Gun season has been ruined

bryguy

Old Mossy Horns
I would like to see our season set up like Iowa. I think the quality of the deer we see in NC would get a lot better.

No it wouldn’t. I don’t understand why people can’t understand that the sub species of deer we have here is not the same as it is the upper Midwest or Great Lakes region. Our deer just will not ever be like those deer body size or antler wise.
What I do find interesting is that everyone seems to complain about nocturnal deer or lack of sightings. I have numerous locations on my farm and I watch the wind and NEVER HUNT THE SAME STAND MORE THEN ONCE A WEEK. I see deer almost every sit and have bucks up and on their feet during daylight hours for the last couple of weeks. Your personal pressure like was said earlier has more to do with how the deer react then the length of the season


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Zach's Grandpa

Old Mossy Horns
Somehow this has slanted towards me being frustrated or angry. I am neither. Perhaps my title should have said changed instead of ruined. I was simply pointing out that gun season is not like it used to be due to changes in season dates. I liked it better the way it used to be than now and am in favor of changing it. Has nothing to do with number of bucks killed or size or corn piles or anything else other than my preference of when I like to hunt. I’ve been killing pretty good bucks for well over fifty years and will continue to do so no matter when the season allows. My preference is mid November to mid December but if it’s mid October to mid November then that’s how it is.


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Zomdeer78

Button Buck
No it wouldn’t. I don’t understand why people can’t understand that the sub species of deer we have here is not the same as it is the upper Midwest or Great Lakes region. Our deer just will not ever be like those deer body size or antler wise.
What I do find interesting is that everyone seems to complain about nocturnal deer or lack of sightings. I have numerous locations on my farm and I watch the wind and NEVER HUNT THE SAME STAND MORE THEN ONCE A WEEK. I see deer almost every sit and have bucks up and on their feet during daylight hours for the last couple of weeks. Your personal pressure like was said earlier has more to do with how the deer react then the length of the season


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I'm not saying we would have the same calibur bucks as Iowa. But we would have more bucks reach a older age. It would be nice to see more deer reach 5 or 6 years old. Where I hunt they are lucky to see 2.5 or 3.

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Banjo

Old Mossy Horns
No it wouldn’t. I don’t understand why people can’t understand that the sub species of deer we have here is not the same as it is the upper Midwest or Great Lakes region. Our deer just will not ever be like those deer body size or antler wise.
What I do find interesting is that everyone seems to complain about nocturnal deer or lack of sightings. I have numerous locations on my farm and I watch the wind and NEVER HUNT THE SAME STAND MORE THEN ONCE A WEEK. I see deer almost every sit and have bucks up and on their feet during daylight hours for the last couple of weeks. Your personal pressure like was said earlier has more to do with how the deer react then the length of the season


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Not everybody is as fortunate to have a big enough property to have multiple stand sites.


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sakoman

Guest
I would like to see just 2 weeks of gun season and all the rest bow season.
 

sky hawk

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Later ML, shorter gun season, shorter season overall.

I'd like to see NC more on the lines of VA's season - Oct. 1st bow opener, ML and Rifle opening a week later, except I'd like rifle season to end about Dec. 15th. Our season is just too long overall to grow good numbers of mature bucks. Especially when the average property size is about 50 acres. Too much pressure for too long.
 

bryguy

Old Mossy Horns
Not everybody is as fortunate to have a big enough property to have multiple stand sites.


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My farm is not that big. I just choose to limit my personal hunting pressure.


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bryguy

Old Mossy Horns
I'm not saying we would have the same calibur bucks as Iowa. But we would have more bucks reach a older age. It would be nice to see more deer reach 5 or 6 years old. Where I hunt they are lucky to see 2.5 or 3.

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That is just your area. I can guarantee you that there are tons of areas here where the deer make it to that age. But like I had been said many times, it is a persons prerogative to hunt their land as they see fit


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bryguy

Old Mossy Horns
Somehow this has slanted towards me being frustrated or angry. I am neither. Perhaps my title should have said changed instead of ruined. I was simply pointing out that gun season is not like it used to be due to changes in season dates. I liked it better the way it used to be than now and am in favor of changing it. Has nothing to do with number of bucks killed or size or corn piles or anything else other than my preference of when I like to hunt. I’ve been killing pretty good bucks for well over fifty years and will continue to do so no matter when the season allows. My preference is mid November to mid December but if it’s mid October to mid November then that’s how it is.


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Maybe the title should have been something along the lines of ‘my personal preference for deer season’
Honestly I wouldn’t mind seeing the season pushed back some. I stopped bow hunting because of it being so hot during bow season. And it appears that the season will get shortened next year and pushed back some.


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MJ74

Old Mossy Horns
I would like to see just 2 weeks of gun season and all the rest bow season.
That would suck for me because I dont bowhunt.

