dbltree
Super Moderator
I would say that as far as drawing hunters out to hunt, in may area it was a failure. I only talked to one person who used a rifle and he said he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn!
I hunted with my muzzy that week and heard only a few shots all week (rifle or shotgun I can't say) I went for a drive on the last Saturday and only saw one truck parked that may have been hunting.
Most people that hunted during the late antlerless hunted the first weekend, killed a couple deer and were done. One large group hunted both weekends and did kill a large # of deer, but they didn't hunt during the rifle portion of the season.
I see it this way...it wasn't anything like I feared, but it also didn't have the desired impact as far as reducing the deer herd. When seasons are so long, people begin to lose the excitement and anticipation of the hunt. Most of the people I know filled their freezers in shotgun season and just had no interest in the late season, let alone hunting with rifles.
That's the view from where I live, other areas may have been mass warfare
I hunted with my muzzy that week and heard only a few shots all week (rifle or shotgun I can't say) I went for a drive on the last Saturday and only saw one truck parked that may have been hunting.
Most people that hunted during the late antlerless hunted the first weekend, killed a couple deer and were done. One large group hunted both weekends and did kill a large # of deer, but they didn't hunt during the rifle portion of the season.
I see it this way...it wasn't anything like I feared, but it also didn't have the desired impact as far as reducing the deer herd. When seasons are so long, people begin to lose the excitement and anticipation of the hunt. Most of the people I know filled their freezers in shotgun season and just had no interest in the late season, let alone hunting with rifles.
That's the view from where I live, other areas may have been mass warfare
bjkpharmd
New Member
I haven't heard of anyone hurt or reports of near misses or anything. We saved 3 tags for the rifle season just for the novelty of it. Ended up filling all tags Friday afternoon. Really wanted to shoot one at 200 yards but the longest shot that presented was about 45 yards. So much for the rifle advantage! We don't need this season.
fishorhunt
New Member
At a PF meeting last night we were talking about the late rifle season. My county's CO was on a special assignment near Bloomfield and said he saw 19 shed bucks that had been taken, many estimated at 3+ years old. Not sure how he figured that but either way its not a good story.