New York Southern Zone opener tomorrow!

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RCL

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Good luck to everyone heading out for the opener tomorrow!
I'll be heading down to the Tier early in the morning, going to try to make meat with the T/C Omega.
Stay safe and have a great hunt!
 
Six days later - How'd you do ?

We hunted our land near Dalton (Livingston County) and did poorly. In fact, we took 1 doe for the entire week.

  • Monday - Saw 8 deer, no shots. Had to walk to see them.
  • Tuesday - Saw 1 deer, a fawn.
  • Wednesday - Stayed home, out of the rain.
  • Thursday - Not gifted to even suggest hunting on Thanksgiving Day.
  • Friday - Beautiful day, 2" of fresh snow, should have seen a ton. Saw 1 deer, too far away and it looked small.
  • Saturday - Warm and windy saw nothing, quit at Noon.
  • Today - Raining and windy again, staying home.
  • Tomorrow - Back to work :(
 
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we're suckin' in 7R near watkins glenn. this is the worst season ever. we have not seen half the deer we saw last year. what's the deal? only 1 doe shot with a gun so far. we saw more deer durring bow season. we can't figure it out. maybe it's been too warm......i don't know. :confused:
 
Hang in There

The deer are there. We over here in 9P also saw A LOT more deer in bow season. I passed on two sixes and a fiver as well as a bunch of doe and am starting to regret it. QDM doesn't put meat on the table.

My theory is that there have been just enough hunters in the woods to get the deer nervous and out of their normal routine, but not enough to keep them moving. I would suggest letting the woods rest for a few days and then use a bow hunter's mentality. I like to still hunt with a gun but am going back to my stands until late next week. Once the pretenders give up the deer'll get back to normal.

Hang in there - It's not over yet!
 
Not seeing much either

I've been hunting 8N and 6N, didn't see anything up in Highmarket the whole day last Saturday. Seen only three small does total since opening day in 8N, no bucks at all. Not even vealison.

Has the rut started yet? I'm not seeing any rubs.
 
local news reported the other night that there are 30% less deer than last year. maybe they overdid the DMP's a bit.
 
Its tough out there 12-02-04 Update

The numbers might be down but I don't think it's by 30%. I saw many more deer during bow than last year and saw them all Summer long. I really think it's the warm, wet, windy weather that's keeping the rut in check and keeping us from seeing them. They blend so well this time of year that you have to be very aware to even see them. They aren't moving in daylight so you have to walk to bump them. Good luck getting a shot off because they see you WAY before you see them..

I took a vacation day today and hunted at my place in 9P. I didn't see a tail (still hunting) until 04:00 PM when three little ones came out into a field that I was watching from a tree stand (got in for the last hour). I don't shoot the little ones.

The rut seems to be picking up but ever so slowly. I saw several rubs and just 1 scrape that had been made since Saturday. It's obvious the bucks are there but I haven't seen one since the last day of bow season.

This will be a VERY slow year if we don't get a good snowy cold spell.
 
NYGG, I wasn't that far from you on opening day, hunting up on the back part of Rattlesnake. Lots of shooting all around me, but I only saw three, and they were moving fast after being spooked by some guys shotgun going "full auto". I haven't been able to get back down since, spent the last week in Pennsylvania, saw a couple of spikes but they aren't legal down there any more.
Got a couple of weeks off work now, I'll be heading down next week, hoping there's still some snow around.
 
Its getting better

RCL - When I left our camp yesterday there was about 3" of snow on the ground and it was about 36 degrees. The deer seemed to be moving and everyone (5 of us) at least saw deer. One of my partners shot what I believe to be a yearling 3 point and my 16 year old nephew missed a "nice" six or eight point. Its not supposed to stay cold so things may slow down again but based on yesterday's experience and contrary to current thought, there are deer in the woods.
 
I've seen deer in both 9A and 9W, but not nearly as many as last year. Took a doe in 9W, on the state land by Rushford lake. Last year at this time, everyone at camp had at least on tag filled. This year, three tags filled, all does. We did see a monster buck in the blow-downs, and wasted a day trying to get him to flush out for a shot. Like I said, we wasted that day, because none of us saw more than a deer butt, which always disappeared in a flash. I'm staying positive, though. Muzzleloader season is coming up, and with the lower pressure, I can change tactics a bit.
 
Here in Sullivan Co I've seen it coming - too many DMPs . The weather has been a facter too.If I don't get something in the next few days I'm going to be very cranky for the next 6 months.
 
9P isn't picking up a bit - but I still hold to the idea that there are plenty of deer around. We typically take 10-15 deer off our place every year. This year we have 2. The past couple of days were wet. We're supposed to get a big storm Monday and Tuesday so maybe things'll pick up next week for Muzzleloader season.
 
I Missed - Darn it ! DMU 9P Reporting In

Took yesterday off for some muzzle loading. There were fresh tracks all over our woods. On my AM hunt I ran into five deer in a field that runs along our south border. I glassed them for about 20 minutes, picked out the biggest one and then proceeded to miss it cleanly. My PM hunt found fresh deer tracks in my tracks left from the AM - figures. I saw a couple more but had no shots. We're going out [and brave the cold - 13F by afternoon] again tomorrow.

