How was your 2020 hunt? Location not needed. More/less deer, more/less people.

[KurtR]

Elk hunt was the best ever I saw elk and killed one. Saw more elk in one day than the last 4 years combined.

now deer hunting in South Dakota here was the worst I have ever seen. I have lived in this area since 02 and numbers of whitetail were way down ehd kicked their ass. Muleys were down just across the river like we had a bad winter but we didn’t. I didn’t really start deer hunting hard till I moved here and they are the worse I have seen.

 

[nphunter]

My wife had a early cow tag, we went to a spot of ours and we had a cow feed up below us just after daylight on opening morning and she made a great 330 yard shot on it. Never saw another person on that hunt.


I hunt public land in NE Oregon, always lots of people and lots of elk. The people do bug me a little but the elk are still there in high numbers. Filled my tag with a 6 point bull for the 3rd year in a row. This year I had a draw tag so the area I hunted had very little hunting pressure and we got into a lot of elk. My two boys called for me and we chased the bull I killed all day long in the rain and finally killed him 20 minutes before dark, we first got into the before daylight. We covered 7 miles that day on foot most of them chasing screaming elk.


After my hunting i hunted with my buddy and with my son. We had opportunity’s ever day, on the last day of the season my 14yr old got to draw back on a big 6 point bull but couldn’t get a shot off. There were two groups below us walking the road bugling and a guy above us sawing firewood about 600 yards from the elk. We walked right up the bull and his 3 cows bedded on the bank above a closed road, they were just sitting there listening to the commotion.

Deer numbers were better but are still way below objective, my son shot his buck opening morning by 9 am, he missed a nice 150” 4 point buck just after daylight when buck fever got the best of him. The forked horn he shot was feeding up a creek bottom and be shot him from the cliffs above. We didn’t see another hunter on that short hunt.


I drew a deer tag and hunted for 7 days with a MZ and in 7 days we only had two vehicles drive past our camp. We averaged seeing about 100 deer and I ending up killing a 24” wide 150” 3 point and my hunting partner killed a 20” 3 point.





My dad drew a landowner tag which he let my son fill taking advantage of the Oregon mentor hunter program. The weekend before the land owners kids filled their tags on two nice bulls. The second weekend in a blizzard my son shot his bull out of a herd of 100 year feeding 95 yards below us. We were the only ones hunting the property so we didn’t see any other people and there are always lots of elk on private around here. Didn’t see a single deer though.


2020 was pretty good to us, we each harvested at least one animal. We spent thanksgiving in a motel in ID chasing late season mule deer. My son got a lot of stalks in but couldn’t close the deal. We did see a pile of deer and not a lot of hunters which is pretty typical on that hunt.

 

[Wanabe]

2020 was one of my best and memorable years. I lost my whole guiding season in Alaska due to Covid and clients canceled hunts.
Living in Idaho has its benefits.
Filled 3 Idaho elk tags in our group
3 Idaho deer tags. 1 tag for a 10 year old. 1 tag on a guys biggest buck to date. Then helping a young man through make a wish foundation get his first buck.
Then off to Utah for a limited elk hunt. The tag was a expo tag that my buddy won.
Great adventures.

 

[Molon Labe]

Good year. I got 4 bucks off public and buddy shot a ram. Limited entry mulie tag was flush with hikers and tons of hunters. Took a big 7x7 buck though so crowding wasn’t so bad. Sheep area tons of hikers...lots of non outdoors types asking what I was looking for and not even knowing the difference between goats and sheep haha! More than I would have expected.

OTC deer spots weren’t bad but those deer were shot in spots that not many people hunt and normally don’t see people. My oryx hunt in a couple weeks probably doesn’t apply to OPs intent of the post because it’s on white sands and they limit the number of people in there.

Overall I think there was more people out this year which is pretty cool. Met some interesting people in some neat spots.

 

[Deadfall]

100 percent. Only ran into very many people on roads less then hour from nearest tow.

 

[mtwarden]

I never see many folks where I go (maybe I'm going to the wrong places! . They nixed the shooting of cows in one of the units I hunt, which significantly makes harvesting an elk harder (brow tine only now), but some tough hunting and persistence paid off and I harvested a younger bull. I'm an unabashed freezer filler, so cow, spike, big bull bull are all the same to me (unless they are all standing together and then the big bull gets the nod! )

I'm hoping they reinstate cow hunting this coming fall, will increase my odds a bunch- we'll see.

