Season highs/lows?

[Professor]

This is a lesson I had to learn this season. And it seems like once I settled in to realizing that, things started to come together. One of the things I love about having started hunting is learning. I feel like I have so much to learn, too much to learn before I kick the bucket, and every season is a clean slate of learning more or less.

That attitude will serve you well. The old timers that started deer hunting in Georgia in the 60s through the mid 70s hunted without seeing deer. Once we got to the 80s there was a deer behind every tree in the Piedmont, and now hunters expect to see a buffet of deer parading by them every time they climb into a stand. If they don’t see a bunch of deer they think they are doing something wrong. If a hunter is accustomed to seeing double digit deer every time they sit, the mountains are a depressing place to hunt. I think one of the greatest challenges to hunting deer in the mountains is sustaining the confidence you are doing it right when you are not seeing deer. Questioning what you are doing is a good thing. Do it and you will try new approaches and tactics. Just understand that hunting the mountains is hard, and you will not see deer even when you do everything right.

 

[KentuckyHeadhunter]

High: my freezer is full of deer and pig meat.
Low: didn't get a bear.

Just thankful to get in the woods and mountains. Had a lot of adversity to deal with while trying to focus on hunting. Found a new home on the bear forum with some great dudes too!

 

[ddd-shooter]

That attitude will serve you well. The old timers that started deer hunting in Georgia in the 60s through the mid 70s hunted without seeing deer. Once we got to the 80s there was a deer behind every tree in the Piedmont, and now hunters expect to see a buffet of deer parading by them every time they climb into a stand. If they don’t see a bunch of deer they think they are doing something wrong. If a hunter is accustomed to seeing double digit deer every time they sit, the mountains are a depressing place to hunt. I think one of the greatest challenges to hunting deer in the mountains is sustaining the confidence you are doing it right when you are not seeing deer. Questioning what you are doing is a good thing. Do it and you will try new approaches and tactics. Just understand that hunting the mountains is hard, and you will not see deer even when you do everything right.

I can read the mountains, survey the food sources, come up with a great plan and still second guess myself the entire time.
With such low densities, you can be in the best spot around and still not see a deer or buck for several sits. If you're a weekend warrior and can't get several hunts back to back, it's even more infuriating. Ask me how I know lol

 

[HardlyHangin]

Highs
-was blessed with health, ability, and time to hunt nearly every weekend of the season. This was my last season as a single man (unless she gets wise before May 28th!) So im not sure what future years will hold obligation wise.
- killing my first public land buck, first pack out, on a spot i found all on my own, in a place near and dear to me.
-first time in several years ive filled a freezer, got a doe and a buttonhead in addition to my buck
-experimented a lot with new gear, learned some atuff and have some exciting diy projects this off season
-having a big collared bear whuff at me from a tree preseason

Lows
-no bears
-ive been wanting to a backcountry hunt for years and have let another year slip without.

Both high and low, Honorable mention goes to missing an opportunity at a giant on CNF the weekend of christmas. What a roller coaster that was.

 

[chrislibby88]

Highs: Killed my first bear, a small sow in Sept, tagged out with a decent sized collared boar in December, and finally got myself some bear oil.
Also was my first season bow hunting- killed my first bow deer, small doe.
Also killed deer on every WMA I hunted this year but one. Also filled my freezer to the top. No wall hangers, but lots of meat.
I saw more deer from the tree than any other year hunting.

Lows: Pre-rut was pretty slow for me, I didn’t see much action from mid Oct to early Nov.

Sorta low: I didn’t shoot a wall hanger buck this year. Only saw one “shooter” buck on my land and never had a shot until he was 20 yards over the neighbors, unfortunately I’m honest and didn’t take the shot. Lol. I had another 10 point, 150” stud on camera that I was hoping to run into but he was shot on a neighboring property right around Thanksgiving. The other good buck I couldn’t shoot disappeared late November too, so I’m guessing someone got him too.

