every year I forget a key thing about deer hunting

[Jason_W]

Sounds like you bore easily.

Well, if sitting still in one spot for up to 10 hours doing absolutely nothing isn't the very definition of boring, I don't know what is.

I suppose my inclination to not be lazy is actually a detriment while deer hunting

 

[sixgunner455]

still hunting is a much better fit than stand hunting for a lot of people.

 

[Jason_W]

It's going to take me a while to perfect that technique. The woods here are very noisy and treacherous. also, I've noticed a weird phenomenon on cold days where the ground moisture freezes and spouts out of the ground in what could be best described as miniature ice stalagmites. Those are LOUD when you step on them.

As I said earlier, I am really enjoying partridge hunting again now that I found a place with lots of them. I few weeks back I must have covered five miles of abandoned logging road. It was a great day out and I even bagged two birds.

 

[SchekRN]

Fellow Vermonter

Grew up hunting Hudson River Valley in NY. Took for granted the number of deer and doe permits aplenty. Been hunting bucks only in northwest Vermont for 15+ years and have killed one buck..... a nice 8 pointer. This'll be my first year out with a muzzleloader and I won an antlerless permit in the lottery. My biggest challenge has been finding quality places to hunt. But, I do love early morning in the woods, as the woods come to life. It keeps me coming back, along with the hope of some venison in the freezer. Rifle season ended tonight. I've seen a few does and a spike buck, which is never legal except youth weekend.

 

[TheCracker]

I've hunted 20 seasons now and I've never seen a legal deer.

Also, I have the wrong personality for it. To me, sitting still in one spot for hours on end is an arcane form of torture on par with bamboo shoots under the fingernails.

What!? Seems like you should review your methods. 20 years and not seeing a legal deer is crazy. About like like the bamboo shoots crazy.

 

[Jason_W]

What!? Seems like you should review your methods. 20 years and not seeing a legal deer is crazy. About like like the bamboo shoots crazy.

It's a different ballgame up here. We have a much lower deer population than you southern guys (I've heard you have almost as many deer as squirrels) and the kinds of deer we're allowed to shoot are far more limited.

Here in maine, during the general firearms season only bucks with one antler at least 3 inches in length are fair game. A relatively few number of doe permits for the gun and muzzle loader season are issued via lottery drawing.

In Vermont, where I grew up and did most of my hunting between the ages of 10 and 28, there are antler restrictions and only three pointers or better are legal. Does are off limits during the rifle season and a small handful of permits are issued by lottery during the ML season.

Additionally, cheats such as baiting and the use of salt lick are illegal. Most of the guys I know who take deer fairly regularly own a nice piece of land that they've worked to make attractive to deer (food plots, etc.). Hunting public land is tough in northern New England as most of it the post-apocalyptic leavings of large logging operations.

I remember once doing extensive pre-season scouting and finding tons of deer sign and the perfect spot. On opening morning, I saw a group consisting of nearly a dozen deer, all does. That's just my bad luck, I guess.

 

[Jason_W]

Grew up hunting Hudson River Valley in NY. Took for granted the number of deer and doe permits aplenty. Been hunting bucks only in northwest Vermont for 15+ years and have killed one buck..... a nice 8 pointer. This'll be my first year out with a muzzleloader and I won an antlerless permit in the lottery. My biggest challenge has been finding quality places to hunt. But, I do love early morning in the woods, as the woods come to life. It keeps me coming back, along with the hope of some venison in the freezer. Rifle season ended tonight. I've seen a few does and a spike buck, which is never legal except youth weekend.

This guy gets how tough it is up here

 

[Yarddog]

What are you hunting downtown Los Angeles? Seriously where are you hunting?

Aint That the truth ; )
Y/D