Which Decade do you believe to be the best time for Deer Hunting

[Tim H]

Hello Guys,

Lately I've been thinking back to when deer hunting was considered the best decade for me. I've only hunted in a few so I don't have a lot of experience through decades that were more than 30 years ago. I'm interested in what some of the older deer hunters would say. I like hearing about history and stories of old camps, seasons, hunts etc. My Dad and I had a conversation and he said in the 80s was possible his best time deer hunting. Also if you feel inclined, please comment on why you thought the decade you chose was the best.

For me I think the 90s were my best time. That is when I started bowhunting and I remember seeing a lot of bucks then. Hunting was still pure for me and nothing had tainted it. All I knew in the world was what my family taught me about hunting. I didn't have any other outside influences like TV, Magazines, Shows, or Internet.

[Abishai]

I picked 2000-2010 though I almost picked 1990-2000.

My reasons: high deer numbers, lower hunter numbers, less CWD.

[The_Real_Jmill]

2000-2010 for me.

Fresh to the game learning only what my dad taught me. The excitement of opening mornings and the sounds of the woods coming alive with my alpine micro compound and xx75 aluminums tipped with muzzy 100's.
Definitely simpler times as it was just before the boom of trail cams etc. so we would just scout hard/hunt and was happy to see and harvest whatever deer I crossed paths with.

[Boogieman1]

Although I wasn’t even born yet I voted 70-79. Have talked to enough old timers to know when the golden age of hunting was. The first hunting videos have not yet been released and a simple knock on a door could grant u access to the finest areas available. Hunting wasn’t yet viewed as a money making opportunity and the folks who participated in it did so for just the love of the chase. Fast forward to today you knock on a door and they want$3500 for a weekend hunt and give u a photo album of bucks not to shoot. Just saying.....

[Trout]

I wish I knew what I know now in the 90s when I first started deer hunting. That said, I voted 2010-2019. Wish I could have voted for 2020-2029 cause I feel like the best is yet to come.

[headgear]

80's were average from what I recall, early 90's rocked, late 90's brutal winters, 2000's were amazing and the 2010's kind of a mixed bag, I expect more of that in the future.

[mauser06]

I will be the odd ball and say we are living it. Especially in Pennsylvania.


Several states have gotten better with deer management from what I've read.


Ya. I don't see here of 20-30-50 deer run by. But now, if I see a group of deer, there's a high likelihood of a 2.5+yo buck being there. Back then, you'd be lucky to see a buck. My first 4 seasons I saw and killed deer. Saw 1 buck we jumped in a blueberry patch. From then on is when Pennsylvania got into here reduction and antler restrictions and I've killed a buck nearly all of those years since.


I have absolutely no trouble finding deer. I am happy with our deer hunting. I know lots of guys wouldn't agree with me...but that's my Outlook on it.


Deer have always had various diseases. They are wild animals. Did we have EHD and CWD and stuff years ago? No one really knows because no one really looked at it. We saw a dead deer in the woods and brushed it off as deer die same as everything else.



Hunting is what you make it. If you enjoy sitting on pappy's stump where he killed his first and only buck in 1945 and you killed your first and only buck in 1993...have at it. Just don't cry there ain't no deer. If you wanna plant extravagant food plots and be a deer farmer and name you "hit list" and be that kinda hunter....have fun! If you wanna eat breath and sleep deer hunting and chase mature bucks on public land, I will see you out there! If you wanna shoot small bucks..congrats! I will help you drag! You wanna mow down some doe...that sounds like a good time to me! Let's get together and push em around. Pile em up and get em back to the truck.


Oh, I will add....hunting pressure has also died down some ....we don't have nearly the amount of hunters we once did. And we now allow crossbows so the overall kill is spread out more....good and bad but lots of good come from that mix. I don't wanna see hunting die off...makes our future more difficult. But it's nice not having a guy behind every tree. On the flip side...there's more guys on archery season ...on the flip side....there's less forced movement in rifle season....all has its ups and downs. We used to kill probably 50% or more of our bucks opening morning. If you didn't fill your buck tag before lunch time, odds were high that you were eating it. Not the case anymore.

