Does anyone else have this problem?

[mlamm24]

What Swamp_Bucks said.....find a new hunter and mentor them. I had a buddy start huting this year and it was an awesome roller coaster ride. From tuning his bow, hanging stands, positioning trail cams.......we had a blast. 

 

[nywaw]

Sounds like you just aren't hunting the right areas.  Motivation comes from hunting where you have confidence deer are.  Once that confidence is gone it's impossible to sit there and have any level of anticipation or excitement (IMHO).  The solution is to scout or as @Buckmaster7600 said to still hunt as you scout and find more sign.  Once you locate sign, try to figure out how the deer are using the area and set up to hunt them whether on the ground or in a tree.

Keys:

1. Hunt where you know the deer are, not where you think they are.  Sign tells the tale, find it and hunt it.
2. Find A to B movement.  A = food, B = bedding throughout the season for does and when non-rutting bucks are looking to feed.  A = doe bedding, B = doe bedding when it comes to hunting bucks in the rut, they care less about food and more about going from doe bedding to doe bedding trying to find them
3. Plan your entrances and exits carefully.  You can find the best sign in the world, but if you can't get in and out cleanly without alerting deer, you'll get a couple of hunts there before the deer and sign disappear.  Use terrain to your advantage to mask your movement in and out.  Avoid crossing deer trails as much as possible, as deer will come across your scent later and know you've been there.
4. Hunt the right conditions.  Hunt the wind based on how deer move A to B and don't compromise on it.  Again once deer know you're there, they will change their patterns and areas of use and that sign will disappear.

Good luck, stick with it!  I really think you've lost motivation because your success has been limited.  Proper scouting and setup will get you on the right track!

[Robhuntandfish]

I am so over the early bow season.....

On our property it's the same every year, too warm and you are just watching does with fawns every afternoon that I won't shoot.  

That being said I am filling that time with a new adventure into waterfowl Hunting and some late season fishing next year.   

Not picking the bow up til very late October and concentrating on the 2 weeks of xbow and the first week of gun.  This way I don't feel burnt out.  This year I only had 24 hunts and it was actually refreshing.  

I am planning to be out when the action is the best and not feel I have to be out there to be out there. And really looking forward to trying some waterfowl hunting and missing those all day... Lol. But it should be fun.  

I'm self shortening my own deer season to make it more enjoyable and trying a new venture.   I also enjoy the work all spring and summer for prepping for deer hunting as much as the hunting.  

Looking forward to 2024 outdoors already.  

Edited November 27, 2023 by Robhuntandfish

[dbHunterNY]

Every shooter I had on camera has died. So yes but you find other ways to make hunting fun. Take a kid out. Take out a different hunting implement that has meaning behind it. Stalk a deer to take a close selfies. Sneek in and out just for the sun rise and sets. Hunt somehwere you dont that need doe taken even if public land and have a goal to donate venison to food closet to feed hungry through multiple progeams here in NY. Whatever joy you can get out of it do it. Only get so many days in the field before you realize for whatever reason you can't and took it for granted.

[Stubborn1vt]

45 minutes ago, nygrandpa said:

I've usually found that the best way to see deer is to go out hunting something else.

I completely quit grouse hunting for this reason!

[BowmanMike]

I totally get what you are saying about knowing less now than when you started. I feel a little like that about hunting and fly fishing as well..When you start you don't know what you don't know yet,then you learn some stuff and then you get information overload.

I can't just sit all the time,I love to still hunt even with the bow. You gotta go extra slow and it can also be a good way to scout,like others have mentioned. Try some more public spots,it is always good to have many options. Learning new spots is pretty exciting. And those will change from year to year as well.

If you bump deer while still hunting you at least got some confirmation that they are around. I used to see tails all the time.

[Swamp_bucks]

I will also add look at different areas.  One of my best hunts last year I drove to a piece over by Cooperstown.  Never stepped foot on it, got info from a forum member on it and just went for a walk and almost took a good 8.  Found great spots to go back to next year and try again.   Only saw 1 deer but seeing a different piece just gave me some drive to figure out what’s going on. 

[grampy]

I know less now than when I started 50 years ago. 

[lucky118]

1 hour ago, dbHunterNY said:

 Whatever joy you can get out of it do it. Only get so many days in the field before you realize for whatever reason you can't and took it for granted.

Amen.  I can feel the life draining out of me at 50. Things I could do at 40 are getting harder. Youth is wasted on the young. It's also about the little things you see. Had 2 Barred owls flying around me in the pre dawn light first day of PA gun trying to figure out what I was. That was a first and a pretty cool memory 99.999999% of people will never have. Cherish the little things. Big bucks are cool. I have walls of them. It really only matters to me. And in the end it really doesn't  matter at all.

[josephmrtn]

I appreciate all the words of advice! Gonna try to take them to heart and find new ways to reignite the passion.

[nywaw]

8 minutes ago, josephmrtn said:

I appreciate all the words of advice! Gonna try to take them to heart and find new ways to reignite the passion.

Things will get exciting again when you're seeing sign and then seeing results (i.e. deer) from hunting that sign.  And then your heart will be pumping when you get that next shot opportunity!  It'll all come back!

[lucky118]

1 hour ago, josephmrtn said:

I appreciate all the words of advice! Gonna try to take them to heart and find new ways to reignite the passion.

Some yrs just suck. This is one of them. Lots of young bucks running around. Nxt yr could be good.

[Dinsdale]

2 hours ago, josephmrtn said:

I appreciate all the words of advice! Gonna try to take them to heart and find new ways to reignite the passion.

Good to see you’re still checking in from time to time Joe.

Lots of good advice here.

Done a fair bit of hunting over the last 32 or so years and I have been up and down a few times where I was either too busy work wise or did some hunting trips and had my hunting fix for the year, and interest in NY for deer hunting has waned. I dont get too bothered by it and it seems to work itself out on its own for the most part. For me, this is a recreational activity and I learned that its OK to let a hobby simmer on the back burner for a spell, and when the time is right it can be fun again.

Last 5 years I have been able to work out a couple hunting trips but havent been too motivated for deer hunting; but this year bought a license and managed to get out a few times and seen a few deer. Nothing to shoot, not enough points in a AR zone and no dump tag in another BUT had a great time. I have work commitment coming up so chances are I wont get out again this year; but I’m going to scout a little and get some spots lined up for the future. 

So it can change and you can get a renewed energy.

 

 

 

Edited November 27, 2023 by Dinsdale