You could always buy or lease alot of land and have it bow only. I'm sure it would be easy to get members.

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Greg

Old Mossy Horns
well thankfully we no longer have to guess or rely on our perception or our buddy's on how the season is going.

take a look at the real time harvest records and draw some fact based conclusions.
I totally agree ^. People tend to want to base policy on what they're seeing in their small corner of the world.

Except for the excitement of seeing a decent buck chase a resident doe on a Sat eve / Sun Morin (couldn't get a shot), this season has been the typical disappointment for me. I wouldn't change everybody else's season based on what's happening around here.

Let the experts analyze the data and make sound decisions.
 

oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
I totally agree ^. People tend to want to base policy on what they're seeing in their small corner of the world.

Except for the excitement of seeing a decent buck chase a resident doe on a Sat eve / Sun Morin (couldn't get a shot), this season has been the typical disappointment for me. I wouldn't change everybody else's season based on what's happening around here.

Let the experts analyze the data and make sound decisions.

your first sentence sums up the nature of deer hunters. their bias is so slanted to their personal observations that they never learn.

and it is difficult to overcome that. most cannot or will not look past their nose on anything related to deer.

the "science " of deer management isnt rocket science. but you cant make up the science based on your 500 acre lease.
 

bryguy

Old Mossy Horns
the "science " of deer management isnt rocket science. but you cant make up the science based on your 500 acre lease.
Isn’t that kind of what you are implying by your post? You are saying that deer season is ruined based on what you are seeing in your area, while a few miles away a guy maybe having a total opposite view due to what he is seeing on his lease? I do believe in letting the biologists manage the herd for the greatest health of the herd. But they aren’t allowed to.




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brucesmith0817

Six Pointer
I see good bucks in gun season you just have to sit there and put the time in but you got to remember the bucks that are seen in gun season die bow hunt an 40 yds is max make difference there's always good one left if there wasn't you wouldn't see any next year definitely not the case more big deer killed every year this one is exception

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aya28ga

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
If they do push the gun season back next year, I'd be fine with it. We don't get enough pressure here in Warren County from bow / BP seasons for it to matter very much.
 

JJWise

Twelve Pointer
In WV we always had bow season open sometime in the last half of September, an antlerless firearms season the last weekend in October, and then the either sex 2 week gun season started the Monday of Thanksgiving week. By the end of the first week, nothing was moving, and killing a deer is practically a miracle by the start of week 2. But after resting the property for even just a day or two, I've seen deer movement go back to normal and seeing lots of daytime movement.
 

oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
If they do push the gun season back next year, I'd be fine with it. We don't get enough pressure here in Warren County from bow / BP seasons for it to matter very much.

you can really see that in the harvest stats. the killing doesnt start till the guns roll.
 

jim67

Eight Pointer
If they do push the gun season back next year, I'd be fine with it. We don't get enough pressure here in Warren County from bow / BP seasons for it to matter very much.

Personally I like 2 weeks of black powder, but it wouldn’t hurt my feelings if bow didn’t start til oct. I do think our deer sees on is rediculpusly long, IMO
 

aya28ga

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
you can really see that in the harvest stats. the killing doesnt start till the guns roll.
I believe it's because the focus here is on dog hunting.

I haven't looked at the stats, but I wouldn't be surprised if the same held true for the other dog-hunting counties as well.

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cgrhyne

Six Pointer
Personally I like 2 weeks of black powder, but it wouldn’t hurt my feelings if bow didn’t start til oct. I do think our deer sees on is rediculpusly long, IMO

I concur. Lots of scent gets put in the woods on them 90 degree days. Not by me, but we’ve got some folks in our club that think they’ve got to be in the woods every day of the year. If it’s above 76 or so, I ain’t even gonna bother.
 

FishHunt

Old Mossy Horns
you can really see that in the harvest stats. the killing doesnt start till the guns roll.

Is there something particularly surprising about that? I've noticed that pattern since childhood seeing the deer checked in at country stores in Randolph, Moore, Chatham, Montgomery, Richmond and Scotland counties. Being the NCWRC isn't a trophy managemen task force I don't see a need to change anything. The overall numbers of deer are stable with the current regulations and there are big bucks hitting the ground every single day in NC now.

<>< Fish
 
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Ldsoldier

Old Mossy Horns
Is there something particularly surprising about that? I've noticed that pattern since childhood seeing the deer checked in at country stores in Randolph, Moore, Chatham, Montgomery, Richmond and Scotland counties. Being the NCWRC isn't a trophy managemen task force I don't see a need to change anything. The overall numbers of deer are stable with the current regulations and there are big bucks hitting the ground every single day in NC now.

<>< Fish

Not surprising at all. Bowhunting is more difficult and has a lower rate of success. I'm not a bow snob but it doesn't take Daniel Boone to bust a deer over a corn pile at 50 yards with a 30-06.
 
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