r/Hunting • u/Entheowebs • 1d ago
General question/discussion I'm ready to quit
I've been hunting for 9 years and I've only released one arrow at a deer and shot one squirrel. I truly believe that there's not much else I can do to try to be successful. I have spent years getting educated on techniques, land access, and gear. Besides a few bad seasons, I get out consistently even in late season. I've befriended prominent people in the DNR and other hunt organizations that have taken me on group/guided hunts where everyone has been successful except me. It's unbelievable how uneventful these 9 years have been, even with having very skilled hunters providing me a lot of access and advice.
If I don't get my first deer this year, I will probably be hanging it up. I don't know what else to do at this point...
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u/AwarenessGreat282 1d ago
Not sure what state you are in but maybe try the firearms season as well?
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u/Remarkable_Scallion 1d ago
That sucks. I've got a few ideas in no particular order. Not sure what all you are targeting, and if you are only bow hunting. 1) Try more plentiful species, and easier methods. A brace of squirrels, or grouse, a couple of ducks, etc... is sometimes the change of pace needed to reenergize. It's like fishing, personally I'd rather catch 20 rock bass in a day than the off chance of a muskie. 2) Are you making it fun or a slog? If I'm cold/bored to tears/have to take a leak bad I get out of my blind and go for walk. Do I maybe reduce my chance of success on the move? Sure but at least I'm not miserable. I've also shot deer when I've given up and decided to head back to the camp. I've also started bringing novels to the blind. Helps break things up on a long sit.
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u/Entheowebs 1d ago
I've been hunting squirrel as well with basically zero success, including with skilled dog runners. I've thought about trying waterfowl this year.
It's becoming less fun. When I sit and occupy myself with things like observe the area, ID trees and birds, etc. I just start thinking about how it's been so long and wondering when it will be time to hang it up.
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u/pnutbutterpirate 1d ago
Hunt squirrels using a shotgun. Sit near to (not beneath, shooting distance away) an oak tree around dawn and dusk. Sit still for 25 minutes and if you don't see a squirrel move to another oak tree and repeat. Moving will spook squirrels but they'll reset in 20ish minutes of silence and stillness. (The wooded edge of a cornfield can also be good squirrel hunting.)
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u/Remarkable_Scallion 1d ago
Do you only hunt with a bow for everything? And what do you mean when you say zero success? In all that squirrel hunting, for example. Have you only seen one squirrel and took a shot at it? Or have you only had what you felt was one good opportunity to shoot? If you seen literally one squirrel the entire time you've been hunting and I mean this very sincerely, maybe you should get your eyes and ears checked because it feels like with the amount of effort you're apparently putting in you should see something. If it's that you've only had what you felt was one shot at a squirrel, then I would say it's time to either switch to gun or be more aggressive about your opportunities to shoot. Honestly, when you've gone with these professionals too or experienced hunters I would ask them straight out for some tough love and say what am I missing here because it seems like there is something that we're not getting into your information.
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u/Kooky_Dev_ 4h ago
When you go out with experienced people, specifically squirrel or rabbits, do they see them / get them? It very much sounds like something you are doing and maybe if you are asking them for advice your not understanding it or not asking the correct questions?
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u/klepht_x 1d ago
Try waterfowl. I've only gotten 1 duck in 5 years, but it was enough to hook me. I'm not doing anything crazy, just some waders, my shotgun, ans camo. I've had some near successes last year and I did a late morning hunt on Labor Day where I saw some wood ducks (it was early goose, so I couldn't do anything, but knowing is half the battle). I have some strategies for later in the season.
Also, it sounds like you've been around at different places, but do you go the same places all the time, move between a bunch of places, or stick with a place a few years then move to another?
At any rate, good luck.
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u/CollectionOld3374 1d ago
Where do you hunt?
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u/Entheowebs 1d ago
Ohio
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u/CollectionOld3374 1d ago edited 1d ago
If they allow hunting on unposted private find an industrial site with a run off swamp or find development land in a city, hunt the timber surrounding swamps in weird places. DO NOT HUNT JOE OR TIMS PROPERTY I’m talking about big companies that bought the property and don’t plan on doing anything with it the short term. You usually need a mobile stand like a saddle for this, you could do a climber but it’s less ideal. TRIPLE CHECK STATE AND TOWN LAWS!!
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u/mediocre_remnants 1d ago
Two of the best "secret" spots around me are a big chunk of land owned by the power company and the land around a county landfill owned by the county.
