How do you deal with poor harvest rate in the field?

[Amos Keeto]

"... If I only had 2 weeks a year to hunt, then I could hunt those 2 weeks non stop and not burnout. ..."

I prolly could too! LOL!

Also, we have a "Primitive Arms" season that ends the weekend before "Gun Season" starts.
There is a "Fall Turkey" season that runs that week.
If you like archery, "Archery Deer" runs Oct 1- to sometime in January.
....and also a two week "Bonus Antlerless" season the end of Dec.

So yeah, there is more than just the two weeks, depending on your bent and desires.
But your best opportunity to take a buck is the 2 week "Gun" season.

Also, where I hunt, everybody hunts from a stand. A few do "spot & stalk", but there aren't vast expanses of public land to roam. This flat land doesn't offer much to glass and spot.

At my age, I still have the drive to "get out there", but pulling the trigger is getting harder and harder! (Do I  really want to dress a deer, or just go home, relax and go to bed?)

Too many times, the latter wins out!

 

[Macintosh]

Is this a question about hunting tactics and plans dealing with changes to game populations or habits that may or may not be out of your control? Hunting pressured public is a LOT less predictable than hunting private, at least in my experience. Maybe hunt less so you can get access to some good private??
Or is this a question about what it takes to be happy as something you define yourself around becomes harder or unattainable due to age, location and your other life choices? Or is this a question about balancing time for yourself while maintaining a healthy marriage and family?

The original post seems ambiguous enough to answer it from any of these perspectives. All of the below is assuming your time away from family has been discussed with your wife, and everyone is happy with the amount of time away, regardless of whether you kill anything.

Regarding an activity you define yourself around changing for you—yes, this is totally normal. In fact, I think people need to expect it. Take a break. Hunt something new (ducks, birds, etc) so you are forced to learn new things. Hunt with a gun, dont handicap yourself if killing an animal is whats missing. But ultimately, do something else, anything from backpacking without a bow/gun, to golf. You cannot control the animals or guarantee a kill, so if it isnt working as-is, you have no choice except to change something, its up to you to be happy with what youre doing. Change is the only constant, don't for a minute think it’ll always be the same, so dont force it to be because you cant. Your job is to figure out what makes you happy. If hunting loses its “thing” for you, who cares, change the way you are doing it or do something else that does it for you. Honestly, I think it really is that simple.
Ime if you let ego get the better of you (only hunting with a bow or a particular way, only shooting a stud, etc) you may be setting yourself up for failure if killing an animal is really the only thing missing for you.

 

[Felix40]

I was feeling a little burned out this year. Not really excited about butchering big animals. I did a lot more fishing with my family. I think we spent a dozen weekends at the lake. We found a lake that’s clear enough to spearfish and that was the most fun I’ve had in a long time. You have to be ok with doing things you enjoy more than things people promote on social media.

I don’t know where you are but if I had to hunt in some of these states where things have gotten really bad (CO), I probably wouldn’t do it much. I see more elk taking my kid to school than I do on a week long camping trip in Colorado. Decades of unlimited hunting pressure, recreation pressure, and low predator harvest have caught up. With all the social media bs now, people are loving the forest to death. Hunting wasn’t always such a “go harder, deeper, be a badass and take photos” thing. We used to just do it because it was fun.

 

[Cheddar]

Hey all. Wanted to put this out there to see if I could lean on anyone else’s experiences.

I have hunted my whole life. Up until recently I never seemed to have a problem harvesting animals. We hunted, found animals, had some luck on our side, and harvested. I live out west and have hunted some private land and now, mostly public otc hunts with 1 private land hunt every other year.

My work and a gracious wife allow me to spend a lot of time in the woods.

About 5 years ago, for whatever reason, animal harvests just seemed to disappear. This includes 4 out of state hunts, and several more in state hunts. Both on foot and on horseback. Close to roads and as far as 14 miles in from a trailhead. I live 4-6 hours from my hunting spots so every hunt turns into a lot of travel.

I hike. More than most. Typically finding myself in areas away from people. Some hunts have had close calls. And some have seen nothing. I feel like I have put in the work, but for whatever reason lacking that last bit of luck to harvest.

Where I’m going with this.

This have challenged my love for hunting. Guilt has crept in now with a wife and two young kids. Many days and nights away, putting the burden on my wife, to come home empty handed time and time again. Its affected my confidence in the field and overall attitude towards hunting. I have found myself in some beautiful places, but it is beginning to feel like the juice is not worth the squeeze.

I do enjoy the hunts and the time spent with buddies. But I do consider a harvest an important part. I don’t expect to harvest on every hunt. But like I said, 5 years, 4 out of state hunts and many in state hunts leaving me frustrated with the time, effort and money spent.

Maybe I sound like a total jackass but any insight would be appreciated. Has anyone else experienced something similar? Would love to hear some thoughts.

hunt in your area and hammer those units, you can consistently go out after no harvest because you have all season and its near by. dont be picky about what you shoot, youll harvest plenty this way and still be near home.