Overall it’s been a fantastic season. No regrets.

 

[chrislibby88]

I can read the mountains, survey the food sources, come up with a great plan and still second guess myself the entire time.
With such low densities, you can be in the best spot around and still not see a deer or buck for several sits. If you're a weekend warrior and can't get several hunts back to back, it's even more infuriating. Ask me how I know lol

I seemed to have found some extremely consistent spots year to year on the one mountain WMA I hunt.

 

[ddd-shooter]

I seemed to have found some extremely consistent spots year to year on the one mountain WMA I hunt.

Yep, love those places. There are many spots that hold good deer year after year. Fun to find those. Even then, you can hunt them for days and not see much.

 

[Professor]

I seemed to have found some extremely consistent spots year to year on the one mountain WMA I hunt.

I thought about you right away when I read triple-D’s comment. You have the spot, or maybe the ridge. It really must be a major highway with natural obstacles on each side.

 

[RamblinWreck88]

Been thinking a lot about this past season; glad to see everyone's highs and lows. As for me, I've really enjoyed this year:

Highs:

• Getting another person into hunting
• Hunting became a way of life this year
• Seeing deer almost every deer hunt
• Hunting new areas of public land
• Discovering GON

Lows:

• No bucks
• Cold toes
• Limited success

This has been the year that I realized I don't know anything about anything about hunting, but I know a lot more now than I did at the beginning of the season, and I've enjoyed it. Hopefully there's a public land hog for me in the near future.

 

[HardlyHangin]

Been thinking a lot about this past season; glad to see everyone's highs and lows. As for me, I've really enjoyed this year:

Highs:

• Getting another person into hunting
• Hunting became a way of life this year
• Seeing deer almost every deer hunt
• Hunting new areas of public land
• Discovering GON

Lows:

• No bucks
• Cold toes
• Limited success

This has been the year that I realized I don't know anything about anything about hunting, but I know a lot more now than I did at the beginning of the season, and I've enjoyed it. Hopefully there's a public land hog for me in the near future.

At least money can fix cold toes

 

[chrislibby88]

I thought about you right away when I read triple-D’s comment. You have the spot, or maybe the ridge. It really must be a major highway with natural obstacles on each side.

It’s got a lot of things going for it. Definitely a travel corridor, but it would be hard to tell that from the map. I saw turkeys, deer, and a bear from the same spot. I’ve seen deer on this mountain for 5 years in a row. All over it.

 

[Professor]

It’s got a lot of things going for it. Definitely a travel corridor, but it would be hard to tell that from the map. I saw turkeys, deer, and a bear from the same spot. I’ve seen deer on this mountain for 5 years in a row. All over it.

Hard to do any exploring when you have that ridge and all the harvesting it demands each year.

 

[Christian hughey]

Another good season in the books. Harvested another North ga bear, 2 nice middle ga bucks this year, one tagged as a bonus deer and a couple of yotes. Got a friend into hunting this year and help him harvest his first nice buck. As for lows,, not many God is good. I had one absolute stud of a 6 pointer, an old fat belly TALL rack beast of a deer winded me and bolted as I was about to squeeze one off this year and broke my heart. All in all a great year. Can't wait to get back. Congratulations on everyone's success and I look forward to seeing you guys in the hills next season!! Good luck out there!

 

[chrislibby88]

Hard to do any exploring when you have that ridge and all the harvesting it demands each year.

Oh not at all. The area is so reliable that I usually only spend one or two days there, kill something, then start scouting new areas or checking old spots for activity. I explored about 10 miles of new and old areas this past hunt. I found a very promising new spot this year, went back and sat it on the last morning and saw 3-4 deer. My brother also rescouted the ridge he got the mature 9 on in 2020 and the ridge I shot a bear on early season. He didn’t have any luck on sightings, but found a new “spot” inside the spot. We always try to re-scout known areas and find different trails and travel routes and sit them a time or two and see what happens. We bounce around all the time.

