Is anybody hunting?

[Shadowhntr]

That is discouraging isnt it Chris? Its even worse when you are the first one there early, go in to hunt, see nothing, and come out to see 2 other trucks parked right next to yours on the same 80-100 acres....

[cap4382]

Yeah, that's the kind of hunter I'm trying not be! Guess I'm gonna have to look into a lease or something. My uncle's place is crap, every time i hunt there i end up feeling like i just wasted the day.
The allure of deer hunting might be more enticing for us newbies if we actually saw live deer. Just saying

[Jamesh76]

the trick to public here is hunt it during the week and before the 2nd week of november. After that.....too many people. Where we live, there isn't any other public around so every Joco and Wyco hunter hunts it

[Shadowhntr]

I'll agree with that James, especially the part about November. But on private ground, there is not those worries in most cases. On private ground, it was nothing for me to kill deer, and letting deer walk by was easy, because I might have 20 deer that give me a shot opportunity in a single hunt. On public its not like that, and though they are killable, its nowhere the same as having good private ground. Ive experienced both worlds, and Im sick of the public. Do able, its just a constant fight and adjustments.

[Captainkirk]

Amen...

[Ole Dave]

Yeah, that's the kind of hunter I'm trying not be! Guess I'm gonna have to look into a lease or something. My uncle's place is crap, every time i hunt there i end up feeling like i just wasted the day.
The allure of deer hunting might be more enticing for us newbies if we actually saw live deer. Just saying

I've thought a lot about this. What is the lure to young hunters period when they get up early, sit in less then favorable weather for endless hours to see nothing, do nothing? No wonder they take their I-phone along and play games and aren't ready IF...

I've said elsewhere here that I applaud those who say they just are happy to be OUT there..good on them. I'm not one of them---anymore. Older I get the harder it is to get up at dead dark 30, get where I have to drive for an hour or so, then hump the hills to maybe see a couple chicadees walk upside down on a tree trunk (always get a kick outa that though) or a few squirrels like this year and not one flag or deer...

I've heard that one should learn to pattern OTHER HUNTERS on public land and then figure out where their presence moves the deer to and hunt there! Uh-huh... and where I hunted that amounts to watching them leave the public ground for neighboring private posted ground... PA had tons of small acreage public "game lands"

Besides...I find it rude to scout while others are hunting and possibly messing up THEIR day's hunt for my own learning. Doing scouting at other then hunting times doesn't tell you how or where hunters use that land, does it?

I'm not well heeled financially, so the lease thing is not very realistic and moving to a new area and being retired, meeting sportsman without shops to hang out at (only gun shops here are pawn shops and no bow shops) is nearly impossible...just luck!

I wish you all the greatest of luck... We finally got some rain last night... perhaps enough to quell some of the fires! But then I'm left with my own dilemma of driving a good ways to take a weapon for a walk in totally unfamiliar territory "scouting" while some poor schmuck is out there his one or 2 days to hunt and I mess him up...

Do I write off another year at 68 & wait to scout till season closes so at least I know where deer WERE, or do I go out and risk messing up another's hunt???

[cap4382]

Guys, don't get me wrong, i absolutely treasure every minute i can get out in the woods. I have to. With 2 young ones, 8 and 2 years old, and a night shift nurse, it's all i can do to get out maybe once a week, if I'm lucky.
I've had some good experiences this year, I've seen a few deer waaaay out of range and on adjacent properties, and getting spooked by a bobcat got my blood pressure up, quickly. Learned a lot and I'm not done yet this year.
Like James said, we don't really have that much public land around here and according to Kansas wildlife department, 97% of Kansas is private ground so it seems almost like a "pay to play" situation here, at least to me.
I can still do o-dark 30 now, but it's looking less and less appealing.
This sport has one of the steepest learning curves I've seen. I think I've read every article and book i can find on the subject and it all boils down to luck, IMO. Sure, put yourself in the right spot and your chances of getting lucky go waaay up, trouble is that right spot is awfully hard to find when your learning as you go and probably spooking everything away (except squirrels, those tree rats are annoying) and when you do find the spot, it's already spoken for.
Sorry for the rant guys, just getting frustrated with the whole thing.

