 75 deg!! thats such bull. Saw 2 shadows of deer before sunrise and that was it. That property rarely EVER not sees deer. Sometimes 30 a day in grounps of 9. I was

[CK1]

But did you have fun?

[SD_Chop]

yes CK, sure did

[jhgreasemonkey]

Washington state had a crappy year also. Apparently we have lost thousands of mule deer to forest fire, disease, preditors, etc. The population is decreasing steadily. Even though we are only allowed 1 deer per season and in the area i hunt its 3 pt or better only (for you east coasters thats 3 points per side min.) The success rate was really low and has been for several years. The black deer population is also doing poorly on the west side of the state. But apparently the white tails are doing okay on the east side but arent found on public land abundantly like they used to be. Many have become acustomed to living on private land farms where the food is plentiful. Regardless of what fish and wildlife says about great hunting oportunities, talk to hunters who hunt public lands to get the real story.

[springmom]

Can you take off a day or two in the middle of the week to hunt? The forest we hunt is a WMA and midweek is a good time to have the place more to yourself. You might be able to hunt one of those waterholes on a Wednesday morning more than on a weekend.

They have to be there SOMEWHERE. Sounds like a good time to still hunt after you've scouted where they're bedding.

Good luck. BTDT and have a drawer full of tee shirts.

Springmom