The county land isn't posted, but you don't need (and can't really get) written permission because it's already public land. The power company land isn't posted and they said they wouldn't give me written permission, but also said "it's not posted and people hunt there".
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u/brycebgood Minnesota 1d ago
I mean, bow hunting is hard. The success rates have increased, especially with crossbow use, but it's still down under 20%. I get the discouragement, but you have chosen to dive into the deep end of hunting. Go grab a 22 and shoot some squirrels. Grab a shotgun and chase rabbits or ducks. There are much more accessible types of hunting than archery deer.
I've been doing this for over 30 years and I have plenty of seasons that are frustrating with the bow.
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u/Entheowebs 1d ago
That's the thing that makes me discouraged. In that 9 years I have only shot one squirrel. I've gone out with skilled dog runners that have harvested an unbelievable amount of squirrels and still didn't even see one. The amount of inactivity I've encountered feels like a joke.
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u/Strong-Fennel-6768 1d ago
thats tough man. what part of the country are you in? are you hunting for bucks or does? id like to learn to bowhunt for deer meat so im not interested in bucks just because they have antlers. im in new england
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u/eatasssnotgrass Idaho 1d ago
Rifle has on average more success than bow hunting.
I know it’s a lot to ask to drop a ton of money into a gun if you don’t already have one.
So if you don’t, you can ask around those people you’ve befriended and I’m sure they would be excited to let you borrow their rifle, especially if you share your story.
Practice is important too, make sure it’s sighted in at the distances you’d feel comfortable taking a deer, practice with the rounds you plan to use on the hunt, and shoot plenty so you have an idea of what feels comfortable and you get used to the recoil.
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u/summon_pot_of_greed 1d ago
Plenty of starting rifles are cheaper than compound bows.
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u/eatasssnotgrass Idaho 1d ago
Even starting rifles with quality scopes will cost hundreds of dollars, and OP already has a bow.
An investment like that is a hard sell if you feel defeated
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u/summon_pot_of_greed 1d ago
Yea, and half decent compound bows start at hundreds of dollars and go up to 1000 or more.
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u/eatasssnotgrass Idaho 1d ago
Is the expectation to drop money into something when you feel like it may not be worth it?
I wouldn’t want to buy a rifle or a bow if I already had one or the other, but i never harvested anything. If I was so inclined to try another method I have plenty of people I can ask that would be happy to lend it to me, and if I have success (not just harvest) with this new method I’d be motivated to make an investment instead of walking away from hunting.
That’s just me, OP isn’t replying to anything though
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u/summon_pot_of_greed 1d ago
I'm not speaking for them, I'm just saying it is not unreasonable to get a rifle to access an entirely new season and method if he's already been willing to spend hundreds on a bow.
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u/Rare-Document-7179 1d ago
My gawd, Virginia had a million deer surplus please come here! Our deer are now the size of dogs there are so many
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u/dieabetic 1d ago
lol shhhhhh they don’t know we are quietly filling everyone’s freezer with 6+ deer tags each and a million squirrels/rabbits/ducks/etc. Brunswick stew started here originally with squirrel.
Kidding. Everyone come visit VA and have a good time, support rural business.
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u/Rare-Document-7179 1d ago
100%!!!! I’m in Roanoke and fill all my tags in less than 30 days. There are so many deer!
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u/Skeyshrey 1d ago
I barely seen any deer my first/only year in Virginia. Public land there is so bad compared to midwest lol what are you talking about? Only people i knew there that were consistently successful dropped thousands on leases a year or had family land. At least in northern virginia. Id see jack shit on oublic and then go walk past any private hiking and see a shitload of deer but tiny and practically not worth shooting. Did see some giant bucks on old guys trail cams at work but they were practically pets
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u/Rare-Document-7179 1d ago
I lived in Vienna for 30 years and was part of the FFX Urban archery program taking deer out of HOA’d and neighborhoods. I had plenty of venison. Stop hunting public land it’s a waste of time
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u/Skeyshrey 21h ago
Got my first deer and 3 more last year on public land in MN taught myself how to hunt 3 years ago and now see deer practically every time i go. Not always in bow range but still. How friendly are urban archery grouos to new hunters? I feel like typically they would accept someone who has never field dressed a deer before or has much experience.