 

[lintond]

- Get a wife that laughs at you when you say “I’ll get one and be home early from my trip”
- Make sure your coworkers are equally confident in your abilities and say things like “you never get anything”

Those type of confidence boosters will make sure your expectations are low and you skin is thick.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[magtech]

Could t harvest an elk on my archery elk hunt this year so im going to smoke 4 deer off the property to make up for it.

May not have gotten the meat from elk hunting but it was a positive experience nonetheless.

Watch out tiny whitetails... your days are numbered.

 

[Amos Keeto]

To me, using Lokt-Tite on gun screws is like using Phillips head screws on a gun.

 

[Mojave]

Everyone gets FOMO.

I killed a huge buck on a guided hunt, the biggest buck of the hunt by score. Someone came into camp with a buck I liked a lot better. Was jealous. Didn't really like the looks of my big buck.

WTF is wrong with me?

I had a lot of years of not hunting in my life. 2023 was a total shut out. No tags no booked hunts. No hunting at all.

I have had at least 8 or 9 other years like that. Military or money got in the way of hunting.

 

[Amos Keeto]

Everyone gets FOMO.

I killed a huge buck on a guided hunt, the biggest buck of the hunt by score. Someone came into camp with a buck I liked a lot better. Was jealous. Didn't really like the looks of my big buck.

WTF is wrong with me?

I had a lot of years of not hunting in my life. 2023 was a total shut out. No tags no booked hunts. No hunting at all.

I have had at least 8 or 9 other years like that. Military or money got in the way of hunting.

Nothing that can't be contributed to "human nature"!
When it becomes a sticking point you can't resolve, then it becomes psychological.

Don't let "envy" eat you alive! It's one of the "Seven Deadly Sins"!

 

[WRO]

I’m a slut for draw tags, land owner tags, and helping buddies on their great hunts.

I don’t **** with otc much anymore, costs more but I can generally whack and stack that way. I don’t feel I need the practice anymore.

I hire guides out of state when the opportunity works alright, that being said we can usually get it done on good tags without.

 

[Birdybird]

I am actually quite burned out right now...

 

[JeffRaines]

I hunted less after having my first kid, and then even less after having my second kid three years ago… to the point that I didn’t even hunt last year at all! It was part burnout and part guilt. How can I be out having fun when there’s work to be done at home? As a full time employed homeowner, father, and husband you know that list of work to be done at home doesn’t really shrink. Couple that with the guilt of leaving your wife holding the bag, and a family that wants you to spend your time off with them and yeah.

I dipped myself back in slowly this year. After passing numerous deer in archery season I finally took a doe at the tail end. The jerky and steaks were great, it was great to get “back in the saddle” so to speak, and now going forward I plan on it working something like this:

I’ll hunt locally for predators and deer - basically weekend warrioring it for local stuff. If I kill - great. If not, there’s no pressure. If the family wants me a weekend or if I feel the pressure to reduce the honey do list then it’s okay. Local hunts are cheap.

I’ll take one week of my vacation(out of three) per year to focus on a big hunt of some sort. Out of state tag, etc. I’m usually available for my wife to take an out of state vacation once or twice a year so she can reset - it shouldn’t cause guilt for me to want the same thing.

Of course big hunts like that cost more money and time - but think about it like this… some people spend a week every year going on a guys trip to Vegas/etc. How much does something like that cost? Between flights, hotel and spending money/food/etc I’d bet it equals up to about the same as a DIY out of state hunt if not more expensive.

 

[Rich M]

The “need” for meat and the desire to hunt. It is cheaper to buy a cow than to do travel hunting.

If you had the kids, suck it up.

I had a 13 yr dry spell 1996-2009. Would you still hunt? I hunt cause i enjoy it. Only hunt deer about 10 days/yr now as opposed to 2-3 months worth. Kill more now than i did before too.

Oh - hunting is a luxury. You dont need it to live and you wont die if you dont go.

(Trolling a lil bit but not too much)

 

[OKHunter84]

I've dealt with dad and husband guilt the last few years myself. I try my best to pretty much do whatever my wife wants outside of hunting season and she doesn't get too mad about me going away hunting. There has been more then once where a hunt was going poorly, weather wasn't cooperating and I missed the family, so I left early. Some guys wouldn't agree with that approach, but it's worked for me. Last year I had a late October hunt and it was outrageously hot, I wasn't seeing the class of bucks I was after, so after four hard days, on the fifth day I pulled the plug after the morning hunt and went home. Took my wife on a date and spent the last couple days of vacation getting things done around the house and spending time with her and the kids. Showed her she's the more important then hunting and helps me avoid burn out.

On the lack of harvesting, that's why I love being able to hunt whitetail at home after a frustrating western hunt. Throw a couple does and a buck in the freezer then it doesn't sting as bad. Maybe plan a hog or deer hunt somewhere where the population is more dense and you can shoot multiple animals.

 

[Yoder]

We have always hunted public land. I only whitetail hunt so it's a little different. The best way to improve odds is scout more and look in places people think are stupid. I also hunt mostly on weekdays.