Help me love deer hunting again

[bigdave39355]

Classifieds for gear.

last years optics and gear will be plenty good starting out.

 

[Rich M]

Just go hunt. If you enjoy it go again. If not wait until you want to go again.

I like about 10 days of deer hunting every year. After that, pretty much done.

Do what feels right. Doesn't need to be an endless desire. Just needs to feel right however much you do.

 

[Gobbler36]

Obviously this guy has never been on a ID general deer hunt, dude start Archery hunting more quit focusing on ducks and maybe do more early season deer hunting with a bow. still gonna run into people but less than you will when it’s genreal rifle

 

[Jigmasterflex]

I hate to say it, but you would probably see less people on your hunt in Wisconsin than 5 miles deep in public land out west. As said above, more folks are getting deeper and deeper into the woods these days. Both for hunting and recreation opportunities.

Hunting pressure in Wisconsin is really difficult to explain, maybe you know too but I’m not sure if you’ve hunted the gun season here. I can definitely get away from people but the amount of food sources literally everywhere and incredibly dense cover make it really easy for deer to become almost unhuntable. Driving is about the most efficient way to have success after the first couple hours. There’s definitely a lot of deer here and some great bucks but they are unbelievably nocturnal, just starting to see deer feeding during daylight again now.

 

[Jigmasterflex]

I was over deer hunting until I went on my first trip to SE Alaska for black tails, it was awesome, now I always want to go back.

I took a trip a few years ago to Prince of Wales Island fishing in late August. The fishing was kind of ehhh, tons of pinks that were so easy to catch they became an irritation and not too many cohos, should have gone later. Loved the country immediately though, felt like northern Wisconsin but stretched vertically. We weren’t high enough to see many bucks but the black tail does were almost as thick as the gnats.

 

[Jigmasterflex]

Why do you want to love deer hunting again?

Honestly a large part of it is I really enjoy eating something I’ve killed and I particularly like venison. I could definitely plant my butt on a field edge and shoot does here for the freezer but there’s no fun in it anymore.
I do love still hunting deer here, it has some element of adventure to it in the big woods and I’m at least doing something other than waiting. The terrain just isn’t very conducive to still hunting most places. The cover that holds most of the deer is so thick that you can’t see more than 30 yards ahead and definitely couldn’t thread a bullet that far. I’ll get where I want to be, find a warm bed and hear a deer walking ahead of me, after that things become fruitless. Ill bump that deer around for a whole morning without ever being able to nudge it into an area where I can even see if I want to shoot it. Usually the ground is either cornflake leaves, crusty snow or a combination of both so the best you can do is try to sound like another deer with your cadence or make some turkey clucks and hope for the best. It’s about as tough as it gets.
I’m just looking for a place where I can see, and kill some deer hunting the way I’d like to.

 

[Squincher]

I'm afraid I'm no help. I grew tired of stand hunting ten years ago and decided to take a break. I'm still on break and have no desire to go.

 

[Sawfish]

I am not sure that anyone can help you love deer hunting again. You either love it or you don't. It's in your heart.

 

[grossklw]

I only live about an hour away from you. I guess do you really want to enjoy deer hunting again? I started hunting elk a few years ago and I didn't even bowhunt WI last year, I get my fix in September chasing elk for the year. I still rifle hunt with family/friends, but it's more about playing cards and seeing family than actually hunting. I'll probably get back into whitetails again at some point, but give me a bugling bull or a pheasant leaving the cattails over my golden any day of the week.

If you're worried about messing with your duck season, I'd head to MT for an early archery season before a lot of the waterfowl season's open in WI (other than maybe early goose). SD would also be an option, plenty easy to get away from guys and chase deer with the bow but their season for non-residents starts October 1st.

 

[EastHumboldt]

Try chukar hunting a a few times. They are so frustrating they make a root canal Sound delightful. All other outdoor experiences will seem joyful after that. Or buy a dodge truck...