[Captainkirk]

Good questions, Dave.
Maybe you could get in on a "group lease" with a couple of like-minded guys willing to share resources? Easier said than done, I know!
I am seriously considering packing up next year and making the 10 hour drive north to the cabin I showed here earlier, if it would be OK with my relatives...yeah, a lot of driving, out of state fees, transporting meat, etc BUT...to have the whole area to myself and sharing a deer camp experience with a few others (not sure who yet?) might be a nice alternative to public hunting. I enjoyed my state park experience immensely last year, but to have to wait until the end of October to find out IF you drew a permit is ludicrous...and wastes the best hunting month of the year.
I would probably have to get a new vehicle to make it happen, but I'm still considering it. Or going with a like-minded individual(s) who has a decent truck. My ol' Dodge with 240k wouldn't quite be up to the adventure.
At 68 you have a decade up on me. If I were you, I wouldn't be as concerned about other hunters as I would be wondering when my last hunt would be? You (like many of us!) are finding new aches and pains (and difficulties) with each passing year so as long as you are respectful and considerate of others, I would say hunt when and where you can. You never know when your body will tell you in no uncertain terms "Enough!"
Just my two cents (and worth every penny!)

[Captainkirk]

Sorry for the rant guys, just getting frustrated with the whole thing.

Your complaints are not falling on deaf ears, Chris. I am also getting very frustrated with the current PHL situation and I'm looking to make some changes. It's just not like the old days any more; so much public sentiment and disapproval against hunting of ANY kind these days. People have forgotten where they came from, and how to survive using their own skills and talents. We've become a "gimme" society of outstretched hands, completely dependent on on the Almighty Dollar and those that hand them out. We frown upon those who look to the Gov't for handouts, health care and free phones yet we've become enslaved to the dollar for our own existence...and those who have them. No longer can a man make his existence with hard work, sweat and determination. And that government has taken control of one of the last few bastions of freedom and independence; our bounty of wild game and the verdant forest lands they live on.
It's pay-to-play now, big time.

[Ole Dave]

Good questions, Dave.
Maybe you could get in on a "group lease" with a couple of like-minded guys willing to share resources? Easier said than done, I know!
I am seriously considering packing up next year and making the 10 hour drive north to the cabin I showed hear earlier, if it would be OK with my relatives...yeah, a lot of driving, out of state fees, transporting meat, etc BUT...to have the whole area to myself and sharing a deer camp experience with a few others (not sure who yet?) might be a nice alternative to public hunting. I enjoyed my state park experience immensely last year, but to have to wait until the end of October to find out IF you drew a permit is ludicrous...and wastes the best hunting month of the year.
I would probably have to get a new vehicle to make it happen, but I'm still considering it. Or going with a like-minded individual(s) who has a decent truck. My ol' Dodge with 240k wouldn't quite be up to the adventure.
At 68 you have a decade up on me. If I were you, I wouldn't be as concerned about other hunters as I would be wondering when my last hunt would be? You (like many of us!) are finding new aches and pains (and difficulties) with each passing year so as long as you are respectful and considerate of others, I would say hunt when and where you can. You never know when your body will tell you in no uncertain terms "Enough!"
Just my two cents (and worth every penny!)

Good stuff, Kirk. The part about "like minded individuals" hasn't happened...people I know and meet aren't hunters...those that are, hide it... seems to be a lot of independent sorts hereabouts.

As for the rest, my days are limited with the cess pool (er, genepool) I was handed... artificial knee, bad shoulders, hips, etc...Uncle Arthy is raising hell in me body and won't go home...

Still, that doesn't give me an excuse to go muck up someone else's day if they too are relegated to public domain.

Hunting alone isn't what it once was to me ...no camaraderie, no sharing stories on the drive to and from and nobody who knows or gives a flip where you are if you don't come home...or even know IF you came home... just not the same anymore...

Things change... Were I to meet some boys with a lease near enough to go back and forth, or digs where one can bunk, I'd consider seeing if the budget could stretch to do it...dang skippy. Them what have the land, pay the taxes and then others (us) come and enjoy prowling about should help them defray some of their costs. One big land owner / farmer family some distance west of here leases out all their farms...the ole boy I talked to of hte clan said, "Simpler. No longer have responsibility for any of it and if they do things we say NOT, we can break the lease and arrest their arse! Can't beat thos cold hard facts!

I like your idea...but we had lots of camps in northern tier of PA... then people got older who started them and started bringing nephews, Son in laws and the mix got pretty dicey...some even had a line in the floor where one group expected you after a year as a "guest" to pick a side!

Camps can be great! Until they are not!