 

[Miboy86]

Somewhat central michigan in lower peninsula, spring turkey was somewhat crowded on public with non hunters out and about or looking for morels. All of deer season felt like the rifle opener, people every where no matter the day of the week. Made hunting interesting since the deer were more pressured than normal, but I feel like it also made me a better hunter. Ended up with 5 outta the 6 deer I got this season coming from public.

 

[AZmark]

Had a NM muledeer hunt and took a 3x3. AZ muledeer hunt and took a 4x4. Didnt get drawn for elk.

 

[.204smokechaser]

Less people (saw none minus the snow plow) and the same amount of deer. Parked at gate, and walked 1.5 miles until I saw a buck that met 2020 criteria. Hunted 2 hours in 2020.

 

[Naiche]

AZ coues the woods were crawling with people. Lots of non hunting types out hiking . Camps everywhere and roads jammed with road hunters and joy riders on atvs.

 

[roadrunner]

Too many people in what would be a smaller area of the unit on a muzzleloader antelope hunt - filled out the late afternoon on the first day.

Too many people in what would be a smaller area of the unit on a rifle elk hunt - hunted one full day and filled out the morning of the second. Too many "newbies" to the unit that got in the way...

Not a soul around but me on a late season rifle elk hunt - hunted 3 hours and filled out.

 

[JGuest]

Elk hunt was the best ever I saw elk and killed one. Saw more elk in one day than the last 4 years combined.

now deer hunting in South Dakota here was the worst I have ever seen. I have lived in this area since 02 and numbers of whitetail were way down ehd kicked their ass. Muleys were down just across the river like we had a bad winter but we didn’t. I didn’t really start deer hunting hard till I moved here and they are the worse I have seen.

What part of the state were you hunting? Had to ask as I had a Black Hills tag and a West River tag and our Black Hills hunt was probably the hardest I've had in a while.

West River Whitetail and Mule Deer numbers where I was at were up. We harvested 3 mature Whitetail bucks in 4 days on our smallish piece. Saw quite a few Muleys but none that were what I was looking for. Hunter numbers out on the flat lands were way down, and I don't think I ever went a day in the hills without seeing other hunters.

Antelope, we also filled out but thats a meat hunt. The landowner wants the first three adult goats we see shot. Antelope hunting seems to be taking off and you see a lot of interesting stuff chasing goats.

 

[Mule3006Elk]

Mule deer buck, 2 mule deer doe, and a pronghorn. Didn't run into one hunter in the field but I usually pick places others don't like to go.

 

[Z71&Gun]

Lots of people and lots of deer. I hunted low country near home due to time constraints. Mule deer disappeared from an area where they used to be mixed in with white tail. The white tails seemed to have above average antler growth. Tons of weird antlers and crab forks. Lots of one year old legal shooters. Then over in sage brush country the mule deer were thirsty, smoked out and surrounded by people. There were so many people in central and eastern Washington hunting deer that every parking lot to a trailhead looked like the watershed festival. The deer activity and additional time off made up for the extra pressure in the end. It was a good season.

 

[KurtR]

What part of the state were you hunting? Had to ask as I had a Black Hills tag and a West River tag and our Black Hills hunt was probably the hardest I've had in a while.

West River Whitetail and Mule Deer numbers where I was at were up. We harvested 3 mature Whitetail bucks in 4 days on our smallish piece. Saw quite a few Muleys but none that were what I was looking for. Hunter numbers out on the flat lands were way down, and I don't think I ever went a day in the hills without seeing other hunters.

Antelope, we also filled out but thats a meat hunt. The landowner wants the first three adult goats we see shot. Antelope hunting seems to be taking off and you see a lot of interesting stuff chasing goats.

North central part of state Dewey west and walworth east. I’m usually glass half full guy but after 2 days of pheasant hunting the late season we scarred 0 deer and usually walking sloughs and stuff you see a bunch. I have a couple friends that ranch west they spend lots of time out there and it’s like the deer from last year just disappeared.

 

[scott_co]

I saw way more people than elk while hunting in CO in Sep.

But things improved later in the year. I went to TX for deer and hog hunting. I took my biggest deer plus a spike and 4 hogs, so my freezer is full.

 

[JGuest]

North central part of state Dewey west and walworth east. I’m usually glass half full guy but after 2 days of pheasant hunting the late season we scarred 0 deer and usually walking sloughs and stuff you see a bunch. I have a couple friends that ranch west they spend lots of time out there and it’s like the deer from last year just disappeared.

We were down in Lyman, center of the state and it was looking good. Like I said the Hills were probably the hardest hunt I've had in a while, but I do know a lot of guys who were successful.

It felt like a weird year overall. I know that much.

 

[Maverick7]

Tough year. Ton of ppl waking / hiking.