A guy goes to his doctor and is told he has only three months to live. He says Doc is there anything I can do. Doc says buy a dodge truck... you won’t live longer but it’ll sure seem like it.

 

[rayporter]

dont fight it. after my first elk hunt it was 10 years before i give a hoot about deer hunting. i just shot a doe to fill the freezer and was happy.

 

[Missahba]

Find some old books and articles on tracking whitetails. The Benoit method or just plain old-school tracking. There was also a book out about 10 or so years ago called “Hunting Big Woods Bucks”. Go into the Michigan UP, which shouldn’t be too far. Make sure there’s snow. Find a set of big tracks and start walking. There’s more than enough low hunter density public and accessible land up there. If you study the method, you’ll learn they start circling back when pushed to the fringe of home territory, so you don’t need excessive roadless wilderness.

I’m far from an expert at it. Between warm opening days in Michigan’s Northern Lower Penninsula, and my deer camp group’s preference for areas more suitable for stand hunts, I don’t track a lot. However, I did get within 30 yards of a bedded buck, tracking him in falling snow a few years ago. I picked up the fresh track in the woods off-trail. After tracking two or three hours, I caught up. He was bedded, facing his back trail. I wasn’t detected when I spotted him. My fault for my brain not registering that I was indeed looking at a buck. While I stood there rifle at my waist, pondering the only 4’ log on the forest floor with no snow on it, he figured out I wasn’t Sasquatch. Reacted too late, too cold, too tired, you name the excuse. If my mental game was where it should be his headgear would be on my garage wall. Point is it is fun, challenging, interesting, makes good stories, always changes, and doesn’t require a lot of scouting, preseason work, money, preparation, or people. I highly recommend it.

 

[take5]

There’s a lot in this thread that resonates with me- from multiple members’ posts. I’m a whitetail hunter, but I long to go hunt out west for a number of species. I got into hunting later than most and find most of my joy being in the woods, not sitting in a stand or shooting house. If I could do some big game hunting and upland bird hunting that would be a dream come true.

 

[wind gypsy]

You will not be able to get deer tags annually in MT but rut hunts in MT can be pretty easy going and stress free if that’s what you’re looking for. Tougher to find mature age class muleys but fun.

 

[Foreman05]

Southern IL public land hunter here and I will agree about effort, I hunt a lot of ground with very heavy pressure. Pre-season I was looking for a few good spots to set my stands, I ended up walking 2 miles through hay fields, woods, trails, over railroad tracks, a cornfield and over a very sketchy beaver dam. Other hunters made it through all that but I literally went the extra mile before I was clear of other hunter sign. I didn’t get to release an arrow but I could have. I noticed all the other hunters pressure just kept pushing them back further. Some true monster bucks live deep and most stay there.

My brother and I found some great areas to hunt in western NE very light pressure when we were there in mid Oct. I think we only seen 4 other people and that was all day 1

 

[WCB]

If you really want to go out west I would get "interested" in every state west of the great lakes region and just bite the bullet and go. I am from MN and our deer hunting is the same as yours in general. Going farther in out west is becoming a thing of the past. If you want to get away from people, my recommendation is any area you find talked about a lot on forums, say SE MT, stay away from and you may actually not HAVE to get too far off the road. You obviously still have the option. If you bowhunt even better opens up more options and less pressure.

 

[SMOKYMTN]

