On average

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Originally Posted by fratri

Seen quite a few deer on my first few outings while I was still hunting............................... but now...... I setup in a river bottom hoping to catch a big buck out for a stroll and have not seen anything in the deep stuff yet.... I will give it another go in the deep stuff, a little closer to Halloween.... But I always go knowing I am going to spot a deer, sometimes I doubt myself but if I keep the faith it will come, if not today then tomorrow :)

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Similar to this. Saw 12 deer in my first 5 outings this season - mostly at dusk around the bean fields. I did however manage to get nicely busted by a harem of does in the deep bush last Thursday - saw 3 of them and heard at least one more snorting at me from somewhere.

As for doubting oneself goes - based on Frank's performance in past seasons I am pretty sure he will fill at least one tag and probably more. I hold the same high hopes for myself.

All that said the number of deer you are going to see is hugely dependent on WMU and than a whole bunch of factors specific to whatever WMU you happen to be in. I hunt 47, 78, 79, 81B, and 82a. In 47 I can count on one hand the number of deer I have seen during the season in the last 10 years. In 82a I probably see deer on every 3rd outing. In 78 and 79 it is probably a 50% chance on any given outing. In 81B it is more like 75% - and is actually over 80% so far this season.

About 4 outings to see a deer(or more then one deer in the same outing-sometimes more in a group,sometimes separate deer seen thru the same sitting)last 10 years average,mostly pay for use public land and mostly forest and bush.
Since there is no mention that You hunt over bait,one question to the OP-how much time You spend pre season scouting?From Jan 1-st til Sep 30-th every outing counts....except when you are setting up tree stands per say.
The more You do,the more you will know the land,the more chances are to set up on "better"spots,the more chances to see deer............just saying.

Ive been out 5 times, First morning on eon the ground 40 minutes after sun up, that afternoon saw another 6 or 7, the other 3 times have seen 3 deer, Last year, same stands I only saw 1 deer and it was at 60 yards, the year before that I literally passed on 20 something deer,
I find it depends on what is in the fields, In a very large bush swamp area, surrounded by corn/soya bean......once the fields are cleaned off see more bush activity...only one corn field left and told its coming off next week,
Starting to have bucs on cams during legal shooting so next couple weeks could be good, I HOPE

I've been out 3 mornings so far and I have not seen a deer. I feel really lucky if I see more than 5 deer in a season while hunting alone on a mix of private land and public land in WMU 64a and 65. Last year I think I saw 9 including 3 bucks (likely the same one at least twice), and while I didn't get a deer, I felt like it was a great season.
If you have the chance, watch Meat Eater. I find that that show is the closest to the reality of most hunters, other than the hunting in pretty exotic locations by most people's standards. He often talks about how he hunts very hard for several days on end and might see one animal. This resonates with me.

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Originally Posted by trimmer21

I take the WildTV stuff with a huge grain of salt. They use outfitters and need to edit about 2 months worth of tape to get a half hour show. That gives the impression that there's Deer running all over the place when,in fact,the exact opposite is true. The other thing that gets me is that the average Joe could only dream of getting away on an Alaskan,Yukon or African hunt even just once in a lifetime. For North American outfitted hunts,the average cost is $10K all in. For Africa,closer to $60-100K although I'm sure KMG could give a more definitive costing for Africa. Relax,Mark,you're likely doing just fine. :moose:

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There are hunts in Africa that can get that expensive but that is the full meal deal option. Most of our hunters are regular guys doing something like a seven day all inclusive (food/lodgings/alcohol) with four animals included (example; Warthog/Blesbok/Impala/Kudu) for about 5 k one on one with a Professional hunter. And yeah, your head is on a swivel there as the land itself creates greater density of animals that we can imagine here.

As for me I average seeing deer every two or three sits in farm country within WMU 65, however I have food sources all around me including deer food plots.

Varies from year to year. Been out 5 times this year, seen 1 out of range, been winded on 2 other days. Boy was out once and got his buck. Last year I saw about 30 in 2 different areas, but couple times there were several deer in the heard, only 4 in range. 2 years ago saw 2 in bow season and 30 in the week of the control hunt that I was in. I tend to see more in the controlled hunt, even though I sit in the same spots as I do bow hunting. I think that the deer are nervous and move more.

I've hunted spots where I averaged 1 sighting per 10 outings. My current spot I'm very rarely skunked. I've been out 3 times, and had 2 sightings, 9 sightings and 4 sightings. It all depends on population and cropping practices. It isn't hard to over hunt an area. One local poacher can decimate the local herd. An area where I hunted in my youth had a notorious poacher who died and we couldn't believe how amazing the hunting became without him.

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Originally Posted by benjhind

I've hunted spots where I averaged 1 sighting per 10 outings. My current spot I'm very rarely skunked. I've been out 3 times, and had 2 sightings, 9 sightings and 4 sightings. It all depends on population and cropping practices. It isn't hard to over hunt an area. One local poacher can decimate the local herd. An area where I hunted in my youth had a notorious poacher who died and we couldn't believe how amazing the hunting became without him.

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natural causes... right?

When timing is good, I do everything well, and have patience to spend enough time in the stand, my average deer sightings per hunt is about 30%.

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Originally Posted by rf2

I've been out 3 mornings so far and I have not seen a deer. I feel really lucky if I see more than 5 deer in a season while hunting alone on a mix of private land and public land in WMU 64a and 65. Last year I think I saw 9 including 3 bucks (likely the same one at least twice), and while I didn't get a deer, I felt like it was a great season.
If you have the chance, watch Meat Eater. I find that that show is the closest to the reality of most hunters, other than the hunting in pretty exotic locations by most people's standards. He often talks about how he hunts very hard for several days on end and might see one animal. This resonates with me.

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Yes I agree, I enjoy that show as it is closer to the reaity of your weekend/recreational hunter,
And I enjoy the commentary of the show as well