[thwack16]

I think everyone’s answers will be a bit biased to their personal experiences, but 2005-2012 seemed like a really good time for big bucks throughout the country.

Trail cameras were showing everyone what was out there and the potential of what passing younger bucks could do. Yet they weren’t so developed and use so widespread that they were a big factor in killing the high end three year olds.

People were traveling to hunt and killing big ones, but to find out about areas and take a leap of faith and go was only done “old school”. The internet was here, but hadn’t yet made the world feel so small.

[Dewey]

Hard to pick one because so many are great in different ways.

The 80’s were carefree and easily the simplest times that I miss so much. It was all about hunting and not so much about the gear like it is these days. Hunting was tough but also know those rough times gave me the persistence needed for later years.

The 90’s were my killing years. Any deer that ventured in range got killed. I wasn’t too choosy about size back then and it didn’t matter if they had horns or not. Deer populations increased greatly especially later in the decade so that made for a target rich environment. If you liked to see a LOT of deer this was the decade.

The 2000’s was when I decided to start holding out for bigger bucks and didn’t target does anymore except when required by EAB. CWD early on created the kill em all mentality but I never bought into that. Does got slaughtered then and many areas of the state still haven’t recovered from it. Only good that came out of it was EAB which created a much improved age structure for bucks. Later in that decade was by far the best period for me for big bucks. Those were incredible times which I doubt I will ever see again and continued into the next decade.

The 2010’s started out great for the first half but then the deer herd really started to thin out and mature bucks are getting much harder to find. The numbers right now are way down from earlier in this decade. Hoping we can get back on another upswing in the 2020’s.

To sum it up I guess I would have to choose 2000-2010 as the best decade for me just because that’s when I easily had the most encounters with big bucks and even killed a few of them.

[stash59]

I picked the 80's. I went through my kill alot of deer phase in the early 80's. Got into my mature buck or nothing phase in the late 80's. And put way more effort into whitetail bucks than any other period in my life. That was also my longest period that I shot recurves for hunting. Missed every big racked old buck I had a chance at. Buck fever and unseen twigs. And saw a couple true monsters.

Hunted northern WI for 2 weeks a year during the rut, for 3 years. That's where I had most of my misses. And spent some long weekends spring scouting up there. Had the most big buck encounters at that time too. First hunting trip up north was a gun hunt and I did connect on a decent, what I guess to have been a 3.5YO, that weighed 164. 8 points and 18" wide inside. Also went on my first western hunt for deer and elk.

With guys like the Wensel brothers, Roger Rothaare, Myles Keller, Bob Fratzke, The Stump Sitters, that then became Deer & Deerhunting and more sharing all of their knowledge. Fresh knowledge was always available. This is when I learned the most about mature buck hunting. That is until I found The Beast!

I had more success making kills in later decades but that was mostly elk and mule deer. The couple whitetail bucks I killed were small, especially by western standards. It was all fun, but in the 80's, deer hunting still held an innocence for me. Always something new to see and learn. If I was healthy when I found the HB I may have felt the same way. But not being able get much actual experience using Beast methods. Has been frustrating.

[Hawthorne]

My best days hunting have been 2006-present day. I started hunting in the 90s. I was 30 years old in 2006. That year I broke off from some not so productive areas and started hunting more by myself

[Chuck B]

I wasn’t born till early 80’s, and didn’t really get into hunting till mid-late 2000’s. But, the older guys I spend time with now all talk about the early - mid 2000’s being the best time for hunting in our area.

[Ishi Spirit]

The 90s were the best for myself

Less bowhunters or hunters
Hunting public land wasn’t cool at that time
Ease of private land access
Great age structure of bucks
Habitat in general was good

[dan]

2000 to 2009.

[dan]

2000 to 2009.

The 90s were the best for myself

Less bowhunters or hunters
Hunting public land wasn’t cool at that time
Ease of private land access
Great age structure of bucks
Habitat in general was good

if we are talking results the 90s for me as well... I think 2000 to 2009 had the highest population of big bucks in Wisconsin, but it was not my peak success time