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Staying positive

iowabucks

iowabucks

Member
How do you stay positive when the last 5 times you go out, you see only 1 deer, total?

I hunt two different farms and have not hunted a stand more then twice.

I have been in my stands 7 times so far and only seen 3 deer in all that time. It really gets to me and puts me in a bad mood.

The small bucks should be chasin the does like crazy. No movement at all. I didn't even hunt the first couple weeks of October.

I always hit a stretch about mid rut when i go quite a few days without seeing a deer, but never this early. Then i always tell myself i'm looking for some new property to hunt next year but can never find any.

Trailcam pics always show alot of quality bucks around but i never see them while i'm hunting. I spend quite a few years without seeing a buck chasing a doe, or a buck even with a doe for that matter. Or even hearing a grunt.

Sorry for the negative attitude, it's really getting to me.
 
I'd stay positive by knowing that the last week or more has sucked, and it's sucked in 90% of the time folks have been out from what I've heard. I'd also stay positive by knowing that each day that goes by, it's going to get better exponentially. I'd also stay positive by knowing it's getting cold soon (opposed to warm as a sauna) & the hard-core rut is just a week or 2 away. Best is by far yet to come. That help?
 
You're burning yourself out dude. I used to waterfowl hunt only with a few weekends dedicated to pheasant hunting.

Then I caught the deer hunting bug and went every chance I could only to get frustrated and burned out. By the time November rolled around I struggled to sit on stand for more than two hours.

Now I always go opening weekend then switch gears to ducks and pheasants. I may go out if the wind is perfect to shoot a doe but that is it. I wait until NOW to read deer sign and hang stands then when November comes I am excited as heck to get back in the stand.

If it's a slow day for deer I just go get in the duckblind.

This has kept my deer hunting sanity for the last couple years now. No more frustration.
 
Things can only get better... But i have to question your stand placement. Maybe your stands are not in a very good spot. That is probably not the problem but im just throwing ideas out there.
 
just remember,you live in iowa where there is a 170 behind every tree.the problem right now is that they are behind the tree,you just cant see them.wait another week.
 
Liv4Rut said:
I haven't even bought my bow tag yet, how's that for being positive :)
Click to expand...


Same here....I dont even think about going until I turn the calander
over to November.All the years have taught me what and when to expect
the exciting times to be had.
 
If you gave me the choice to either:

1. hunt for 2 hours every day of the bow season
or
2. hunt all day for 3 days starting November 8.

I would take number 2 every single time.
 
Like wtj43089 said, maybe it's time to move a few stands or put a couple new ones up if you have any sitting around. But at the same time, those stands you're not seeing any/few deer at could be good ones in a week or 2.

I'm still a greenhorn when it comes to bowhunting deer or deer hunting in general, but it seems like evenings are better than any other time of the day at least right now. I've got several buddies that are really into the bowhunting deal and they're all saying it's awfully slow right now but the last hour of light is descent.

I was out for the first time last Friday. Spooked 2 deer while walking to my stand and they were fairly close to my stand. Crawled up there anyway and 40 minutes later, a doe cautiously walked in. She was stomping the whole time, even when she was quite a ways away so I'm assuming she was 1 of the 2 deer I spooked. Long story short, I tried a shot through a non-shooting and missed. My arrow got through, but my string slapped my sweatshirt's sleeve (LOUD!) and she jumped the string pretty bad. Shot right over the top of her, I'm guessing I shot a little high too. Glad it was a clean miss rather than a gut shot or something.

But after that, I'm pretty pumped to get back in the stand. I've got a few doe tags, so nothing besides small bucks get the pass. I may not get back out for a few days. Working nights all week, so if I go it'll have to be a morning hunt. Good luck everyone
 
I think slice and dice says it best. If we all had the patience to we would all wait until November to hunt and it would increase our chances so we aren't burning out our stands early. It is a good idea to hunt the edges early and let them have the timber until it is time and the big boys are up and moving during daylight.
 
i always tell myself that any time im in the woods one can come walking. its been slow here in north wis too but again flooding , high wind and rain not real conducive to good movement. i know its going to get better, but i guess im being optimistic cuz i have an Iowa tag and im leaving sunday for 10 down there.....boo yaa..
 
This is why Im voting for Culver. Instead of more out of state tags how bout less out of state tags and cheaper tag prices for the Iowa hunters. Expecially those who have bought countless tags every single year. Reward those who buy tags every year. Nothing against you Wisconsin I just watched a lil of our gov debate last night and this was brought up. Just reminded me of it. Have nothing against any hunter who puts there time and effort into hunting, not just there money. I hope you have great luck while hunting in Iowa. Post some pics of the big one:way:
 
I'm definately not burning myself out, just hope i'm not burning out my hunting spots. Like i said, i haven't hunted a stand more then twice yet.

I looked back over my log from last year and i had been out 12 times by now. I was out of a job and definately burned out my spots by last year. This year i told myself i was staying out of the two private properties until November, but couldn't hold out. I was expecting to have a few public stands up for early season hunting but that didn't happen.

I'm going to work extra hard this year to find a new place or two this spring/summer. I would prefer to find a place all to my own, but you know how hard that is.
 
I was just going to say public lands...but you mentioned it in your last post. I live 2.5 hours from where I hunt. I was home last weekend and due to the drive I figured I'd hunt also. Found out my stand was jacked with, so it's a good thing I didn't wait til November to find out. Regardless of my situation my point is that I've been staying busy with a polk county doe tag and public lands.

The positivity I find it in all is that every time I step foot on public land, I'm reminded of how lucky I am to have private farms to hunt back home.

Burn yourself out on the public lands and save your farms for the rut.
 
I stay postitive knowing that from this point forward my entire season can be changed in a matter of seconds. Some of the days where I have been most frustrated in the stand have ended with a bid dude on the ground.

Kratz
 
It's just been too warm dude. Do yourself a favor and if you get burnt out this early, then don't hunt until November. The only good deer movement I've seen was on the 3rd of October when it was cold all day, and that's when I filled one of my doe tags. Since then its been crap on the 4 farms I hunt. On a good note, I saw the first chasing I've seen all year on Sunday evening, but I was hunting deep timber and it was right at dark. I'm guessing with the cold weather coming in this weekend that deer in general should be moving a lot more than they have.
 
i used to burn myself out just like you. It was just warm, full moon, and was mid-october lull. Things will start to ramp up, don't burn yourself out and don't burn your stands out.
 
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