I’ve hunted my entire life in Wisconsin and learned what I like and dislike about my home state. I live for duck hunting every fall here, it takes up a majority of my time until our November gun season with a little bowhunting snuck in between, I do a lot of winter squirrel and rabbit hunting after that. The common themes being that I can only stand passively hunting in small doses, despise bringing along anything that I don’t absolutely need and have an enormous tolerance for horrible terrain and zero tolerance for hunting pressure. Both duck and small game hunting fit right in and I’ve found niches where I can have plenty of success and a minimum of frustration. Deer hunting here is different, stand hunting public land is a boring gamble on either hunting where you know the deer will be or trying to anticipate where pressure will redirect them, usually your success or failure is evident in first couple hours of the opener, after that the deer become even more extraordinarily nocturnal. I have zero interest in the buy land, start food plots and check cameras game and while I have had good success driving deer I really would rather hunt solo. I have access to private land but the hunting equates to trading time for opportunities in the same routine areas and there’s really no more adventure left to it. If I took the time in late October and early November to hunt some of my big woods spots with a bow I would no doubt have better hunting but that time period is already spoken for with chasing ducks. I would love to entirely replace deer hunting here with an annual trip somewhere else. Ideally I’m looking for a place where I can put a lot of distance between myself and others through sheer effort and hunt with a minimum of equipment. Although the deer don’t need to be high scoring behemoths I would at least like a reasonable opportunity to target a mature deer. I want to be able to spot and stalk rather than jump shoot and I want to hunt entirely on public land. So far I’ve developed an interest in Montana and Kansas, I’d be as happy with a mule deer as a whitetail. As a 106% green western hunter I’m not expecting a ton of initial success but I’d at least like to go into the pursuit somewhat prepared. I’m looking for some help setting myself up with some practical and minimalistic gear and the basic skills I’ll need. I’ve never used binoculars, I’ve never quartered and packed out an animal, while I’m comfortable shooting deer to 250 yards most of my shooting has been inside of 100 and most importantly while I’ve done tons of still hunting but never stalked an animal I’ve actually spotted. I’m possibly the cheapest man on earth and have no interest in the cool factor of anything so while I want quality gear matching, name brand or even new gear is completely unimportant. Any help you can give me is greatly appreciated and although there’s not much I can give in return I do have a good grasp on a unique approach of waterfowl hunting and a lifetime of fishing knowledge that I would be more than happy to share.

Everything you mentioned is why I love hunting the Smoky Mountain region of NC.

Low hunting pressure, vast strands of land, horrible terrain, low deer densities HOWEVER when you do find deer there's a good chance it's a mature deer because the aforementioned reasons allow them to get age. The great thing about hunting here is that because of the terrain and the flora, most of us have become minimalists. Ground and pound is the name of the game, even during bow season. Many guys including myself, have adopted the saddle philosophy but even that can become cumbersome depending on how far you're going.

I love the ground and pound method. The winds usually swirl here because of the terrain so we rarely have specific stand setups that are wind dependent. You just go the areas that you find sign and hunt the wind and thermals your presented at that time. If it isn't good, get up and move. If you want to bowhunt from the ground, find dense cover and crawl into it. It's never monotonous and there's always a puzzle to piece together and game to be played. It keeps me feeling young (or old when my legs are torched) and eager to try and piece it together. It isn't easy but that's what keeps me motivated.

Good luck and I hope you find what you're looking for!

 

[Southforkguy]

Similar disappointment from another Wisconsin deer hunter.

 

[journeyman713]

Deer hunting, like anything else, is 'what you make of it', 'you get out what you put in'.
Sounds like it's not been priority for you, so... Your experiences are limited to what I call 'Amateur weekend' (gun opener), those are almost never good on public land in this State.
If you want to actually appreciate Wisconsin deer hunting, you are going to have to put some time in. There are no shortcuts.

Start with changing your priorities, less Duck, more Bowhunting.
Invest some time scouting a couple areas for bow hunting deer, hunt it, learn, evolve. The love part comes later, when you aren't paying attention.

 

[hntr]

Personally I find over half of my passion from deer hunting comes from after the kill. Processing your own meat and getting creative is fun as hell! Not to come across as an ass, but I think you are completely overthinking everything. Enjoy that sweet, sweet time of solitude out in nature. Find joy in studying where to place stands. Maybe get some cameras out to see some fun potential. Like I said first off. Get creative with the meat after the kill. It's fun and rewarding to prepare and eat deer. I've even started and instagram and youtube @cutintowild to document what I do with wild game. I find that to be fun to document everything.