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Burned Out!!! Tips?

I'm by no means the expert, but following are a few things that have worked for me...
  • Commit to studying maps daily in smaller chunks using a combination of hillmap (Sat / 7.5Min topo), google earth historical imaging, OnX (my personal choices)
  • Commit to taking new routes in and out of your hunting location vs traveling the same path over and over - amazing what you learn and pick up taking 'the long way' sometimes
  • Make sure the wind is right for access and stand locations
  • Celebrate the small victories - new sign found, where another hunters stand is, a crossing, bedding area, feed tree, etc.
    • Everything you learn helps complete the puzzle. Where people go ...where deer go ...where they live, eat and travel
For me, I try to learn and document one new thing each time I'm in the woods. You'll be surprised at how this will add up over time and lead to success.

Celebrate learning and growing - the byproduct will be ...more sightings ...more sighting in bow range ...arrows flung ...and eventually, deer killed!

Hang in there and keep at it!
 
This is an amazing thread and I'd like to publically thank all of you that have taken the time to write in with your advice.

I'm not the OP, but I'm not a terribly successful hunter and I know where he's coming from.

The takeaway message from this thread, loud and clear, is that you've got to spend the time pounding the ground to find the deer. Thanks for this: the sunk-cost fallacy can be hard to get past and moving out of that theoretically "correct" spot takes force of will.

But I'd you're not seeing the deer, then either you're not going to where they are, or they're moving away from you. Address the latter with paying attention to wind, noise, etc; address the former with hitting the ground hard.

Deer season never really ends: just shooting season. Scouting and prepping and trying to improve is continuous.
 
Be happy you've seen deer..... It's taken me 5 years of being a new hunter on public land to get to the point of seeing deer constantly
I’ve been hunting 10 years and still haven’t killed a deer yet. My hunting time is limited to one day a week so that doesn’t help
 
So I thought I’d share my hunting experience with ya. I’ve been hunting since I was 12 years old (I’m 36 now). I’ve mainly hunted public land with very little success. It took me 13 years before I ever took a deer with my bow (and that was on private land in a set stand over bait.). Although I got a few chances at deer on public land (without bait) with my bow throughout the years I missed every one. I finally connected with a deer on public land this year with my bow and out of the saddle. I remember hunting with my Dad and Uncles as a kid and going whole weeks without seeing a single deer. It was tough but the one thing that kept me out there was my love and passion for the outdoors. This past year I have spent tons of my time on learning more about deer hunting and different hunting tactics. The one thing I learned about public land is there are vast areas of land that just don’t hold deer or they don’t move until dark. If I’m out trying to get some meat and not seeing deer I’m moving and scouting around until I find better sign. If it doesn’t pan out I may abandon that area altogether and go somewhere different. I try different things when stuff ain’t working but I’m constantly out having fun being out in the woods climbing trees and busting brush. In my case having fun doing the work that is necessary is what it’s all about. Whether or not I get a deer, although putting some meat in my freezer is pretty important. Good luck.


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I saw 11 deer on Saturday in Alabama.
What part of Alabama? I’m in the cullman area. I’ve always hunted private land. We have a lot of family land I hunt. It’s tough hunting though. It’s all natural land. No food plots, no feeders, no shooting houses, just two old ladder stands that are grown into the tree. I’m the only one that hunts it. I’m struggling to locate bucks. I see several deer every time I hunt but no mature bucks.
 
I’ve been hunting 10 years and still haven’t killed a deer yet. My hunting time is limited to one day a week so that doesn’t help

JC 10 F years? Is that just passing on sub P&Y bucks and other non antlered deer?


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What part of Alabama? I’m in the cullman area. I’ve always hunted private land. We have a lot of family land I hunt. It’s tough hunting though. It’s all natural land. No food plots, no feeders, no shooting houses, just two old ladder stands that are grown into the tree. I’m the only one that hunts it. I’m struggling to locate bucks. I see several deer every time I hunt but no mature bucks.

How much scouting have you done on your property? How many acres did you say it was?
 
