Skunked for rifle season two years in a row!

Shoosting

Shoosting

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Ottawa, Ont
Although I wasn't attending last year's hunt, the camp members only came home with runny noses and unfired shells. This year was the same, our area use to be crawling with white tailed deer. A drive up to the camp would usualy surprise at least a doe and its fawn right on the road. The only couple we saw this year were the ones my dad had to dog out of the bush, and still no kill! The deer we saw were quite spooked compared to what my dad had described the past years.

This second week isn't looking good for time off, so if there is no luck this weekend, its going on two rifle seasons in a row our group has been skunked!
Not that I mind so much, it was great to have the time off and all. I'm just puzzled over the idea. There has been an awful lot of coyote activity in the area, anyone else in area 67 going to be "controlling" the coyote population a little more this year?:D
 
noticed the same for area 60,the deer were not moving in the day time..we managed to take out one buck though..
no sign of a rut yet..
a few rubs on trees ,but no scrapes to be found..
id take a guess and say in a few more weeks the rut will be on when the weather cools off a lot more..
 
64A/66A have been similar. Not many deer during legal hours(or at all for that matter), LOTS of coyote activity. I just found my first rubs/scrapes of the year last weekend, though I haven't been looking.
 
fogducker said:
noticed the same for area 60,the deer were not moving in the day time..we managed to take out one buck though..
no sign of a rut yet..
a few rubs on trees ,but no scrapes to be found..
id take a guess and say in a few more weeks the rut will be on when the weather cools off a lot more..
Click to expand...

on october 30th we found multiple fresh scrapes and rubs and caught a decent buck tending to a scrape in a cut bean field. im not going out again until our first decent snow fall.
 
Shoosting said:
Although I wasn't attending last year's hunt, the camp members only came home with runny noses and unfired shells. This year was the same, our area use to be crawling with white tailed deer. A drive up to the camp would usualy surprise at least a doe and its fawn right on the road. The only couple we saw this year were the ones my dad had to dog out of the bush, and still no kill! The deer we saw were quite spooked compared to what my dad had described the past years.

This second week isn't looking good for time off, so if there is no luck this weekend, its going on two rifle seasons in a row our group has been skunked!
Not that I mind so much, it was great to have the time off and all. I'm just puzzled over the idea. There has been an awful lot of coyote activity in the area, anyone else in area 67 going to be "controlling" the coyote population a little more this year?:D
Click to expand...


I'm not from Ontario, so my oplogies if this is off the wall, but do you have black bear in the area? I heard the black bear population in ON has over grown so much that it's effecting the survival of moose calf, so maybe it's the same with deer?
 
scanner said:
I'm not from Ontario, so my oplogies if this is off the wall, but do you have black bear in the area? I heard the black bear population in ON has over grown so much that it's effecting the survival of moose calf, so maybe it's the same with deer?
Click to expand...

id say its just to damm early...the rut is only starting..
damm yotes and rough winters last few years dont help matters though
 
Same in 80 for the Shotgun hunt. No sign of rut yet - no rubs or scrapes.

Started hunting in 80 from a treestand two years ago (previously in 53a over Beagles).

I have seen lots of deer here in the past two years. Both years produced opening day bucks.

Didn't see a single deer from the same tree this year.

Back to the X-bow in a couple of weeks...
 
I hunt on private family property in 63A&B, and there is significantly less deer than in previous years. There are 4 hunters in our group, and we took 1 nice 8 point buck & 1 button buck. We all had doe tags but we decided that we were NOT going to take any does this season. I know that there are at least 2 decent bucks left on the property, but I am inclined to leave them alone this year. I already have moose, bear, & goose meat in the freezer. Lots of coyote activity in our area also. We plan to get busy on them soon :mad:.

George
 
Same boat here Pal! Mind you, last year's getting skunked was my fault for some blown opportunities. This year it was the wolves, but have a look at my thread in the "Hunting" forum. Let's keep a good thought for next year.
 
fogducker said:
bow hunting?
Click to expand...

yes...

after spot and stalking 2 does and shooting one at 12 yards with my crossbow i am hooked. treestand hunting is simply too boring for me. while still hunting you end up seeing more deer and other wildlife while challenging yourself to the max to play the wind and be like a ninja :D

life would be so much easier if i could rifle hunt around here. maybe even remembering to apply for a controlled tag might make life a little easier :D
 
Same here in WMU 49 - little rubs with no scraps. Lots of wolf and coyote tracks.

None of us in our camp got a doe tag. I hunted the first two days in the opening without success. We had a great time though!
 
scanner said:
I'm not from Ontario, so my oplogies if this is off the wall, but do you have black bear in the area? I heard the black bear population in ON has over grown so much that it's effecting the survival of moose calf, so maybe it's the same with deer?
Click to expand...

Funny you should mention that. We have had some bear activity not too far from where we hunt from, but I haven't heard much of it since last year, a guy working on a cottage flew between a mother and her cub on his bycicle, the mother persued a little but soon gave up. Anyhow, I dont think the bears are presently the issue on our land. Like someone said previously, the past few winters have been pretty rough, and the coyotes are getting pretty bad too. I guess I'll have to get some pest control done, it's a good oppertunity to buy a new rifle!:D
 
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