How many hunts seeing no deer?

[Vanishing Point]

I just got home from my 20th hunt of the season. I have seen deer 4 out of 20 times. How common is it for you to hunt and see no deer at all? Thanks.

[A5BLASTER]

Well I can only speak to the public lands i hunt but i typically see deer every sit. But that's because 9.99 out of 10 hunters wont go more then 50 yards in the woods and the deer know this. So i just go deep and I'm always on deer.

Well up until this season. We had a explosion of hogs on the wma i hunt the most and i have had more sits this year not seeing any deer then i have since i was in my teenage years.

If it's some hot runt sign like i found today at midday, i will give it several sits long as the wind is correct.

If your not seeing them and the sign isn't fresh like that night are just before you got there, it's time to start moving in.

If there is fresh sign, your just to far from where they are moving in daylight.

[UntouchableNess]

Maybe 2 out of 20 hunts this year had no deer sighted. Sighted does not mean in range though.

[UntouchableNess]

Maybe 2 out of 20 hunts this year had no deer sighted. Sighted does not mean in range though.

[UntouchableNess]

Oops

[hunting_dad]

Scout scout scout hunt... make sure you’re staying on hot sign and move in until you think you’re getting as close as you like. Also, depending on your approach, you can expect to not necessarily see a bunch of deer, but the ones you want to see are the ones you’re after. Gotta be aggressive and possibly bump a deer or two sometimes to know you’re in the game. Good luck

[1STRANGEWILDERNESS]

What region and type of terrain?

I get on some dry spells in the northwoods here. I just glanced at my notes and it appears I didn’t see a deer for 7 hunts in a row before I shot the last buck. Actually it was a kill then 7 bolo’s and another kill.

[Grizzlyadam]

I've had my share of dry spells, this year is no exception. I'd have to look at my journal but I think I had a week where I didn't see anything. It has a lot to do with deer density, many of the places I hunt have 10 deer per square mile or less. Apples to oranges.

[adrenalin]

Well, I Went 20 hunts in a row from the end of last season until I saw my 1st deer late October this year. It can happen. I have never gone that long before but for some reason I just could not get on them. I switched up properties and have seen deer every sit since though. I would be tagged out right now If I would have recovered the buck I shot last Sunday. So even though it can make you question yourself it is part of hunting unless you hunt good ground. Hunting high pressured public is not the same as low pressure. Somewhere on here someone called it something like "embracing the suck" Well if you choose to hunt tough areas of your state their are plenty of sucky hunts.

[ihookem]

Last year I saw a deer after 6 minutes in the stand. I didn't see another deer for 13 more sits. That is a record. I sat 44 sits last year and didn't get a deer. I missed a doe , hit a buck too far forward . Last yr. I saw deer about 1/3 of the time. I saw deer about 1/2 during early bow , but gun , muzzleloader and late season doe lowers my percentage a lot. This year I have see deer 9 out of 17 sits and still no deer close enough for some odd reason. My avr. is about 1 in 3 sits. I only hunt S.E. Wisconsin public land that is very high pressured and is getting even higher numbers of deer hunters due to crossbows. To make matters worse, this county is very liberal when giving out doe tags and the deer numbers are down. I am seeing more deer despite less deer numbers cause I live 4 to 7 miles away form the 5,000 ac. of public land and scout it about 6 months a year . Scouting seems to do things for you. It makes you more tuned to the land. I am not intimidated by going in a long ways anymore, even though I am tired of the 100's of yards of muck to get there. Another thing scouting does , is it helps me identify spots that were good but for some reason dieing off . Spots I thought would always be good are not giving me deer sightings . I think is cause it had already been hunted by someone else. Example: Friday I went in a spot that has been good to me. I wondered why I didn't see any deer the last 2 sits there. Coming out that evening , I walk up on a hunter still in the stand illegally. This explained most of my problem. I was barely 100 yds from him but didn't know it. Many variables are why you are not seeing deer. My biggest one is hunters coming in stinking up the place and hunting it many times before I find out what is going on.

[Hawthorne]

I right about 50% seeing deer on public. 20 sits I’ll see deer 10 of them. The private I hunt it’s 100%. Will see something every sit just about. I’ve gone 3-4 sits in a row this year not seeing deer on public. I hunt in some of the higher densities areas

[Chuck B]

All depends on where you hunt. If I hunt where does are bedding, usually will see some deer.

If I am going after a mature buck bedding, there is decent likelihood I won’t see a deer. High “risk” for high reward.