What part of Alabama? I’m in the cullman area. I’ve always hunted private land. We have a lot of family land I hunt. It’s tough hunting though. It’s all natural land. No food plots, no feeders, no shooting houses, just two old ladder stands that are grown into the tree. I’m the only one that hunts it. I’m struggling to locate bucks. I see several deer every time I hunt but no mature bucks.

That was Pike county. I hunted that spot because I had not been there since August and it was a high probability of a sighting due to it being a previously known travel corridor and the sign confirmed the heavy use when I arrived that day.
I also hunt mostly natural land I do have a feeder and mineral site as well as some small kill plots I plant by hand. All on about 40 acres. I usually see at least 1 mature buck a year but I don’t think they stay on the property, just come through looking for does.
 
That was Pike county. I hunted that spot because I had not been there since August and it was a high probability of a sighting due to it being a previously known travel corridor and the sign confirmed the heavy use when I arrived that day.
I also hunt mostly natural land I do have a feeder and mineral site as well as some small kill plots I plant by hand. All on about 40 acres. I usually see at least 1 mature buck a year but I don’t think they stay on the property, just come through looking for does.
My biggest tip for small properties is planting ONE food plot or having ONE baiting site. Your odds of holding a buck are basically 0 on 40 acres. You'll catch them cruising during the rut, or by pure chance. If you have a concentrated, high quality destination area on that property, it will attract does. If you can improve the cover by hinge cutting or thinning, do that. Then, stay off of it. It sucks, but if I had 40 acres I'd feed year round, and have presets on the property edges where I could shoot as far as possible. Maybe 1 on the plot/feeder. Stay off of it until the rut heats up.

We hunt 120 acres that way, with decent success. It would be better if I could convince my dad to kill one plot, relocate the feeder to the big plot, and stay off of it better. That's the only place he hunts, and he also regularly checks cameras and feeders. However, we hold does well and can see deer practically every sit. Come January we will start catching bucks hanging around kr does.
 
How much scouting have you done on your property? How many acres did you say it was?
Around 200 a lot of it is too thick to walk through. I’m gonna try to do some post season scouting and hopefully everything will be thinned out enough to get through.
 
My biggest tip for small properties is planting ONE food plot or having ONE baiting site. Your odds of holding a buck are basically 0 on 40 acres. You'll catch them cruising during the rut, or by pure chance. If you have a concentrated, high quality destination area on that property, it will attract does. If you can improve the cover by hinge cutting or thinning, do that. Then, stay off of it. It sucks, but if I had 40 acres I'd feed year round, and have presets on the property edges where I could shoot as far as possible. Maybe 1 on the plot/feeder. Stay off of it until the rut heats up.

Exactly this. My 1 bait site in the middle-ish of the property with 2 satellite kill plots 1/4 acre or so in size positioned for prevailing winds. I haven’t historically hunted the feeder or the mineral site just the acess to them (due to baiting legality, now that it’s different I haven’t decided if I will change anything.) Stay out til the time is perfect. I normally go to this piece once in early season then again in rut unless something tells me I need to be there at another time.
 
Here's another piece of advice, or information, and it isn't fully formed.

The real killers are successful for a lot of reasons. I don't think you can pinpoint which one is most important. But there is something to be said for cross training and adaptability.

One way I've gotten better at deciphering deer behavior is by traveling to hunt. Not everyone has this opportunity. But it doesn't necessarily have to be out of state. It can be a different public tract near you with different terrain, pressure, food, etc. When you stop trying to kill a deer in the moment, and begin to play the long game - this will become very valuable. Anyone can luck up and trip into an awesome spot. But deer are rats with hooves. Across subspecies, geography, terrain, food sources, exposure to hunting pressure, etc, they all share certain traits, display certain types of behavior, and fall into certain habits. These become much more obvious when you've seen them in their "different" form, and can pull the common strand from each situation.

If you're watching Infalt's "hill country bedding", and trying to apply deer bedding on leeward ridge points in a swamp in south alabama - well yeh, you're not going to have much luck connecting dots. But generally speaking, if bucks can hide in cover, with wind/noise protection from behind them, while watching where they intend to go that evening, they're gonna do it. When you run across "buck beds" in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, and Missouri, you start to identify the common theme. When you can extract details like that, you can then apply the general knowledge to where ever you're hunting.