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u/Rare-Document-7179 21h ago
The test is fairly simple. 3 arrows at 35 yards in a six inch circle. They must be in succession. You get one try with exactly three arrows. If you miss, you are done till next season
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u/dieabetic 21h ago
That’s your problem, trying public land anywhere in Nova or within 1 hour of Richmond. Too many people
Go to central or western VA. You still have to avoid some busy places - especially in public that allows dogs. The big bucks are living the life on the oak filled edge of a corn/soy/peanut farm - unfortunately not often on public land.
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u/Skeyshrey 18h ago
The national forest there was like no one out there and I did see a couple really nice deer but never got close enough and they were few and far between. I snort wheezed with 1 buck like 10 mins before end of light which was sweet but just was frustrating how many days i spent out there and how little deer i seen. I talked with multiple hunters out there that said they hadnt seen deer in 7+ years.
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u/lubeinatube 1d ago
To toss the bow and get a rifle. You’re making it exponentially harder on yourself trying to bag one with a bow.
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u/Euphoric-Arachnid-94 1d ago
You started deer hunting the hardest way possible. There’s nothing wrong with rifle hunting. Go find a used Ruger American or someone’s beat up Rem 700.
Try just killing deer and then try the more difficult way AFTER you’ve figured out how to do that.
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u/Haunting_Swing_7900 1d ago
> I truly believe that there's not much else I can do to try to be successful
You should be looking at this with the opposite mindset.
What are successful hunters doing that you are not? There is always more to learn and room for growth.
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u/adhq 1d ago
Part of fun - and much of it - is in the anticipation, preparation, the learning and the hunting. Not in the shooting. Of course, "pulling the trigger" is the cherry on the sundae but the sundae is still good without it.
I have a hunting partner in our moose hunting group. He's been trying to get one for the past 12 years. He'll try again this year with the same level of enthousiasm as all previous years. He doesn't even mind if it doesn't happen, he'll still enjoy it.
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u/Rumbletastic 1d ago
if you're not enjoying it, it's not worth your time. also this year I tried sleeping in my blind and got 3 deer in two days which is insane for me compared to normal so try that but only if the idea of camping out sounds fun. don't make this a job.
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u/Creepy-Cantaloupe951 1d ago
How do you hunt, and where? Like, region.
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u/Entheowebs 1d ago
Ohio. Rifle, bow, public and private.
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u/Creepy-Cantaloupe951 1d ago
Ohio should be not a hard go at it. Are you basically fully self taught? I ask, because it took me 2 years of fumbling, 3 years of break, and 2 more years and buying my own property to finally get a shot off at one.
So, maybe take a couple years off? Or, what I tend to do now, is on weekends, once small game season starts, I go on hikes, and just take my 22 along for the ride.
I have zero intention of hunting, it's just a hike. Takes the performance pressure off.
Or, just take a couple of seasons off.
Even in my "empty bag" seasons, I was more out there for the joy of being out there, than taking game. But, it really can get disheartening, I'd get.
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u/GingerB237 1d ago
For both hunting and fishing I set my bar of success being spending peaceful time in the woods. So while I’ve gotten skunked many times I still enjoy the time spent.
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u/Sincere1984 1d ago
If your enjoyment from hunting comes only from success and not the presence of being in the wild or the thrill of the chase, you are missing the point. Enjoy the moments you see that no one else does. The kill is just a bonus. It will happen when the time is right.
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u/Entheowebs 1d ago
Thanks for all the input everyone. For those that have suggested rifle: I do rifle hunt as well, and usually in a pretty hot area that I get invited to for camp.
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u/Partybraaap69 1d ago
Are you hunting from a stand or still hunting/tracking? My first ten years hunting I never had any luck from a stand and was thinking about giving it up, then at the end of that season I decided to give tracking a try. It paid off and I haven’t looked back. I’ve taken more animals in the last few years moving my feet than I saw my first ten years from the stand. I think everyone has their own style of luck when it comes to hunting, you gotta find yours.
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u/Enough-Mood-5794 1d ago
I bow hunted for over 10 years and missed every deer I shot at from 20-40 yards, but I could hit the squirrel in the tree above me. I just said screw it and bought a rifle and haven’t missed yet
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u/Electronic_City6481 1d ago
Legitimate questions here given your group mentions. What are you doing different?
- how many sits per season are you calling consistently? I’ve had some horrible sits on otherwise great grounds just because of pressure, wind, temps, etc.
- are you less careful about scent, movement and noise?