[greenhorndave]

Last year I saw a deer after 6 minutes in the stand. I didn't see another deer for 13 more sits. That is a record. I sat 44 sits last year and didn't get a deer. I missed a doe , hit a buck too far forward . Last yr. I saw deer about 1/3 of the time. I saw deer about 1/2 during early bow , but gun , muzzleloader and late season doe lowers my percentage a lot. This year I have see deer 9 out of 17 sits and still no deer close enough for some odd reason. My avr. is about 1 in 3 sits. I only hunt S.E. Wisconsin public land that is very high pressured and is getting even higher numbers of deer hunters due to crossbows. To make matters worse, this county is very liberal when giving out doe tags and the deer numbers are down. I am seeing more deer despite less deer numbers cause I live 4 to 7 miles away form the 5,000 ac. of public land and scout it about 6 months a year . Scouting seems to do things for you. It makes you more tuned to the land. I am not intimidated by going in a long ways anymore, even though I am tired of the 100's of yards of muck to get there. Another thing scouting does , is it helps me identify spots that were good but for some reason dieing off . Spots I thought would always be good are not giving me deer sightings . I think is cause it had already been hunted by someone else. Example: Friday I went in a spot that has been good to me. I wondered why I didn't see any deer the last 2 sits there. Coming out that evening , I walk up on a hunter still in the stand illegally. This explained most of my problem. I was barely 100 yds from him but didn't know it. Many variables are why you are not seeing deer. My biggest one is hunters coming in stinking up the place and hunting it many times before I find out what is going on.

I'm also in SE WI. I'm glad I'm not the only one experiencing this. Well, not glad for either one of us. But I am facing most of what you're finding. I went back to an area on Friday that I thought might be tucked into a corner with private around it. Well, turns out that there was a super easy access point that was hidden by vegetation when I was shining earlier in the year. Somebody was parked there, which was fine. But my point with that is I saw no deer in there... But there were a pile of does about 200 yards kitty corner to that access point on private. Probably 20. They seem like they evacuated the pressured area, although it's possible that they holed up in an overlooked area on public before crossing over. The pressure is crazy and the orange army is out this weekend. It's been tough sledding for me on a lot of public this year. Probably have seen deer on 1/8 of the hunts. The activity in the spots is ever changing too. It's tough. I haven't found any honey holes yet that constantly produce.

[Rob loper]

You gotta get out and scout. And really scout hard.
I think some guys take this literally and go out and scout and invade bedding areas.
I believe invading bedding areas in season is a huge mistake. Hunt the very edges of it. Invade the bedding areas during post season. Thats when you figure your entrance and exit trails
I also believe a-lot of hunters go to fast while scouting.
When you scout be super slow don't rush.
Try to be super quiet and don't make a-lot of noise. Almost like when your heading in for a hunt.
If possible try to scout with the wind not blowing into the bedding. Look for not only hot sign along soft transitions. Look for hunters sign. If you see hunters sign move on.
I live in Delaware and it is very very hard to find pockets where hunters don't go. Everything here is just small and pretty accessible in most directions.
You can go super seep on some public find and setup on super hot sign only to find out someone is coming in from another direction.
This video will show you how i stacked some hunts on some good hot sign right outside of bedding. Well if ya watch you will see how fast someone can really screw an area up.

https://youtu.be/BSrNrsMa0wY

[greenhorndave]

You gotta get out and scout. And really scout hard.
I think some guys take this literally and go out and scout and invade bedding areas.
I believe invading bedding areas in season is a huge mistake. Hunt the very edges of it. Invade the bedding areas during post season. Thats when you figure your entrance and exit trails
I also believe a-lot of hunters go to fast while scouting.
When you scout be super slow don't rush.
Try to be super quiet and don't make a-lot of noise. Almost like when your heading in for a hunt.
If possible try to scout with the wind not blowing into the bedding. Look for not only hot sign along soft transitions. Look for hunters sign. If you see hunters sign move on.
I live in Delaware and it is very very hard to find pockets where hunters don't go. Everything here is just small and pretty accessible in most directions.
You can go super seep on some public find and setup on super hot sign only to find out someone is coming in from another direction.
This video will show you how i stacked some hunts on some good hot sign right outside of bedding. Well if ya watch you will see how fast someone can really screw an area up.

https://youtu.be/BSrNrsMa0wY

Definitely good reminders that, for me, are somewhat easier to overlook out of frustration. Which doesn’t help the situation.

Some of the challenge is a lot of the bedding transitions are WAY back and can take a significant chunk of the day to check. Personally, I gotta find ways to get more efficient that way.