I recommend a change of scenery from where you're currently hunting. Go try to solve the puzzle from a totally different angle.

The advice to read the books and watch the videos and follow the blogs is good - but only if you understand what you're trying to pull from it. You aren't going to get a short cut. They don't exist in deer hunting. You're looking to find concepts, theory, ideas, that you can apply to your specific situation. The broader the spectrum you're learning on, the better off you are for a couple of reasons. Number one - you'll learn more stuff. Number two, you get better at learning, and fast. This is why i recommend going cover a bunch of ground. Not slow. Probably not even with a weapon in your hand, but i'll let that one slide since it is hunting season. But DON'T carry a way up a tree.

Squirrel hunting is an awesome way to scout. If you want a challenge, bring your bow to do it. But just go cover some ground. Cross train. You'll learn some adaptability in the process.

I think you can drop any of the legends in any part of the country and they'll get on deer quick, and get on big ones fairly quick too. This is due to a lot of reasons. But I can promise you, they'll all start with eliminating the crappy places to hunt as fast as possible. And they're covering ground to do that.
"But deer are rats with hooves" --- that sir, is an awesome quote.

Also amazed at the wealth of knowledge so freely shared!

thx!
 
So season opened Oct. 15th for me, and i have around 20 sits. 0 kills and only seen 4 or 5 deer. Still learning public and its kicking my butt. Im starting to get burnt out, almost 2 years ago i made the decision to not hunt over food plots/feeders anymore. Thats also the last time I've killed a deer. Anyways what's some tips for you veteran hunters out there to not get burned out?
Pretty much the same story for me. Last year I got a deer the first week and saw several others later but I had no more doe permits. This year I have 3 doe permits and no deer. I only saw 2 deer in about 20 sits. I think I am done for this year.

Edit: I don't know how I didn't see this thread earlier. I need to read it all but after reading a bit, I feel like going out for a walk in the woods to find tracks in the snow.
 
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Well its been over a year and I've hunted less than last year and finally killed a deer also have missed 2 one being a nice buck. I take small breaks if I start to get burnt out but get right back after it cause the season will be over before I know it and then I will regret not hunting more.
 
Go on the hunting beast forum and search the state and or types of terrain your hunting in. You’ll find some good info, helped me a lot learning from the seasoned guys on there not knocking anyone on here but that forum is a more tactics based resource.
 
Be happy you've seen deer..... It's taken me 5 years of being a new hunter on public land to get to the point of seeing deer constantly

What tips can you give, cuz that’s where I’m at


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Finding the sign is something im still learning, im starting to think i need to stick with one area and learn it and quit jumping around.
This is huge. When i started years back.
I did same thing
i jumped all over the place. One day i was 5 minutes from the house and the next day i was an hour or two south, next day same to the north.
i was carrying 30lbs on pretty longwalks.
I was burnt out by mid November.
this year i focused onjust a few areas i knew where good food sources certain times of the year.
Bedding is always key to me. Im always right outside of known pressured bedding, but im on a staging food source.
I also i always try to look at the travel route from the bedding area to the spot im gonna hunt. If the deer dont feel safe traveling from the bedding to wherever im setup up as or on what I described above. Im probably not gonna see anything.
from what im learning and experienced in last few years. The most important thing to me and simplistic this is this.
You can find the best hottest sign in a specific piece of woods anywhere but if a deer doesnt feelsafe going between bedding and that hot sign during daylight hours. Most times Your beat man. If there is no secure travel cover that hot sign is probably night time sign
 
What tips can you give, cuz that’s where I’m at


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Shoot.... I'm probably the wrong 1 to ask..

 
I haven't seen a buck i want to shoot in yearssssss. Im plenty burnt out, but like some of the advice on page 1. Im always cautious about going into areas. I pick spots on aerials and hunt them. Then push in further. I need to not care and scout. Dumb to hunt just cause your in the woods. I heard a podcast or something and the guy said people on a dock think they have a chance at the big fish cause they got a line in the water. He said the guys catching them are covering lots of water finding them.
 
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