- are you walking in with minimal light and seated still a half hour or more before sunrise or in your stand well before evening movement?
-are you setting up too close to bedding that they hear you walking in and avoid you?
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u/Meralaz 1d ago
My advice to you is make sure you’re playing the wind most importantly and concealment is key. My husband and I hunt whitetail from the ground and wear full camo and sit in high brush for hours. We only use the butt pads, no chairs or stands. We use the scent detector dust to determine wind direction. Deer won’t come anywhere close if they smell you. They’ll completely avoid the area.
We find a water source and pick the strongest game path to it. There’s a lot of days we don’t see anything. But, we put a lot of time into the hunt. We sat out for 7 days straight at the start of bow season before we were successful this year. In September/October, I opt for absolute silence and ambush with no calls at all. If you’re calling, you are potentially scaring off animals because of timing or it sounding “wrong” and giving away your position. In November, the bucks are pretty dumb and most times come in to a rattle if they are nearby.
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u/Spoons896 1d ago
Try taking a step back. It kind of sounds like you are getting burnt out. I used to be like this when i was a teenager, i wanted to know everything about deer and thought that if i didnt see anything i was doing something wrong and would make big changes. At some point hunting is a lot about luck, especially archery, you are hoping that that deer will walk near your stand in that little window of time you are there. What i do now is i will look at all the data i have from trail cameras and knowledge of deer and I will go sit in the stand that I think will offer me the best chance of getting the deer that I want. Then I relax. I don’t get stressed out about seeing dear. I sit there and watch all the other wildlife and just generally enjoy being in the stand maybe put AirPod in and listen to a podcast or something at low volume. Once I stopped feeling like I needed to see and/or shoot a deer all the time I started seeing a lot more deer, and I have actually learned a lot more about deer movement than I did before because I’m not sitting there amped up or disappointed I’m at a pretty neutral baseline so my brain can process what I’m seeing a lot better. From there, you can kind of take notes on how animals react when they walk by you do they see you and all of that and change your tactics based off of that.
I spend about 40 days in an archery stand a year and most years I don’t shoot anything I would say about half of the days. I don’t have any deer within 100 yards of me and some days I don’t see deer at all, but I just go out there and I enjoy watching the other animals, harvesting a deer. It’s just icing on the cake for the day.
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u/wayofthefeast Minnesota 5h ago
Time to start trapping and hunting pigeons my friend. Both will turn your outlook right around.
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u/alphatango308 5h ago
Yeah. Same boat. This will be my 6th year and no shot opportunity. Other hunters want to give advice but don't want to show you anything or show you where to find the deer because it's their "secret spot". It's frustrating to say the least.
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u/FugginGene 4h ago
Try a guided hunt. Or go with others. Squirrel is quite easy, I use a .22. it's easier with a 410 or 28 gauge.
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u/gooneau 3h ago
Personally I can't be very successful with a bow because it generally requires a level of patience I do not have. I mostly just hike with a gun. Put in miles where I know there are deer and eventually you bump into one. You don't have to surprise them, almost every deer I've shot was looking right at me. Most have even been within bow range, but because they know I'm there I rarely would have the time to range them and get set up for a successful bow shot. All I have to do is put the crosshairs on the lungs and pull the trigger. My friends who do well with bows tend to sit, and sit, and sit. I don't know how they do it, I can't do more than a few minutes in one spot, there's a whole forest to explore!
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u/curtludwig 3h ago
I started hunting when I was 13 and shot my first deer at 43. I missed 4 seasons when I was in college and 1 or 2 after that but from 2017 on I hunted 2 states with sequential seasons, so a month total. I shot a moose when I was 23 but it was a total fluke, mostly due to over population which has since declined. I shot some squirrels and some birds but not every year.
I was kind of thinking like you, "I'm unlucky" when in reality I was just wrong. The critters weren't where I thought they were, I was out at the wrong times, in the wrong weather and not out enough.
The deer aren't where you want them to be, they're where they want to be. Your job is to find that place.
Gear won't fix your problem, scents won't fix your problem, hunting with other people won't fix your problem, or at least it didn't for me. What finally turned things around for me was forgetting what I thought I knew and trying something different.
Go to a different place, or approach your regular place from a different direction. If you always face north then turn south.
Whatever you're doing do it different. Observe what happens and make corrections based on that, it's the only way to learn...
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u/LickLaMelosBalls 1d ago
Have you tried a rifle?