 

[Swampdogg]

Season highs: My buddy and I went scouting new places and learning.We We’re both able to fill our bear tags. I could’ve filled the second but was worried about spoiling the 1st and wanted to get it taken care of with warm temps ahead. Also spent many days trying to get my little one on some deer , we had some real close calls but no shot opportunities that she could take . I was able to get a few deer down to keep us stocked for a while.
Learned how to can meat this year . (Take canned bear chunks, dredge in flower and fry them up. You will not regret it. )

As for lows: had some gear malfunction while I was in the hottest sign I’ve ever found. missed a few deer, and missed some of the hunts I planned on going to. Let some lack of sign get in my head about where to hunt or set up during late season . Other than that the season was great and no complaints , learn from mistakes and keep pushing forward , if I can get out for small game and hogs that will be a plus.

 

[WoodlandScout82]

My season high was seeing so many bears, being able to watch them up close, my season lows....missing 2 opportunities at the Cohutta bear of a lifetime...TWICE. both times with the crossbow. Shaved his belly the first time, second time, had my wife with me. Stalked him for a few hundred yards and missed a 20 yard dead broadside shot because I forgot to take the safety off....

 

[ddd-shooter]

Season highs: My buddy and I went scouting new places and learning.We We’re both able to fill our bear tags. I could’ve filled the second but was worried about spoiling the 1st and wanted to get it taken care of with warm temps ahead. Also spent many days trying to get my little one on some deer , we had some real close calls but no shot opportunities that she could take . I was able to get a few deer down to keep us stocked for a while.
Learned how to can meat this year . (Take canned bear chunks, dredge in flower and fry them up. You will not regret it. )

As for lows: had some gear malfunction while I was in the hottest sign I’ve ever found. missed a few deer, and missed some of the hunts I planned on going to. Let some lack of sign get in my head about where to hunt or set up during late season . Other than that the season was great and no complaints , learn from mistakes and keep pushing forward , if I can get out for small game and hogs that will be a plus.

What was the gear malfunction?

 

[Swampdogg]

What was the gear malfunction?

the charging port on my phone got wet at some point during the week ,it was working completely fine then it crapped out which led to onX maps and phone spazzing out over and over, while i was miles deep. lucky i studied the area beforehand and had an idea on which way of getting out also had my garmin (not the mini) with a pin for camp as my back up, its not fun sliding on wet rocks and busting through laurels when you already have a route to get back. the sign i found was the freshest ive ever seen ,bright green still steaming.

 

[splatek]

the charging port on my phone got wet at some point during the week ,it was working completely fine then it crapped out which led to onX maps and phone spazzing out over and over, while i was miles deep. lucky i studied the area beforehand and had an idea on which way of getting out also had my garmin (not the mini) with a pin for camp as my back up, its not fun sliding on wet rocks and busting through laurels when you already have a route to get back. the sign i found was the freshest ive ever seen ,bright green still steaming.

Dang... That can be scary.
The only time I've come that close to being stranded, I walked into a spot about 2 miles or so, suddenly my GAIA compass arrow started going crazy. I knew I was going east, but it said i was going west, and so forth. I knew a stream nearby that would lead me pretty close to the truck so I dropped down the cliff into the stream and followed the flow. Being in that situation when darkness sets in, really get me...
glad you knew where you were.

 

[Swampdogg]

Dang... That can be scary.
The only time I've come that close to being stranded, I walked into a spot about 2 miles or so, suddenly my GAIA compass arrow started going crazy. I knew I was going east, but it said i was going west, and so forth. I knew a stream nearby that would lead me pretty close to the truck so I dropped down the cliff into the stream and followed the flow. Being in that situation when darkness sets in, really get me...
glad you knew where you were.

that is exactly what I did to get back ,was walk the edge of the stream once I found it , now I always mark the truck on the Garmin if I’m going deep , knowing the big creeks or drainages definitely helped but busting through a new area with big piles of fresh sign had my adrenalin going