Anyone else having any luck?
 
Made meat with the Omega this AM. Shot a doe a 65 yards in the woods from a Summit Viper climber stand I borrowed from my uncle, who was in a ladder stand 20 yards away from me, and got to watch the whole thing. She went down like a sack of wet cement and kicked twice, and that was that. And to think, 2 minutes before I shot her I was on the radio complaining about what idiots we were for sitting out in this crap weather, and how we weren't going to see anything. :D
 
Lost One

My nephew and I went out on Sunday (yesterday) in what was supposed to be a couple of hours for a last gasp. I fully intended to watch most of the Bills game from my recliner. At about 11:00 we ran into two nice doe feeding in a field. I estimated the shot at about 180yds. I know that the kid can hit a target at that distance so I said go for it. The first three were too high as I could see the snow kicking up on the far side of the deer. I don't know why those deer held still for the fourth shot. On that one I saw the deer jump and hobble off into a hedgerow. My guess is that the shot was blown off by a wind gust and took a chunk out of its hind leg but did no real damage.

The chase was on. I decided to push it thinking that if it were hit good it may be bleeding from the femoral and bleed out. No such luck. After seeing where it jumped two creek beds at about 30 feet each - I kind of lost hope in it bleeding out. My nephew was really doing a great job at finding the blood trail and tracking. Since the deer was heading back toward our camp I let him go at it. After about 4 hours the deer took us right back to within a quarter mile of where we shot it and we lost any sign of blood in a thicket. By the end it was obvious the the deer was using 4 legs and really wasn't bleeding that badly.

It was 10F when we got back to camp but we were both overheated and soaked with sweat. The last mile was a walk back to camp in shin deep snow. I "out hiked" the 16 year old by 200 yards. On the down side I think he probably felt a lot better than I did this morning.

I'm thinking tomorrow afternoon (last day) for another last gasp.
 
Nothing yet........

I'm heading down to the Snake in the morning, hope to catch one laying in the afternoon sun on a southern slope.
 
New York Southern Zone closed today!

December 21st, 2004 - The last day of deer hunting in NYS Southern Zone and what a gorgeous, glorious day in the field.

My camp partner and I went out today and saw lots of tracks. I saw one deer but couldn't get a clear shot.

In archery I passed on three small bucks and more doe than I can count thinking that I'd get my usual medium sized doe with a gun. Not to be.

The season came and went in an instant. I loved every minute of it. There were days that I hiked until my leg cramps had cramps. There were days that I sat in a tree trying to stay awake. I saw deer almost every time out. I had shots that I didn't take. There were shots that I could've had if I'd been just a bit more alert or better positioned. There was one shot that I missed.

I was skunked for the season but I won't let anyone tell me that I was unsuccessful. After 35 years of this is it ain't about the gettin', its about the huntin'.

Merry Christmas everyone - 9P is checking out of this thread 'til next year.
 
Well said NYGunGuy........

My feelings exactly (including the part about getting skunked :D ).

A few observations......
The slight wind was really swirling around. Seems no matter which direction I was going it was hitting me in the back. :banghead:
You can hear that train from a long way off when it's quiet and you're on top of the mountain.
Lots of red squirrels up there, and they all like to talk about the guy in the orange hat and vest. :cuss:
Just past sundown, you could hear a lot of guys shooting there muzzleloaders off into the side of the hill, no sense keeping them loaded any more. :(

I've always said they call it huntin and not killin. It was a good season. :)
 
It was a slow season here. I lucked (and I mean *lucked*) into a big 8 pointer which I killed with my Taurus .44 mag. but all in all the deer sightings were few and far between with many hours on stand.

I went out last night too, and jumped one bedded deer early on, and two towards dark. It was nice to see the fresh tracks in the new snow and I just still-hunted around the property until dark.

It was dark enough when I shot my Optima into a dirt bank that sparks flew like fireworks. A fitting, quiet end to another season.

Merry Christmas to all. And Happy Holidays to the rest. ;)
 
Hey Joel,
I got that doe of mine behind Kolbow Farms on Hess road, down in Appleton. There's three fingers of woods that jut out from this big cornfield, and the third finger had late deer all season. Sure enough, about 8:45, out she came. We're butchering her tomorrow. Jerky time! :D
 
Good going Smokemaker, nice to see some guys got deer.
Think about getting some pepperoni sticks made up. Buddie of mine had some made, man are they good.

Merry Christmas Gentlemen :)
 
Smokemaker....

Hess Road you say? You're hunting right around the corner (literally) from my house. Good going on the doe, it's sure a nice way to close out the season.

We've always butchered our own deer but taken the stuff to grind to a local butcher. However, when my father-in-law passed away this year, we were given his (ancient) industrial strength meat grinder and started doing that ourselves too. Maybe I'm weird, but I really enjoy that end of the hunt.

A couple years back we had some hotdogs made (I think it was a place in Springville) and man, were they good. Wishin' I had some right now.

Drop me a PM if you want to get together and hunt rabbits with my birddogs sometime this winter -- it's a blast. More fast paced than hunting with beagles, but a ton of fun.

Joel
 
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