Heading out, good luck everyone!

Hunting in 2E. 31 shots so far.

Many in our camp and a lot of the locals we talk to are not excited about the change. The Monday opener was the best.

As long as I can remember we would leave home Thanksgiving morning and head to camp. The first four days before rifle season were better than the whole season. Seeing friends and making new ones every year at gatherings. Small game hunting on Friday and Saturday. Shooting some clays and drinking some beverages.
Making trips to all the gun shops in the area and doing some Christmas shopping and gun shopping.

Now there is barely enough time to sight the rifles in.

I would be a bigger fan of allowing the season to be continuous. Hunt the other two sundays rather than this one.

Only positive is I can hunt two days and make it to back to Ohio for their gun season opening (my home state) on Monday for the first time in my life.

12 more shots while I typed this. 43

What Made it the glory days then? Just curious... I’ve been to Pa, and there were deer everywhere. Seeing numbers like I did reminded me of Texas in a way. I remember having to come to a complete stop on the road to avoid hitting a couple does crossing that backroad on the way to the airport. I saw deer feeding next to the hotel. Deer everywhere.


Don’t see deer numbers like that in this part of Louisiana, that much is certain.

I agree with Lugnut on this one. I also understand my position may not be popular. I have a camp in Pike County, 3D. I only deer hunt there with the overlap of early bear season. Our deer harvest rates are some of the lowest in the state. Haven’t taken a doe on state land in 20 years. I just never liked the way the Saturday opener came to be. It happened after the commissioners set seasons and was pushed along by a state politician. Just left a bad taste. I also think tradition is important. Unfortunately, the mountain mom and pop stores will bear the brunt of the change. I imagine they lose a ton of business because the deer hunters don’t have several extra days to spend money. As for me, I just don’t hunt the opener anymore. Best of luck to all of you who do. Be safe

Not in the the northern part of the state in what is called the big woods or Black Forest. The deer population has shifted since the 1980’s from the northern part of the state to the southern part of the state. Many of the thousands of camps in the north once full of hunters are now empty in deer season. People can stay in their backyard and hunt now. The glory days of going to hunt deer in the northern big woods camps are over. Some still do it for the tradition but nowhere near like it used to be. The location of the Minktoberfest cabin and deer population is much different than the area above route 80 in PA. Two different worlds.

No one says you have to hunt Saturday. You can always keep the tradition and have camp on the weekend and start hunting on Monday. We've always had out seaon start the Saturday before thanksgiving and go till the following Sunday. Michigan is always Nov 15th for their opener. People don't like change. Give it time and it will become normal.

With all the "stay at home" mandates and the "stay in your own state" orders... how come there are so many Jersey license plates around here today?

C'mon Wolfie. Enforce your own rules.

Oh wait... there's revenue involved. No issue with defying any order then.

it seems like the problem is most people dont want to deer hunt 2 extra days and would rather just hang out?

Sat in my ladder stand until 11am had to get out the wind kicked up a good bit. Heard some in a thicket below me but they wouldn’t come out, that was right after daybreak. Might get out after bit until dark. I think I’m going to hunt tomorrow, Sunday, it will seem weird but what the hay!

I just came in for lunch. I heard 17 shots the first thirty minutes (before sunrise). that's a bit below average but they made up for it the second thirty minutes; 37 fired that period for a total of 54 the first hour.

I spent most of the morning watching a big-racked four-point. I saw him off and on four about four hours. I had the scope cranked up to 9X and was trying like crazy to grow a brow tine on him but it was no good, he remains a protected deer.

I watched him freshen up one of his scrapes, that was pretty neat.

There was a young doe hanging around but the two times I had a clear shot at her I was still thinking the buck was maybe a five-point and he was he much bigger deer so i was holding out for him.

They were both bedded in the thick stuff within 120 yards of my stand when I came in for lunch. I'm thinking I'll see them again this evening. The doe probably won't get a pass then. I need some meat in the freezer.

If I had a nickel for every time someone proposed that dumb solution...well... i'd have a lot of nickels! LOL

Nobody that still goes to camp is going to sit around while the season is open and the majority of the harvest is happening only to start three days late after most hunters have gone home and the remaining deer have gone nocturnal.

But hey, thanks for the suggestion.

I know it was a dumb solution. Sarcastic even. I just don't get the big deal of hunting starting on Saturday. It's always been that way for us and no hunting on Sundays was completely stupid. Now get off your computer and get out hunting you whiner. Lol.

Like I said above Rusty, I miss the the camp camaraderie. It's never going to be the same again.

Checked traps today and only saw 1 hunter.

So people came for the weekend and then went home? Don't you guys stay at camp together regardless what day hunting starts?

Quoted from my post above.



Nobody came just for the weekend then went home.

Yes, we all stayed at camp. Some stayed all week, others only until mid-week.

The point you seem to be missing is the fun we had doing the activities I mentioned and more. When hunting all day and butchering some evenings, making meals and doing dishes there isn't much time left for those other activities. Yeah, we still had great bullcrap sessions and solved the problems of the world. But it's not the same not having those two days the weekend before the hunt.

I guess if you've never experienced it, it would be difficult to understand.

Yikes is it slow here. I joke about the orange lottery. No one within 3/4 mile has won today. All shots counted before noon were off in distance. I know folks are hunting. Must be all sitting still. This area has more deer and shooter bucks then ive seen in years. All holed up somewhere. They are Apparently smart enough to avoid all the folks walking to and from stands today. Wife and i have seen zero so far.

I was hunting in 4C Lebanon County. On SGL, only heard 16 shots by 11am.

Just got back, didn't see anymore deer this afternoon but heard a decent amount of shooting.

The view from my stand near the middle of a 40 acre swamp. If you were a deer wouldn’t you hang out here? LOL

There’s a heavily used deer trail crossing left/right about 75 yards out just in front of the first downed tree/log.



The shooting lane to the right. It’s about 150 yards long. This is where the big four-point and little doe were hanging out this morning.